Giving Thanks For Another Packers Win » Brats & Beer

Posted on November 23, 2007

Sweet Jebus, thank you for delivering the Green Bay Packers from the clutches of ineptitude and stupid penalties and granting them a victory over Detroit. Amen.

The Thanksgiving Classic yesterday between the Packers and Lions was very much like the typical family Turkey Day meal: There’s some jostling and cajoling when the family all first arrives, then everyone eats until they’re stuffed and gets a little sleepy, but you find a way to recover from the tryptophan at the end for some pumpkin pie. And doesn’t that 10-1 pie taste mighty good?

Wow, 10-1. That’s simply amazing. But looming over that impressive feat is that for the second week in a row the Green Bay defense has slacked off while protecting a big lead. Detroit managed to close the gap to eight points with two fourth quarter touchdowns thanks to three big penalties. There are just seven days until Dallas, can the they find a way to get that cleaned up?

Maybe more importantly, can the Packers get some people healthy before flying to DFW to play the Cowboys? Charles Woodson injured his foot in the first quarter on a big punt return and didn’t play the rest of the game. There’s no word yet on how serious the injury is, but the Green Bay defense would be seriously shorthanded if Woodson can’t play against Dallas.

Other injuries from the game: Colin Cole, Aaron Rouse — who had another big interception yesterday — and KGB. It sounds like maybe Rouse wasn’t hurt too badly and KGB might be ready for next week. The defense can’t afford to lose too many bodies for a big like the one coming up.

Of course whatever shortcomings the defense might have had, the offense more than made up for it. The Packers scored on six of seven possessions after a slow start in the first quarter and they engineered a 10-play, 72-yard drive in the fourth quarter that earned a field goal and took the clock down inside the two minute warning. Brett Favre threw for 381 yards and three touchdowns, Donald Driver was all over the field making 10 catches for 147 yards, and Ryan Grant made some very big plays on the ground and finished with 101 yards rushing with a touchdown.

That offense is really going to have to put it into overdrive this coming Thursday against Dallas, which doesn’t have the best defense in the world. As long as the Green Bay defense can play 60 minutes of quality football like they are capable of, there might be no limit to how far this dream team can go this season.

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