Weeks 3 and 4: Packers vs Bears and Cowboys

At the airport on Game Day

 I haven't been writing any posts about the Packers lately and the reason is that for games 3 and 4 I was on vacation, and this past week has been so hectic that I haven't had a chance. So I'm going to back up for a quick recap of the past three weeks. The farther back I go the less detail there will be since the details become hazy after several weeks...
Week 3 against the Bears:
We missed the first half of the game on account of the fact that we were 30,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean. We landed in Honolulu, but instead of heading to the beach, we found the nearest pub in the airport and spent the next two hours there. The bar we found had the game playing but unfortunately they didn't have sound, so we had to try to watch the game and read subtitles simultaneously. I'm glad we won, both because it was against the Bears our greatest rivals, and because it was our first division win. But it was a little tough to really get into the game when we couldn't hear anything. And never mind that the TV was almost straight above out heads, and the beers were $8 each! Whatever.

Manny & Eddie Jr Game Ready

Over all I thought we played well. The defense gave up way too many yards though, and Woodson had a couple of penalties but made up for them with some nice plays. I thought Matthews would have much better stats, and at least a couple sacks on Cutler, and so I was disappointed in his play, but after some contemplation I realized that he's not playing worse, it's just that opponents are double and triple teaming him. What can he do? And the fact that so many guys are trying to stop him means there are less guys to cover other players. The three D-line guys, Raji, Wynn and Picket are doing great against the run. But I feel like our pass rush needs some help.
There hasn't been a bit of news about Nick Collins who suffered a neck injury in the game against Carolina, and while Morgan Burnett is doing a great job of filling in, I think Collins being out had affected the secondary. (I did some searching and learned that Nick Collins had to have neck surgery, and while he is fine and has full mobility for off the field activities, it is unknown whether he will be able to play football anymore. Apparently the surgery takes six months to heal, and depending on how the healing goes it will be determined whether or not he is eligible for a second surgery which would then allow him to come back to football.)
Week 4 against the Bronco's
This game is a little hazy for me on account of the $3 Mai Tai's that were being served at the poolside cabana where we watched the game. We were still in Hawaii, Waikiki Beach to be exact. We met a couple other Packer Fans at the cabana, a guy named Stephan who grew up in Green Bay and is an Oneida Native American. His girlfriend Abby was there too. And there was another guy named Jim who was from Madison, and who (strangely enough) we actually ran into again on the streets of Waikiki while looking for somewhere to have breakfast and he recommended a great place!

New Packers Friends in Waikiki

Anyway the Mai Tai's...I mean Packers had a great game. The defense still gave up too many yards I thought, But the offense was off the hook! Rodgers was outstanding. Four TD's and two rushing himself! Super awesome. For the first time in a really long time I started to feel like the offense was carrying the defense for a change. I don't mean that the offense played terrible last year, or at the beginning of this year. What I mean is that the defense was consistently good while the offense was on and off. But this year, and this game in particular, the offense has been more reliable. I think a lot of it has to do with the recovery of a run game, and the fact that both Grant and Starks are taking turns at RB.
Well, unfortunately that's all I can recall at this point, and I still have a lot of catching up to do, so I'm going to end here.