I’m at a loss to decide who to blame more for the Bears ineptitude in the red zone. Cutler? He’s certainly sucked but he’s keeping plays alive and I’ve yet to see a red zone INT where there weren’t about 20 defenders around the 3 WRs. Is it Turner? The Bears are horribly predictable and the wisdom of running whats essentially a spread with Cutler in the gun from the 4 yard line doens’t really play to anyones strengths. Is it Forte? His recent tendency to tip-toe through a crowd and hesitation before the point of attack seems remove running plays as an option. The Line? You can’t give them a free pass since they aren’t getting much of a push and both Cutler and Forte have to deal with penetration.
Ugh…this sucks. Is it really that damned complicated?
Even at his most reckless, Favre at least managed to mix in some TDs with his INTs. At his best, Favre is a goddamn Jedi. We haven’t seen that kind of potential from Cutler yet. Comparing Cutler to Favre is way too generous to Cutler.
We haven’t seen Cutler play with the kind of talent Favre had in his “Jedi” days. Right now, he reminds me very much of 2003-2006 Favre, and his surrounding cast is similarly crappy.
This Sunday the Vikings moved to 8-1 against the Lions, racking up 492 yards of offense. Sidney Rice had 201 yards receiving and Peterson had 133 rushing with 2 TDs to offset his 2 lost fumbles.
Things get a little tougher next week against the Seahawks.
(Aside: I’m actually rooting for the packers over the cowpokes today because I don’t want the Vikes to have anyone challenging them for the first-round bye. And I really frickin’ hate the cowpokes.).
I don’t think so - the year we went 15-1 we lost to Tampa Bay. Having only 3 other teams in the division would make this less impressive. I’ll settle for a home and home split.
I’d rather beat the Bears twice because they are the Bears. Agree that it’s less impressive than sweeping four teams, though. And they swept these three teams in 1998, 6-0. But what if they did play Tampa twice? Damn, that would be a soft schedule.
Man. It’d be nice to have talent on the Lions. With all these draft picks and such little talent on the roster, it’s almost inconceivable. It’s funny. I know the Lions are completely wretched and I know Matt Millen screwed the pooch over and over again, even after the pooch stopped coming when it was being called.
…But god damn, it sucks seeing this football team suck so hard. The secondary got decimated with injuries, which didn’t help (seeing as how the starters freely give up yardage and points as it is).
Dallas laid an egg in Green Bay, so that keeps the Packers someone in contention for a Wild Card, but it’s good for the Vikings in that they’re that much closr to a first round bye.
What was with that fat pig McCarthy thinking he was entitled to a third replay challenge? Hasn’t anybody explained the rules to him?
I think he’s still going to be out of a job come February, though. He made the wrong call on Favre, and salvaging a 9-7 season isn’t going to redeem him.
The Vikings won by 17, but still played a sloppy first half and were snakebit by penalties and stupid turnovers. I think they were maybe a little rusty from the bye week, and didn’t take the Lions very seriously.
Well, they were right not to take the Lions seriously, they still won handily, but it was a game they should have won by 30 rather than 17.
Sidney Rice had a monster game, AP went for over 130 and two TDs, and Harvin continues to look like a ROTY candidate, but the Vikings still haven’t really played a complete 4 quarter game yet.
They were looking past Tampa, and got what they deserved. Good thing: it taught them they aren’t all that and more…
Shoulda figured that out after getting two butt-kickings from Favre, though.
You’ve got to be the only person in the world who thinks that. There was never a question that Favre could still play; he would have been an MVP candidate in '07 but for Brady’s freak-of-nature season. The issue with Favre was that he’s now 40, and that his heir apparent is in his mid-20s, and very good.
Put it this way: Would most Vikings fans decline the chance to trade Favre for Rodgers? My money says no. Most Packer fans wouldn’t trade Rodgers for Favre, either.
I agree that Big Mac needs to go, though. But I think if the Packers steal a wildcard at 10-6 he’s staying put.
They wouldn’t “steal” a wildcard, they’d earn it. They still have really tough games with the Steelers, Ravens, and Cards on their schedule, along with non-patsies like the 49ers and the Seahawks and the Bears in Chicago. If they get to 10-6, they’ll have earned a playoff spot.
And, despite the boos I heard in Lambeau, I liked McCarthy’s play calling in the first half, when they went with quick throws and runs, to protect their problems along the O Line. Thankfully, they played a team with as many penalties and a couple bounces went their way, but I was very impressed with the defense.
In what sense did he make the wrong call on Favre? The quarterback is not the problem in Green Bay; in fact, it’s absolutely astonishing that Rodgers has played so well considering how piss-poor his protection has been, and how bad the defense was last year and in alternating weeks this year.
His record as a starter is 11-14. He has nice passing stats, but he has a losing record, and, to date anyway, he hasn’t really shown the ability to put a team on his back in a big moment.
If Favre ends up with a ring in purple while the Packers go back to back years without making the playoffs, that’s going to make the decision to let Brett go look pretty bad.
Plus, I admit, I just don’t like McCarthy. Nothing to do with him coaching the Packers – I never disliked Holmgren or Sherman, MM just strikes me as a tool, and stories like this only confirm it.
I think Mike McCarthy is the Eric Cartman of NFL coaches.
I have to say that I am still not sold on McCarthy. This team is still undisciplined, WAY too mnay penalties and challenging the Jordy Nelson non-TD was stupid. I did like that they did put in more short passes and such, but I am still not convinced MM is the guy to take the Pack to the next level.
And btw, Charles Woodson is awesome. Is he a Hall of Famer? He’s making a case.
You’re attributing too much of the teams’ successes and failures to the QB. If you didn’t see a phenomenal QB playing against the Vikings in both games this year in Aaron Rodgers, your eyes weren’t open. There’s only so much a QB can do when your O-Line is a sieve and your defense can’t stop the opposition. The difference between the wins and losses in those two games was not determined by the play of the QBs.
This Vikings fan would love to have him in purple, considering our QB options for the next few years. He’s got the most respect I can muster for a dirty Packer.
