Tuesday, August 22, 2000

Ugly, Ugly, Ugly

Monday night's game against the Dolphins was an ugly affair all around. The Packers' defense looked terrible again, the Packers' offense looked sick, and the special teams gave up the game winning punt return at the end. That makes three ugly units.

Oh, and there was a fourth one, too. This was my first exposure to the new Monday night crew, and I thought they were awful, too.

Back in the mid-1980's, if memory serves me right, the Packers played the Buccaneers on a Monday night game. Neither team could kick a field goal to win the game. The game went into overtime, and the Packers finally kicked a field goal to rack up a totally unsatisfying victory by a score of, I think, 9-6. [Ed. note - the game was December 12, 1983, and the actual score was 12-9.] Tonight's game was one Herbert Goodman TD run and one Donald Driver TD catch away from being as unsatisfying as that game. And we can probably take a break from speculating about how much Matt Hasselbeck's trade value is, too.

It's just the pre-season. Lots of starters took the game off. The defense is still getting used to a new defense. It was hot and humid. It doesn't make any difference who won or lost. Still, it's not a good way to get ready for the season. It's not time to panic yet, since their record is still 0-0 in games that count. I'm starting to get really concerned about this year's edition of the Green Bay Packers.