Well, I'm happy we won, don't get me wrong. Except it's a bittersweet victory as we lost 2 Pro Bowlers for the season.
The thing is, WHO are we? Are we a Playoff caliber team?
Green and gold lenses aside, I think we are. Take a good look at our team. These are our Pro Bowlers - Driver, Woody, Harris, Kampy, Collins. Our QB is arguably the 3rd best in the NFC.
I've been down on Grant earlier this year because my expectations for him are so high. It's like if you have two kids, one ends up in the Gifted program and the other one is "normal." As much as you try not to, you're going to have higher expectations for the one who rated Gifted. Grant can be a top 10 RB as we saw in 2007.
Then we have Greg Jennings. Although never a Pro Bowler, in fantasy production he was #12 in '07 and #4 in '08. That's pretty dang good. Finley is pretty dang good as well.
On the defensive side, Barnett is solid. I love Cullen Jenkins. I already named our Pro Bowlers. All around, it's a solid team.
I want us to go deep in the Playoffs this year because I have expectations that we have the team to do it. What is preventing us from a deep Playoff run?
1) Morale. I don't think Mike McCarthy is a Mike Ditka type of guy. Heck, even Singletary is significantly better than Mike McCarthy at pumping up a team. He gets a team that lacks in talent compared to ours thinking they're a Playoff caliber team.
2) Playcalling. Mike McCarthy gets soft once he gets his opponents against the ropes. He needs to finish them.
3) Adjustments. Sometimes Mike McCarthy makes good adjustments. Sometimes he doesn't. He's kind of erratic when it comes to adjusting.
So in summary, I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer. It's just I have high expectations for this team. Maybe it's my fault thinking the Packers are better than we really are. Maybe I'm a Mike Singletary.
My man Donald Driver
(thanks to Pack93z for the pic)
2010 will be seen as the beginning of the new Packers dynasty. 🇹🇹 🇲🇲 🇦🇷