Brats & Beer

Stanched The Bleeding

I never thought I’d be happy about a 3-3 record, but the win yesterday in Seattle was certainly a huge relief. Okay, I’m not totally thrilled, but it’s way better than being 2-4 with the Colts coming to town this week.

Beyond the victory and ending the three-game slide, what was most satisfying was seeing the Packers actually play well. Yes, it was against a decimated Seahawks team led by Charlie Frye, but the defense in particular played with a lot more fire and emotion yesterday than they have in the weeks since the Vikings game. Aaron Kampman came up with his fifth and sixth sacks of the season and Charles Woodson recorded his fourth interception of 2008.

On offense, Aaron Rodgers gutted out another great performance (minus the fumble) on his bum shoulder, throwing for 208 yards and two touchdowns. Anyone still want to argue that he isn’t ready to be a starting QB in the National Football League? Give the kid a little bit of protection and he’ll do good things.

This isn’t to say the Packers are hitting on all cylinders, of course. The offense stuttered through the first half and the running game was still pretty anemic looking despite Ryan Grant gaining 90 yards. The only explosive play of the day was Greg Jennings’ 49-yard TD catch, and we’ll need lots more of those this Sunday against Indy. Having Ryan Pickett come out of the game and needing an MRI on his triceps is also a little disconcerting, but he doesn’t sound worried about it so I’ll put off pushing the panic button a little longer.

In the end, though, being .500 and still in the running for the division lead feels pretty good — a lot better than it probably should. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? This year, maybe it’s just a Packer thing.