OldSchoolSnapper

Were there? I think 99% agreed this was the worst matchup.

The routes were all 2 second routes. Pass Rush was irrelevant. No, it wasn't. They got swallowed at the line and had no impact on any throw. Plus, no, they weren't.

They'll have to bring more pressure. He wasn't any kind of heat on any throw. Rush defense looked ok. Keep putting them in 3rd and long and get that sorted out. Wasn't expecting an easy game.

Relax.

Pass rush is not getting in at ALL on third down.

Tramon might get on the field today.

It helps to be selfless when you're the only player in the NFL that has a wife that makes more money than you. I mean, that's not even true, but I get why people keep bringing it up. I'm not sure it takes anything away from what he did. I'd still guess that most athletes would seek top dollar possible, regardless of how rich their wife is. I think it's obvious in any case though that he placed a very high value on winning championships, and thought it was more important than signing "the biggest contract in NFL history" for one offseason. Like most of them do.

I don't think Brady is either one. His single greatest competitive advantage is that he was never paid like a superstar QB. His contracts never hamstrung the Patriots from getting pieces they needed. And it wasn't always selfless either, they got very lucky. When he signed one of the extensions, they had Jimmy G around and he knew that if he pushed things, they would just get rid of him. So he signed a very modest extension knowing it was either that, or play somewhere else. All-time great, for sure, but that, and the dismal AFC east are major factors. You don't reach 13 conference titles games without something funky going on. Lots of athletes say winning is their #1, but Brady walked the walk. He definitely could have made more money but didn't because he seemed to recognize the symbiotic relationship they had going on.

It was Tom Rossley that put Rodgers on the Packers' radar. He was HC at Southern Methodist previously, and his QB coach there was, at the time of the draft, the QB coach at Cal. He told Rossley that he had to come see Rodgers, that the NFL was getting this wrong, and that Rodgers was going to be the next big star. Rossley didn't want to go because he figured there was no way at #24, but he did anyway. He watched him work out and told Thompson he was something special.

I actually thought this past year made McCarthy look ok, that last game not withstanding. His trademark slow start, losing the franchise QB, whispers he has no control over the team, and they suddenly rally to play pretty solid down the stretch and fight to have a shot at the division. I can't make a real judgement on a first-year coach whose starting QB goes down. I think McCarthy is decent. I doubt McCarthy's scheme ever included Rodgers checking out of runs and sitting in the pocket for 9 seconds. Rodgers played worse relative to his career the last several years, there are no two ways about it. I just think it's super rare for a QB/HC tandem to work out for 13 years. If I had to place blame on the Packers lean years, I certainly look at McCarthy, but Thompson isn't innocent there. They wasted a lot of time not signing Matt Flynn in 2013 and just refusing to acknowledge glaring holes on the team for years. McCarthy is a good leader, I think. He's a good game planner. He's leave a lot to be desired with in-game adjustments, however.

Saban was a coach though, is the point. In college that's like being president of the program. He can be vetoed asking for a trade or FA in the pros. To be honest, most teams would have done what Miami did passing on Brees. All the doctors were saying it was not likely he would ever regain form. Saban could have pushed for Rodgers, but the legend has it that he strongly preferred Smith, and couldn't get past that he was "settling" on Rodgers. Gruden also told Rodgers the Bucs would draft him at 5. For whatever reason, the Packers got lucky. They knew ahead of time if he fell, they'd take him. I always thought it was one of those freak things...enough teams passed on him that the next team started thinking "they know something about this guy we don't."

So, the TL;DR is that healthy people under 40 can expect a vaccine sometime around the 4th of July, 2023.

I'm officially a bit concerned about this team. Something isn't right. Maybe they gel later in the year. But I'm beginning to feel like this will just be a dud and there's a new coach next season.

It wasn't quite dumping Favre as much as just having a backbone and telling Favre to stick with his decision but it was awesome. I'll never forget "Favre can come back, but he'll be the backup to Aaron Rodgers."

Not quite. The Packers hadn't been to the NFC Championship since 1997 when they picked Rodgers in 2005. They were more or less stuck in 10 win purgatory mode, and Favre had really developed a reputation for being turnover prone. They had just been to the playoffs, but the feeling that off-season was that a reckoning was coming soon and the team was about to decline precipitously. Thompson was THE reason that only took a couple of seasons. But they were 4-12 in Rodgers rookie season. I was personally done with Favre by that time and wanted to move on. I didn't think they would ever win a title again with a QB who played like that. He had a nice rejuvenation later, but I really disliked having Favre lead a drive at the end of a game. Rodgers gives me a confidence in those situations that I never had with Favre.

Rather timely article on this topic, was a fun read. https://www.nfl.com/news/the-inside-story-behind-aaron-rodgers-freefall-at-the-2005-nfl-draft

I'm not understanding how the opinion of Rodgers as prospect has been exaggerated. He was very much in the conversation for going #1 overall. If the Packers really had some great insights, they likely would have traded up to get him. In fact, Rodgers was the favored #1 until pretty late in the game when a bunch of teams flipped on him. They really just got lucky. I know Thompson did scout and loved Rodgers, but if you go back and look at the draft that year, it was definitely in the air that the guy who didn't go first would drop a lot, just because at the time, a bunch of teams had QBs or had their future QB. Time has made people forget how the Woodson acquisition was viewed at the time. The consensus was that they overpaid an old vet to convince Favre to stick around. It was total nonsense of course. Thompson loved Woodson from before he was drafted. There was some story years ago of Thompson showing Woodson tape to scouts and basically saying "this is exactly how I want my CBs to play." I think Rodgers as his "best move" is a fair argument, I just think Woodson was a far less obvious move. Favre was old, not playing particularly well, and a top 5 talent had dropped into his lap. Nobody really wanted Woodson to play CB anymore. And if we really get down to it, Sam Shields is up there too. An undrafted CB who played that position for a single year in college. They don't win a Super Bowl without him, and he was probably one of the most underrated Packers of all time. The Shields, Starks, Tramon moves of his tenure are more impressive to me than hitting on 1st rounders, I guess, but that's totally subjective.

I would possibly disagree to say that Charles Woodson was his best move, ironically not a draft pick either. Rodgers was certainly a home run, but he was also in the debate for being 1st overall. The longer he fell, someone was going to snag him. A lot of people thought he was good, it was just a perfect storm for GB of not many teams needing QBs and being down on Rodgers at the last minute. I remember at the time, someone calling that if SF didn't pick him, he would fall to GB. Woodson was very much seen as cantankerous and over-the-hill, but the Packers gave him a lot of money and he was absolutely insane for them. I've still never seen a defensive player, in the secondary no less, with such an ability to change a game. He was just a turnover machine.

His hits on both first rounders on the defense in 09 directly got a Super Bowl, too. He was simply a great evaluator of talent.

Thompson obviously drafted Rodgers, but he also drafted Bhaktiari and Adams, and his final class included Aaron Jones and Williams, as well signing Tonyan undrafted. He was such a great evaluator of talent that it may have been his biggest flaw - he overestimated his prowess there and thought he didn't need much else. And still won a Super Bowl basically doing that.

He's already in the Packers HOF. He was rushed in, most likely for this reason.

Well, his mark is still all over this team, too.

Brees also started losing interest in Miami because they wouldn't stop talking about the shoulder and asking for assurances it was ok. I want to say Nick Sabans was coaching there at the time but I'm not sure.

2019 was definitely a big missed opportunity. I'm more forgiving on last year.

Yeah, Brady's back for 2022. I haven't seen any indication otherwise and he played very well. I don't think he even has a date in mind for retiring. As long as he is feeling good, I think he'll keep coming back. Still throws a nice deep ball too. Wouldn't surprise to see him playing at 48 at this point, if someone will have him.