NFL YTD: 11-8 (+2.20*)
Seattle(+115 ML) over Green Bay (1 Biscuit)
I fondly remember the days when Mike Holmgren's Packers were preparing to face his old 49ers club. Those on the inside remember that his game face on those occasions was as tight as a fishing line with a trophy muskellunge on the hook, but his team never played that way, and the record speaks for itself. I also remember the gleam in his eye when Holmgren would answer the inevitable question by saying he let the defensive coaches do their thing in all those contests, but he might have had one or two more opinions or insights than usual to contribute to the cause.
Holmgren surely hasn't forgotten his go-rounds with Brett Favre. Favre arrived in Titletown as a raw throwback who was all about daring-do, and he thought he had stumbled upon some sort of hieroglyphics when thrust into role of running Holmgren's sophisticated and passer-friendly version of the West Coast offense. In his first 38 games, Favre threw 46 TDs and 44 INTs, and Holmgren was not shy in telling people it was galling to see a player of this magnitude continue to self-destruct. Now those days are just part of the legend. But it's a good bet that Holmgren knows Favre's tendencies as well as or better than anyone in the league, including old No. 4 himself. I should add that when Holmgren came back in 1999 and his Seattle team won 27-7 on the Monday night stage, Ray Rhodes benched Favre for about the last six minutes in favor of backup Matt Hasselbeck, and I will always be incredulous over the sight of the Leader of the Pack just sitting on the sideline for the longest time with his coat pulled up over his head, and then walking off the field the same way.
Mike Sherman, Ray Rhodes, Ahman Green, and Matt Hasselbeck are other dynamic figures in any Holmgren returns to Green Bay storyline. The best quote I've seen this week in the buildup was from Hasselbech: "My first day there, Andy Reid said 'Listen, there's so much you can learn from Brett Favre. Don't watch his fundamentals. Don't look at his decision-making. It's probably the worst in the league,' " Hasselbeck said. " 'But when it comes to the other stuff, the intangibles, the leadership style, how he plays the game, there's never been a player that was better.' And he was right. He definitely was a huge influence on me."
Green Bay had to pretty much pull out all the stops this year to register two impressive showings against Detroit and Chicago. And while the exotic attacking defense employed by the Packers was a typically brilliant game plan for humiliating the Bears, something a whole lot more fundamentally sound is de rigueur when facing a team with weapons and savvy. While Seattle is probably not the best undefeated team in the league, they are playing great football. Holmgren looks to be have found a second wind, and if I know him at all, being handed an extra week to prepare for this contest probably means his players are anxious to get on the field just to get out from under their head coach's thumb. One team may win this game going away in the 4th quarter, but it won't be the Packers. I hope I'm ridiculously wrong on this one, but Seattle is the right side.
It's getting late on a Sunday. I better finish with the rest of my card.
GL
Seattle(+115 ML) over Green Bay (1 Biscuit)
I fondly remember the days when Mike Holmgren's Packers were preparing to face his old 49ers club. Those on the inside remember that his game face on those occasions was as tight as a fishing line with a trophy muskellunge on the hook, but his team never played that way, and the record speaks for itself. I also remember the gleam in his eye when Holmgren would answer the inevitable question by saying he let the defensive coaches do their thing in all those contests, but he might have had one or two more opinions or insights than usual to contribute to the cause.
Holmgren surely hasn't forgotten his go-rounds with Brett Favre. Favre arrived in Titletown as a raw throwback who was all about daring-do, and he thought he had stumbled upon some sort of hieroglyphics when thrust into role of running Holmgren's sophisticated and passer-friendly version of the West Coast offense. In his first 38 games, Favre threw 46 TDs and 44 INTs, and Holmgren was not shy in telling people it was galling to see a player of this magnitude continue to self-destruct. Now those days are just part of the legend. But it's a good bet that Holmgren knows Favre's tendencies as well as or better than anyone in the league, including old No. 4 himself. I should add that when Holmgren came back in 1999 and his Seattle team won 27-7 on the Monday night stage, Ray Rhodes benched Favre for about the last six minutes in favor of backup Matt Hasselbeck, and I will always be incredulous over the sight of the Leader of the Pack just sitting on the sideline for the longest time with his coat pulled up over his head, and then walking off the field the same way.
Mike Sherman, Ray Rhodes, Ahman Green, and Matt Hasselbeck are other dynamic figures in any Holmgren returns to Green Bay storyline. The best quote I've seen this week in the buildup was from Hasselbech: "My first day there, Andy Reid said 'Listen, there's so much you can learn from Brett Favre. Don't watch his fundamentals. Don't look at his decision-making. It's probably the worst in the league,' " Hasselbeck said. " 'But when it comes to the other stuff, the intangibles, the leadership style, how he plays the game, there's never been a player that was better.' And he was right. He definitely was a huge influence on me."
Green Bay had to pretty much pull out all the stops this year to register two impressive showings against Detroit and Chicago. And while the exotic attacking defense employed by the Packers was a typically brilliant game plan for humiliating the Bears, something a whole lot more fundamentally sound is de rigueur when facing a team with weapons and savvy. While Seattle is probably not the best undefeated team in the league, they are playing great football. Holmgren looks to be have found a second wind, and if I know him at all, being handed an extra week to prepare for this contest probably means his players are anxious to get on the field just to get out from under their head coach's thumb. One team may win this game going away in the 4th quarter, but it won't be the Packers. I hope I'm ridiculously wrong on this one, but Seattle is the right side.
It's getting late on a Sunday. I better finish with the rest of my card.
GL
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