Packers Under The Radar at 7-0

Checking out different websites today, and I don't see much about the 7-0 Packers. You got the Tim Tebow coverage, the Saint humiliating the Colts analysis, and the talk about Reggie Bush running his mouth about his team. You know what I don't think I would want things to be any different for the Packers right now. Going into the bye week with a perfect record, and we have a chance to get some guys healthy. Our line is a little banged up, and Sam Shields was out when you are already missing Nick Collins for the season. It is nice we have guys that can step in and produce, but getting healthy will be nice in the next two weeks.

Not that getting to 7-0 on Sunday was easy. Christian Ponder made his first NFL start, and almost threw a TD on his first play. It was really a great call by the Vikings. Play action fake to Peterson, and throw deep to your third wideout. I'm sure after that a lot of people were worried, but one person who wasn't was A-Rodg. When they were reviewing the touchdown they showed Rodgers on the sideline. He was doing a little running in place/stretching. I think he knew in the back of his head this might be a much needed offensive day. And what I found to be the most impressive part of the game Sunday was the first drive by the Packers.

There they were, at Minnesota down 7-0 after the Vikings score on 3 plays. The Packers take the kickoff, and start at their own 9 yard line. Most teams buckle at this point, and go three and out. It appeared things would start that way when the Packers ran the first play to Grant for no gain. "Oh no, this is just an awful start," you think, until you remember we have a guy named Aaron Rodgers. The next play was an 11 yard dart to Finley followed by a 14 yard strike to Nelson. Grant rips off two straight runs one for 8 yards, and another for 7 yards. Rodgers than hits Jennings for 26 yards, Jones for 16 yards, Cobb for 7 yards, and last but not least Kuhn for a 2 yard touchdown. Unreal.

So lets get some numbers on that drive - 9 plays for 91 yards. Rodgers was 6-6 with 76 yards and the touchdown. He completed all 6 passes to different receivers, and just like that the game is tied at 7-7. I don't want to be a huge homer fan, but this guy is just amazing. For fantasy purposes on Sunday myself, Bart, and his brother were jumping up and down when Tebow made his great comeback. But really any fan of the NFL should be watching Rodgers with their jaw hitting the ground. I would like to say I can find something wrong with what he does, but really I can't. He finished the game 24-30 for 355 yards, and 3 touchdowns. He completed his first 13 passes, and the first incomplete pass was a drop by a wide open Cobb. Everyone should really enjoy Rodgers while he is playing like this.

As for the rest of the game I just want to point out a few things I saw:

*** Randall Cobb had his first rough game of the year. He muffed a punt at the 50 yard line trying to call for a fair catch. He also had that drop I talked about with Rodgers first incomplete pass. He was wide open across the middle on third down. If he catches I think there was a 90% chance he gets the first down, and he might have even scored.

*** How about Mason Crosby? Another guy that is playing really awesome, but no one is really seeing it. 4-4 on field goals (39, 45, 24, 58) and also making all of his extra points. He is also good at kicking off the ball to where the guys are catching it about 3 yards deep. It seems to be that other teams are starting inside the 20 more than in past years.

*** Nine different players caught ball from Rodgers with Jennings leading the way with 7 grabs. Greg Jennings is another guy that just keeps making play after play. The guy has crazy hands, and has the moves to make a play after the catch. I still can't believe the Vikings left him open for a free 79 yard touchdown.

*** The big three on D each made plays. Raji and Matthews each had sacks, and Woodson had two INT's. We gave up a lot of yards, but Ponder only completed 40.6% of his passes. Ponder was 13-32 which means we had pressure on him. The negative is getting burned by the big play.

*** Talking about big plays, and good players, I have to bring up Adrian Peterson. He had 175 yards under the radar also Sunday. They kept showing Ponder and McNabb on the sidelines. I don't care who your quarterback is, but Peterson is the work horse of this team. He finished with 24 carries for 175 yards, so again he kept his team in this game.

*** Is this James Starks now the James Starks of last years playoffs? On 3rd and 7 just short of mid field Starks busted a 13 yard run to seal the game for the Pack. He finished with 13 rushes for 75 yards. So hopefully after the bye week he can start running hard again.



For more Packer coverage, head over to CheeseheadTV.com for Bart's weekly postgame wrap-up with Brian Carriveau.