Here's a snippet from Silver's article this morning.

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Old Logic: The Packers will defeat the Chargers in Super Bowl XLIII. OK, that was my logic.

New Logic: Well, lets see: The Chargers are 3-5 and just fired their defensive coordinator in the middle of the season, and the 4-4 Packers are about to play what could turn out to be a must-win game at Minnesota. Its tempting to claim temporary insanity, cut my losses and come up with two new teams. In my heart, however, Im only halfway there. San Diego, scarily, still has a very good chance of winning the AFC West, if only because the first-place Broncos are approximating the trajectory of the U.S. economy. Yet Ive seen enough of the Chargers flaws exposed to conclude that a dramatic playoff run would be highly unlikely. Given that I spent all of last season extolling the Titans virtues, long before they emerged as a surprising playoff team, I dont feel all that sheepish about jumping on 8-0 Tennessee as my revised choice to win the AFC.

As for the Pack well, Im not quite ready to let go. Certainly, the 7-1 Giants are the class of the NFC at this point, and they will be very tough to beat as they attempt to defend their championship. Green Bay, conversely, might not even make it to the postseason. But I still have this suspicion that the Packers, coming off an overtime defeat to the Titans, are getting it together and have a run in them. Halfback Ryan Grant is finally starting to show flashes of last seasons form, and Aaron Rodgers is getting more and more comfortable as he fights through a painful shoulder injury. So Im sticking with my Packers pick at least for another week and looking forward to a Green Bay-Tennessee rematch in Tampa come February.

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My glass is half-full. I thought Ryan Grant was hitting those holes HARD. It seemed like we dropped a crapload of interceptions in that game. We lost to a very, very good football team, an even better one than I thought, and I thought they were good. We can hang with anyone in this league, I really feel that. We have the personnel and the potential to improve quite a bit yet this season, it's one of the neat things about being so young as a team. I read somewhere that it's grasping at straws to be optimistic. A lot of times, I'd agree with that assessment. Not this time. I really sense that we are going to kick the snot out of Minnesota this week, and that's not smack-talk. I really think so.

i agree with you i think we beat minn our d-line is a beast they showed that against a very good team our o-line is coming along and allen may not play witch may help our o-line even more i think da bears lose this weekend which will help us and just the way they are playing makes me belive :icon_smile:

Funny thing is, I feel better about this team after the loss than I did before the game. Aaron made some mistakes, but I think he's the kind of player who will learn from them (and learn quickly). I'd rather have had a win, but sometimes a young team can learn even more from the losses.

We now know we can go toe-to-toe with the best in the league, and we're only going to get better.

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I feel better about them too, except for one thing: They are now 4-4, so there is not much room for error. They may need to go 6-2 the rest of the way to make the playoffs. Even if they play well the rest of the way, a few injuries or unlucky bounces could keep them out of the playoffs.

Having said that, I think they'll win 6 or 7 more games and make the playoffs.

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I agree. There is not a team remaining we cannot beat or who has better or more healthy personnel than we do. Hopefully our health issues STAY behind us and I believe if that happens we will be fine.

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Jacksonville and Minnesota x2 won't prove to be as hard as they looked preseason.
Carolina (at home) and N.O. (away) look like the toughest games remaining, imo.

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We area 500 team. nothing better, nothing worse.

Can we beat all the teams that are remaining on our schedule? Sure. However, most 500 teams can. It is the mistakes they make that keep them at 500. We have not proven we can consistently perform at a level higher than that.

The Titans are 8-0 because when they really needed to, their defense stepped up as did their offense. Ours did not.

We will most likely find a way to lose three or four more games and end up 8-8 or 9-7.

I hope I am wrong.

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You know in some cultures, mediocre sports teams are tortured and/or murdered.

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The key is the remaining division games. If we sweep the Bears, we're in a great position. If we, for instance, split with the Bears and lose to Minnesota, the remainder of that schedule looks tough. It doesn't look like two teams from the North will make the playoffs. We have to win the division ... and when your down one game and have two remaining against the division leader and one more with the team you are tied with, that should be your focus.

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