This Packer's Team Was Not Built To Lay Down.

This Packer's Team Was Not Built To Lay Down.
( " Hello You Play To Win The Game " )

Since game 8 of this NFL season all the talk around the league has been can the super bowl champ's Green Bay Packers not only repeat but do it with an undefeated season. Now with a undefeated regular in eyesight ( 12&0 going into their game with the Oakland Raiders ) the talk has turn to should they even try. If they get to 14&0 with home field advantage through out the NFC playoff's would it be better to rest players ( aka the Manning led Colts of a few seasons ago ) or go the Patriots way and go all in and try and go for the undefeated season.

It blows me away how anyone could think a team should lay down ( and run away from perfection ) instead of embracing the very thought of reaching the ultimate goal that every team should strive for, being consider one of the greatest team's ever. The Packers are in position to do just that and I don't think this is a team that will bow down to the magnitude of the situation. In fact to a man they seem to embrace the ideal of what the possibility might mean for their team and the city of Green Bay WI. GM Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy have built a team of winners, and while losing is part of the game I can't believe they would ever set up this team to lose a game on purpose just to avoid the pressures of greatness.

I borrowed a famous quote from former NFL head coach and now ESPN annalist Herm Edward " Hello You Play To Win The Game " enough said.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

Packers, Saints, 49ers, and O yes the Cowboys Class Of NFC.

Packers, Saints, 49ers, and O yes the Cowboys Class Of NFC.

Two teams ( the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints ) that was on everybody radar to not only get to but also win super bowl 46. A team ( the Dallas Cowboys ) that a loyal fan base hoped could regained the magic of yesteryear and a team ( the San Francisco 49ers ) led by a rookie coach no one saw coming are leading the charge in the NFC to super bowl 46 in Indianapolis. In a season that started with sweet dreams in Philadelphia to talk of redemption in Atlanta and little brothers ( Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers ) believing the time had come for them to sit at the big boys table, the NFC has the look of a four team race to the finish line.

While it can be said that the Atlanta Falcons look to have righted their ship, they are still a defense away from redemption. After a 5&0 start to the season the Detroit Lions had the look of a team ready to take it's place as one of the elite teams in the NFC. But youth and undisciplined play has brought the Lions crashing back down to earth. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers where do I start, after doing nothing in the offseason to help built on an great 2010 season ( 10&6 and just missing the playoff's ) the Buccaneer's may have to start all over from the top down.

The Chicago Bears last season's NFC north division winner, looked to have made all the right chances after being taken apart on national tv by the Lions. However with the loss of Jay Cutler for the remainder of the season, the Bears will have a hard time making the playoff's. The Packers and Saints are clearly at the head of the class in the NFC ( to much offense and the right QB's pulling the triggers ) but Dallas and San Francisco have solid teams and will give the Packers and Saints a fight for NFC title and a shot at super bowl 46.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

Does Lovie Smith and Bears management have burr vision when it comes to Jay Cutler?

Does Lovie Smith and Bears management have burr vision when it comes to Jay Cutler?

With the NFL lockout going on 60 days now there might be one team in the NFL taking a big sigh of relief knowing the spotlight has taken off of them and their franchise quarterback. To say the Chicago Bears season ended with a lot of controversy would be highly understated. The NFC championship ended with ton of questions and as of today very few answers for how the Jay Cutler injury situation was handle by not only the Bears but also Jay Cutler his-self.

The burning question that only Lovie Smith and Bear's linebacker Brian Urlacher seem willing to answer over and over again was Cutler's lack of toughness. I applause their willingness to take the heat for their young quarterback, however I question their inability to see the NFC championship game with a clear vision. They gave not only Bear's fans ( who were there in person or watching on their TV's ) but thousands of other football fans tuning in the game the impression that what they saw was not exactly what was happening on the field or the Bear's sideline.

The question of Cutler toughness in my opinion was the wrong question to be ask. The guy was sacked over 50 time last season and got up to play another down. The real question here is what did they see in Jay Cutler that made them think trading two first round draft picks, a third rounder, and their starting QB Kyle Orton to the Denver Broncos for Cutler and a fifth round draft pick was needed to acquire a QB with no real history of winning in the NFL.

We are talking about a quarterback who hasn't won since his senior year in high school. And as we know winning breed's winning, so when you are 11&35 as a collage starting quarterback ( Vanderbilt ) and 3 games under 500 as a starting NFL quarterback at the time this trade was made; Bear's GM Jerry Angelo must have a keen since of foresight to look past those numbers and pay a price that should land you a top five quarterback. To think Angelo went into the trade blindly would be....well....wrong. At his press conference Angelo admitted the quarterback he traded for had a few red flags attacked to him, but call them bumps in the road. He refer to Cutler as a good guy and a good leader, I think he paid a lot to get good.

With hind sight being 20/20 it's easy for me to now say what were you thinking. But the question I'm asking is what did Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith, and the Chicago Bears see in Jay Cutler that would make them think that anyone who saw the NFC championship game would not ask the same question. Jay Cutler came at a very high price, with that being said for Lovie Smith and Bear's management to in any way take such a hard defensive stand on the Cutler situation is just blind faith on their part. There are a lot of questions that came out of the NFC championship game and the one person who needs to man up and take his own heat seem unwilling to do so. One word answers and saying he only cared what his teammates think is asking a lot of Bears fans to forget what they witness on championship Sunday .

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

How will Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears recover from their

How will Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears recover from their
mental breakdown?

For anyone who tuned in and watched the NFC championship game between the Green Bay Packers & Chicago Bears, it had to have you wondering, who would take the bigger hit, Jay Cutler who seemed as if he was never into the game at all, or the Chicago Bears ( Coach Lovie Smith, the team Doctor, or the team's Trainer who made it look as if they had no clue how to handle an injury to their franchise Quarterback.

Right from the start you could see Jay was not mentally on his game,( missed on a few open passes, had bad body language, seem to be calling out receivers for running the wrong routes ) Did not look as if he was very comfortable on the big stage. Now being nervous and shaky is understandable, knowing this is his first time in a game of this magnitude. But looking disinterested and almost totally unemotionally invested in the game is something to be concern about.

Anyone who watched the Bears play last season, can't question Jay Cutler's physical toughness as a quarterback ( over 50 sacks ) but the mental toughness can and should be called into play here. It's not the fact that Jay got hurt in the second quarter of the championship game, and had to be pulled. It was how easy he let him self be taken off the field in this!! Game.You are playing for a chance to go to the Super Bowl, yes I think you need to show your fans, you will have to be carry off the field, and that you are physically unable to finish the game!

You could see Jay had a limp, and was having a hard time throwing the football, but there was never any indication given it was that bad. The only information fans were given was Jay hurt his knee and was provable for the second half. So when he plays one set of down and is taken out of the game, what is a fan suppose to think? That's where Bear's management comes in, they did nothing to tell or show fans how hurt their quarterback really was ( no ice, no brace, no crouches, and no trainers around him to show us he may be hurt bad ).

The tweet's came fast&furious, lot's of Players taking their shots at Jay, the guys calling the game not knowing what to think or say. Fans burning his jersey, what were people suppose to think without the proper lines of communication in place. Now with that being said, Jay has to responsibility for his lack of mental toughness and team leadership skills. He needs to take ownership of his team, you saw none of that in the game. You could not tell one way or another that he cared he was not in a game that could put his team in the Super Bowl.

I'm not a Doctor and will never claim to be one, but you don't need a PHD to see that Jay Cutler mentally gave up on his team. His coaches and teammate all stood up for him, and all said the right things, but there is no way he can easily recover mentally from what took place in that game. While I don't think Jay Cutler deserve the criterium of not being a physically tough quarterback, I do think his mental make up is weak. The Bears management on the other hand had a total mental breakdown in that game, and to a man should be held accountable for hanging Jay Cutler out to dry.

Ajjones

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