Bucky’s Obit

Three weeks ago, he was so full of life and potential.  But now, it seems, Bucky is dead. 

At one time, his Badgers were thought of as a Top 5 team in the nation; now it’s an open question whether they are even in the top half of the Big Ten.  Formerly, the talk anticipated the travesty of an undefeated Wisconsin team being frozen out of the BCS title game and being relegated to the Rose Bowl.  Now the Badgers will be lucky to make it to Pasadena.

Bucky is dead, and it’s such a shame.  His death is so senseless, so unnecessary, and so premature.  He didn’t need to die: he should have emerged from East Lansing and Columbus very much alive and well.

And now Badger fans are left to wonder about the cause of death. 

Football does not have an autopsy.  We cannot identify with scientific certainty the reason for Bucky’s demise.  But I have a hunch that the cause of death in this case was coaching. Bad coaching.

I’m not thinking of any single coaching decision.  This is not like a game that is lost on some boneheaded play-call, a failure to challenge, or even the mismanagement of the play-clock.  There is a larger concern here, it seems to me.

I believe that the Badgers are better than the Spartans.  Put that game in Camp Randall, and I imagine Wisconsin would have won going away.  Likewise this weekend’s game against Ohio State. 

And, for that matter, I think the 2010 Badgers were better than the TCU team that beat them in last year’s bowl game.

Is this a pattern?  And if a team chronically underperforms, how is that not a coaching problem?

Our two fourth-quarter comebacks prove our ability, our potential.  But those brief demonstrations of intensity and explosiveness also serve to illustrate how largely ineffectual we have been for the first three quarters of both games.  In other words, the few moments when we have performed are evidence that we are mostly underperforming.

Two consecutive losses to lesser opponents.  Two consecutive games with punts blocked, leading to touchdowns.  Two consecutive fourth-quarter leads lost to improbable, Hail Mary passes.  Take away just those two nearly inexcusable errors from each game and that represents a 14-point swing.  Fourteen points!

With our front line, our running backs, and our quarterback, there is no excuse for losing to the two teams that we have.  Perhaps against Stanford in the Rose Bowl, but not against the struggling Buckeyes in the horseshoe.    

I suppose it is still theoretically and mathematically possible that the Badgers can make something of their season.  Bucky isn’t actually dead, after all.  But I’m afraid that poor coaching is killing his chances.

Technorati Tags: Wisconsin Badgers,Michigan State Spartans,Ohio State Buckeyes

Week Eight: A Look Ahead

Six teams have a bye in Week Eight -- the Bears, Bucs, Falcons, Jets, Packers, and Raiders.  All six have winning records.  Six of the 17 teams with winning records are not playing this weekend.  No wonder the slate of games looks a little weak this week.

On the other hand, the three winless teams all take the field this Sunday for your viewing pleasure. 

In a battle of the wound-lickers, the Colts face the Titans.  Both teams’ Week 7 games require a thesaurus to characterize.  Trounced. Embarrassed. Manhandled. Humiliated.  You pick the word that works best for the Titans, and then double it for the Colts.

The other word people are applying to the Colts is “quit.”  That’s a pretty harsh critique.  Better to be bad in the NFL than to be a quitter. 

Meanwhile, the Rams are still winless, too, and now they have to host the Saints. This is the second consecutive week that New Orleans gets the opportunity (and pressure) of playing a winless team.  I can’t imagine that they will play as perfect a game as they managed last week against Indy, but you know the tape of that public undressing must give the Rams pause.

And the Miami Dolphins are still winless, too.  They may be the ones with the most bitter taste in their mouths this week.  They weren’t decimated the way that, say, the Colts were, but their fate may have been worse: they lost a game that they had effectively won.  They had shut out the visiting Broncos 15-0 through 56 minutes of play, only to end up losing by three in overtime.  What a punch in the gut.  And now they hit the road to play the Giants, which will likely result in yet another notch in the loss column.

Elsewhere, after a collection of quality losses, the Panthers finally put together a quality win last week.  Now the question is whether they can make it two in a row against the visiting Vikings.  I think Ponder will carry some momentum into this game, on the one hand. On the other hand, he may suffer somewhat from the advantage Carolina will have of being able to watch his film and gameplan for him.

The other NFC North team in play this week is the Detroit Lions.  This may be one of the most interesting games of the week, for both the Lions and their opponents -- the Broncos -- have been the subject of so many stories and so much attention.  For five weeks (or more if you count the end of last season), the Lions were the subject of much admiration because of their turnaround.  Then, in the wake of their first loss, the story was about their coach and his post-game hissy fit.  And now this week, in the wake of their second consecutive loss (at home to NFC teams, in both cases!), the story is about whether the Lions are dirty and heartless, as well as overrated.

Well, they head to Denver to take on the Tebow-led Broncos.  In a fascinating achievement, Tim Tebow’s first start of 2011 managed to lend support to both his haters and his adorers.  Conventional wisdom says that he stunk up the place for 56 minutes, but then he showed those much-heralded intangibles at the end to pull out an improbable win.  And wins are the bottom line in the NFL. 

Now Tebow gets to start before the hometown crowd.  On the other hand, he has to go against the angry and frustrated (and possibly dirty) Detroit Lions.  HIs brawn and agility against the Lions fierce defensive front should be fascinating to watch.  If the game were in Detroit, I’d say no contest.  In Denver, though, I wonder… 

Finally, the two sexiest games of the weekend are the Cowboys at Philly on Sunday Night Football and the Patriots in Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon. 

The NFC battle is a divisional rivalry, and both teams need the win.  The AFC game is a conference rivalry between the two teams that both laid claim to “team of the decade” for the ‘00s.  It’s two different styles of play.  Two different kinds of cities.  Two different types of quarterbacks.  And both teams figure to be playing in the postseason, which makes this head-to-head contest all the more important.

Meanwhile, the undefeated Packers get a much-deserved rest this weekend.  When they return, they’ll face a demanding November, with games at San Diego and Detroit, as well as visits from the Buccaneers and Vikings.  For now, though, we get to sit back and relax while other fans toil.  And perhaps we’ll get to watch the Vikings and Lions both lose while they’re at it.

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Minnesota Vikings,Detroit Lions,Tim Tebow,Denver Broncos,New England Patriots,Pittsburgh Steelers,Indianapolis Colts,New Orleans Saints,St. Louis Rams,Miami Dolphins,Tennessee Titans

Hustling the Hustler

There is luck and there is excellence. Both can get you touchdowns, but only one is likely to get you wins.

Luck was the stuff of Christian Ponder’s first play. A surprise long bomb put the Vikings at the Packers’ one-yard-line, setting them up for a stunning opening drive touchdown.

Then Aaron Rodgers took over. His opening drive featured 6-for-6 passing, with completions to six different receivers -- the last one being to John Kuhn for six points. It was systematic and surgical -- a thing of beauty, and exactly the sort of performance we have become accustomed to from Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers connected on his first 13 passes, and put number 14 right in Randall Cobb’s breadbasket, but he dropped it.  In the end, Rodgers went 24-of-30 for 335 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Christian Ponder is receiving considerable praise for his impressive debut, and he did show good poise and ability. I expect the Vikings may have found their future.  But he hardly represented competition for Rodgers, completing fewer than half of his passes (13 of 32) for a paltry 219 yards.  Plus, he threw as many balls to our defense (2) as he did to the end zone.

In the old Dick Van Dyke Show, there is an episode called Hustling the Hustler.  Buddy Sorrell’s brother, Blacky, comes to town.  Blacky is a reformed pool shark, but he still has his skill.  During the episode, we watch him hustle Rob Petrie over the course of an evening of playing pool in Rob’s basement.

When they start out, Blacky predictably lets Rob win the majority of his games, building his confidence along the way. When it comes to the decisive, final game, however -- the one on which all the money is really riding -- then Blacky takes over. He calmly takes the talc out of his pocket (“drying my palms,” he coolly explains), and then effortlessly runs the table, making every shot with ease and precision.

So it was in Minnesota last Sunday afternoon.  The Vikings were spotted 7 easy points at the beginning, and they grew in confidence throughout the first half.  But then it was like Rodgers and the Packers pulled out their talc and went to work.  Twenty-three unanswered points from the final moment of the second quarter through the clinic that was the third quarter.  Football sharks.

From the end of our first drive on offense, though, the game was never in doubt in my mind.  For I knew that Christian Ponder couldn’t keep doing all day what he did to score seven.  But I knew Aaron Rodgers could.  For excellence wins games. 

Apparently all the games.

Technorati Tags: Aaron Rodgers,Christian Ponder,Minnesota Vikings,Green Bay Packers,Dick Van Dyke Show

All Kinds of Fans

I’d be very curious to find out what the NFL, or the networks, or the advertisers know about the difference between the audiences for Sunday Night and Monday Night Football.  The reason I raise the issue is because I am struck by how very different the two television products are.

The game, of course, is the same.  And so, as a football fan, both networks can count me in for watching the game.  But the pregame approaches are so distinctive.

NBC’s Football Night in America strikes me as a pretty cerebral pregame program.  Lots of conversation and analysis.  Good reporting.  Even some good debate from time to time -- though it is the style of debate that favors reason over bombast.

ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown, by contrast, seems much more visceral.  The coverage of games is more hysterical, the debate less articulate, and even the promotional pieces that get you in and out of the programming is louder and more in-your-face.  I suppose the C’mon, Man! segment is characteristic of what I mean about ESPN’s product.

The NBC product is more likely to make the viewer say, “Hmmm, that’s interesting.” The ESPN product is more likely to appeal to viewers who say, “Awesome, dude!”

But they’re all football fans.  Some would rather hear Bob Costas’ thoughtful reportage, others prefer Chris Berman’s nicknames-and-song-lyrics shtick. 

The other evidence of how broad is the football fan base, I suppose, is the variety of commercials you see during games.  Some are so clever, some are funny the first time, and some are just dumb every time you see them.

Speaking of the commercials, I really like Aaron Rodgers’.  I don’t think his State Farm or Associated Bank ads are the brightest, but he is such a likeable guy.  Also, I really appreciate and respect his readiness not to take himself too seriously. 

Conversely, is there a more stupid, contrived, and ubiquitous ad out there than the GEICO cheerleader-caveman commercial?   It’s like some ad exec at GEICO lined up Brian Orakpo for a commercial, and when the rest of the execs said, “Who’s he?”, this is all they could come up with. 

So I wish I knew what the NFL -- or the networks or the advertisers -- know about their audiences.  I’d be very curious to read our profiles.

Technorati Tags: GEICO,Football Night in America,Aaron Rodgers,Associated Bank,State Farm,Bob Costas,Monday Night Countdown,Monday Night Football,Sunday Night Football,Chris Berman

Week Seven: A Look Ahead

Two types of stories dominate the NFL going into Week Seven.  The new quarterbacks and the perfect teams.

There are three new quarterbacks who are getting a lot of attention.  Carson Palmer has resurfaced in Oakland, looking for a fresh start.  Evidently he has been warmly welcomed, and high hopes surround him there.  Elsewhere, Tim Tebow takes over the Denver Broncos, and Christian Ponder will start for the Minnesota Vikings.

Palmer is likely to debut at home this week against the Chiefs -- a good situation, if he can overcome the rust.

Tebow’s first start is on the road, except that the Miami crowd on this particular occasion will likely be in his corner more than the Dolphins’.  Poor Tony Sparano and his disastrous season!  I expect Tebow to get the win and return to Denver a hero. 

Meanwhile, Christian Ponder gets to start at home, but he has to take on the best team in the league.  Naturally, there will be more on that particular match-up below.

The other ongoing drama is the “perfect” teams.  The perfect Packers continue to invite increasing speculation.  As I mentioned in  a post earlier this week, I think it’s a little early to be talking about 16-0.  Something about these Packers, though, encourages such debate.  In that earlier post, I shared several links to that growing conversation.  Here is another link.  This page features both video and printed responses to the question of whether the Packers can stay perfect. (Theisman on the Packers and Sapp on the Steelers, I thought, were especially interesting elements in the video.)

We’ll consider below whether the Packers will stay perfect for at least one more week.   

At the other end of perfection, you have the Dolphins, Colts, and Rams all still winless.  We’ve touched on the Dolphins’ tough draw this week.  The Colts, meanwhile, have an even tougher one, playing on the road against the Saints.  And the Rams head to Dallas to play the Cowboys. 

In the end, I expect all four teams with “0” somewhere in their record will keep that “0” for another week. 

Elsewhere, the Chargers-Jets game was already going to be a good match-up.  And now that the coaches have thrown some jabs at each other through the press, it’s that much more interesting. 

I think that the Redskins in Carolina is an interesting game, too.  I don’t particularly care about either team, but I am fascinated by the hype surrounding Cam Newton.  He is still enjoying all kinds of “winner” talk, even though his team is 1-5 and he leads the league in interceptions.  The Redskins won’t be an easy out.  They’re 3-2 and staying in the mix in the NFC East.  Also, the Panthers represent an in-Conference game, so that makes them important.  It’ll be interesting to see if Carolina can finally get a quality win.

Finally, we move to the NFC Central -- home is where the heart is. 

The Bears and Buccaneers are heading to London in a match-up I just cannot get a good sense for. I gather that the odds-makers have it as a 1-point spread.  Naturally, I’m rooting for the Bucs, but I wouldn’t want to put money on it either way.

Still more compelling is the Falcons’ trip to Detroit.  The Lions are coming off their first loss, and one wonders how that will impact them.  It’s not just any loss, remember.  They were on an incredible run going back to the last quarter of the 2010 season.  They were one of the last two teams standing in the NFL this season.  And they were really ‘in the conversation.’

But last Sunday, they lost.  For the first time in a long while.  At home.  To an NFC team.  To another, perhaps better, Cinderella.

The Lions as still ‘in the conversation,’ to be sure.  But for at least one week, that conversation has been about their coach losing his cool.  And while neither coach acquitted himself well, Detroit’s was the one who looked weak, frustrated, and uncool. 

Atlanta is good.  While off to a rough start in 2011, they were 13-3 last year -- best in the NFC by two games!  Detroit, meanwhile, was 6-10.  Can things have changed that much in so short a time?  I’m guessing not, and so I’m looking for a Falcon victory. 

Finally, the Packers head to Minnesota.  Two years ago, that trip was a disaster.  Last year it was frightening.  This year, everyone assumes we’ll go in and have our way against the struggling Vikings. 

Personally, I’m a little afraid of this one -- not a lot, but a little.  While I think a team like the Dolphins may have given up on 2011, I don’t think the Vikings have.  They’ve been in every game they’ve played.  They’re at home.  They know us and they hate us.  And anything can happen in the Division.

On the other hand, numbers don’t lie.  Consider the difference between two statistical columns.  The differential between “points for” and “points against” for the Packers thus far is +83.  For the Vikings, that number is -24.  That has to mean something.  And I can’t imagine that a rookie QB making his first start is going to make up for that kind of difference in quality. 

I had a dream last night that the Packers lost this Sunday.  But I’m awake now, and I say that Green Bay is 7-0 heading into their bye.

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Minnesota Vikings,Christian Ponder,Miami Dolphins,Denver Broncos,Tim Tebow,Detroit Lions,Atlanta Falcons,San Francisco 49ers,Chicago Bears,Tampa Bay Buccaneers,Carson Palmer,Oakland Raiders,Kansas City Chiefs,Indianapolis Colts,New Orleans Saints,St. Louis Rams,Dallas Cowboys,San Diego Chargers,New York Jets

Perfectionists

Have you heard it?  The conversation has begun!  People are beginning to talk about whether the 2011 Green Bay Packers can go 16-0 in the regular season.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t expect such a discussion to arise until a team is 9-0 or 10-0.  The fact that the Lions’ loss on Sunday leaves us perfectly alone, however, combined with our status as defending champs, the remarkable roll we’ve been on since late last season, and how loaded we are as a team, has prompted this discussion in several quarters.

“Mike & Mike in the Morning” entertained the question briefly on their Tuesday morning broadcast.

Meanwhile, Andrew Perloff and Mark Mravic of SI.com gave the topic more attention in a video dialogue.  Perloff doubts that the Packers will get it done, but Mravic notes that there is no one playing better. 

On the subject of how well we are playing, Peter King devotes a significant percentage of this week’s MMQB to Aaron Rodgers. It is an admiring analysis of both Rodgers’ character and his play.  Good reading. And King includes some statistical data that really captures how exceptionally well -- indeed, historically well -- Rodgers is playing right now.

Meanwhile, Jemele Hill of ESPN.com has written a longer piece about the Packers’ perfect possibility.  She likes our odds.  And she likes our team.

But it is Don Banks who has, in my exposure at least, given the longest and most thoughtful treatment to the question of whether Green Bay will achieve a perfect season.  He cleverly walks through each remaining game on the Packers’ schedule, making a case for why Green Bay might win or might lose. 

Except that that’s not exactly how he phrases it.  Rather, Banks makes a case for why Green Bay WILL win and why they MIGHT lose each game. 

Is he tipping his hand?  Does Banks seriously believe that the 2011 Packers will do what only two NFL teams (72 Dolphins, 07 Patriots) have done before?

Do you?

Technorati Tags: Aaron Rodgers,Green Bay Packers,Peter King,Don Banks,Andrew Perloff,Mark Mravic,Mike & Mike,perfect season,undefeated,Jemele Hill

The Cheese Stands Alone

It was a tough day for the undefeateds in college football on Saturday.  Michigan got upset at Michigan State.  Ohio State stunned Illinois.  And my alma mater, the University of Virginia, shocked the previously undefeated and highly-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

And half of the undefeated teams in the NFL went down this weekend, too.

While the Wisconsin Badgers ran away with their no-contest against Hoosiers on Saturday, the Green Bay Packers made similarly easy work of the visiting Rams on Sunday.  And with the Lions’ loss at home to the 49ers, now the Packers are where they ought to be: alone at the top of the NFC North, and the lone undefeated team in the whole NFL.

The Packer win was excellent, of course, but it was to be expected.  The truly gratifying game, however, was the Detroit loss.  I have become so weary of all the Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson hype, and so I will be delighted to watch that deflate a bit in the coming week.  Lo and behold, the Lions are mortal.  They can’t always come back.  They can’t always pull off the miracle. 

On the other side the ledger, it’s hard to know what to make of the 49ers.  Are they that good?  Were they just underperforming last year under Singletary, or are they overachievers under Harbaugh? 

In a strange fluke of schedule, meanwhile, the Packers get to play the Vikings in two of the next three weeks, with a tough trip to San Diego in between.  The Lions host the Falcons before going to the Broncos and the Bears. I would expect us to come out of this three-game stretch with the same one-game lead over the Lions.

Ironically, the talk in Detroit this week may not be about the Lions’ performance or their loss, but rather the post-game scrap between the coaches and their teams.  That distraction will not serve the Lions well as they try to evaluate their loss and prepare for the Falcons.   

Of course, Detroit sports talk radio will have plenty of unhappy choices this week, for there is also the Tigers’ Saturday night massacre at the hands of the Rangers to ponder. 

In the end, it was a very good football weekend in Wisconsin -- and for Wisconsin. 

Baseball is another story.

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,St. Louis Rams,Detroit Lions,San Francisco 49ers,Wisconsin Badgers

Week Six: A Look Ahead

It was just a couple of years ago that the Indianapolis Colts were flirting with a perfect season late in December.  Many questioned the coach’s choice to abandon the effort for perfection in favor of protection. 

How long ago must that seem for Indy fans today?!  The 0-5 Colts head to Cincinnati to play the Bengals.  They’d better get their first win this week, for the following week they’ll be in New Orleans on Sunday Night Football!

The second of three winless teams, the 0-4 Miami Dolphins, have to play the Jets in New York on Monday Night Football.  Miami is rested, but New York is a frustrated 2-3, and you get the feeling that the Jets are going to be grumpy.  I think the Dolphins drop to 0-5.

Meanwhile, the final remaining winless team is the 0-4 Rams, and they (along with their baseball neighbors) are coming to Wisconsin this Sunday.  The Rams play the undefeated Packers in what is probably the greatest mismatch of the weekend.  As I mentioned going into our game against the Broncos, I don’t worry about this team having a mental or intensity letdown against an inferior opponent.  I think they’re a businesslike squad, and I’m confident they’ll take care of business at home. 

Elsewhere, the one-time “dream team” is 1-4 and coming off a huge loss to the Bills.  Their hosts, meanwhile, are the 3-1 Redskins, who are coming off a bye.  Doesn’t look good for Philly fans.

Meanwhile, there’s a fascinating match-up in the NFC South.  Only one game separates the Panthers and Falcons.  The former is garnering a lot of attention because of their (overrated) QB.  The latter was a popular Super Bowl pick going into the season, but they’re third in their own division, and a loss to the visiting Panthers would put them at the bottom of the NFC South. 

The Sunday Night Football game this week should be an interesting one for us as the Bears host the Vikings.  As with the Panther-Falcon match-up, there’s only one game separating these two, and the loser comes out of the week at the bottom of the NFC North.  I think the Bears are better, but the Vikings have been productive in every game so far, including a real offensive explosion last Sunday against the Cardinals.

But the best game of the week is the 4-1 49ers’ visit to Detroit. I’m rooting for San Francisco, of course, and I’m actually hopeful about their chances.  I heard Colin Cowherd analyzing this match-up briefly on Friday, and he feels that it’s a 21-20 game one way or the other. 

I’m getting tired of Detroit’s Cinderella story, and I’m impatient for someone to play a full 60 minutes against them.  No quarterback that looks so much like a grown-up Bobby Brady can be a real superstar.  In the meantime, though, I am taking out my frustration with the Lions by rooting against the Wolverines (How ‘bout them Spartans!) and the Tigers (Go Rangers!).

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,St. Louis Rams,Cincinnati Bengals,Indianapolis Colts,San Francisco 49ers,Detroit Lions,Carolina Panthers,Atlanta Falcons,Philadelphia Eagles,Washington Redskins,Miami Dolphins,Minnesota Vikings,Chicago Bears

Simply the Best

The Green Bay Packers have played 5 games so far this season, and they have won every one of them. Those wins have included a heart-pumping shootout against the Saints on opening night, a critical Division win in Soldier Field, and an offensive clinic against the Denver Broncos. But last night’s win in Atlanta was the best of all.

My youngest daughter was falling asleep on my lap during the first half of the game, and so I was lovingly pinned to my chair. That was an unnatural posture for me during a Packer game, for I like to be able to stand, jump, pace, and cheer.  Out of deference to her needs, however, I was quiet and still.  And that experience game me new insight into this Packers team.

I think our team was quiet and still, too.  I don’t sense that McCarthy, Capers, or Rodgers were agitated or worried at all during Atlanta’s early success and Green Bay’s early struggles.  A lot of teams couldn’t have overcome spotting their opponents 14 points on the road.  But these Packers seemed to take it in stride, make their adjustments, and get the job done.

Who would have guessed, halfway through the second quarter, that this game would be end up being our defense’s best effort?  And who could have imagined at that time that the Falcons wouldn’t score another point all night?  It was a remarkable comeback and a terrific game. 

The Falcons were 13-3 last season, and Matt Ryan is notoriously good at home.  Yet for all that, the Packers didn’t flinch.  They stayed calm, scored 25 unanswered points, and showed that they really are the best team in the NFC.

The best team and the best quarterback.  For all the hype that surrounded Michael Vick and Cam Newton, and for all the conventional wisdom about Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Philip Rivers, the consensus is forming around Aaron Rodgers.  Trent Dilfer made a dramatic case on ESPN that Rodgers is not only the best QB in the game today, but that he is playing as well as any NFL QB ever.  And on Sunday Night Football, both Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison said they’d take Rodgers over Favre.  Amazing.

The Lions kept pace on Monday Night Football.  Too bad, but not too surprising.  It will be interesting to see how they fare this coming week against Harbaugh and the reborn 49ers.

Technorati Tags: Aaron Rodgers,Green Bay Packers,Atlanta Falcons,Trent Dilfer

Week Five: A Look Ahead

I suppose that one of the compelling storylines of the weekend is the condition of the teams that have stumbled out of the gate.  While realistic hopes are not the same for every team at the start of the season, no one expects to be winless going into October.  Plus, the desperate teams have their own claims to fame, for they are the places where coaching vacancies occur and where top draft choices go.

So the 0-4 Colts host the 1-3 Chiefs.  Curtis Painter looked like he could lead Indy to a victory on Monday Night against the Bucs, and so I expect him to break the Colts’ terrible streak this Sunday at home against the troubled Chiefs.

Similarly, the 0-4 Vikings host the 1-3 Cardinals.  I don’t know what to think of the Vikings.  Their penchant for falling apart in the second half, their failure to beat the previously winless Chiefs, and their simmering quarterback controversy -- they really are a disaster.  But you can’t bet against a team that boasts one of the best running backs in the league forever. 

Neither of the Pennsylvania teams is winless, but both have been disappointing through the first quarter.  This week, the 2-2 Steelers host the 3-1 Titans. Lots of dire talk these days about Pittsburgh, though a quality win would put that to an end.  Or at least put it on hold.

Even more disappointing have been the “Dream Team” Philadelphia Eagles. They’re off to a stunning 1-3 start, and Frank Gore recently suggested that the Eagles basically stopped playing in their loss -- at home! -- to the 49ers.  And now they travel to Buffalo to play the 3-1 Bills.  Buffalo stumbled last week against the Bengals, but they were one of the last undefeated teams in the league, and they managed to beat the Patriots. Could be real ugly real soon for the Eagles if they don’t turn things around this weekend.

Meanwhile, one of the two marquee match-ups of the weekend is the Jets’ visit to New England.  It’s a divisional game, it’s a rematch from last year’s playoffs, and it’s between two squads that don’t like each other very much.  Should be a great game.  And it should be a Patriot win, distancing themselves from their division rival and putting the Jets in a pretty fair hole.

Don Banks wrote a fascinating article about the parallels between the two marquee games -- that Jets/Patriots game and the Packers visit to Atlanta.

Our particular rematch is a fascinating one since Green Bay played in Atlanta twice last year.  The first game was during the regular season, and it was a narrow and heart-breaking loss.  The second game was in the playoffs, and it was a nearly perfect performance by the Packers as they completely dominated the favored Falcons.  As a result of that contest, plus the very different starts to 2011, the Packers come into this game as the popular pick.  Peter King, for example, offers an analysis of the match-up, and he explains why the Packers will prevail.

I hope the Packers don’t believe their own press, though.  I think Atlanta is better than its record, and their hometown crowd will be rocking for this national televised game.  I was brimming with confidence going into our game against Denver last weekend, but this one has me worried.  Also, I believe that the Sunday Night Football game is the best broadcast in the NFL right now, and I’d love to see us do well on that stage.

Meanwhile, our two most competitive Division rivals are also in Prime Time this weekend, as the 2-2 Bears visit the un-defeated Lions. I’d sure love to see Chicago pop Detroit’s insufferable bubble.  My fear is that their first loss is further down the road, however. I think the Lions are for real on both sides of the ball, and I think Chicago’s only advantage is in the return game.  If it were being played in Chicago, then perhaps… but, no.

Finally, speaking of the surprising Lions, there seems to be a certain geographical symmetry across the sports world these days.  Michigan and Wisconsin, for example, are all thumbs up -- Wolverines, Lions, and Tigers are winning in the former, with the Badgers, Packers, and Brewers winning in the latter.  In Minnesota, by contrast, both the Vikings and Golden Gophers are disasters.  New York (Yankees and Jets) performs below expectations.  And in Philadelphia, the two dream team rosters (Phillies and Eagles) have come up short.

Of course, one weekend can make an enormous difference.  We’ll see what the sports world looks like come Tuesday morning.

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Atlanta Falcons,Detroit Lions,Chicago Bears,Detroit Tigers,Minnesota Vikings,Milwaukee Brewers,Wisconsin Badgers,Philadelphia Eagles,Pittsburgh Steelers,Buffalo Bills,New England Patriots,New York Jets,Indianapolis Colts,Don Banks,Frank Gore,Peter King

And Then There Were Two. And Four.

After the one-quarter mark of the 2011 season, we have just two undefeated teams left in the entire league.  And they’re both in the NFC North!

Those pesky Lions have mounted major comebacks for two consecutive weeks now.  And they have won eight consecutive games going back to the end of last season.  I’m a little tired of hearing about them.  I assume they are due for a letdown, like the one the Bills clearly suffered this past week against Cincinnati.

Meanwhile, the Packers are also undefeated heading into Week 5.  Peter King devoted considerable attention to the Pack in his MMQB column on SI.com.  He cites the historic day Aaron Rodgers had against the Broncos -- 400+ yards passing, 4 passing touchdowns, and 2 rushing touchdowns.  Then he goes on to call Rodgers the MVP for the 1st quarter of the season:

Rodgers, of course, won the Super Bowl last year and had a terrific, borderline MVP season. Look how much better he is this year. He's on pace to be six percent more accurate, with 20 more touchdown passes, while throwing for almost 1,400 more yards. He's in the Brady-Brees-Manning pantheon now, except he has the ability to run and make tacklers miss. You don't want to blow too much smoke at Rodgers, but even if he falls off some, and just has average (for him) numbers the rest of the way, his season will be, across the board, 15 to 20 percent better than any of the three MVP seasons of Brett Favre.

And in his Power Rankings, King continues to rank Green Bay as #1, with this summary:

1. Green Bay (4-0). I don't know how you play better than Aaron Rodgers right now: 73 percent accuracy, 331 passing yards a game, 12 touchdowns, two picks.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the NFL spectrum, there are four winless teams going into Week 5.  The Vikings, Rams, Colts, and Dolphins are all 0-4 now.

I am surprised by just how bad the Vikings seem to be.  I knew they would fall off from last year, but this is pathetic.  Not that I’m bothered by it, mind you.  But this is an astonishing fall for a team that was in the Conference Championship game just two years ago.

Elsewhere, the Colts are proving just how essential Peyton Manning has been to their long run of success.  The Dolphins look like the first team that’s going to get a coaching change.  And the Rams have become the softest part of the softest division in the NFL.

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Detroit Lions,Aaron Rodgers,Peter King,Indianapolis Colts,Minnesota Vikings,St. Louis Rams

Wisconsin Electric

This weekend was one for the books!  Every sports fan in Wisconsin will remember this weekend and talk about it for years to come.  And especially so if any or all of the three active teams end up winning big.

The state of Wisconsin has been the center of the sports universe this weekend, and it has absolutely sparkled.

Major League Baseball’s postseason began on Friday, and the Milwaukee Brewers hosted the Arizona Diamondbacks for Saturday and Sunday afternoon games. 

Rick Reilly wrote a fun and charming column about this year’s Brewers.  It’s a good read for any baseball fan.  And it’s especially enjoyable for those of us who already love this team.

On Saturday, the Brewers were facing Ian Kennedy, who had an amazing 21-4 regular season record, coupled with a 2.88 ERA.  But Milwaukee managed to get to him, and they won the opener.  And then, on Sunday afternoon, they came back to win the second game decisively. 

The Diamondbacks will face elimination in the best-of-five series at home on Tuesday night.  The Brewers have not been a great road team this season, but it’s Marcum (13-7, 3.54) against Collmenter (10-10 3.38), and the Brewers must taste the blood in the water. 

Meanwhile, the winning baseball in Milwaukee was complemented by winning football in both Madison and Green Bay.

Madison enjoyed the nation’s college football spotlight on Saturday as ESPN’s College Gameday came to town.  That morning’s pre-games coverage was followed at the other end of the day by a primetime game against Nebraska on ESPN.  At first, the visiting Cornhuskers looked like they would give the Badgers a real run for their money.  Eventually, however, Nebraska’s mistakes began to pile up, and the Badgers began to impose their will on their guests. 

In the end, it was a 48-17 domination, and the Badgers have vaulted to #4 in the AP Poll.  Number four!  LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma… and the Wisconsin Badgers!  The only program north of the Mason-Dixon Line. 

What Russell Wilson has done for us will reach beyond this season’s immediate impact, for he will no doubt be a boon to Bielema’s recruiting efforts, as well. 

Finally, it was this state’s first love on a picture-perfect October Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field.  For about ten minutes, the visiting Denver Broncos had some momentum.  Other than that, though, the Packers were completely in control of this game.  It was not a flawless performance on either side of the ball.  But then, that was part of the beauty of it: that we could give up so many big plays on defense and still completely wipe out another NFL team.

We’ll talk in more detail about the Packers’ victory -- and Aaron Rodgers’ epic day -- in the week ahead.  For now, though, it is sufficient to savor a most remarkable, most memorable sports weekend in Wisconsin. 

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Denver Broncos,Wisconsin Badgers,Nebraska Cornhuskers,Milwaukee Brewers,Arizona Diamondbacks

A Look Ahead: Week Four

Week Four brings the Broncos to town.  I was a Browns fan in Cleveland Stadium on that bitter day when John Elway engineered “The Drive” and broke our hearts. 

I have hated the Broncos ever since. 

And that they turned around a few years later and notched Green Bay’s first and only Super Bowl loss only intensified my feelings.

When it was Elway vs. Favre in the Super Bowl, I was worried.  I am not worried, however, about Orton vs. Rodgers.  I expect us to win this game before the hometown fans.  And, more than win, I think this may be the week that we finally figure out how not to let an inferior opponent keep it close to the end. 

Elsewhere around the Division, the Lions head to Dallas, the Panthers come to Chicago, and its hapless vs. hopeless as the Vikings head to Kansas City.

After the Cowboys’ Week One collapse, everyone was burying Tony Romo.  A heroic effort the following week, combined with a Monday Night win against the 2-0 Redskins, now find the Cowboys atop the NFC East.  They have two Divisional wins under their belts, and now they host the undefeated Detroit Lions.  This should be a really good game.  And while I have been genuinely impressed by the Lions, I think the long winning streak (dating back to last season) ends in Dallas.

Meanwhile, the Panthers’ rookie sensation, Cam Newton, is behind only Tom Brady and Drew Brees in total passing yards after three weeks.  Pretty elite company.  And I expect him to add to his gaudy numbers against the Bears, possibly earning his second victory. 

Both the Vikings and Chiefs, on the other hand, will be seeking their first victory when the meet in Kansas City this Sunday.  This is one way to make sure almost every team gets a victory: get the winless ones to play each other!  I don’t think either team is as bad as their records suggest, but I do think the Chiefs have more problems than the Vikings.  I expect Minnesota to finally have the lead at the end of four quarters rather than just two.

Meanwhile, the winless Dolphins are likely to still be winless after their trip to San Diego.

Elsewhere, no one expected the 49ers to have the better record when they visited the Eagles in Week 4.  And Philly can’t afford to lose to these guys at home and fall to 1-3.  The fans who booed Santa aren’t going to be any nicer to Andy Reid or Michael Vick if their high hopes fall so far.

A couple of other 2010 playoff teams also find themselves facing an undesirable 1-3 start when the Seahawks host the Falcons.  I’m sure Atlanta is better, and so I expect them to be 2-2 when we face them the following Sunday.

Finally, the best two match-ups of the weekend are both found in the AFC.  The smarting Patriots head west to face the resurgent Raiders, while the Jets at Ravens is likely to be a real battle.  What’s the word the announcers like to use -- “chippy”?  I expect a whole lot of “chippy” when these two lock horns!

Technorati Tags: Green Bay Packers,Denver Broncos,Chicago Bears,Dallas Cowboys,Minnesota Vikings,Kansas City Chiefs,Detroit Lions,Carolina Panthers,Miami Dolphins,San Diego Chargers,San Francisco 49ers,Philadelphia Eagles,Atlanta Falcons,Seattle Seahawks,New England Patriots,Oakland Raiders,Baltimore Ravens,New York Jets

The Heart of Darkness

Schadenfreude:

From the German: Schaden, meaning damage; Freude, meaning joy.

Merriam-Webster: enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others.

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Here is the grim reality that I see in the mirror each year during football season.  I am not all sweetness-and-light on the inside, innocently willing just to “root, root, root for the home team.”  No, I look around the league and root against people.  Against teams I oppose, against players I don’t like, against coaches who turn me off, and against teams whose fans annoy me.

And when they lose…?  Oh, the perverse pleasure!

I used to live in southeastern Wisconsin, and so I was able to pick up a lot of Chicago sports talk radio.  As delighted as I am to be living in Green Bay now, I confess that I missed being able to eavesdrop on Chicago angst this past week in the wake of the Packers’ victory over the Bears.

I am pleased to see the hated Vikings have their hearts ripped out three weeks in a row.  Minnesota has enjoyed double-digit halftime leads in all of their first three games, and they’ve lost each one.

I was put off by all of the Philadelphia Eagle “dream team” hype going into the season.  I take pleasure, therefore, in their hundred-million-dollar frailty and their disappointing start.

I was similarly repelled by the fawning over the Falcons going into 2011, and so I take twisted pleasure in their 1-2 record.

And after the first two weeks of the season, when Tom Brady was being carved into football’s Mount Rushmore, I found it delicious (which I think is a word a man should seldom use) to see him throw four interceptions and lose to the undefeated Buffalo Bills.

I once had a teenage girl in a church youth group ask me if you can confess a sin when you know you plan on committing it again.  A good question. 

I confess my Schadenfreude as a football fan, but I cannot quite say that I repent of it.  For I suspect that I will savor the defeats of those I disdain once again this weekend around the league.

Technorati Tags: Chicago Bears,Philadelphia Eagles,Michael Vick,Minnesota Vikings,Atlanta Falcons,New England Patriots,Tom Brady