Fear The Chorizo

I'm not offering any sort of longterm deal to a pitcher on the wrong side of 30 who just had shoulder surgery and will likely miss all of 2024, on top of the fact he just missed most of 2023. It sucks, but the Brewers simply need to not offer him arbitration and wish Woodruff well, and realize they got his prime years of performance. Even with the advances in surgical procedures, pitching injuries and assuming guys make full recoveries are sketchy at best. A 2 year prove it deal for $20-$25M also makes zero sense for the Brewers, because they then wind up paying him ~$10M to rehab. If a different MLB team wants to give a guy with a bum shoulder a longterm contract to see how he looks at the start of 2025 as a 32 yr old, good for Woody getting that kind of guaranteed money. It shouldn't come from the Brewers. I'm an advocate of not offering Woody arbitration and then using that salary savings to at least offer Burnes and Adames arbitration, then entertaining trade offers for both this offseason but also being willing to roll with them into next season - if they aren't contending, deal both at next season's deadline, or even a bit earlier if teams come a calling. There should be plenty of teams chomping at the bit to trade for Burnes this offseason, but without Woodruff's $11M on their books the Brewers could afford to pay him his arby salary next year if that's the route they'd want to take - even if it's used as a slight bit of leverage to squeeze as much prospect value out of an organization that covets Burnes for a full regular season as possible. Would enjoy the Orioles and Dodgers getting into a bidding war for Burnes this offseason with the young talent they could offer.

For the first part of your post, no this doesn't really feel like Israel is interested in going back to the way things have been since 2005, and there's a strong likelihood this could spiral significantly in the region after people realize that this won't be a week or two week response. I don't want to totally derail this thread though. For the 2nd part, I don't even know if there are economic indicators even worth basing investment strategies on anymore - it really does seem like the US economic policy is to continue printing $$ and racking up debt to keep as many people afloat as possible and rely on the rest of the world being in worse economic shape so capital keeps flowing into domestic markets no matter what interest rates or costs of goods and services are. At some point, that approach stops working, and the adjustment is abrupt - but it's incredibly difficult to time when it hits the fan right from an investment standpoint. I've been in the "keep your blinders on and stay the course" approach of investing with my retirement fund, and while I'm sure I've missed out on larger gains I've also avoided taking hits by poorly timed investment buying/selling based on where I though stock and/or bond fund markets were headed. The current economic landscape just feels weird, and investments seem to be largely untethered from day-to-day earning and spending habits of most people that are getting ground down but still hanging in there financially.

The O-Line has been just fine pass blocking. Whether that is because they throw extra TEs and a RB to chip blocks is fairly irrelevant to Love's inaccuracy. Against LV Raiders, who really have 1 good pass rusher in Crosby, they were routinely trying to pass block with 7 against 4 man rushes and only sending 3 receivers out for initial routes against 7 man coverages. You don't do that with a decent offensive line. Walker has been a turnstyle at LT when not getting help, and the line in general has been brutal against stunts and occasional blitzes. Teams really aren't even blitzing Love very much because there isn't a need to when the Packers are already in max protect mode. Jones being out also kills their passing game to RBs, which is a developing QB's security blanket - however Love has also been very inaccurate with most swing passes out in the flat, to the point where even completions aren't in stride and leading to guys having no chance to make a move and pick up positive yardage. One thing I'm hoping to see from Love is better accuracy with his short/intermediate throws. Part of me is trying to continually remind myself that I've been used to seeing those throws by arguably the most accurate quarterback in the history of the NFL in Rodgers, so Love isn't going to ever meet that standard....but he's got to be better with ball placement on those swing routes and bubble screens to give those plays a chance at generating positive yardage. He's got to be much better at hitting receivers in the right spot with throws in the middle of the field, or he'll continue to be an INT machine that winds up being gunshy at making throws when guys are open.

So, are there any teams in need of a veteran QB to go on a playoff run that have some cap room? With today's news that Jefferson is out at least the next month for the 1-4 Vikings, I'd imagine they're about to start calling folks in Jets land, ATL, anyone that would answer a call about trading Cousins to get something of value back for next year's draft. The Packers are going through a retooling year, to be sure...but the Vikings now have a better shot at going from 13 wins to 13 losses in one season compared to contending for a 2nd straight division title with the same core group. Sure, I can see the Vikings standing pat and then reupping with Cousins this offseason - they will have cap room if they want to go that route - but that is a roster in purgatory at the moment that their fans will look back at their 2022 season and wish they were bad sooner than they're about to be. I can see Hunter being traded, too - he is having a solid year.

Yeah, he became "that dude" with his performance in ATL right after that road WC win in Philly. not lost on me that 2010 was by far the best defense the Packers ever had with Rodgers, and that side of the ball did as much heavy lifting for playoff wins as their offense did to win a title.

What evidence is there that QBs are forced to start more now days? I guess it's tough to draw any direct relations, but in looking across the league, I count 28 current starting quarterbacks who either were the starter from game 1 of their rookie year or at least became the starter at some point their rookie year - and that doesn't include the Chiefs (Mahomes), Packers (Love), Vikings (Cousins, despite the fact he did play as a rookie after RGIII got injured), and Raiders (Jimmy G). Had Rodgers not gotten injured the Jets would be a 5th team, but Zack Wilson is now their starter.

I don't remember that quite the same - Rodgers had 30 TD, 7 INT in 2009 and they were 3rd in the NFL in points scored/game...he still took a ton of sacks but that was the year they won 11 or so games and lost their wild card game in AZ. After that season, many prognosticators picked the Packers to win the Super Bowl the next year in large part due to his development and the Packers' offense. 2010 they had an uneven offensive year because they suffered a ton of injuries during the regular season and Rodgers also missed a game with a concussion...and then they won the Super Bowl that postseason as the 6th seed.

I can see sitting behind a starter for 1 year, like Patrick Mahomes, then taking over, if it's the right situation. Yes, no matter how the best player in the NFL was handled/managed, it was the right decision - the problem is not every quarterback is going to be Patrick damn Mahomes no matter when they are drafted or how they are developed. I recall people around the Chiefs' organization new from his rookie minicamps right after the draft that Mahomes was going to be a stud. Quarterbacks get thrown into the fire right away in today's NFL more often than not because of how their rookie deals are structured - especially if they're 1st round picks. That doesn't mean it's the right approach, particularly when that quarterback isn't the right one. Should Daniel Jones be making ~$40M a season to be worse than Love right now in his 5th NFL season? Love may not wind up being a longterm option as the Packers' starting quarterback, or he may take a jump and turn into a star - but whether he sat for his first few seasons behind a quarterback still winning league MVPs or instead started playing every Sunday last season won't determine that outcome. Despite all the expensive contracts being handed out to quarterbacks, and 1st round QB draft picks playing right away all over the league, Patrick Mahomes (2017 1st round pick) is the only quarterback to win a Super Bowl drafted in the 1st round since 2009 (Stafford won a title with the Rams in 2021 and was 1st overall pick that draft year ~15 seasons ago). Love's current contract gives the Packers time to let him play and make a decision on whether he's deserving of that initial longterm extension, or if they need to bring in someone new as part of a complete roster and front office overhaul.

After his first five games as the Packers' starting QB in 2008, Rodgers led the Packers to a 2-3 record, and here was his stat line. 9 TD, 4 INT, sacked 11 times, completion percentage 63%. 1,274 yards passing. The Packers would go on to a 6-10 season record that year and Rodgers had multiple games where he didn't look like he belonged on an NFL field, too - but there was enough flashes of really good to justify an initial contract extension after he sat for 3 seasons that wound up being a huge bargain for the organization. Rodgers didn't take that leap to being a potential stud quarterback until year 2 as a starter (5th year in the league) Jordan Love after his 1st 5 starts this season (2-3 record also, coincidentally): 8 TD, 6INT, sacked 10 times, completion percentage 56%, 1,083 yards passing....by all accounts his numbers are a tick below Rodgers at a similar spot in their development, but I'm not expecting Love to be a HOF quarterback just because it's who the Packers have had a that position for the last 30+ seasons. I also think the current Packers' offense is much more raw from a skill position standpoint than what Rodgers had to work with in 2008.

Thinking it's time Stenavich either gets his old gig back as Oline coach...or this coming offseason there's a housecleaning in store if things do really go sideways. Since he got promoted to Offensive Coordinator a couple offseasons ago the line play has gone downhill and the offense has really cratered (particularly with young players we grew accustomed to seeing develop, coached up, and actually take the field able to play) - even with Rodgers at QB last season. MLF wears that, too since he's likely the actual coordinator/playcaller and they retained Stenavich for continuity more than anything after their staff got purged in 2022. I just don't like a really young team that's also poorly coached, and that's what this feels like right now.

I guess I question how a 6'4" receiver that's watching that ball the whole time it's in the air isn't able to make a better play on that. That turned what should've been a jump ball/potential defensive PI situation into an INT because he just kept running. Guaranteed that's not how a guy like Mike Evans would've finished that route. Still not a great throw but one that Watson could've done alot more with. The series prior on the 3rd down where Watson was running deep, the throw wasn't perfectly in stride but it also didn't look like Watson made a hard adjustment and drove towards the ball while it was in the air. Deep threat receivers need to have that ability to "go get it" instead of expecting a perfect toss if they want to be playmakers. Haven't seen that from Watson at all in his career thus far, and it's disappointing That throw after two drops by Doubs and Musgrave (ball was behind him a bit) on the downs prior - trying to give his guy an opportunity to make a play I can live with. Frustrating loss on another winnable game - both of these teams are in the NFL blob this season.

Doubs has been a ghost tonight

These are the type of games this team is going to be in all season long....find a way to make a play and steal a W.

Cutler the Bronco is a quarterback you can win with....

that's a 1st down...even though Taylor should've done more with that to be certain

and questionable in game decisions by Josh McDaniel...why even kick that there

It's also the only game that Aaron Jones was healthy for (and frankly it was a close game until he made a few huge plays in the 2nd half)

here comes the 4 minute offense to snuff out the clock

In their defense, he's wrecked the game because the Packers can't make adjustments.

3 Packers lineman on that pass play didn't block a soul

instead of having 5 TEs who aren't great at pass blocking trying to block Crosby, maybe send one of them up the seam. The hole this roster now has at LT is a massive one, though. Having to give Walker all kinds of help every pass play really does handcuff what they can do throwing the ball. Doubs has been nonexistent and Love has made some bad decisions with the ball - still have a shot to win it here on the road.

2nd pick on a throw that never should've been made...predetermined read that just wasn't open. Doesn't help the Packers have to max protect on most passing downs just to give enough time to make a throw - so the options on where to throw the ball are also pretty limited

More Musgrave...please

I just can't understand how that doesn't show up in the film study and Berry is still employed

lol at Preston Smith covering Adams