Call it ugly if you must but since I’ve never seen it in my lifetime, I’ll call it a beautiful thing. The Green Bay Packers have won a game in Philadelphia! By sneaking out a win over the Eagles the Packers for the time being avoid the dreaded slow start problem that has plagued them for years.
I know I shouldn’t say it but I expect the Packers to beat the Bills next week in Lambeau to get to 2-0. Of course I thought the same thing last year when Cincy came to town, but Buffalo doesn’t have the horses. If we get to the backup QB next week it’s Brian Brohm. Not exactly Vick.
Amazingly it was the special teams that kept the Eagles at bay yesterday. Jordy Nelson was a beast on kickoffs and every time the Eagles thought they were back in it Nelson ran one back to midfield. The Eagles rarely had a short field to work with that wasn’t the result of a turnover. The Packers’ defense did alright considering they were on the field the whole second half.
Which brings me to the offense. What the hell was going on out there? Aaron Rodgers looked like crap. Three early sacks, one given up each by Chad Clifton, Mark Tauscher and Josh Sitton, must have rattled him – thinking “here we go again.” Rodgers did manage two TD passes on what was otherwise a rough day at the office. Rodgers never looked quite comfortable. I’m not too worried about it.
The Packers have lost running back Ryan Grant for what appears to be several weeks with an ankle injury that looked season-ending when it occurred. Brandon Jackson looked OK in his stead but with Jackson starting the onus is on fullback/running back John Kuhn to pick up Jackson’s third-down duties, which include keeping Rodgers upright. Maybe Kuhn becomes the lead runner on third down instead – Kuhn can catch the ball pretty well, leaving Jackson in his normal role.
The Packers’ defense was hard to judge in this game because of the dynamic Mike Vick brought to the game when the Packers knocked Kevin Kolb out of the game with a concussion. The defense only gave up 321 yards which is not too shabby. They completely shut down Kolb before he got hurt, which kind of surprised even me. Kolb looked horrible. Who’d they have last year again?
I think ugly wins can only occur at home when you are supposed to dominate. The Packers went on the road and beat a playoff team with their “B” game. What is ugly about that? Plus, they got the dub and will certainly not be overconfident coming home this week. Let’s get No. 2 and focus on the Bears.