Turning the page ... A-A-Ron gone ... NFL Draft done. Hit it ...

Dear fellow Packers fans, yes, I know. There have been no posts here since the debacle against Detroit that dropped us from the playoffs before we could even get started. That was a tough one, as you know.

As QB Aaron Rodgers and WR Randall Cobb walked off the Lambeau Field turf together, you kind of knew: this was it. Yes, Rodgers was still under contract. A big contract. But keeping him on at this stage, approaching age 40 with seemingly declining performance late in the season in the cold, even at home, was problematic at best on a number of levels. The Packers needed to see what they had in backup QB, Jordan Love. Time to turn the page. Not with a rebuild per se, but definitely a new era in Packers football was going to begin. Somehow.

Thanks for the memories, Aaron Charles Rodgers.

See you in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in a few years.

You know ... when you retire.

Source: Mike De Sisti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Enter the New York Jets. Yes, the same Jets that executed a trade for our last aging Hall of Fame, MVP QB, Brett Favre. It took a while for the Rodgers trade to get done. But it did early in the week leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft. And GM Brian Gutekunst got the better part of the trade, in the opinion of many NFL pundits. For what it's worth, I agree with that assessment.

So, farewell and thanks for all the years of remarkable memories, Aaron. You will be missed. Hope you stay healthy and play at least 65 percent of the offensive plays for your new team this coming season. And ... that the Jets' record is a poor one. If both happen, the Packers will get a high 1st round draft pick next season to complete the trade particulars.

Turning the page officially ...

The three-day 2023 NFL Draft completed its 7th round yesterday. The Pack wound up, through trades and compensatory picks, with 13 draft picks. Will they all stick? Nope. But, it's interesting that at least one source (see below graphic) thought the Packers had the best draft of all 32 teams.

Pro Football Network declared the Packers to have

the best draft class of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Source: Pro Football Network

With needs in many areas, and with a clear objective to give new starting QB Jordan Love offensive weapons to grow with, the emphasis was on that side of the ball, while tending to defense and special teams, as well. GM Gutey picked up a couple tight ends (needed!) and a couple wide receivers (needed!), as well as a couple edge rushers, among others. Wasn't surprising to see the Packers pick up a QB for camp and to compete with Danny Etling, the current backup behind Love. Plus, there will be the need for arms in camp to keep all the receivers and tight ends busy. The Pack also went with a late round running back; decisions will need to be made about both Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon next off-season, so having some backs on hand...yes.

It also became more of a likelihood as the draft approached that the Packers would likely draft a kicker to replace venerable, aging, and all-time franchise scoring leader, Mason Crosby, who is currently a free agent. Now, Gutey made it clear in post-draft interviews that they had not closed the door on bringing Mason back in. But there would have to be a real failure on the part of this young kicker from Auburn. Stat-wise, he doesn't appear to have been especially accurate from long distance. And kicking in the south, despite growing up in Colorado, it remains to be seen how he'd do at Lambeau and other cold-weather venues come December and January. But with kickers and punters, especially, it always seems to be a shorter leash than with other players. As with all the picks, we just have to wait to see.

Also immediately following the draft the Packers and other teams began signing undrafted free agents. You can see those on packers.com and other sites that track these developments. Yes, there are sometimes some diamonds in the rough that actually emerge among this group so it's always interesting to keep an eye on this list, as well.

As draft experts are quick to remind us, evaluating any draft immediately after the fact, is a bit foolish as it typically takes three years before these young players "arrive", so to speak. A big jump usually takes place between the first year and the second. But patience is needed. Think Davante Adams. It took a while. But then ... wow!

As noted earlier, while the Packers assert that they are not in rebuilding mode — and I agree with that view for what that's worth — they are re-tooling. Lots of great veterans. And lots of young guys.

It's going to be an exciting year, Packers fans. Stay tuned.

As always, Go Pack Go!!!

2022 NFL Week 6: Packers vs. Jets Prediction

Hello, Packers fans. Well, after last Sunday's collapse in London vs. the Giants...what can be said? Play another team from New York, apparently, and hope for a better result. Welcome to Lambeau Field, J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.

Because of constraints on time and the fact we will not even be able to view the game live this Sunday, we are skipping the usual preview of the game and going straight to the prediction. Hope that works for you.

Packers head coach, Matt LaFleur, needs to get a full game out

of his team...and coaches.

(Photo from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

The Prediction

The Packers are currently 7-1/2 point favorites at the time of this posting. Both teams are 3-2. Whether the Pack can play more than a half of football on either or both sides of the ball yet remains to be seen. Perhaps if the Pack runs the ball more ... and occasionally blitzes ... and has man-to-man coverage in the secondary more often ... Let us pray....

We're calling it Packers 24 - Jets 13.

Go Pack Go!!!

2018 NFL Week 16: Packers vs Jets Preview & Prediction

Packers fans, today's game against the New York Jets marks only the 13th time the two teams have met. And, believe it or not, the Jets lead the series 8-4, although the Packers have won the last two meetings. As you are aware, today's game is played on the East Coast...New York...New Jersey...somewhere out there. At this point in the Green Bay Packers mediocre 5-8-1 season, place seems irrelevant to the task of just winning a game. 

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers needs to lead his team to victory against
the Jets today to avoid a historically bad franchise road record.
(Photo: Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK-W)

That's because in this pitiful season the Packers have yet -- yet! -- to win a road game. Lose today, and this squad will become the first in franchise history to lose all its eight road games. If that weren't bad enough -- and it is, let's be honest -- it's actually worse than that, because the current ongoing loss streak extends back to last season, as well. As Krusty the Clown would say, with a slap to his head, "Oy vey."

So...it's been a long time waiting on a road win. Who knows what the problem is? Apparently no one playing or coaching. Pundits will opine, rightly so at least for this season's losses on the road or at home, that no one stepped up in the big moments that happen in every game to make a play that needed to be made. Whether on offense or defense. Now, some of that has come down to the rash of injuries which decimated this team, particularly on the defensive front and backfield, as well as among the corps of wide receivers QB Aaron Rodgers is throwing to. His season isn't what we expected, probably even what he expected, given his unfamiliarity with his young new receivers.

But none of that matters today. All that matters is getting that "W" however they can do it.

The Prediction

With less that an hour to kickoff (sorry for the lateness of this post, dear readers), let's make it quick.

The Packers are favored by 3 points, but many are picking the Jets to win by that margin.

We're calling it Packers 24 - Jets 23.

Go Pack Go!!!

Packers have slow start but Jets crash in second half

The good news of late afternoon Sunday was that the Green Bay Packers beat the New York Jets 31-24 (our prediction: 34-24 Packers) at Lambeau Field. The bad news was that for the first half of the game, it was about as ugly as it could get for the Pack. The additional good news was that adjustments were made and there was a role reversal before halftime and continuing into and throughout the second half which allowed the Packers to outscore the Jets 28-3.

Oh, and there was that very ill-timed time out by the Jets which reversed a TD catch that would have made it a very different game going down the stretch. As Seinfeld would say, that's a shame.

Bottom line: it was one of the biggest comebacks in recent Packers memory.

Let this picture below sum up how great it was to snag this victory. Down, but not out.

Jordy Nelson scores on 80-yard catch and run.
(Photo: Wm. Glasheen/Post-Crescent Media)
Next up: Detroit
After being crowned by some pundits after Week 1 as the winner of the NFC North, the Detroit Lions stumbled yesterday. Badly. Are they the Deja Vu Lions all over again that we see year after year, with glimpses of great play followed by inconsistency? Or, was it just a bad game? For that matter, which team is the real Packers of 2014? The team who got spanked by Seattle (who in turn lost to San Diego yesterday), who floundered badly on both sides of the ball in the first half of Sunday's game, or the team that rallied on both offense and defense in the second half to have a character-building comeback?

The Lions game commences a 12-day stretch in which the Packers play half of their division schedule: at Detroit, at Chicago, and then a Thursday night game at home against the ViQueens. It's a tough schedule. And the Pack will need to be up to the challenge, obviously. Yesterday's game could be a defining moment in this young season. Or not.

We'll all have to chew on this a while. More later this week. Keep checking back here for further thoughts. And be sure to always check out our Amazing 2nd Page (link at the top) for up-to-the-minute Packers news. Or follow us on Twitter: @packfansunited.

Go Pack Go!!!