Packer Nation Gets Happy » Brats & Beer

August 20, 2006
posted under: Packers, Pre-season

The Packers 38-10 win last night over the Hotlanta Falcons managed to warm the cockles of Packer fans everywhere, even though everyone is already sweating their cockles off in this summer heat. It was the sort of performance we were all hoping to see from this team, and even though it is just the second preseason game, optimism seems to again reign over Packer Nation, for a week at least anyway.

For all the haters in the national media who said last week’s meltdown against San Diego proved Favre was past his prime: Eat it. Captain Favrelous showed what he can do with decent protection and a serviceable running game, completing 16 of 22 for 134 yards and two touchdowns with nary an interception. Both Bubba Franks and Najeh Davenport caught scoring passes that were tipped balls, yes, but that goes to the point that maybe Lambeau magic is back in force, and forceful magik, black or otherwise, will come in handy late in November and December (and January, too).

Davenport wasn’t stellar running the ball, but his 11 carries for 29 yards helped put Green Bay in manageable third-down situations that sustained two big scoring drives. In all, the first team offense had 15 running plays for 62 yards in the first half, including a 19 yard reverse by Donald Driver and a 10 yard burst by Noah Herron. Davenport had four runs for five yards or more, and there were only three plays that went for no gain or negative yards. This might all sound like pretty small stuff coming on a night when Denver put up 238 yards on the ground, but for a new offensive line this is great news.

Best of all, this is improvement over last week, which shows Mike McCarthy and the gang can coach ‘em up and get the kind of performance that leads to victories. It still remains to be seen, of course, if the team can keep improving week to week and get to the point of consistent production in the regular season, but as the first demonstration of what this team can do when things are hitting on all cylinders, I think we all have to be very optimistic for the season to come.