Double "A" Arn Anderson was a fearsome wrestler in his hey-day. He was one of the presitgious members of the IV Horsemen. He teamed with Tully Blanchard to form one of the most dominant teams in the WWF as the Brain Busters. Much like a lot of wrestlers, Arn stuck around past his athletic prime. He required surgery to repair his vertebrate. Despite this, he managed to make some noise in the "nWo" storylines in WCW as well as a special advisor to the "new" IV Horsemen. However, his days of being a title threat and a force to be wrecken with were long gone.
The Packers are like an older Arn Anderson sticking around to "stir the pot". Don't get me wrong here. I'm simply talking about the Packers as a whole, not Brett Favre. From what I saw last season, Favre is as good as he's ever been. I remember when Joe Montana and Dan Marino were at the end of their careers. Their skills diminished just enough to where they could no longer win games on their own. Favre still has those skills. The media seems to want him to retire because it makes a good story but Favre should play five more seasons. I hate what he's done to the Lions over the years but he's a gamer.
The offense will be there. Ahman Green is easily one of the top five running backs in the NFL. He's as reliable as they come. Javon Walker is a T.O. in the making. He's big and strong and he could really explode fantasy-wise this season. Donald Driver is a legitimate second wide receiver. Tony Fisher, William Henderson and Najeh Davenport make this backfield one of the deepest in the NFL. The offensive line lost two starters in Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle. Despite the potential dropoff in the OL production, the offense is not a problem for Green Bay. Favre will be psyched to play possibly his last season. He has the ammunition on offense to do some damage in fantasy leagues.
Unfortunately for Favre, the defense doesn't have the same bite. They were already experiencing problems two years ago before they gave away Mike McKenzie to the Saints last season. They didn't address any defensive needs in the draft or free agency. The Packers management basically said, "Brett, it's all on you." We saw how effective that strategy is when Green Bay played the Colts last year. Favre threw for 360 yards and four touchdowns with zero interceptions. Javon Walker had 200 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Peyton Manning, on the other hand, threw for 393 yards and five touchdowns as the Colts smoked the Packers by two touchdowns. You need to play defense to be taken seriously in the NFL. The Packers don't play defense so I can't take them seriously. They'll score points and beat some teams but Favre can only do so much on his own.
The schedule isn't as easy as it looks. They do get Cleveland and Cincinnati as well as Chicago (2). Other than that, the Packers have a very daunting schedule. They play Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Philly, Baltimore, Minnesota (2), Detroit (2), Seattle, Tampa Bay, Carolina and New Orleans. I would not want to face that schedule with a "matador" defense. The Packers should go 3-1 against Cleveland, Cincy and Chicago (2). I think they can go 6-6 against the rest of the schedule but 5-7 seems more realistic to me.
Predicted record: 8-8
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2 comments:
Here's hoping Ole Anderson makes an appearance in the preview as well.
If Favre goes down they will be 2-14. Just like when Arn lost the support of his geriatric brother, the decline of the Packers is inevitable. Plus I'm just tired of them. Those that have the pleasure of infrequent meetings with Packer fans know what I'm talking about. This group is talking Super Bowl when in fact they should be talking about how they are going to beat the Bears or Lions at home.
But here's a question: what if they were in the AFC West? Would they have the worse defense in the division? They should actually switch the Pack and San Diego around and then we'd be talking entertainment. Raiders 70 Packers 66. Chiefs 58 Packers 55 in OT.
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