Fearless Predictions as Packers Break Out of Bye Versus Broncos
By Chris Havel
The Green Bay Packers embark upon their post-bye schedule with a tremendous head start.
At 5-1, coach Mike McCarthy’s Packers have been resilient, tough, well-coached and just plain lucky. They lost a game to the Chicago Bears that they probably should have won, and they won games against the San Diego Chargers and the Washington Redskins that they quite easily could have lost.
That’s life in the NFL, where the only bottom line that matters is the final score, and right now, the Packers have been given a chance to control their own destiny. They can be just about anything they want to be – unless they want to be a power-running, smash-mouth style offense. That isn’t going to happen. Everything else is still in play.
Without further adieu, here are my fearless predictions for the Packers as they prepare for the 10 remaining games, beginning with the Denver Broncos:
Donald Driver will reassert himself as Brett Favre’s No. 1 weapon.
Driver led the NFL in yards after the catch last season, much of it with highlight reel moves and breathtaking toughness. That isn’t going to change, especially with the NFL’s reinstatement of wide receiver Koren Robinson. Robinson’s return to the Packers’ receiving corps is going to create more opportunities for Driver, not less.
In fact, the Packers’ receiving corps – top to bottom – is as good as any with perhaps the exception of New England, Indianapolis, Detroit and Cincinnati.
There aren’t going to be enough competent defensive backs to cover Driver, Robinson, Greg Jennings, James Jones and Ruvell Martin. Someone is going to shake free and the most likely someone is Driver.
Favre will finish even stronger than he started.
Critics point to Favre’s 30-something quarterback rating in the past six quarters as an ominous foreshadowing of a long 10-game stretch ahead.
Once again, predictions of Favre’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
If critics aren’t trying to force him into retirement, they are trying to chalk up any sub-par games to the 38-year-old’s age. Enough already. If Favre has taught us anything in all these years it is that it isn’t wise to bet against him.
Favre and McCarthy are too much in sync, and the offensive line and receivers are too talented to imagine a sad, sorry finish this season. Rather, I suspect Favre is going to throw for more than 25 touchdowns, fewer than 20 interceptions, and win more games than he loses during the final 10.
Bubba Franks will be missed.
Really. Whatever time the Packers’ veteran tight end misses with his knee injury will be too much time. The Packers have indicated Franks’ absence could be anywhere from “two to four weeks” and/or “indefinitely.”
That sounds suspiciously a lot like the time frame for running back Vernand Morency’s return from a knee injury. Morency was injured the first day of training camp and he still hasn’t fully recovered.
The Packers will find that it is easier to make do without Morency than Franks.
The Packers’ backs need to toughen up, but don’t count on it.
I’m weary of seeing Morency in a fetal position while clutching at some part of his anatomy. I’m tired of hearing that DeShawn Wynn didn’t practice for one reason or another. However, I am anxious to see what Ryan Grant can do with an opportunity.
Grant showed flashes in minimal time, and he has proven to be a willing and capable special teams player.
Brandon Jackson also needs a chance to get back into the rotation, especially as a receiver out of the backfield.
The light finally goes on inside Nick Collins’ head.
The third-year safety showed promise during his rookie season when he lined up opposite of Mark Roman. Then he slumped a bit while playing across from Marquand Manuel. Now, Collins has been routinely overshadowed trying to keep up with Atari Bigby.
It is time for Collins to realize his potential, and to fulfill it.
Koren Robinson makes a significant positive impact.
He is too good an athlete, and too focused on making a successful comeback to fail.
Aaron Kampman emerges as the defense’s MVP.
Kampman is the lead dog on a defense that is scarcely beginning to scratch the surface.
The Packers struggle a bit immediately after the bye, but get it straightened out in time to make the post-season.
McCarthy will put the 5-1 start and just-completed bye week to good use. He will find ways to run enough to win, but the passing game will be his ace in the hole. Defensively, the Packers will continue to trend upward. There is no good reason to think otherwise.
Let the season’s second half begin.
Chris Havel is a freelance writer, best-selling author and host of northeast Wisconsin’s top-rated sports radio talk show, Sports Line, heard Monday through Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sports Radio 107.5 FM and 1400 AM THE FAN. He writes a weekly column exclusively for Packers Fan Tours’ Website throughout the 2007 season.
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