Lightning a portent of doom for Favre and co.?

By Os Davis  |   Tuesday, August 29, 2006  |  Comments( 3 )

Green Bay Packers
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For a while, it looked as though lightning might save the Green Bay Packers from a humbling loss. Now this was no metaphorical lightning, as in "Brett Favre threw lightning bolts into awaiting receivers' hands." Nor was this the lightning of simile, as in "Ahman Green's lightning-like speed."

No, unfortunately, this was literal lightning, an awesome display that interrupted play in the Pack's preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals Monday night. For almost 40 minutes, play stopped with the green-and-gold down a crushing 41-10. Officials would eventually resume play, and Green Bay was forced to finish the game it wished hadn't begun at all.

Perhaps there was something else going on with the freakish Cincinnati meteorology ... could Someone Upstairs be trying to tell Favre and company something? After all, here was Carson Palmer making mincemeat of the Packer secondary and looking like Warren Beatty in the last reels of "Heaven Can Wait," going 9-for-14 for 140 yards and three TDs in his first appearance after what might have been a career-ending injury. Favre, on the other hand, looked more like "The Bad News Bears" than competition for the Chicago Bears. Looking old, Favre lost a fumble, was once intercepted and even tripped while dropping back to pass.

Not that all the blame can be laid at Favre's feet, of course. The man was harassed early and often, managing to escape after taking "only" one sack. The Pack's offensive line, loaded with youngsters and certain to be problematic throughout the season, was a porous as ever. Favre spent much time running for his life, something the 36-year-old doesn't need to be doing at this point. And, if anything, would-be future starter Aaron Rodgers was even worse at handling second-stringers, going a pitiful 2-for-6 for seven (count 'em, seven) yards.

Meanwhile, the Green Bay "defense" put quote marks around their name, allowing five touchdown passes, including one to Doug Johnson, a dude with a lifetime QB rating of 69.4. It's hard to place the blame on any one member of the Packer D, but let's give it a shot. How about Charles Woodson?

Woodson, the Pack's sole high-profile free-agent signing, was inked to a seven-year deal worth $52 million. After this game, perhaps the Green Bay brass should ask the Cincy folks to pick up part of that tab. Woodson can be directly blamed for at least two of the Bengals' TDs amassed before halftime (T.J. Houshmandzadeh's 33-yarder and Tab Perry's 15-yarder) and was also outplayed by Houshmandzadeh on another 28-yard completion. According to the Tuesday morning Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, one NFL scout at the game asked reporters aloud, "What's wrong with Charles Woodson?"

To say (as much of the Milwaukee-area press diplomatically did) that the Packers "struggled" on both sides of the ball is like saying Bubba Franks struggles to fit his feet into size seven shoes. After a performance like this one, it's hard to find positives, but there had to have been a few. Let's see ... Donald Driver was as steady as ever with receptions of 35 and 18 yards for a TD and total yardage of 75. Rookie WR Greg Jennings showed that the draft-day Javon Walker trade was worthwhile, and he may have iced a spot on the starting squad. And, uh, not much else, really.

All in all, preseason game No. 3 undoubtedly gave each and every Packer backer a Lombardi Trophy-sized headache, as fans and team alike search for answers. They needn't bother looking to sky, however, because there's little more there than lightning strikes. And a lot of ominous looking clouds.

See if the Green Bay Packers can shake it off at Realfootball365.com.
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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