HarveysWBs

That looks like a fun slate. Health is paramount, as it always is, and of course there will be one or two of this year's playoff teams that take a nosedive, and a couple bad teams that surge. But that home slate especially looks really exciting, particularly if Willis ends up in Miami.

Yeah as gross as it is, I imagine they flip the script on the North’s performance last year. I wouldn’t be shocked if all of them win their first game, and do it fairly handily.

It would seem so.

I had to chuckle imagining Aaron Rodgers on the couch tonight. He had to be thinking, “man, I’m 42 years old, haven’t played for Green Bay in three years, and I’m in a completely different conference, but somehow, the Packers defense is still letting me down.”

Regardless of the injury circumstances, but five straight losses in a “all-in” season, with the last one coming in Chicago, should probably get a coach canned. I’m more inclined to defend him than most here, it seems, but I’m not sure I can defend that.

I’ve seen some bad Packers defensive performances in my time. I don’t remember a half that was quite that bad. Maybe against SF in the 2019 playoffs, who also just ran at will. The Packers can always find a surprising way to lose. But, I don’t care about any of that anymore. Malik looks good, when he’s not being sabotaged by his o-line. Good for him.

I fully intend to keep the promise to myself that I would no longer have any positive expectations for this year's team. So I'm not going to focus on the fact that the Packers are favored at home while the Bears will likely lose, setting up yet another chance to take over the division next week. No, that is fool's gold. Instead, I will be thinking about QB's this weekend. First, I'm just concerned about Love's health. A concussion is bad even if one recovers quickly, and not clearing protocol this week is not just troublesome for the Packers' short-term prospects, but also raises at least some small concerns about Love's long-term well-being. Obviously, we're just wishing him the best. As for Willis, tomorrow night's game will be a test unlike anything he has seen thus far. In none of his previous starts have the stakes been higher than they are about to be, and he is facing an opponent that is both more motivated (at least theoretically--it seems there may be some questions about the Baltimore locker room esp. Harbaugh vs. Jackson and whatever is going on there) and more talented than the ones he has faced before. Plus, he is likely to be physically compromised due to injury and illness in ways he was not in his previous appearances. I am keenly interested in seeing how Willis responds to all this. As an aside, I absolutely despise any hint of "Willis should be the starter" discourse, so I hesitate to bring this up, but I do hope they find something in the red zone tomorrow with him playing, and also wonder if it would be prudent to develop a red zone package that features him either under center or utilized in a more creative way. That could be a very useful wrinkle in the playoffs for a team that could use about as many wrinkles as a linen jacket stuffed in an overhead compartment. But, that is beginning to sound too much like a positive expectation... Long term, barring something horrible, Willis is obviously too good (and will be too expensive) to just be Jordan Love's parachute, but I suspect he is also not good enough to succeed in the types of places that are likely to give him a shot (Jets, Cardinals, etc.). As such, he probably peaks as a Ryan Fitzpatrick-type journeyman who spawns a couple more minor legends about himself as a bandaid option, but won't ever find a spot that can help him flourish. Cards on the table, I think his best chance would be in Miami if they cut bait with Tua, and he could be a fun follow in a place like that. So anyway, I hope to achieve my goal of being entertained but not otherwise affected by this ridiculous sport.

Managed to be less sucky and disappointing than the Lions this year…woo… Hang the banner.

Losing to Bosmer and his sub-10 yards passing with the season on the line is a horrific look for the Lions. This is a season of truly terrible football in the North. My goodness.

I agree with @HarryDoyle about Doubs being on the hands team, and came here to say exactly that: how does a guy with his history get to be in that spot? He was obviously gun-shy, as his brief glance up to find the tacklers before he could secure the ball would indicate. I feel for the guy, but he should be out of the league. I think (or maybe just hope) that in twenty years, it will be unconscionable that we as a society allowed and encouraged people to destroy their own brains for our amusement. Losing provides clarity. Today more than most days, it is clear to me that this sport is a dumb one. Attaching any kind of emotional investment in it makes about as much sense as declaring you are a fan of a professional craps player, since that is about as much randomness as this sport involves. Some players and a precious few coaches seem to tilt the table, but for everybody else, we’re cheering for a dice roll and then arguing about how the player threw the dice. It’s all for the gamblers and panem et circenses now. We’re the idiots for caring about it.

I fear you may be right. But this is football and the variance is insanely high. Flipping Tom Coughlin got two rings out of Eli Manning and a dump truck full of horseshoes. Brian Billick got one for crying out loud. LaFleur can clear that bar. But the breaks are beating the boys, and so far, he’s never overcome the breaks.

LaFleur’s saving grace is his high floor. First, he is money with QBs, and this is indisputable. Matt Ryan, Rodgers, and now Love and even Malik Willis have been the best versions of themselves under his tutelage. Knowing every year you will get maximized QB play from QB1 and even QB2 is worth its weight in gold, because the opposite of that is the fastest way to become the Jets or the Browns. He never seems to lose the locker room, and the message doesn’t seem to get stale. But he’s being tested on that now. And his in-game foibles have been hashed enough and I won’t deny them. The question is, does Policy have anyone who he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that can come in and either reset practically the entire coaching staff amidst a title window for the next two years and get a better shot with Love and Parsons than MLF gives you? Or, can you trust Hafley to captain this ship and find a wunderkind OC to continue Love’s maturation? If Policy isn’t absolutely certain about either prospect, pulling the ripcord on LaFleur now is basically malpractice. I don’t love this situation, but it is the reality. And I think you can still say he’s definitely a top 10 HC overall, and probably top 5 on his best day. Can he be that guy at least one time when it counts? Who knows. Not even Kyle Shanahan can claim as much for all the plaudits he gets.

I mean, it’s not really on him, but I think a message should probably be sent, and it’s enough cumulative underperformance at this point to more than justify it. The unit has cost us too many wins under his watch.

Nobody beats backup QBs like your Chicago Bears!

Who knows who that’s on, but backup Center who has been great and backup QB notch a critical exchange. Just feels like we’re running out of bullets

If Love misses next week?

Nah man, that’s emotional decision making after the fact. You go every time in that spot.

It’s stunning that our teams have been on the losing end of two of the most consequential botched onside kick coverages of the last decade+. I wanna hate ST coaches but that stuff isn’t on the coach. The players know exactly what they’re supposed to do, they just didn’t execute.

Our corners suck

Defense looks like they’ve quit

I despise special teams. Always and forever. It’s a curse

My gosh we suck

Let’s go offense

Finally a holding call

And replay assist doing its job. Nice.