Packers Win But Don’t Expect Respect » Brats & Beer

October 23, 2006
posted under: Dolphins, Packers, Post-game

Green Bay had several obstacles to overcome yesterday — their own ineptitude, an experienced (a nice way of saying old) Dolphins defense, and about 40 years worth of history — but the Packers succeeded in getting a 34-24 win in Miami anyway. It was an ugly win to be sure, but when you’re living on Fugly Island you can’t complain about how the coconuts look.

More than being just a win, yesterday’s performance I think really gave Packer fans hope for the rest of the season. Brett Favre threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, Ahman Green showed a flash of the old running back breaking away on a 70-yard touchdown run, and some of the receivers, such as David Martin and walk on Chris Francies, made catches when they absolutely, positively had to make them. Maybe this Mike McCarthy fellow has something going on after all.

But don’t expect any of that good news to get much play outside Packer Nation. Peter King complements AJ Hawk in his column today but is otherwise silent on the game; the statisticians from Football Outsiders at FOX Sports are critical of Harrington but have to no love for the Packers; Deadspin slags on Harrington as well; and The Big Lead tosses off a one-liner about Green Bay “continuing its inexorable march to five wins.” Meh. Clark Judge at CBS SportsLine, though, does throw some props to the Green & Gold, saying in his “Judgements” column:

You can only hope that Green Bay win will stifle talk of Brett Favre and his retirement/benching. All he’s done his last five games is throw for 9 touchdowns, 3 interceptions and 300 yards twice. The problem, people, is not Brett Favre; it’s the guys around him.

We’re still a long way from being out of the woods, though. The defense did allow Harrington to throw for 414 yards, the offense was just four of 15 on third downs, the running game — aside from Green’s TD burst — was atrocious, and Green Bay got flagged for nine penalties. All of these things need to be improved if McCarthy’s Packers are going to salvage something out of this season, but there is at least now hope swirling in the cold air of Green Bay.