Just using the flawed NFL QB rating as a guide, Rodgers had a QB rating of 117 (328 yards and 3 TDs) against Detroit in week 2. That was arguably Rodgers’ best game as a pro, and the poor Detroit secondary might be a fair comparison to the Saints. But he also had all day to throw against Detroit in that game, so a lot depends on how much pressure the Saints bring.

The pride of Auburn, CB Pat Lee, was the Packers 2nd round pick back in April. He had a lousy preseason, but was given a pass because of his high draft status. A few weeks ago he got some playing time for a couple of games because of injuries in the secondary, and he played pretty good. He reminds me of Al Harris. But now the secondary is healthy so Lee is buried deep on the bench and shouldn’t be seen much on Monday night.

TE Jermichael Finley was taken by the Packers in the 3rd round last April, and he probably did come out too early. But the Packers prefer smaller tight ends, Finley’s a receiver and not a big blocking TE, so he’s a very good fit. He has made a couple rookie mistakes and he is given little to do most games. But you can tell the Packers believe in the guy. He finally got some playing time at Tennessee a couple weeks ago and early in the game the Packers decided to go for it on 4th down, and they called a play for Finley (it wasn’t his fault, but Tennessee was all over it). Later in the game, Finley had his first career reception. He should be a bigger part of the offense in 2009.

The offensive line is better in pass blocking than run blocking, but they’ve gotten better as the season has gone on. LT Chad Clifton and C Scott Wells were both hurt earlier in the season. It’s been a bad season for Grant because he injured his hamstring early in training camp and it’s taken him most of the season to get over it. He’s finally gotten healthy in the last month. Over the last three games the o-line and Grant have both gotten as healthy as they’ve been all season and they’ve all had looked great on rushing plays over the last three weeks. It’s not just the o-line or Grant. They both need each other to look good.

The Packers’ secondary has been outstanding. Their top 3 safeties and top 3 cornerbacks have all played great this season.

Rodgers is dependable. He’s played through a tough shoulder injury and the pass offense never struggles because of him. The passing game struggles when the o-line can’t block, which happens from time-to-time, they had an awful game protecting him against Minnesota, and when the receivers struggle to get open. WR Greg Jennings is having a fantastic season, but the rest of the Packer receivers are either having down seasons or aren’t too productive.

Does anyone in Wisconsin use that expression? Has anyone even heard it before?

I always wanted QB Aaron Brooks to succeed since the Packers drafted him. Stories about him still pop up on occasion when a reporter asks Mike McCarthy a question and it reminds him of something that happened when he was the Saints’ offensive coordinator.

I think it really helped Rodgers that Favre retired and then tried to come back. A lot of Packer fans felt jerked around by Favre, probably a lot of the players too since they had all been practicing all offseason while Favre had been hanging out in Mississippi. It might have been a problem if Rodgers was making the Packers choose between him or Favre. It almost came to that, it was rumored that Rodgers would never consider a contract extension after 2009 if Favre came back in 2008. The first criticism I read about Rodgers was recently when he didn’t have a great game against Tennessee’s outstanding defense. But that blew over pretty quickly. It would have gone poorly if it had happened in 2005 or 2006 when Rodgers would not have been ready.

1. It will still be Grant. He’s looked much better the last three weeks since his hamstring injury has been fully healed. His stats might not be eye popping, except for last week against Chicago, but he’s ran well against three straight great run defenses (Tennessee, Minnesota, and Chicago). Plus Mike McCarthy prefers bigger backs like Grant, and prefers smaller backs like Brandon Jackson in a reserve role. The coaches liked Lumpkin, but the injury problems that plagued him at Georgia seem to have followed him to the NFL, which is never a good sign.

2. The idea of Favre as a mentor was always a joke. It wasn’t his personality. Plus Favre isn’t exactly a student of the game, his gunslinger rep is well deserved. If anything, I wouldn’t be surprised if Favre learned things about the offense from Rodgers. It was also generational, Rodgers is closer in age to Favre’s daughter than to Favre. As all the players left over the past 15 seasons, Favre slowly lost all his clubhouse buddies and he just didn’t have a lot in common with the rest of the team in 2006 and 2007 when the Packers were the youngest team in the NFL.

3. Koonce was a big fan favorite. It was sad when he blew out his knee right at the end of one of the Packers 1990s Super Bowl seasons and just wasn’t the same guy again (although he did play for four more seasons). The run defense has absolutely been the biggest problem. I talked a lot about it in this post three weeks ago, but the Packers lost another close game since then (at Minnesota) when the run defense let them down late in the game. If the Packers run defense was as good as it was last season, then the Packers might be 9-1. I can’t exactly explain why the run defense has collapsed, it’s basically the same personnel and they’re all healthy and young. I also don’t expect them to suddenly return to form against the Saints after they had struggled for the first 10 games. Nobody has blown out the Packers, Dallas beat them by 11 and Tampa by 9, and I would expect the Saints best chance at winning is that they keep the score close and run the ball late to keep the Packers offense off the field.

Rodgers, McCarthy and Favre all say its BS. Favre and Rodgers constantly worked together. I don’t think I aver saw a game where they weren’t looking at Polaroids or talking about who knows what on the sideline. A whole bunch of backup Packers QBs have gone on to play and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything but fondness and praise. If you got to NFL.com and dig around in the videos they have one where a few sit down and reminisce.