NFL 2009 Season Week 9 Picks

I'm going to the Packers-Buccaneers game!

I imagine it will be about 90% Packer fans?

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/10325372/It%27s-the-Truth:-Favre%27s-proving-Thompson-wrong

I think he's over doing the Favre for MVP campaign, but clearly Thompson's draft only team building method is looking questionable at best. It's been a sore point with callers all year on the radio stations down here. At the start of the season the Packers had a pretty decent top 22, but there was and is a serious lack of depth at multiple positions (although WR hasn't been an issue for years if you ask me). And being so much under the salary cap for the last couple years doesn't make any sense. But in his defense, Favre was already talking retirement before Thompson showed up and Rodgers was a potential top 2 pick that fell to 25th or whatever it was, and they got great value from that pick. If you want to make the argument that the Packers should have kept Favre over Rodgers, then the proposal should be that they should have traded Rodgers instead, not that they shouldn't have drafted him in the first place.

So Scott, when did you start tailgating??? :)

A streaker at the Packer game? Wouldn't be anyone we know I hope...

Well, that sucked, but was not unexpected. When do the Twins start up again?

Suck it everybody.

You never pick the Packers so it's not like you're a genius on this pick.

Was anyone else surprised that before that game Rodgers had the best QB rating? The Packers have a ton of drops and no offensive line. Unfortunately that last issue doesn't seem likely to get fixed this season. Bye-bye Thompson.

Just because he has a high rating, doesn't mean he's doing a good job. I think qb rating is misleading. TT and MM will be gone after the season. TT was too obsessed with his draft picks and MM has lost the team's respect somehow. There's no other explanation for the penalties.

Actually that seems like one of the least likely explanations.

Aaron Rodgers gets sacked 4.6 times a game. Peyton Manning has been sacked 7 times, all year. Those are some pretty crazy extremes.

The state of the NFC North (as pertaining to the Vikings):

If the Packers were to go undefeated over the last 8 games they would need the Vikings to go 4-4. As today proved, there aren't really "gimmies" in the NFL, * but today was more of a fluke than anything. Still, even by NFL standards, there are only a few "easy" games left. @Det on thanksgiving, at home against a feisty, yet record-wise inferior, 49ers, and the Seahawks. Otherwise they'd need to win vs Dallas, Baltimore, @Pittsburgh, and @ Arizona. You could make a case either way for @Chicago. So, assuming there are at least 2 losses in there, they would need the Vikes to go 2-6. In any case, though the Vikings have probably choked away bigger leads, it would seem the Packers are left looking at the wildcard spot if they want to make the playoffs. Elimination number: 5

If the Bears went undefeated they would hand the Vikings 2 losses, and would then hold the tie breaker, so they could get away with the Vikings going 5-1 in the other games. Of course, there's a catch 22 there, because while they have a better shot than the Packers, they're 4-4 without playing the Vikings at all yet. If they lose week 12 @Min, pretending we can skip there, they're 4-5 and the Vikings are 8-1. If the Bears then finished 11-5 they would need the Vikings to win only 3 more games, and hope the tie breakers work out. The Vikings have had their trouble against the Bears lately, though Favre traditionally has been their daddy, but still, the odds seem to be stacked against them. Elimination number: 6

If the Lions were to go undefeated they would be 9-7, would split with the Vikings, and need them to only win 2 more games, hope that the Bears/Packers don't do better than 9-7, and that the tie breakers worked out. Of course the tie breakers working out would be the least of their concerns because clearly we would need to deal with the epidemic of planes being knocked out of the sky by all the pigs that took flight. Elimination number: 3

*I shouldn't tease, since the Vikings are a lock to lose against Detroit, or at least would be in years past.

Friday night...

I pretty much considered the Vikings the division winners after week 8 already. It's all but official now.