I was at the game, watching the Lions warm up from field level. They were practicing about half as fast as the Packers at the south side of the field. I thought, "It's an hour to game time, these guys are already beat, they're mailing it in." A couple of their OLs swore at the crowd. A couple ladies near me expressed disgust. I said, "Yah, well, this will probably turn out to be the high point in their day." It did. Very little blue in evidence, very little enthusiasm among that minority. They're turning Ford around, it's kindof impressive, I hope they turn their attention to the Lions soon. We played pretty well, except for the penalties, but the Lions were not even the worst team in the NFL on Sunday.

Clifton, I'm afraid, is very much at the end. We desperately need something - better bodies, better coaching - I dunno what. Tauscher's return will be very welcome, but not enough. We've known for a couple years that our tackles had a limited remaining life, and now I think we're there. We need replacements asap. And I fear our two starting CBs will prove to be not very far behind.

Matthews was sublime. This is an all-pro just getting started, and TT's move up to grab him was genius. There's no such thing as over paying for such a performer. Jenkins is the real thing, just like his brother. If Raji comes alive like this, we're going to have a top-5 defense for years.

Kampman looks lost. Sorry, I love the guy, and maybe in time he'll settle in, but right now he's just lost in the 3-4.

Jordy's KO TD was absolutely beautiful. I could not see from my vantage point if the holding actually sprung him loose, but that flag deflated everyone in the stadium. Too bad about the hit he took on his thigh - he was visibly limping off the field. He was just getting warmed up.

When Driver is on, I swear his hands repeal the laws of physics on footballs within 3 feet. And he knows how to really hurt a defense - they slam him with three guys, he jumps up and signals 1st down.

Rodgers consistently puts up 25+ points without an OL. This guy never gives up. 3rd and 8 is just another day at the office for him. Imagine if he had an actual running game and pass protection that averaged 3 seconds. Flynn should have played the 4th quarter. If we're going to hang Aaron out to dry sack-wise, we need a more experienced backup.

Grant is the best chance-of-pace back in the NFL. Unfortunately, we have him starting. Jackson is the best change-of-pace back in the USFL. Unfortunately, this is the NFL. Aaron needs a RB that can reliably catch outlet passes, and Grant is not that guy.

The defensive game plan against the Lions contrasted with the plan against MN makes something painfully clear: Capers cannot run his defense without a great strong safety. I consider Bigby marginal and his backups insufficient. Yet another position of need.

The Lions #3 QB (forget his name) is clearly better than Clulesspepper. If I'm the Lions GM, D.C. gets his walking papers today. He brings nothing to that team, and is slowing the development of a promising guy.

Knit caps are on sale at Shopko for $15. They're $11 at the stadium every day. Those of you who live in Wisconsin, let me tell you: you have no idea how nice it is to see a Packers section at every gas station and a huge one in Shopkos statewide. I spend my days surrounded by Raiders crap, worn by hopeless fans waiting for the M.E. to file a certificate on Al so they can hold his eight year delayed funeral. I mean, really, how much longer can they keep storing that guy in formaldehyde, pulling him out of his tank on game day, dressing him up as Liberace, and pretending? This is seriously wrong. The MIB need to look into this.

Speaking as someone "living" in Californicator, I'm used to the spanish language radio and TV here, but in Wisconsin? And we stopped at a Wendy's, we were the only english speakers in the place. This situation is out of control.

SW flies into Milwaukee starting Nov 1. Midway just sucks as the access point for WI. Ahhh, Midway just sucks.

For those visiting WI, eat at Famous Dave's. Get the feast for 2.

Nice write up. Agree with everything (well, apart from the Spanish question) and LOLd at the Grant/Jackson part.

When do we start worrying about Raji? He had injuries in college. Now he can't stay on the field. Remind me again how that is different from Justin Harrell.

The difference between the OT and CB situations is that the staff have at least attempted to address the latter before the sh1t hits the fan. Pat Lee isn't working out just yet, but if he does, then together with Tramon Williams we have bona fide potential behind Harris and Woodson, with a couple of years in the Packer program to boot. That wasn't the case at tackle, where the RT start was basically gifted to whichever of See No Rusher and Hear No Rusher proved less guileless in preseason. Both were second-day picks with a few snaps of NFL experience, and no veteran was brought in to push them.

Also, the advantage of CB is that you can gradually groom your youngsters by playing them in nickel and dime sets. At tackle, it's all or nothing.

As regards Kampman, I agree, all the preseason crap about "great players prosper in any scheme" has been shown up for what it was. Hot air. Kampman is (as LeRoy Butler puts it today) "average" as a LOLB. He was great as a 4-3 LDE. We're going to lose him in the offseason, and that will create another big hole to be filled via the draft. That said, we have been down this road before: when the Pack changed to the 4-3 under Fritz Shurmur, it meant underutilizing a gifted pass rusher, Bryce Paup, and after one season he was gone. Arguably, though, the new scheme was designed for the Packers' best lineman (Reggie) rather than in spite of him (Kampman). In any case, it took some improvements via free agency (Sean Jones for Matt Brock, Santana Dotson for Steve McMichael/Gabe Wilkins) and some neat drafting (Brian Williams, Wayne Simmons) before the unit became dominant. So don't hold your breath.

Raji didn't have injury issues in college, ammek.

Did you need to insert a racist comment in a good article?
As a native spanish spoken person I feel your comment is either agressive or unnecesary at all.

He had shoulder surgery and missed part of camp twice. Not quite Harrell, I'll grant you, but not a totally clean bill of health either.

Also at one point he weighed over 350, which (considering his height) had to be dangerous. He slimmed back down quickly and successfully.

I went to the game as well. Great time as usual. Noticed the same thing with the kitties. It was over when they went for it on 4th down in the first quarter. Getting ready to upload pics now and will post them later.

GO PACK!

On a Packers topic, I will do my best to respond to your post.

1. As far as players swearing at fans- disgusting. Fans swearing at players? Equally disgusting (unless you are watching on TV and alone). I personally find swearing really, really offensive, for reasons I won't get into here. However, this is one of my major taboos. As far as lack of enthusiasm, what would you expect? This is an abysmal team, basically a new franchise trying to build a team. Thanks, Matt Millen.

I've written this before- Clifton and Tauscher will have to replaced very soon. It (right now) looks like T.J. Lang might be able to hold up at LT. At RT, Barbre seems to constantly need a fire lit under his butt. Or am I mistaken? Sorry- this guy needs to load up his lunch box, put on his uniform, and start performing with fire and resilience. If he can't- FA is always lurking the next year, and TT better be ready to open up the pocketbook.

I'll reserve judgment on Matthews. Rookies sometimes flash (as Matthews has done), then fade (as Hawk has done). Lets give this experiment a couple of three years to develop and (hopefully) blossom.

Kampman is a square peg in a round hole. When the Packers got him back to his normal position- surprise! He did fine. Are we all wrong and MM and TT right?

Jordy Nelson is a find. Pure and simple. TT hit gold on this pick (as he did with Jennings, and perhaps Finley and Jones). I, for one, am totally sick and tired of those KO penalties. Every time I see one, I automatically intone "Block in the back" or "holding". And it seems to happen on the majority of kickoffs. If this is happening, why not do away with kickoffs, and simply give the ball to the opposing team at some point on the field? It would hurry up the game, and ease the gastric tension of millions of football fans.

OH my- RB. As of now, the Packers have actually brought back Ahman Green. In his heyday, he was truly a weapon. Third and six, third and seven? Lets run it! And the Packers would usually be successful. However, that was behind an OL that was dominant. This, to me, means someone is desperate. MM? TT? Both?

Don't even get me started on the shortcomings of Capers defensive schemes. Please.

Lets remember, Culpepper is a starter because Stafford was hurt. Also, how many times have we heard the cries for a veteran QB backup for Rodgers (especially since his recent spate of sacks- but even before that). Now, Drew Stanford (I believe) is the backup behind DC. He also also offically stinks out loud. At least DC gives you the cover of being a "veteran".

You think you have it bad with Raiders "crap"? Try teaching classes of teenagers who are avid Cowboys fans, and, no matter what the Cowbosys have done, they'll want to gloat over a Packers defeat. Then, the two people I am closest to in the department are Vikings fans- and the teacher who has my room during my conference hour is (shudder) a Bears fan. Is it any wonder I come here for comfort and support?

Just tell them scoreboard ricky. 12 time NFL Champions. Wooo!

Understand- I am trying to reason with Vikings and Bears fans. I believe that in itself is an oxymoron. The worst part is that one of the Vikings fans is originally from Wisconsin! True story. My life has been weird and interesting enough that I don't need to make things up. By the bye, the other Minny fan is from Illinois, but his brother is a higher up in the heirarchy of the Wisconsin Badgers. The Bears fan is from Texas.

Go figure. Personally, I've given up.

Am I the only one who has been impressed by our RBs as receivers? Screens seem to be working this year. Brandon Jackson had a great diving catch for a first down on 3rd and long. Grant did drop one last game. But he had 50 yards receiving @ the Vikings.

Maybe I'm blind.