It's the Packers bye week here in week 5 and the team is looking back on the current season so far and happy with the 4-0 start. In what has been an exciting season, rookie HB Evans is having a monster season with at least one TD in every game so far. Aaron Rodgers says the rookie is the best running back he's played with since his time at Cal where Marshawn Lynch was his HB.
Aaron Rodgers isn't playing too bad himself either with a 14-2 TD-INT ratio and a 147.0 QBR. This team is playing well on both sides of the ball right now, defense is taking pride in 3rd down stops and the offense is understanding the key to winning is to wear out the other team. Pause.
Look for the Packers to continue playing well all season as they look for another playoff appearance here in SFL season 2.
Here are eight bold predictions for the upcoming SFL Season 2.
Game of the week this week features Pops vs Leaf, Rams vs Packers, Bad guys vs Good Guys. What we have is two of the top 10 offenses in the SFL squaring off against one another as Pops #1 ranked offense faces off against Leafs #7 ranked offense. What will sure to be a factor in this game is the running game as the Rams come in with the 1st ranked Rush offense at 166 yards per game and the Packers have the 4th ranked Rush defense averaging only 62 rush yards per game.
This is game will be streamed for those interested in seeing a highly anticipated NFC matchup that could have playoff implications.
SFL reporter Meck Sikan is back on the road getting news for the SFL community. Today he interviews Coach Q of the Falcons.
Meck - Coach Q, you are 1-2 after a season where you lost to the eventual Super Bowl champ Rams, what do you plan to do this year to get back to the Super Bowl? Or, do you consider this to be rebuilding year?
Q - I plan on doing the exact same thing that I have been doing for 25 seasons; competing, and doing it at a high level. It is well known that we went 15-1 right after winning the Superbowl so it would be expected to have a ridiculously tough schedule like we have. Despite the roster moves, this is not a "rebuilding" year.
Meck - Devonta Freeman has had 2 great years in a row. Rumor is he is burnt out. He averaged 6.9ypc the past two seasons and this year it's down to 4.1ypc. Nearly 3 yards per carry less, is Devonta burnt out?
Q - Devonta has been outstanding these last couple of years. Dare I say, the best back in the entire league. Went on to break the all-time rushing yards record in a season. He's better than he's ever been even though the stats don't necessarily reflect it. We just hired Kyle Shanahan to run the offense and the scheme has shifted somewhat. So now it's not Freeman and company, it's more of a cooperative effort and that will reflect itself soon.
Meck - Is there a QB battle brewing in Atlanta? On the season, Matt Ryan is injured, 32 years old, has a 91.8 QBR, 56.7 comp %, and averaging 11.7 yards per throw . Meanwhile, Damon Hansen has a 132.1 QBR, 81% comp, and 14.1 yards per throw.
Q - Trust me, there's no QB controversy in Atlanta. It's no secret that Ryan has gotten himself hurt and that's unfortunate but we feel as an Organization that Hansen can do all the things that Matt can do and we are excited to have him be apart of this franchise. He was so fired up about his first start and I think he and Matt handled it extremely well.
Meck - Lastly, besides Julio who needs no introduction, the Atlanta receivers are a bit shady. It appears you have gone the Raiders route and drafted for speed with Dansby and Okuyemi as they have 95 and 97 speed respectively but only 62 and 45 awareness, 79 and 73 CIT and 78 and 71 Route running. Is that enough for a run at the Superbowl or are you looking to trade for some WR Talent? Thanks for your time Coach Q.
Q - Julio, is the man, the One True Destroyer. The Superbowl MVP. We were fortunate to have had the opportunity to make a deal with Dallas that opened up endless possibilities for the future. The receiving Corp is as young and full of talent as we have ever had in Atlanta. Julio has taken the mentor approach as well as leading by example. We are confident that we have the pieces on both sides of the football to win another championship. But we didn't just go and get a bunch of WRs. We wanted great players of both sides of the football as well as diversity. So you're likely to see some of these guys cross training as well as being return men. We are confident in our group.
Til next time, I am Meck Sikan, signing out.
It's official. Cameron Jordan is now a Packer. Green Bay acquired the 96OVR RE from the Saints for this year's 1st and 4th round picks. Everyone from Coach Leaf to Coach Dubb to Jordan see a benefit in this trade.
Green Bay appears to be "All In" with this trade. The entire team feels confident about what this season holds and with Jordan on the opposite end of Dawson, the GB front line is looking to get some serious pressure on opponents.
Players are already dying after only the first week of preseason. These trainers need to work conditioning with these out of shape bums. Let's see who died already.
Kyle Rudolph TE 86 OVR Vikings - 4 Weeks
Rob Gronkowski TE 90 OVR Patriots - 5 Weeks
Lance Dunbar HB 76 OVR Cowboys - 5 Weeks
Marcques Binns RE 77 OVR Dolphins - 6 Weeks
Trent Cole RE 92 OVR Eagles - 6 Weeks
Alex Smith QB 76 OVR Jets - 16 Weeks
Green Bay seems fairly excited about this year's draft class. The Packers were extremely excited when 6'7" 334 lb LT Jaylin Mosley fell in their lap during round 1. This Oklahoma standout was known to eat an entire chicken before each game. In the second round out of Alabama, Green Bay took another wide out to bolster the potent offense. Rodgers ranked 6th in passing yards last year, plus this addition, plus Jaylin, should only help increase his statline.
Round 3 started off a bit rough with efforts to move up getting shot down. Green Bay stayed put and ended up getting the guy they wanted. Chytee Vincent out of the U fell to GB. This RB has been compared to Barry Sanders and Lesean McCoy. Green Bay looks to add Chytee to the immediate gameplan...the loss of Lacy further enhances the need for Chytee to step it up early on.
The rest of the draft included a TE, some back up OL, and a role playing DL to back up existing talent.
Green Bay is sitting at this bye week at a pitiful 1-7 wondering where things went wrong. On the hope of making this season a somewhat successful season, rumors have been swirling about potential bounties placed on opponents limbs.
Today a presser with GM Leaf as both media and fans alike are curious what happened to the once powerful Packers. Reporter, Meck Sikan, has the interview for you here today:
Meck: "Coach, GM, Leaf, is the struggles of managing both the team at a high level and game planning for your opponent too much for you? Are you in over your head having to do both?"
Leaf: "Possibly. I mean what else can I say? No? We are playing the worst football I have ever seen on a Madden game. CPU's are carving us up. Users are not afraid. We are over here playing scared, playing come from behind, pause, football."
Meck: "Sounds like you need to get your head out of your ass and get to work to fix this. What are you doing to better your team for the rest of the year?"
Leaf: "What's wrong with you? Of course I am. Listen, the players need to step it up, we can't lose a defender, we have to know our assignments, the quarterback has to make the throws. We've tried new defensive schemes, we need a new coordinator, or maybe just a new playbook."
Meck: "Anything else you want to say? Maybe a predicting for the rest of the season or maybe the future?"
Leaf: "Prediction? Yeah, I have a prediction. I predict that a Rams Ravens Super Bowl is upon us. I predict GB will be in the playoffs next year. I predict a big change to personnel this offseason. Lastly, I predict sadness."
Meck: "Sadness...?"
Leaf: "Yeah. Sadness. Just trust me, while others are sad, I will be laughing."
**laughter erupts from Leaf as he slams the mic against the podium**
Meck: "Thanks coach. Till next time, I'm Meck Sikan, and see you next week when I interview 2nd year standout LE, Winston Dawson."
Green Bay Struggles In Coach Leaf's Return
Green Bay looks to be securing itself in the bottom part of the league after a rough 24-14 pounding pause by the Texans. Green Bay looked on point for a small portion of this game but the Madden gods thought otherwise forcing some fumbles in favor of the Houston squad.
Rodgers threw for 247 with a TD but also threw two picks. The standout receiver was Randall Cobb who had 9 receptions for 100 yards. Davonte Adams snuck in a 1yd TD reception from the 9 yard line which would prove to be Aaron's only TD toss.
The Packers now sit at the bottom of the NFC with a 1-6 record as they head in to the halfway point of the season. GB isn't here to tank though, look for them to pull off some upsets as the year winds down as they look to be the cloud over teams in the playoff hunt.