I can’t. I cannot believe that the Packers – those of the worst running game in football – are the same Packers with the best record in the NFC. They commit way too many dumb penalties and the play at the safety position was better in the first few games than it has been lately. Yet, they pulled off an amazing feat that not many are talking about.
They won back to back road games against the Broncos and Chiefs. Those are difficult places to play in the first place. Compound that with the Broncos game going long on a Monday night and playing early on Sunday in Kansas City. Oh, and they are the youngest team in the NFL. Some credit has to go to McCarthy for that. They are 4-0 on the road this year and have six straight on the road. The last Packer team to do that was coached by some guy named Vince something or other.
Let’s go back to some of my pre-season predictions. I was spot on with the first 3, but missed a little bit on the last 2. I guess there’s still time for them to come true, but I hope I’m wrong with #4. And I guess I might have been a bit rough on Ted Thompson. I guess his crystal ball did show him things the rest of us couldn’t see — although I still don’t see a solution for the RB position on this roster.
Now we look ahead to the remaining eight games on the schedule. Should we make more predictions? Why not!
Prediction #1: Favre throws for over 4,000 yards and 30 TD’s. The yardage is all but a cinch with this running game. The TD’s might be a stretch, but I think he can do it and earns himself a trip to Honolulu in the process.
Prediction #2: Speaking of which, the Packers place 3 defensive players in the Pro Bowl. Kampman, Barnett, and Woodson. Kampman is a shoe-in as long as he remains injury free. The other 2 are a stretch but they’re having great years as well.
Prediction #3: Green Bay wins the NFC North, but falls short in the NFC Championship game. Sorry, folks but until we get a running game I just don’t see us being able to make it to the big dance.
Prediction #4: The Packers final record is 13-3 after losing either the Detroit or Dallas game and one other fluke game where everything goes wrong. Talk about another tough back-to-back set of road games, the Packers don’t play well those venues even when they’ve got talent. (I hate the stupid Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit. Even when Detroit was lousy that was a tough game to play. Detroit and Dallas get an edge every year by getting that game at home, while the other team travels on the holiday.)
Prediction #5: After the season, Favre finally hangs ‘em up despite having a lot of fun and going to another Pro Bowl. He doesn’t win another Super Bowl, but he still gets to go out at the top of his game rather than being a has-been like Y.A. Tittle or Namath Remember these images?
There you have it folks. My 60% accuracy on my pre-season predictions gave me enough false confidence to go out farther on the limb this time.
