Not Packing It In

By Jake Brown

This is finally the year the Green Bay Packers will be left behind in the NFC North Division, or so it seemed until this past week. The team that has reigned over the division for the past three season looked to be all but done after a 0-4 start left them one of the few winless teams leading into week five of the NFL schedule.

Then the New Orleans Saints rolled into Titletown. Everyone feels badly for what the boys from the bayou have had to go through this year, of course, but the Saints were just what the doctor ordered for a Packers squad that looked absolutely pathetic in the first four games of the season.

The Packers were down 3-0 early, then proceeded to rip off 52 unanswered points to win the game in a laugher. They were led by none other than the legendary Brett Favre, who some critics said would eventually end his consecutive games streak to give rookie Aaron Rodgers playing time under center.

Favre is nowhere near being at the end of his career. He still has the game, he still has fun and he still can lead his team when he needs to. The problem is he doesn’t have the team around him that he usually does. Ahman Green hasn’t run for a hundred yards in 12 sraight games including the playoffs. Pro Bowl wide receiver Javon Walker is hurt. Two Pro Bowl offensive linemen are gone via free agency, and simply put the defense is bad.

The Packers are in rebuilding mode, and Favre has to realize this by now. The organization has let him down from this stand point. He is there to win and win now, the organization is ready to get younger in a hurry. The whole team is young to the point of needed time to get used to the league.

With this organizational mentality it is only a matter of time before Favre is holding a press conference to announce his retirement, then rebuilding will really be under way with a young quarterback, it almost makes you think they want him to retire.

After saying all that, the Packers still have a shot at winning the North. Simply put, the North is bad, worse than it was last year. The Pack started 1-4 last year too, then reeled off six straight wins to help clinch the division title.

Nobody has set themeselves apart this year in the North, with Minnesota being a major disappointment already. Sure the Packers have been awful until this week, but maybe this win was just what they needed. The defense stepped up and had two interceptions for touchdowns, Favre was Favre and the running game wasn’t as bad as it has been.

A 52-3 win can do wonders for the confidence of a young team, and a confident young team is a much better asset to Favre than a young team that isn’t confident at all. The moral of the story is this, you cannot count anyone out of this division race yet, especially a team with a living legend under center, and a sudden burst of confidence and momentum.