Week 1: Packers vs. Niners

Clay Matthews sacks Alex Smith.

After the game last Sunday I was sitting on the couch thinking to myself "I've been waiting months for this?"
First of all I'd like to talk about the replacement officials. Basically they sucked. I know it's not their fault, but really? We need our regular guys back. I want Ed Hochuli! The refing was not (necessarily) the reason I think we lost, since there were bad calls both in our favor and against us, but I will say this. I think the game plan was to start out fast. I saw Rodgers try to go into the no-huddle a few times in the first quarter, and every time the game was stopped for some reason. And I think that just threw the whole offense off. They lost their plan, and were trying to make up a new one on the fly. The flags were comming out late, and calls were being made and then retracted. I was calling penalties from my couch faster than they were being made on the field! That's frustrating to me, so I can only imagine how bad it must be for players and coaches. Like I said it's not the ref's fault that they don't know what they are doing, it just makes for some really awful football.
OK, but onward.
The offense wasn't great. Maybe it's because they got thrown off, but then maybe not. Despite the addition of Cedric Benson our run game is still non-existent. He rushed 8 times for like 19 yards or something. Rodgers got more ground yardage. So...I don't know how that's going to pan out. It's true the the Niners D was best in the NFL last year against the run, so maybe it's not so much that we are bad as it was that they were just really, really good. As for receivers, Jennings had a couple good plays, Cobb had another great night (although his return for TD should have been called back). Finely is back, and I am honestly not too stoked about him. He just rubs me the wrong way, and he had so many drops last year. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not sure I trust him to play consistently.
Rodgers threw an interception...He only had 6 in all of last year, so hopefully it was a fluke thing. At any rate, I think he will be fine, and otherwise when he could, I thought he made nice plays. He didn't have a great game, but it wasn't terrible either.
The front 7 did OK, but not great. AR was sacked a few times, and hurried and otherwise harassed much more than I would like to see. Especially since he goes down field a lot, he needs to have enough time in the pocket for his receivers to get there.
Moving on to the defense. Again not great. The middle of the field is like...the Bermuda Triangle for the Packers D. There is just always weird things going on, and they just can't make the tackles. I am still so pissed we let Cullen Jenkens go. I knew as soon as I heard it, we would regret it. We lost Nick Collins last year, and now Desmond Bishop is injured. I don't know what needs to happen, but whatever they have set up now is not working. Jarret Bush is not the right guy to have at cornerback I don't think, and I have this feeling like the defense is playing to deep for some reason. Like they are afraid of the hail Mary for a TD, but they are letting all the short yardage passes go.
I will say that I thought A.J. Hawk had a nice game. He made a bunch of great tackles. I think he missed a few too, but I'm trying to be "the glass is half full". Also I thought Matthews had a nice game. 2.5 sacks! He only had 6 all of last year. I am always amazed at how hard he works on every down. You can just see that he gives it his all. It paid off in that game. He was the only highlight in the game as far as I am concerned....well, maybe him and Cobb.
Anyway, it was a disappointing loss. I was pretty bummed out too, because if anything they seem worse than last year, but maybe it was just an off game because of the officiating. I don't know, and it's too soon to tell. Hopefully everything gets sorted out and we get a win against the Bears tomorrow!
Either way I'll still be cheering for the Pack. They are like family. You might not always love what they do, but you stand behind them no matter what.

Found the photo here. 
A  great photographer with a bunch of other shots from the game! If you are interested you should take a look.