What a wonder-ful wonder-ful win! Easily the best win of the season, dear readers. If we play that well the rest of the season there's a very good chance we'll repeat as North Champions and make a deep run in the post-season. Just amazing improvement since last week. Amazing. That's the kind of win that can boost confidence and catapult a team into a post-season run, folks. Jeepers. I'm a grinnin' fool today.
The team played so well in almost every facet of the game, but I've gotta high-light the out-standing play of the offensive line. The Bears have a pretty impressive run defense, but you wouldn't think it watching the game Sunday. Scott Wells and the fellers took it to 'em and General Grant followed their lead. He's been coming around lately, folks. Looking more like the Grant we saw in the second half of last season, isn't he? Yep yep.
McCarthy agreed: "It was nice to see (the line) get after the opponent. We're finishing better and our combination blocks are tighter."
All of the sudden the Packers have become the leading pick to win the NFC North and host a playoff game at Lambeau. Hard to believe after the heart-breaker in Minnesota last week, but that's what an across-the-board win can do for a team. Just listen to what Greg Jennings had to say after the game: "This is the Green Bay Packers team you're going to get every week from here on out. We're excited about what we're going to do right now. We're putting this on ourselves to get it done and turn it around, because we know we're the defending NFC North champs. We need to play like it. Today, we played like it."
While McCarthy wisely kept the ball on the ground, the 'can't stop the run' Packers went ahead and stuffed Forte and the Bears, and Gimpy-Shoes Orton couldn't beat them through the air. You look at something like that and suddenly the Packers are looking like the most balanced team in the North by leaps and bounds. Sweet Sugar Beets! And aside from Rodgers short-arming a sure touch-down to Donnie Driver in the first half, the passing game had their way with the Bear's awful secondary. When you are running on a team like that, it sure opens up the aerial attack, especially on the play-action pass, which was working splendidly. Gosh, it's nice when things work the way they're supposed to. Huzzah!
One thing that didn't go as planned on Sunday was my mission to bake a loaf of bread in the shape of the Packer's 'G' logo (see visual evidence, above). Well, it looked pretty reasonable coming out of the oven, but I think I rushed it or goofed up the yeast some-how, cause it didn't rise right. I ate a big hunk of it any-way, but it was so dense it made me kind of dizzy. Strange. I wonder what yeast is... How is a powder alive any-ways? That's just weird, folks.
Well, the defense continues to put points on the board. Overall, a very impressive game on that side of the ball. It was only a matter of time before they picked off Orton, who was hobbled and coughing up duck after duck. Although Collin's INT was negated by a penalty, the team was able to get that ball right back on an Orton fumble any-ways and put some extra butter on the bread. In 175 meetings the Packers have only whomped the Bears by more twice. This was especially tasty after the last few years...
Random Brain Sparks:
• Will Blackmon is for sure the best Kick Returner in the Division, if not the Conference. Nothing spectacular this week, but I'm sure you saw that kick-up move. Like Joe Buck said, these are the best athletes in the world and probably most of them couldn't pull that stunt.
• Ice fishing season is almost here. I had some frozen water in the back of my pick-it-up truck this morning. Ha-cha-cha. Frozen Shield here I come!
• Atari Bigby hasn't looked right this year. Last season he was a human wrecking-ball, but he doesn't seem to be making the big hit so often this year. Wonder what is wrong.
• Terry Bradshaw is a buffoon. This is why I normally don't watch pre-game programming. His comments about the Packers season up to the Bears game were un-imaginably ill-informed and silly ... Well, he is Terry Bradshaw. I can't remember the last time he said anything informed. Why is he even on the television box? Most of these guys just yell without thinking.
• There isn't many things better in life than curling up on the davenport with a hot cup of coffee and a warm blanket and a kitty-cat on a cold Wisconsin day, especially when the Packers dominate the Bears like that. Sometimes I just think I'm the luckiest guy in the world.
Check back later this week for my Saints preview. Monday night game next week. I'm gonna need a nap on Monday afternoon so me and Cousin Walter can stay up late watching the cable television channels. Until then.
