By giving the ball to the Giants in scoring position.

And by not sustaining drives.

Without the turnovers and a hail mary that I won't credit the Giants talent level for, they scored a fairly average point total.

Which is exactly what I would expect from Eli. Average performance from an average QB.

Not saying the hail mary doesn't count. But the Giants luck deserves the credit for it. Not the Giants talent.

I credit it more to a pathetic defense not making what should be an easy stop in a critical situation. Not only the hail mary, but the long draw before it which made the 'hope and a prayer' pass possible. I wouldn't call it luck at all, just poor execution on defense. They should have never been in a position to attempt that pass.

The defense was what it was. They sucked, but there is a sense that they played up to their potential.

The offense however let us down.

The offense gave up an interception and lost three fumbles. Crazy, since they doubled their point total on average at home during the regular season.

Heh, yeah, I can't disagree with the offense letting us down, relatively speaking anyway. But that's going to happen at times against elite defenses, especially with a pass rush like the Giants have, and especially in the playoffs. That's why they have to be prepared for that and have a defense that doesn't give up "give me" touchdowns and can't be depended upon to hold a team a playoff team under 35 points. It was certainly a team loss, no doubt about it. But I think most of us knew when we saw the offense struggling a bit that there was no way we were going to win that game. Too many eggs in the offensive basket for my liking.

I think the Packers play in and win this upcoming Super Bowl.

I agree.

A lot has to go right, but I am impressed with the defensive upgrades, which our team desperately needed. Saturday was a nice move with the impending loss of Wells. I think Aaron will be well protected this season, with another year's experience for many of our OL. The skill positions should be spot on, and I think Gurley's possible addition onto the roster will pay dividends.

I might like our chances now more than possibly ever before.

Big questions at RB. I am hoping Starks gets it together to play an entire season, and hopefully Green comes back healthy and shows us why Ted chose him in R3 2011. Would love to see Green become a star for the Packers. This is a bit of fun looking back on his being drafted:

Green is one of my favorites, it was really disappointing to see him hurt last year. I hope he can come back 100% and stay healthy, he could have a big impact.

Talk about the running game all you want, but these young guys, Green and Saine in particular are great with the screen game. How awesome will it be to see a screen that doesn't look like a Chinese fire drill?

Imagine a back who can consistently not only catch the ball but actually make that first guy miss. That's just gonna be so damn sweet.

Yeah but can they pick up the blitzer? I just don't know how we were able to make it up and down the field last year without Brandon "dumb as a bag of hammers" Jackson. [sarcasm]

A couple of good things, if the opposing team blitzes the screen should work well. If he is not a good blocker they could run him as a safety valve. I'm hoping he/Pack can do it all. Green has good size he should be able to block decently.

nerdmann and Traxx, I can see him being a big part of our O as a receiver out of the backfield. Definitely.

Unfortunately, I think the screens are becoming a thing of the past. Most defenders over the last 6-7 yrs or so have gotten so keen on sniffing them out, that you hardly see them anymore. We used to be one of the best screen play teams back in the Holmgren era. I think that started to die out towards the end of the Sherman era. Now, you rarely even see them called, and when you do, they are rarely as successful as they used to be.

That said, Green was drafted for his ability to catch the ball and move the chains. I'm sure they'll find a way to get him involved if he stays healthy. I'm right with you, that it will be great to see.

Debating whether to jump into this topic again full tilt?

Lets just put it this way.. the pros of having a strong running game to accompany an elite passing game like ours currently far outweigh the cons ten fold.. not to mention preserving the longevity of Rodgers career.

Do I want to see more running the ball?



More like demand it.

Winning football games is about more than scoring points..

Sherman didn't run the WCO. They had a power running game and medium to deep passing.
Mike McCarthy hasn't focused on screens, because we haven't had guys with that skill set. Imo, that's one of the reasons they drafted a guy like Green. Screens slow down the rush and are important misdirection play.

I agree they are great plays, but I think that they've become less and less successful recently, as DL have become very adept at sniffing them out. League wide. That's my thinking anyway. Do I miss seeing more of them? Hell yeah. Maybe we see more with Green out of the backfield.

They most definitely are not becoming unsuccessful. If you watched the saints all of last year you would realize this. They of course liked to throw the big bombs down field but as soon as teams would try to defend that they'd throw a screen out and gain about 15-20 yards right quick.

Bah.

Jump in. I want someone to box with.

The only reason the Packers didn't win a 2nd straight Super Bowl can be directly related to the lack of having a 1,000 rusher at the running back position. We all have agreed upon this already.

oh. thanks for letting me know. I missed the memo. I must have called in sick that day.

You sir are welcome. I do what I can when I can.