Week Eight Preview

I mentioned earlier in the week that I think Bears’ fans are overreacting to their most recent (albeit ugly) loss.  I have sensed that some of them are waving the white flag on the season.  Yet I would argue that Chicago is actually in pretty fair shape.  (That’s not to say that I think they are a good team – I just think they are in a favorable position.)

First, they are on top of the NFC North, with the tie-breaker advantage over the Packers and a game-plus lead over both the Vikings and Lions.

Second, they get to take this coming weekend off, while each other team in the Division faces a tough match-up (Lions vs. Redskins; Vikings at Patriots; and Packers at Jets).  It’s entirely possible that all three active NFC North teams will lose, and so the Bears will increase their lead while sitting home watching TV.

Third, the Bears come back from their bye only to play arguably the worst team in the NFL, the Buffalo Bills.  That’s an almost sure win, and so the Bears are nearly guaranteed to enter Week 10 on top of the NFC North.  Not bad for a dysfunctional team. 

Meanwhile, the Redskins will endeavor to continue their victory lap through the NFC North as they go to Detroit this Sunday.  Frankly, despite their reputation and their record, I think the Lions can win this one.  I’m not necessarily rooting for them, but I am picking them.

If the Lions are the NFC North team most likely to win this weekend (and I think they are), I regard the Vikings as the team most likely to lose.  Minnesota heads to New England to face the Patriots, who are looking better and better.  It will be the second consecutive road game for the Vikings, and they’ll be badly hobbled in the game, either because Favre will be playing on a broken ankle, or because Tavaris Jackson will be playing, period.  Not only do I think that the Vikings will lose, I think it may get ugly for them.

The Packers also head east this weekend, facing the 5-1 New York Jets.  CBSSports.com ranks the Jets as the #1 team in the NFL, and they’re coming off their bye, too.  They’ve got a defense that scares me and a serviceable offense. 

On the other hand, the Packers seem to have more guys coming out of the infirmary than going in right now, the offensive line did a great job of protecting Aaron this past week, and I was impressed by the improved overall discipline of the team with regard to penalties.  Accordingly, I DO have hopes for this Sunday.  (If I were putting money on it, though, I’m afraid I’d pick the Jets.)

Finally, under the heading of “it’s like slowing down to look at an accident,” there is the Jaguars/Cowboys game.  Both teams have struggled miserably in 2010.  Jacksonville’s struggles have been, perhaps, predictable and expected.  The Cowboys, however, with their usurped identity as “America’s Team,” had super-high hopes coming into this year.  Indeed, they rival the San Francisco 49ers for the title of “Most Disappointing Team” so far in the current season.  Both teams have coaches on the hot seat, and for that reason alone the game will make for perversely interesting viewing. 

Technorati Tags: Chicago Bears,Brett Favre,Detroit Lions,Minnesota Vikings,New England Patriots,Green Bay Packers,New York Jets,Dallas Cowboys,Jacksonville Jaguars

Man of a Thousand Headlines

How badly does Brett Favre wish just now that he had hung up the cleats and stayed in Mississippi this time around?  How badly does his family wish that he had knocked off his retirement navel-gazing and stayed in Green Bay where he belonged years ago? 

Right now, in the wake of arguably his best season ever, Favre is at the center of SO much attention – and most of it unwanted attention.

First, there is the simple matter of his team.  The Minnesota Vikings, after going all the way to the NFC Championship game in 2009, is now wallowing at 2-4, just a game ahead of the perennially bottom-feeders from Detroit.  Admittedly, the rest of the Division doesn’t look very good, and the Conference lacks a dominant team this year, but still the 2010 Vikings can only be regarded as a great disappointment to date.

Second, there is the internal team drama.  When people are talking about a breech between coach and quarterback, you know that’s a bad sign.  Evidently there was already stress between Favre and Childress last season, yet still the latter saw fit to beg Brett back into service for another year.  “We came so close last year, Brett,” must have been the appeal.  “This will be THE year!  You’ll go out on top!”  Well, instead, Favre has already equaled his interception total from last year, the Vikings have already matched their 2009 loss total, and the coach was calling out his coach in public after Sunday Night’s debacle.

Third, there is the injury.  Two fractures, for heaven’s sake!  He was limping off the field on Sunday and he was wearing a boot on Monday.  He’s 41 years old.  And he needs to be able to move, given his proclivity for the long ball and the sketchy protection given him by his line.  It’s a significant issue for any team to face the prospect of turning to its backup quarterback, but the drop-off is particularly significant for the Vikings.  And, of course, in this specific case, there is…

Fourth, the streak.  For almost any other quarterback to miss a game or two is a challenge and a local headline.  But if Brett Favre misses a game, that’s a national headline.  He hasn’t missed a game since 1992!  When the decision finally comes down, we’ll give more thought to the size and significance of his streak.  For now, though, we are left with that poignant picture of the play on which the injury likely occurred: Favre, wearing a Vikings uniform, sprawled out on his stomach on the big “G” emblem at the center of Lambeau Field.  What an irony if his streak ends there.

Fifth, the other woman.  As if the football-related headlines were not enough, Favre also has to continue to deal with the tawdry headlines (and predictable jokes and skits that accompany them) surrounding this Jenn Sterger character.  (And am I right?  Does she not bear a striking resemblance to Deanna Favre?!)  Apparently Brett has admitted to some of the alleged behavior, while denying the most seedy parts.  For his wife and family, as well as for a lot of his fans, however, what he has admitted to is enough to be crushing.

He should never have gone to New York.  I know that Green Bay and Hattiesburg are not the Garden of Eden – and even Eden was not free of temptation.  Still, he never should have left home.  He had it all in Green Bay.  Where else in the NFL are they going to name a street after you, for heaven’s sake?!  He should have learned something from watching Mike Holmgren leave and fail to recreate elsewhere what he had here.  And now, after just a few years, Brett Favre seems to have lost so much of what he had here. 

Technorati Tags: Brett Favre,Brad Childress,Minnesota Vikings,Green Bay Packers,Jenn Sterger

A Very Good Week

This is a great week to be living in southeast Wisconsin! 

First, football fans around these parts are nearly delirious with what the Badgers have done the past two weeks.  Hosting the nation’s top-ranked team in Madison – along with the whole ESPN College Gameday crew – was it’s own kind of special.   But then to play so well under that spotlight, upsetting Ohio State and shaking up all the polls – that was a historic victory for Wisconsin.

Many of us suspected, however, that the festivities would be short-lived, for the following Saturday brought a trip to Iowa City.  The Hawkeyes were not necessarily a better team than the Buckeyes, but beating them on the road seemed so unlikely.  Indeed, rising to the occasion of beating almost any good team on the road seemed like too tall an order after such an emotional and demanding win against Ohio State. 

Nevertheless, the Badgers pulled off back-to-back, gritty wins, and they have thus vaulted themselves into the Big Ten race and the Top Ten nationally. 

Second, the Bears stunk up the joint in their loss to the Redskins.  That is obviously to our benefit since they sit atop the Division.  The greater pleasure for me personally, though, resides in the fact that I get so much Chicago sports talk radio here, and eavesdropping on all this enemy angst is quite a delight.  It’s a rather sinister pleasure, I admit, but it has a certain justification to it: for I pick up their sports talk radio whether Chicago teams are faring well or poorly.  Since I have to endure their obnoxious celebrations, therefore, I should also be able to enjoy their grief.

And boy are they grieving this week!  In some respects, it’s rather disproportionate, for they have a couple of very good weeks ahead (which I will explore in more detail in our Week Eight Preview).  But they are full of hand-wringing and second-guessing these days.  And all that optimism from the summer of 2009, when they acquired Jay Cutler, has turned into a massive “What’s the matter with this guy?” dialogue.

Finally, third – and most important of all – the Packers beat the Vikings!  Even if the other two games had not gone our way, it would still be a good week just by virtue of the Sunday Night Football game.  We needed a win, and especially this sort of win.  For we had lost our last home game, we had lost our last divisional game, we had lost our last couple of close games, and we had lost both encounters with the purplefied Favre last year.  To win a close one at home in the Division against him/them, therefore, was more than just one monkey off our backs. 

The weeks ahead do not promise to be easy ones for the Packers, but after 7 games we’re in at least a decent position within our Division and within our Conference.  We can play it from here.

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Minnesota Vikings,Brett Favre,Chicago Bears,Wisconsin Badgers

Bed Posts

I didn’t get to watch Sunday Night Football live; I had to watch it on tape. Accordingly, it’s too late to formulate a truly thoughtful response to the Packers-Vikings game, so let me take just the quick few minutes required to make some random observations before I go to bed…

• HUGE WIN!
• Too many Vikings fans in Lambeau Field! We need to get the TSA in there to monitor the gates and keep these intruders from going where they don’t belong.
• I don’t think there is a team in the NFL right now that I would hate losing to as much as the Minnesota Vikings.
• Conversely, I don’t think there is a team I enjoy seeing us defeat more than those same, odious Vikings.
• We saw a number of significant improvements in this week’s performance. We cut way down on penalties. Our receivers weren’t dropping passes. Our front line gave Rodgers very good protection. Only one special teams lapse.
• How long did the last two minutes of this game take? And was it not shaping up like a nightmare for us – watching Favre work more 4th-quarter, come-from-behind magic, while the Packers lose yet another game by 3 points?!
• It’s too bad that the Packers don’t have the Badgers’ running game. I admired how McCarthy tried to get the Packers to do a ball-control, grind-it-out offense in the second half, but it just didn’t have the same umph that the Badgers show.
• On those couple of fourth-and-inches plays, why did we stack it up in an obvious running formation and try to go against the bulk of the Viking defense? Why not spread it out and have Rodgers run it forward the same way he scored that great touchdown last week against the Dolphins?
• What was up with all those “back shoulder” passes that went to the wrong zip code?
• I no longer find it deeply disturbing to see Brett Favre in a Viking uniform. Now I just find it annoying.
• After suffering through so many INTs when he was wearing green-and-gold, how nice was it to pick off a few of Favre’s passes when he was playing for the enemy?!
• On the whole, great play-calling on offense tonight. The Packers mixed it up, used a lot of different weapons, threw deep, threw screens, called runs… very nice!
• Huge win.

Week Seven Preview

Without doing any research to confirm this statement, it seems to me that we usually have more teams at extremes at this point in the season.  Yet going into Week 7, we only have two winless teams left in the league, and no one is undefeated. 

The winless teams are the Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers.  I expect the Bills to consider their futility as they have to travel to Baltimore this week to take on the Ravens.  They shoot horses, don’t they?

The Panthers, on the other hand, have an excellent chance to “get off the schneid,” as they say.  They play host to the surprisingly poor San Francisco 49ers.  It’ll be a case of dueling hot seats for Mike Singletary and John Fox.

And speaking of hot seats, you’ve got to know that Wade Phillips is feeling uneasy these days.  So far from the hosting the Super Bowl this season, the Cowboys lost the “Desperation Bowl” in Minnesota last Sunday.  Now they sit at 1-4, firmly entrenched at the bottom of the NFC East.

They can make a move this week, of course, because they have a divisional game.  The Giants come to Dallas on Monday Night Football, and that should be a fascinating match-up.  The Giants, you recall, had a very disappointing couple of outings early in the season, and the speculation was the Coughlin had lost his team.  But now they have been on a real hot streak, they’re atop their division, and they have the chance to really bury one of their rivals on national television.  The firm of Jones, Phillips, & Romo, meanwhile, faces what must be considered a must-win situation for them. 

The Sunday Night game might also be regarded as a must-win game… for both contestants, in this case. 

This is the real headliner game of the NFL Week 7, as Favre makes his return to Lambeau Field for what everyone reasonably assumes will be his final game there.  That element combines with the on-field urgency of both teams and the alleged off-field exploits of Mr. Favre to make this the most talked about game of the week. 

Finally, the other game of interest is the Redskins’ visit to the division-leading Bears.  Chicago stumbled last week, but the Packers couldn’t take advantage due to their overtime loss to the visiting Dolphins.  We badly need the Redskins to prevail in this one, therefore. 

I only went 1-3 on my predictions last weekend.  Let’s see if I can do better this go around…

I pick the Lions to come out of this weekend at 1-5.  I’m confident of that pick.  Meanwhile, I like the Bears to lose, for I think they’ve got a lot of problems, and I believe the Redskins are putting the pieces together.  But the Packers?  Still haunted by both the two match-ups with the Vikings last year and memories of Moss from his first iteration in the NFC North make me fearful.  Reluctantly, therefore, I’m predicting a Viking win.  Yuck. 

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Minnesota Vikings,Brett Favre,Chicago Bears,Dallas Cowboys,New York Giants

Week Six Preview

We’re coming to the end of one of the worst weeks in recent Packer memory.  And we’re not really coming to the end of it, for while the “L” is notched and we can move on to the next opponent, the carnage continues.  I don’t know if we would have come out any worse if the Redskins had come into the game with a conscious bounty on our best players.

So now we enter a week of uncertainty.  Will Rodgers play?  Will the team make a hundred-percent against a non-Conference opponent with the Vikings on deck?  Did our hopes go down for the season along with Grant, Finley, and Barnett? 

We host the Miami Dolphins at Lambeau on Sunday afternoon.  If we were at full strength, I’d pick the Pack in a heartbeat.  As it is (and has been), though, I’m not so sure.

As I mentioned, it’s a non-Conference game, and so it would not be as costly a loss as either of our other two have been.  I’m thinking especially, therefore, about whether the Packers should rush Rodgers back from his concussion, or whether they should save him for the Viking game.

Meanwhile, it is conceivable to me that we’ll play our best football of the season this Sunday – not because we’ll have our best talent out on the field, but because our handicaps might force us to concentrate better than we have to date. 

That, plus Lambeau, makes me predict a Green Bay win. 

Elsewhere, I am predicting a Lion loss.  I was actually rather pleased to see them finally get a victory, for they deserved one ever since getting hosed against the Bears in Week One.  I don’t imagine them running it to a two-game win streak, however, as they go on the road against the resurgent Giants. 

Speaking of teams likely to lose on the road, the Seahawks are coming to Chicago this weekend.  I’d sure like to see the Division-leading Bears stumble, and I don’t believe they’re that good, but I think they’ll continue to nurse their delusional fans by running their record to a gaudy 5-1 this week. 

Finally, the most fascinating game of the week is the Cowboys playing in Minnesota.  The storyline, of course, is the match-up of two colossally disappointing clubs.  One of them is going to drop to a 1-4 record, and it’s hard to make the playoffs from such a deep hole.  Accordingly, this is being billed as a “must win” game for two teams that entered 2010 with grand playoff hopes. 

The Vikings, you recall, were ever so close to making the big game last year.  And the Cowboys figured on hosting the Super Bowl this year.  For the moment, however, they are both bottom-feeders, along with all the unpleasant issues (and attention to those issues) that surround disappointment.  I’m hoping for a Viking loss, naturally, and so that will be my prediction. 

Bottom line?  Wins for the Packers and Bears; losses for Vikings and Lions. 

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Aaron Rodgers,Chicago Bears,Minnesota Vikings,Seattle Seahawks,New York Giants,Dallas Cowboys,injuries

Costly Turnovers

The 2009 Packers were known for their league-leading turnover ratio.  The offense was careful with the ball, while the defense was forcing fumbles and picking off passes.

The 2010 Packers have been less effective, including two very costly turnovers in their loss to the Redskins last Sunday.  The final turnover (an interception) cost us the game.  The first turnover (a fumble) evidently cost of Jermichael Finley.  While the preliminary estimate was that Finley would be out 3-6 weeks, NFL.com is now reporting that our superstar tight end is likely out for the remainder of the season (Finley out for season). 

Move over, Nick Barnett.  Move over, Ryan Grant.  Another one bites the bench!

Not since the mid-90s has a Packer squad entered a regular season with such high hopes and hype.  And not since the Black Plague has such a significant percentage of a population gone down. 

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Jermichael Finley

Simply Put

Don Banks (SI.com) offers a pretty succinct summary of how grim this Sunday was for the Packers. 

What a brutal week for the Packers, to lose a fourth-quarter, 10-point lead at Washington and the services of four key contributors in NFL sacks leader Clay Matthews (hamstring), tight end Jermichael Finley (knee), tight end Donald Lee (shoulder) and defensive tackle Ryan Pickett (ankle). Then, in the postgame, came the news that quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a concussion during overtime.

Green Bay was banged up coming into Week 5, and now the Packers figure to be in near-crisis mode when it comes to health as they prepare for a visit from Miami and Minnesota over the next two weeks.

The Packers simply can't be taken seriously as a Super Bowl contender at the moment. Green Bay has little killer instinct and it keeps letting inferior teams hang around all game. Green Bay's final seven possessions at Washington ended in four punts, two missed field goals by Mason Crosby and the interception that set up the Redskins' winning field goal in their 16-13 upset.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/don_banks/10/10/snap.judgments/1.html#ixzz120icS1Xb

Technorati Tags: Don Banks,Green Bay Packers,Washington Redskins,Clay Matthews,Jermichael Finley,Mason Crosby

Being Like Mike… and Tiger

I have never been a fan of the Chicago Bulls, and so back in Jordan’s glory days there, I found myself regularly annoyed by this phenomenon:  he was always the story.  What Michael did, what Michael didn’t do, even Michael sitting on the bench – he was always the focus, he was always the story.

More recently, I see that same phenomenon at work in golf.  It’s always about Tiger Woods.  When SportsCenter is reporting on some golf tournament, it doesn’t matter whether Tiger is in first place or fifteenth, his score is reported.  When he’s playing well, that’s the story.  When he’s playing poorly, that’s the story.  When he’s not playing at all, still he is prominently mentioned.

The reason I mention it is because I now see the same pattern at work with the Green Bay Packers.  They obviously came into this season riding a wave of high expectations – and not just by homers, but by the national sports media, as well.  They are beings treated as one of the premier teams in the NFL this year, and so I have observed that they are the story, whether for good or for ill.

In FOX’s postgame coverage, for example, the victorious Redskins still got supporting-cast treatment by the panelists.  The central theme was the Packers and why they lost.

And why did they lose?  The reasons are legion!

If only it were a single, glaring weakness – say, special teams play – then we could focus in on that problem and address it.  But the problems are scattered all over… just like the injuries!

Injuries, penalties, turnovers, special team foul-ups, no running game, play-calling… too many problems, and so the need is much tougher to address.

On the other hand, for all the problems we have shown – especially in the most recent 3 games (Chicago, Detroit, Washington) – we have won and lost by small margins.  Small enough that it would be fair to say, “Fix just one of the problems, and those games would have been three wins instead of one!”

And that, of course, is where we part company with Mike and Tiger.  They won championships. 

A Different Sort of Soap Opera

We have grown accustomed to a certain sort of soap opera with Brett Favre.  For all its idiosyncrasies, though, it’s always been a pretty clean show.  The characters have been all guys – coaches, GMs, teammates, and agents. 

Now, however, it seems that the plot has taken an ugly turn.  Fanhouse.com is reporting that the NFL investigation into Favre’s allegedly inappropriate behavior is now getting cooperation from the woman at the center of the story.  They also include a picture of the woman in question, Jenn Sterger. 

Take a look at the picture, and tell me whether I’m crazy, or whether she looks a bit like someone we already know. 

Technorati Tags: Brett Favre,Deanna Favre,Jenn Sterger

Week Five Preview

A good slate of games on tap for Week Five in the NFL…

The most important of the group, of course, is the Packers’ trip to Washington to play the unpredictable Redskins.  For years, it seems, the folks in DC have been underachieving, and so you wonder when they’re finally going to get it together and live up to their potential. 

I am more afraid of our own injuries and lack of discipline, however, than I am of Donovan McNabb or anything else the Redskins have to offer.  For I am persuaded that if both the Packers and the Redskins played up to their potential this Sunday afternoon, Green Bay would walk away with a victory.  Our own unevenness so far in 2010 makes me apprehensive, though. 

Elsewhere around the Division, the Bears visit the Panthers.  I think Chicago is the better team, but they’re without Cutler, which will handicap what Mike Martz wants to do on offense.  

Meanwhile, the surprising Rams will play the luckless Lions in Detroit.  Tough game to guess.  Both teams are much improved, though clearly St. Louis benefits from being in an easier division. My hunch is that this is the week the Lions finally put it all together and get the win they have deserved several times already this season.

Finally, in the game that will likely get the most hype this weekend, the Vikings play the Jets in New York on Monday Night Football.  This really should be a great game – lots of talent, lots of personalities, and lots of storylines.  My allegiance is obviously with the Jets, and I am eager to see what their defense will do to the newly revitalized Minnesota offense.  I like the Jets at home.

Elsewhere, can you believe the Kansas City Chiefs?  We have a couple of undefeated teams going into the home stretch of the 2009 season, but here we are in Week Five with only one undefeated team.  And it’s the Chiefs!!  They are playing the surprisingly .500 Colts in a game that is nearly must-win for Indy and a game that will go a long way to prove whether KC is for real.

And, finally, the Sunday Night Football game should be an interesting one.  It’s not exactly the clash of the Titans, but it pits the winless and desperate 49ers against the Philadelphia Eagles with their quarterback carousel.  I honestly thing Kevin Kolb has a better chance of succeeding on the road than he would at home.  Still, the visiting team seldom performs well on a cross-country trip.  Also, the 49ers simply cannot afford to lose again.

Predictions?  I like the Packers, Lions, and Bears to win in the NFC North this week, while the Vikings fall on the road. 

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Chicago Bears,Minnesota Vikings,Detroit Lions,St. Louis Rams,Kansas City Chiefs,Indianapolis Colts,San Francisco 49ers,Philadelphia Eagles,NFL Week Five

Mixed Emotions

Packers - Lions

It seems to be the universal response in the wake of last Sunday afternoon’s duel between the Packers and Lions at Lambeau.  It is what I personally felt, and it is what I have heard so many others also express since then – individual fans, local talk guys, national sports media commentators, and even Packer players themselves in interviews… 

That was a win that felt like a loss.

At the end of the season, it’s just another notch in the “W” column, so it’s all good.  But in the moment, it certainly wasn’t accompanied by the sense of euphoria, satisfaction, and accomplishment that we generally associate with a win. 

I suppose we can take away some encouragement from the fact that we still haven’t played a truly good game, yet we’re 3-1.  And we might take pride in the fact that we played so badly – and were so badly outplayed – yet still got the win.  And yet it’s hard not to be disturbed by the lack of discipline and the lack of production that the Packers exhibited at home against a perennial doormat.

That said, the Lions are clearly a much-improved team.  With due respect to the “you are what your record says you are” crowd, the Lions are better than 0-4.  I do not look forward to meeting them again later this season in Detroit.  And I will not be surprised by the first win, no matter who it comes against. 

Injuries

This season’s high hopes seem to be being placed on I-R one player at a time.  Now we have lost Nick Barnett (Packer injury updates), which is a costly loss, indeed.  How many starters can you win without?

Randy Moss

And then we add insult to injury with the news that Randy Moss has returned to the NFC North.  I am definitely more concerned about the Vikings now than I was one week ago.  While I don’t think Favre can repeat his fantasy performance from 2009, it’s a miserable prospect to think about facing that defensive line when we have the ball, and then try to defend both Randy Moss and Adrian Peterson when we do not have the ball. 

There are some players, coaches, and teams that I don’t mind losing to as much as others.  Fortunately, I don’t feel any strong personal animus toward Brad Childress, for I sure hate losing to the rest of that team.  And losing will (would) be even worse this year now that Moss is back in Minnesota’s team picture.  

Brett Favre

Finally, this one was ugly and unexpected… allegations about racy messages from Brett Favre to another woman. Yuck!

His reputation has taken something of a hit in recent years because he has come across as indecisive and a me-first guy.  Still, the prevailing assumption that he was basically a good guy – someone who had gotten his act together after a rowdy youth, someone we loved through his father’s death and his wife’s cancer.  But this takes some of the charm out of his playful, back-slapping, tractor-riding persona. 

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Detroit Lions,Brett Favre,Randy Moss

Week Four Preview

This Sunday afternoon’s game can’t come soon enough for me.  I can’t live with the pain and frustration of the Monday Night mess much longer!  And my expectation is that the Lions in Lambeau will help to make everything better.

There is little question in my mind, following in the wake of Monday’s game, that the Packers were the better team.  I don’t really fear meeting the Bears again.  And I certainly don’t fear the Lions.  I only fear our own foolishness and underachieving. 

I believe the Lions are on the right track for the future, and I think their D-line is going to give our O-line fits.  In the end, though, we have more and better talent.  If we can just cut our mistakes in half, therefore, I believe we’ll get back in the win column this week.

Meanwhile, our hope is that the Bears will enter the loss column.  It will be their second consecutive week in prime time (Sunday Night Football), only this time they’ll be on the road.  The New York Giants play host to the Bears, and honestly the Giants need this win more.  They have truly underperformed – or at least performed quite unevenly – so far in 2010.  They’re in a competitive division: any one of those four teams could hope to win the NFC East. 

I’m not sure which of the two teams playing on Sunday Night is the better team, but I do think either one can win.  And I certainly hope the Giants pull it off, for the Panthers, Seahawks, Redskins, and Bills are the Bear’s next four opponents – hardly Murders’ Row.

Meanwhile, believe it or not, the Vikings are already on their bye this weekend!  ‘Way too early, in my judgment.  I would think that they, as well as the Chiefs, Cowboys, and Buccaneers would all want to keep it going this Sunday, but instead they’ll have to shift into park already in Week Four.  Ugh!

The Packers, on the other hand, have a lot of football left before getting their week’s vacation.  We’re home for the Lions, at Washington, home for Miami, home for Minnesota, at the Jets, and home for the Cowboys – two of those games on Sunday Night Football! – before we finally get out break in Week Ten.  Personally, I like that situation much better.  I like a late rest just before the final stretch run. 

Finally, there are several other interesting games around the league…

San Francisco at Atlanta will be interesting the way an accident is.  The 49ers have clearly been one of the early disappointments in 2010, and Atlanta will be a tough place to make things right.  Can you imagine Mike Singletary if San Fran starts 0-4?

Baltimore at Pittsburgh, meanwhile, will be a fascinating match-up.  The Steelers have surprised everyone with their perfect start in spite of their most imperfect circumstances.  But a divisional game against a good Ravens team…  Could spell trouble for Pittsburgh.

Finally, Monday Night Football features another excellent contest.  The New England Patriots head to Miami for an important divisional contest between a couple of real contenders.  Should be a good one, and it carries a lot of early significance. 

So, Week Four is almost here… and I can hardly wait!

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Detroit Lions,Chicago Bears,New York Giants,Minnesota Vikings,San Francisco 49ers,Atlanta Falcons,Baltimore Ravens,Pittsburgh Steelers,New England Patriots,Miami Dolphins,Week Four