Report from the Packers Camp

Sports Illustrated sends its writers around the country at this time of year, visiting all the various NFL training camps, and writing in their observations about each team.

Don Banks has visited the Packers camp, and he has written a very interesting report about our team. 

He notes that there are high expectations around the team going into this season, and evidently Coach McCarthy himself is not being shy about stoking those flames.  McCarthy is saying that this squad is “the best team he’s had since he got here.”  Banks also quotes Jermichael Finley as saying that he gets the chills when he thinks about Green Bay’s receiving corps.  And Banks concludes, “I don't get the chills, but I do like the Packers chances in the NFC. At the moment, they're my favorite to win the conference, just as they were coming out of last year's preseason.”

Banks shares some concerns about the Packer defense.  He points to the loss of Johnny Jolly.  He also notes that “historically, the statistical standing of a Dom Capers-coordinated defense has slipped in year two of his tenure” and “there may be nowhere to go but down” after finishing the 2009 campaign with these impressive achievements:

• #2 in overall defense
• #1 against the run
• NFL-high 40 takeaways
• NFL-high 30 interceptions
• tied (with Super Bowl champion Saints) for NFL-high 141 points off takeaways
• Charles Woodson named NFL Defensive Player of the Year

Banks is high on the quality of our inside linebackers, the future of Bryan Bulaga, the tremendous potential of Jermichael Finley, and the expectation that Aaron Rodgers “is in for another monster season.”

In the end, he concludes that the Packers are “not bullet-proof by any stretch. There are some holes in Green Bay's roster. But I see a team still on the ascent.”

Personally, I’m a little less optimistic than Banks. 

But who am I? 

Technorati Tags: Don Banks,Packers training camp,NFL predictions,SI.com

Brett vs. LeBron

The online version of the Cleveland Plain Dealer is now entertaining the same question that we pondered a few posts ago. 

The issue is Brett vs. LeBron.  Which pro athlete, they ask in their poll, is the bigger “Queen of Drama.” 

Given that the poll is appearing on a Cleveland sports web site, the current results are not surprising.  The locally-hated LeBron is beating Brett by a resounding 3-1. 

As Brett currently leads the Vikings through the familiar will-he-or-won’t-he game, however, one wonders who would win in a more national poll.  Not to mention a poll taken here in the Wisconsin and Minnesota region!

While LeBron’s free agency spectacle was a bigger deal than any single offseason thing Brett has done, Favre’s behavior is part of such a much larger pattern.  Methinks, therefore, that most Wisconsinites would vote for Favre over James in this poll. 

Check it out and cast your vote:  Brett vs. LeBron

Technorati Tags: Brett Favre,LeBron James,Cleveland Plain Dealer

Could It Be?

Once again, SI.com is devoting its home page to the news of Brett Favre’s retirement.  It is also the lead story on ESPN.com and Yahoo! Sports.  Favre's Retirement

We have seen this before, no?

The rumor prompts two immediate question, and then a third.

Question #1: Is it true?  The source is anonymous, though said to be familiar with the situation.  The Vikings, as of this hour, have not confirmed the story, nor has anyone out of Favre’s camp. 

Question #2: Will it last?  Even if it is true today, that doesn’t mean that it will be true tomorrow.  We have seen Brett retire – earnestly, tearfully retire – before.  Yet he has always come back and put on the pad again when it was time for the season to start.  Perhaps this story will follow the same trajectory. 

Question #3:  What does it mean?  Yet what if it is true?  What if this really is the end of the road for #4? 

After such a banner performance in 2009, is he really willing to hang it up?  After coming so close to the big game, can he really bring himself to walk away?  It’s hard to imagine that this is really the end for Brett.

Perhaps he saw Don Banks’ Power Rankings (see earlier post) and is positioning himself to get signed by the Jets again! 

If it really is the end of the line, it will be interesting to see how Favre’s reputation and legacy take shape over the next few years. I believe that his brand has been damaged somewhat by his indecision, and especially by his move from the Jets to the Vikings.  He will retire with more wins than any other QB in NFL history, yet only one ring.  How will he stack up, therefore, with Starr, Bradshaw, Montana, and Elway?  Was he really a great winner, or just remarkably durable? 

For all the unanswered questions, I am reasonably sure of this.  If Favre doesn’t come back for the Vikings, I believe the Packers instantly become the class of the NFC North.  But that’s another story, and we’ll save that for another post. 

Technorati Tags: Brett Favre,Minnesota Vikings,retirement

10 Day Forecast

Every so often I have an event on the horizon for which the weather will matter.  Accordingly, I will go to Weather.com and check out the forecast.  They have a “10 Day Forecast” option, which I consult as soon as the event lands within that range.

The question, however, is just how much one can tell from such a long-range forecast.  If it tells me a week-and-a-half out that the weather is going to be perfect, shall I count on that?

With that in mind, we turn our attention to the first of Don Banks’ weekly “Power Rankings” on SI.com.  Power Rankings

Interestingly, Banks puts the New York Jets at #1.  I’m not unwilling to believe that they’ll be very good, but it is hard for me to imagine that they’ll actually be better than, say, the Colts, Saints, Vikings, or Cowboys. 

Meanwhile, Banks places the Packers at #5.  That’s an encouraging estimate, and perhaps especially so because he has ranked us higher than every other team in the NFC North.  And, perhaps even more significantly, he has us as the #2 team in the entire NFC (after the defending champion Saints). 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, all that one can do before they start playing the games is hope, and what Don Banks is saying is hopeful, indeed.  For myself, however, I am feeling more cautious.  A team that was so effectively thrown on by the Vikings and Cardinals, and one that was historically poor at protecting the QB, cannot possibly be the second-best team in the Conference.

Still, in July it’s all still just the NFL’s version of a 10-day forecast.  So even if the forecast is perfect, I won’t count on it. 

Technorati Tags: Don Banks,NFL rankings,SI.com