HiAndTight

HELL-YES. I was confused why they didn't bring him in when he was a FA before the season. It's hard to imagine the Eagles cut him for running his mouth. I mean, he's a pretty damn good player and he was cheap. If that's all it takes? I guess it was just a way to shake things up in Philly. He also hasn't graded all that well in Philly to start the season, but he was one of the best LB'ers in the NFL just last year. He signed for I think 2.5 million...so it shouldn't cost much to bring him in. I guess if the Packers have any concerns after tonight, he'd be one of the first guys getting a call, but at this point, there will probably be more teams interested in him due to injuries. But yeah, just a really good all-around player and we could bring him in and then even bring him back next year if we decide to move on from Martinez and draft a younger MLB'er. Probably won't happen, but all year I've been hoping Gute would be aggressive at addressing roster upgrades in season with a vet here or there. If Burks doesn't look good, this could be the guy.

I don't think you need a great defense, you need a competent one. When you're running Gunter out there as your #1 CB, it doesn't really work. Like I've said, I could be wrong, but I don't recall him doing it many times it didn't make sense. He USUALLY did it when they were backed up and didn't get anything on 1st down. But I think the larger issue with McCarthy is he just stayed too long. If he'd have done all the same things he did but had just left before that vaunted 10 year period, he'd be considered up there with Holmgren. But he didn't. It'll be interesting to see if he's back coaching next year or whenever he gets another job and see how he does. He left Green Bay with similar fanfare to how Andy Reid left Philly. Longtime MM apologist here to weigh in: 1) Andy Reid never won a Super Bowl in Philadelphia. 2) Lombardi and Holmgren left GB for different jobs. McCarthy only wanted to coach the Packers. I’d argue the roster was devoid of talent because Mark Murphy failed to “offer a gold watch” to Ted Thompson when signs of cognitive decline were obvious even to the fan base. However, I’ll acknowledge that McCarthy had gotten stale and it was time for a change due to the many aforementioned reasons. Yeah, Reid never won a SB. He got to 1 and played in...5 or 6 Championship games? I said they both left their respective teams with similar fanfare, but obviously not the exact same. He was pretty great in Philly. Thing got ugly when he and McNabb had that spat that ended with McNabb in Washington. And Lombardi doesn't really come into play here. I don't think anyone thinks of anyone in Packers history on par with Lombardi. I guess Lambeau because he founded the team(but he also nearly bankrupted them when he went all Hollywood). But very different scenarios. He retired from coaching, then after taking a year off wanted to go back to coaching AND he wanted to.....thwart the control the players were taking as a union I guess for lack of a better term. He thought he could only really do that as an owner. So when he got a big stake in the Redskins in the Nations Capital, he obviously wasn't going to be one(Owner) in Green Bay. Plus coming back to coach when your replacement has only been there for a year...it's not a good look. So the Redskins brought him out and it was the perfect place for him. Plus his wife was having serious issues with depression and other things. Bottom line, I don't really think Lombardi has anything to do with this. Also, Holmgren WANTED to stay in Green Bay as well. But Wolf said he wasn't stepping down anytime soon. Then he stepped down shortly thereafter, otherwise, Holmgren would have stayed in Green Bay and been the GM/HC and we'd have had him and younger TT instead of Sherman. That may have been good for another SB. Or maybe Thompson has to go elsewhere to make his own picks and he builds a SB winner for another team before a poor run toward the end. But all this is really just beside the point. I was defending McCarthy. I was saying if he'd have left a few years earlier and the team hadn't gotten so stale, he'd be viewed in the same lense as Holmgren is and, BUT because both he and Reid stayed a few extra years, they were both run out by their respective fan bases. Many of the same criticisms leveled at McCarthy were leveled at Reid, not being innovative offensively, being too stubborn, too rigid with the players, something he said he needed to change. And now the old, stale offensive coach who saw the game pass him by has led one of the best runs in franchise history for the Chiefs the last 4-5 years. He took over a 4 win team, and they've won 65 games in his 6 full seasons there and it certainly appears as though he may be in line for that SB title yet. Since you bring up Holmgren though if you compare the three coaches, McCarthy has the higher winning pct, he's won the One SB, same as Holmgren, obviously, Reid hasn't won one yet. But a .618 winning pct for MM, .612 for Reid and .592 for Holmgren. Reid is 2 games under .500 in the playoffs, McCarthy is 10-8, Holmgren is 13-11. So it's not hard to imagine McCarthy getting a pretty good job in the near future and adding to those totals. He's 6 years younger than Reid. I could see him ending up somewhere like Houston next year or even with the Steelers if they do in fact choose to part with Tomlin as has been rumored or suggested.

Yeah, the Chiefs are beatable. But they were just getting I think 3 starters back on offense. Hill being the most important. I think that'll likely be a whole different team by the time the Packers play t hem. But...they don't have a good defense. They're kinda like the Packers before Shields went down. They have a pass rusher, a few good players here or there, but it's not a reliable defense and if you can keep the ball away from them...you've got a good shot. I do disagree that the loss last weak was embarrassing. The Colts are a good team. I thought they could win 10 games when Luck announced he was retiring. They've got a dominant OL, a couple great players on D, really good skill players and now Brissett has his own team for the first time. And they have a helluva coach. I could honestly see the Colts coming out of the AFC this year. They need to get healthier on D, but Leonard is a Derrick Brooks type player and with how well they can run it, Brady and or Mahomes could spend very long periods of time with their hands inside those big parka's come January vs the Colts. I wouldn't bet money on it...but they're solid.

I think your conclusion is right, even if I disagree with the previous stuff, which I still do. Chryst is only responsible for 2 losses to each of those teams, and only one of them was by more than 1 score (12 to PSU last year). I'm confident they'll be able to "hang with those big boys" just fine, but they will need to win against one of those teams to get to the playoff, this year or any other. Even that game when the Badgers lost by 6 points while trying to preserve an undefeated season, IIRC that's the game Van Ginkel scored that great pick 6..and they hung around, but it never felt like the Badgers were going to win that game. The one area that OSU has always had a huge edge over UW is their secondary. They can go 6-7 deep and have had multiple guys picked in the first couple rounds the last few years and should again this year whereas the Badgers haven't had the speed on the backend to be able to play the type of coverage that they normally like to. I like the backend of this defense this year, but they're young. They look like they're going to really develop into an elite unit, but it's a big ask for them to play man vs OSU AND then shut down Fields running ability. He's about as talented as the Badgers are going to see on this level. There may be better pro prospects, but he's an amazing athlete. But it'll be fun to see if the young guys are up to the challenge. I just wish we didn't have to beat OSU twice most likely in order to get to the playoffs...but, maybe Penn State helps us out after we knock off OSU next week.

I didn't think Alexander played as poorly as the state line suggested vs the Cowboys. We were up 31-3, Savage went out and he was in man coverage all game long on Cooper. That said, we have another big and physical WR'er and Savage is out tonight as well. I'd like to see King on him a bit more and Alexander on Marvin Jones Jr. This feels like the type of game where he has a big line. The Lions are missing two really good defensive linemen for tonight's game(though Harrison is still there). The Packers should win this game, but I just have a feeling that this is going to be one of those games Stafford really plays well and gets other guys involved. I'm thinking 30-21, something along those lines. I really hope I'm wrong though. Should be fun to see how Burks plays as you'd assume he'd get more reps this week than last and he could play a big role in shutting down Kerryon Johnson(who also kinda feels like he's ready to break out a bit this year).

Is that really going to matter if you are going to be rebuilding? It is going to take at least 2-3 years for them to rebuild. By the time they are ready to be competitive his cap hit won't even be a factor. Well...yeah, I'd think paying as much for the guy to play for another team would matter. Especially since they've given no indication they were planning on "rebuilding." They're a young team that played NE to go to the SB just two years ago. They're obviously a flawed team, but they've also played a tough schedule. Loss to KC to start the year, they lost to the Texans when they went for 2 with 30 seconds left. They just lost to the Saints. They're the exact type of team that can win 10 games or lose 10 in a given season. I think they eventually end up dumping Coughlin and his old school nonsense and try to keep Ramsey. But I don't see them rebuilding at long as they're in a winnable division. They really screwed up in not paying Ramsey this past off-season. He's an elite player, the type you can build your D around. But they can still control him for the next 3-4 years without overpaying him. But I'm thinking they're going to at least want to see what Foles can do before they pay him and trade him. But again, as long as Coughlin is there, who knows what they're going to do.

I'd much rather they take an extra minute or 2 minutes to get together to make the right call than to wait.

Nobody said they didn't have talent, just that they didn't have as much as Minny or Chicago. Galladay is a nice WR'er. They don't have a better skill group than Minnesota. He's at least comparable to Robinson. And we've heard how Minnesota has had talent for the last several years because they have. They've had very good teams. Plus, when a team has only played 4 games, that's not much of a resume. Both the Bears and the Vikings have won 12/13 games in the last couple years. The Bears were about 3 inches away from advancing in the playoffs last year and the Vikings were in the NFC Championship game. So it's not like the talk about their talent has been unwarranted. It's possible they finish 2nd in the division. I kinda doubt it, but they're playing a 4th place schedule. I think they're a average team that has a QB who's up and down...though on balance underrated throughout his career, but Stafford isn't enough to make them better than the Bears and that ridiculous defense and the Vikings and their very good defense and abundance of talent at the skill positions.

I don't know either, he was out of football 2 months ago and at least none of the free draft sites I have browsed seem to even realize he exists yet. But he looks like a pro player to me, great hands and concentration and he looks fast enough, he isn't going to get any better coming back. It's really his senior year. Well, that's what the NFL advisory board is for. And they're usually pretty good about giving a guy some idea. I still think the fact that he was on trial for a serious crime is going to hurt him. Just the fact that it'll be the first thing they really talk about when/if he gets drafted and then the team is going to have to explain the circumstances. Plus, some will just assume he was guilty or at least guilty enough. I don't get a good read on that pro prospects of the Badgers kinda second tier prospects to begin with. I liked Biegel, I thought Fredericks was vastly overrated, I thought Fumagalli would be a really solid pro TE...so I'm really clueless about what teams will think of Cephus. I'm pulling for the guy though.

Foles could be traded they will have to add a pick to trade him but he is tradeable. I wouldn't be surprised if the Bears traded for him. Long for Foles and a 2nd or 3rd sounds about right. Haven't looked at the cap numbers but I think it would fit for Chicago with Long being the guy traded to clear cap space I think the Jags cap hit would be almost as much as Foles contract, so I don't think he's going anywhere.

I think Biadasz will leave early for sure and I would be surprised if Cephus didn't, he just lost a year. Biadasz is a near lock to be one of the first 40 picks and will probably go higher, so he's almost definitely leaving. I don't know if Cephus is a big enough prospect that he'll end up leaving early.

But not ahead of a 1 loss big ten champ, it was a close call when Bama got in ahead of a 2 loss OSU a couple of years ago. I had a pretty good laugh about it because I was still sore about the Badger loss the night before but I still thought it was wrong, you shouldn't get credit for missing your conference title game and losing in one should take you out in most cases. Just take care of business in the non Columbus games the rest of the way and the Badger will have a play in game in the BTC. Long way to go but things looking good after today. It's not about getting credit. They're trying to pick the best 4 teams. They have guidelines for what constitutes those 4 teams, but if your only loss is to a playoff team...you probably should get in over a 2 loss team. The only way I can see a 1 loss Badger team that doesn't get in is if Clemson and Oklahoma are both undefeated and then 'Bama loses a really close game vs LSU. I have a hard time seeing the committee keeping Alabama out of the playoffs if they're only loss is to a team like LSU.

I don't think you need a great defense, you need a competent one. When you're running Gunter out there as your #1 CB, it doesn't really work. Like I've said, I could be wrong, but I don't recall him doing it many times it didn't make sense. He USUALLY did it when they were backed up and didn't get anything on 1st down. But I think the larger issue with McCarthy is he just stayed too long. If he'd have done all the same things he did but had just left before that vaunted 10 year period, he'd be considered up there with Holmgren. But he didn't. It'll be interesting to see if he's back coaching next year or whenever he gets another job and see how he does. He left Green Bay with similar fanfare to how Andy Reid left Philly.

I could see LSU and UGA both staying ahead of Wisconsin. Not that they should...but it certainly COULD happen. Especially if LSU were to lose a close game. Or if Florida beats LSU, they might jump over us. I'd expect to be ~6th this week, but even if they aren't, they're in control. And this secondary really looks like one that could compete with most of the elite teams. That's usually where they are weak defensively(relative to the rest of the D). But these guys are confident and cocky and they play tight coverage.

I wonder if the Badgers would pony up a little more money to keep him around as opposed to when Arnson left for a 600K or so raise? But man, this defense does look awesome and at the few positions they'll be losing guys, they seem to be really deep. That Leo Channel looks like he could be our next stud OLB'er, but we had a 4 star recruit last year from Hawaii. 3 years to "recover" from Anderson. I love how the "recovery" period was still a top 10-15 team for the most part. Just so fun watching this team dominate defensively and have one of the games best backs.

I've always thought there was a good chance that the SEC gets two teams in UGA still has a chance to play Florida(10th), I think they have Auburn and then provided they win the West, they get Alabama in the title game. Now imagine 'Bama wins out, they beat LSU and Auburn but UGA finally gets over the hump and beats them in the SEC title game and they're both sitting at 12-1. Hard to say they're not two of the best teams in the country. Of course this assumes UGA is actually that good and that they're close game vs ND wasn't ND playing great but just Georgia showing they're not that great and of course this loss was a fluke. But the Badgers are gonna have to beat OSU at least once this year. Obviously we have to hope they win it in two weeks, but the more important one will be the B10 title game.

You'd think the Packers would be looking around at players like this, players that could be had for a later draft pick on bad teams. I think Ogletree was projected as a 1st round pick before his final year at UGA...and for some reason ended up falling to like the 7th round. Like I've said though, there are some small tweaks that Gute should be making IMO to this team as the season goes on. Maybe Pennel isn't what he was with the Jets anymore so that's why they're not bringing him in, but they're at least looking around. That's encouraging IMO.

The guys on Packer radio were talking about it after a recent game, maybe last week, but one of them was saying it's really about having a grasp of the game flow. Things like if the opponent D is gassed, has your D been stopping them, who gets the second half KO, etc. Christl at JS used to say you NEVER take a timeout when the other team has the ball before half. MM just did it off a chart regardless of what was going on in that game. I think in the recent Packer game MLF was criticized by the announcers for not taking the timeout on first down but he got it right and took it when it got to third and long I don't remember him ever doing it where it didn't make sense; not saying he didn't, just none that I can recall, but it just killed them the last couple years. It seemed like every time he did it, they'd hit the Packers with a 20 yard draw play and then use their own TO and end up going from 1st and 20 to them putting up points. I remember one instance, I think it was a divisional rival(Detroit maybe). But the Packers punted to them, they started out on their own 10, they tackled them for a loss on the first play and then the Packers call a TO. They picked up the 1st down on the next play and then scored a TD. Using a TO when you've got a team backed up at the end of the half makes sense to me, but it was really just like McCarthy's career in Green Bay. Everything that worked the first 75 pct of it stopped working the last quarter.

MIKE PENNEL....back in Green Bay today for a workout. Really hoping they bring him back. He's outstanding vs the run and the Packers have been moving Clark around on the line, this would free them up that much more. Pennel at 6'4 340 and built like a rectangle. Not a fat guy at all. Adams and Lowry are both banged up. Other area's we're starting to get pretty thin, safety with Savage now down with a high ankle sprain. Guessing that'll be 3-4 weeks before he's back at 100 pct in a best case scenario. No clue if he plays before that or not. Raven Greene down for at least another month or so. I've already said I'd like to see them bring Pennel in after the Eagles game and despite the performance vs the Cowboys, that run defense still needs to be addressed. Burks isn't a physical LB'er-though I'd imagine he'll be on the field more moving forward and is a better option to play next to Martinez than Redmond was/is. It's gonna be interesting to see what Gute does during the season to help this team. During the TT years, it was if someone went down, they brought someone up from the PS and moved on. Normally that's a better idea, but once in a while there are in-season moves that can be made. I've repeatedly said I'd like to see PPat added after next week as well, though that's unlikely to happen.

I'm fairly certain that he would have gotten flagged, then they would have called back the TD and the penalty would have been enforced from the spot of the foul(what, 3 yard line) and it woulda been a 1st and 18 or whatever. Like a holding call downfield. I can't say that with certainty and I can't actually remember the game, but I thought there was a Bengals game when Adams Jones was called for taunting and it took Pick-6 off the board and instead of scoring, it was 1st and 25. I could be wrong, the rule could be different because that was a while ago now and from just reading what you wrote, it does appear as though it's a dead ball foul. So maybe my memory is wrong. But just logically, if they're calling you for an unsportsmanlike penalty DURING the play, it seems illogical that the offending team could still benefit from it. Seriously though, at the time, it looked like he was putting his arm up anticipating a stiff arm. I didn't even see it until the replay, nor did the guys calling the game, and Aikman really doesn't miss much(like him or hate him). So I think it's smart for LaFleur to tell him not to taunt, but it's pretty unlikely he gets dinged for that.

The Packers very possibly don't make it out of the first round without Shields and Philly may have made a run that year. It's hard to articulate just how important a CB like that is. That's really when the Packers defense went from below average to terrible when he was lost early that year. Sullivan has that length to play press and play the ball. I thought Tony Brown would be the unsung CB who came out of nowhere, but maybe it'll be Sullivan.

What would the price be from the farm system? I could easily see the D-Backs asking for Ray and Ashby, in which case, pass. Ray's a good pitcher, but at most I'd offer Payton Henry and Lucas Erceg. Maybe Corey Ray or Tyrone Taylor even up. I'd happily give up Corey Ray and Ashby for Robbie Ray.

No, that sounds like the Bears. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Bears win a SB in the next 4-5 years. To put together a season like they did in 1985. That unit is so talented and so deep. Haha Clinton-Dix is one of the top safeties in the NFL with that group. They lose a guy like Hicks and they don't miss a beat. That's what trading for a guy like Mack does when a couple other young players like Eddie Jackson and Roquan Smith start to emerge at the same time. But for the Packers, no, they're not going to have that type of defensive player. Kenny Clark could become an elite interior defender, Alexander could become one of the best corners, but they don't impact the game like edge rushers and neither Preston or Za'Darius Smith are athletic enough to really be those dominant type players. I think we have enough to win a SB. But like with most teams, things have to fall our way. We need to stay healthy, get home field. I remember in 2010 I thought we were a year away. And we were better the following season, but we got on a roll that year. Maybe that happens this year. Our health is gonna be the biggest factor. We're not a real deep team.

I'd actually prefer they hold him out another game. If you play before it heals, it becomes something you have to deal with all season and then really limits your effectiveness. At least from my understanding of it. Adams is tough and the fact that he didn't play last week is pretty telling to me. But of course if he does, we're obviously in much better shape. Especially is Slay misses another game. I'm more worried about Kevin King though. You know Adams is gonna come back and play though some minor injuries. It feels like we're just living on borrowed time with King. I guess it's gonna take more than 5 games before I trust him. Though he's 2nd or 3rd in PD so far this season with Jaire #1.

It's a division game and the Lions have a very strong defensive line with maybe the best run stuffer in the NFL in Harrison, another monster next to him in Robinson and then two good ends. But I don't see how you can say they're better than anyone we've played other than Denver. I think they're an average team. They've beaten a couple good teams early and blew it vs a really bad team. Last year I think they beat the Pats early while getting blown out by the Jets...and their big addition was Trey Flowers. A nice player, but not a great one. Maybe I'll be proven wrong. I like Galladay, I like Johnson and I've always been a fan of Stafford and thought he could be a really good QB if he had some more talent around him...but I can't see the Packers losing to this team after getting beat twice by them last year...including a 31-0 drubbing.