T.G.I.F. (Thank God its Four…. In Title Town)

At the beginning of last season, in my 1st ever Gridiron Girls blog, I declared that the Packers would win the Superbowl. Things immediately went south. Game one, Grant’s out for the season. Then Finley’s out for the season. Then Rodger’s is out for a few games. Then things turn around. We start beating up on teams while on the road in the post season and…. the Packers are the Superbowl champions. Just as I predicted. They did this with 2nd and 3rd string running backs, receivers, tight ends, and defensive players so one would assume with healthy starters returning the road back to Superbowl would be a cake walk right? So far, at 4-0, it appears that way.

Game 1 vs. the New Orleans (42-31)- the Packs very vertical spread offense with 5 talented receivers helped them edge ahead in what was the only close game of the four. It appears that James Starks has completely stolen the spotlight from Ryan Grant, as Grant barely touches the ball. Aaron Rodgers was no longer sporting the Fu Man Chu beard he had in the preseason (thank God), but he was sporting his normal comfort and mobility in the pocket.

Not many changes had been made on Defense. It was the tried and true Dom Capers defense with the Woodson & Matthews double trouble blitz. That worries me a little bit. I think opponents have figured that out by now and the Saints wrapped up Matthews several times.

Game 2 vs. the Carolina Panthers (30-23)- I must admit that I thought the Packers defense was going to “Nino Brown” rookie Cam Newton and well….they sort of did (3 interception). Still I was extremely impressed and surprised with the poised performance of Newton. The Packers offense showed Carolina no mercy and the number of options in the Packers offensive arsenal seems completely unfair. The running game has Starks to blast through holes for maximum yardage, with Grant and Kuhn to push through walls for short but necessary 1st downs and red zone scores. Sadly the Pack loses Nick Collins for the season but the victories continue. The defense worries me yet again by allowing over Carolina over 400 passing yards.

Game 3 vs. the Chicago Bears (27-17)- Two words: Finley’s Back. With all three of the day’s touchdowns belonging to him, Jermichael Finley shows that he’s healthy and maybe even better than before. Also the Packers continue to have great luck with bench players who get start positions due to injuries. Safety Nick Collins replacement Morgan Burnett gets two interceptions, and DL Mike Neal’s replacement Jarius Wynn get 2 sacks. Ryan Grant got in on the resurrection showcase and had his first great game over Starks with 92 yards (compared to Starks 5. These two create a fantasy football nightmare with the ‘you one game, me the next’ effect). Defense allows yet another big passing game for their opponent and I want to call Dom up to see if he’s concerned.

Game 4 vs. the Denver Broncos (49-17)- Not much to talk about here. Other than the brief moment when the score was 21-17, the Packers annihilated the Broncos and ended the trend of giving up too many yards on defense. Orton was only able to get off 273 yards and other than Willis McGahee, the Pack allowed no one to get more than 8 rushing yards. Dom Capers says he is trying to address the defensive issues but the Pack is still allowing too many big plays. I trust he’ll have this fixed by next week because the Falcons may have a Dorito on their shoulder due to that little issue of us ruining their Superbowl dreams last year.

In short, the Pack is on a roll and the franchise has always had the most humble and dedicated players. Even with this terrific start Aaron Rodgers says “Numbers are misleading.” There are still many things he’s unhappy with. As for me, I’m pretty impressed by what I’ve seen. Every victory has been over 10 points and I look forward to an improving defensive strategy. With this perfect combination of running and passing and a bench full of spectacular players this just maybe a repeat in the making.

Sunset Brown