Pack needs a Fab Favre
Green Bay is a team in transition. Unfortunately for the Packers, somebody forget to tell Brett Favre.
For the umpteenth season (No. 16 to those who need exact numbers), Favre will be the Packers' starting quarterback when they play the Philadelphia Eagles in the season opener Sept. 9. This is a fine thing for football fans who value consistency, loyalty and perseverance.
For Packers fans who value victories and championships, it may not be such a great thing. They want to know if it's indicative that the first-string offense didn't record a first down in the preseason opener against Pittsburgh, but Aaron Rodgers directed three scoring drives as Favre's backup.
Yes, Rodgers did it against a second-team defense, but the important thing is, he did it.
Favre was blunt about that preseason performance, saying, "I just expect more, not only from myself, but from the offense in general."
Game 2 was better as Favre was 7-for-12 with 1 TD pass and a 104.2 rating in a dominant 48-13 preseason win over Seattle. In the Game 3, he completed 14 of 20 with no touchdown passes in a 21-13 loss to Jacksonville.
Favre said he was struggling with his desire to throw the home run ball versus the need to play smart possession football, and that struggle is similar to what held back the Packers last season.
A season after turning the ball over 33 times, the Packers' coaching staff is trying to play a more deliberate style to maintain possession. Last season, coach Mike McCarthy's first, the Packers went 8-8, and in most places the team is playing with the same personnel this year. In the spots where changes have been made, they have been made for the younger and much less experienced.
"Brett needs to go out and have his best year statistically that he has had in quite some time,'' McCarthy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Completion percentage, low interceptions."
Last season, Favre's completion percentage was a career-low 56.0, and he threw 18 interceptions. In 2005, he threw an astounding 29 picks.
Playing in front of Favre are veteran tackles Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton, with second-year starters Daryn Colledge, Scott Wells and Jason Spitz in between. The running backs healthy enough to play are rookies, Brandon Jackson (second-round draft pick out of Nebraska) and fullback Korey Hall (sixth-round pick out of Boise State). Projected starting tailback Vernand Morency has not been able to practice yet due to a knee injury.
Ahman Green is no longer going to test the Bears' defense. He signed with Houston as a free agent.
The receivers are well known to Bears fans: Donald Driver and second-year wideout Greg Jennings. Veteran Robert Ferguson was released last week. Driver was knocked out of the Jaguars game with a severe foot sprain, but now the Packers believe he might return by the season opener.
The strength of the defense lies in the linebacker group, led by A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett. The cornerbacks remain the same, Charles Woodson and Al Harris.
Based on the results last season and the changes made, it might be difficult to work up enthusiasm for a Packers title charge in 2007.