Week 2 of the NFL season sends the Washington Redskins to Wisconsin for a matchup with the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Both teams are 0-1, so they should be pretty desperate. To talk about the Packers, I have invited Wisconsin expert/expatriate @LeavittDC. This is his 8th appearance as a guest prognosticator having discussed the Packers in 2010, the Brewers in 2013, 2012, 2011 and a bunch of Penn State – Wisconsin previews.
WFY: Intense tailgating, cheeseheads, cheese, beer, sausages, a publicly owned team that can never move, fantastic history, lots of Hall of Famers (including my fellow alumnus, Dave Robinson) classy uniforms, even a training camp tradition of riding kids bikes — is there any downside to being a Green Bay Packers fan?
@LeavittDC: Being a Packers fan is the greatest. Who doesn’t love that a small town has a community-owned NFL team with as much tradition and history as any other team in the league?
I grew up in the era of coaches duds Bart Starr, Forrest Gregg and Lindy Infante (a combined 102-154-4) — I know what suffering feels like as a fan. But of course we’ve* been spoiled with good teams lately. For example, the Packers have had only two starting quarterbacks in the last 21 years. We’ve gotten so complacent that we literally had only one QB on the 53-man roster as of two weeks ago (Pro Football Talk, NBC Sports).
Anyway, to answer your question in a shorter way: No.
WFY: Please be kind enough to briefly recap the 2012 Packers season. What should be the Pack’s strengths? What are you concerns? What about last week’s lost to the San Francisco 49ers?
@LeavittDC: In 2010, the Packers won the Super Bowl. In 2011, the Packers went 15-1 in the regular season. At that exact moment, things looked pretty good.
But then we got bounced from the playoffs. And the next season, 2012, we lost badly to the 49ers in the playoffs, giving up 579 total yards. In that game and generally over the course of the season, they simply could not stop anyone on defense and looked baffled by the pistol formation.**
Opening this season against the 49ers last week was a nice test to see if they’ve learned anything. And indeed they did a great job stopping the read-option but gave up over 400 yards through the air. Major concerns remain over the secondary. The strength of the team is Aaron Rodgers and his receivers. WR Greg Jennings left for the Vikings, but good riddance — the remaining WR corps of Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson and James Jones is just fine without Jennings. And while people say this every year, I really think TE Jermichael Finley is going to have a great season. We’re hoping that RB Eddie Lacey, the rookie from Alabama, makes the running game at least serviceable, which would be a huge upgrade over last season. So it all comes down to the defense, and if Week 1 is any indication then more specifically it comes down to the secondary.
WFY: 1995 Dallas Cowboys (twice). 2001 New England Patriots. 2011 New York Football Giants (twice). 2012 Baltimore Ravens. 2011 Green Bay Packers* — they all have something in common — they couldn’t beat the Skins. At this point, you are halfway to rooting for a loss, right?
Nice try. (But I think you mean the 2010 Packers.) WFY: Yup. Oops.
WFY: Since you are a long-established D.C. resident is there any temptation to at least my make the Skins your second NFL team?
@LeavittDC: I’ve tried several times — including during the Spurrier era and again after they drafted RGIII, who is electrifying and impossible to root against — but it just didn’t take. Part of it is Dan Snyder, which makes me I’m glad that as a community-owned team the Packers don’t have an abrasive owner in the public eye. Unrelated to my lack of fandom for the Redskins, the team name really bothers me. (Then again, as The Onion pointed out, the term “Redskins” is offensive only if you think about what it means.) But seriously, this is a term that dates back to when trappers would bring in Native American scalps so that the trading post had proof of killings to collect a bounty.
Evidently there’s going to be some sort of protest of the team’s name at this week’s game (DCist). Is that common? Either way, I expect the team will face more of that on the road. The District is a mere 0.8 percent Native American, but certainly there are people across the country who are offended at the name even though polls consistently show that D.C. residents are not.
Okay, enough with my political rant and back to your question. I love so much how important the team is to this city, and that makes me want to root for them. I just haven’t been able to latch on for whatever reason.
WFY: So, when are the Packers going to throw back to their mid-1980s uniforms with the Dallas Cowboys-style numbers on the pants? Did you even notice the sleeve stripe changes in 1997?
@LeavittDC: Didn’t notice. A few years ago, the Packers went to helmets with metallic sparkle in them, though, which I don’t like. The Vikings have a matte helmet this year — I wonder if the Packers would consider something like that.
WFY: What is the gameday experience like at Lambeau Field and how has it changed? Did you ever see the Packers in Milwaukee or an exhibition game in Madison?
@LeavittDC: Yes, I’ve seen the Packers play in all three of those places. Playing in Milwaukee was a great way to include the whole state (and something the Buffalo Bills should be doing, given their problems selling tickets — why not barnstorm upstate New York and play in Syracuse and Rochester?) but ultimately I’m glad the Packers went back to playing all of their home games at Lambeau. Unlike every other NFL venue, at Lambeau it’s about the football. The team doesn’t even have cheerleaders. I doubt I’m offending Redskins fans to remark that FedEx Field could be any stadium in any city. Lambeau is special.
WFY: What is the best book about the Packers? Well, besides “When Pride Still Mattered” which was a little long in parts, but overall excellent and also including the Redskins of course. So, I guess I need to rephrase the question as “what’s the second best book about the Packers?”
@LeavittDC: Jerry Kramer, the hall of famer (WFY: Karmer is NOT a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame) from the Lombardi teams, put out a best-selling book with Dick Schapp called “Instant Replay.” I greatly enjoyed that as a kid. His followup “Distant Replay” was less memorable, though
WFY: After reading “When Pride Still Mattered” I was half-disappointed that the Broadway play “Lombardi” wasn’t called “Shut Up, Marie!” Have you seen the play? Did you ever imagine that the cast of a play about Lombardi would have actors from 1980s ABC sitcoms as the leads?
@LeavittDC: Haven’t seen it. I really need to. Stop shaming me.
WFY: Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre are brahs again, right? Everything cool with old #4 again?
@LeavittDC: Yeah, we’re cool with him. It’d sure be nice if he stopped steering players to the Vikings, though (Shutdown Corner, Yahoo!). Dammit, now I’m riled up again. Guess we’re not quite all-the-way cool with him yet.
WFY: Better Mike – Sherman McCarthy or Mike Holmgren?
@LeavittDC: Easy call, and Holmgren’s got a street named after him in Green Bay as proof.
WFY: What is your favorite pop culture reference to the Packers?
@LeavittDC: It seemed like we were much more visible in maintream pop culture when Favre was around, as he was in “Something About Mary” and the inspiration in Jay-Z lyrics. I enjoy Aaron Rodgers in State Farm’s Discount Double Check ads. By the way, Rodgers doesn’t do his championship belt move very often the days — if he breaks it out, you know it’s a big moment.
WFY: I’m sorry, the correct answer is:
Too bad it came in a loss, @LeavittDC
WFY: Who wins on Sunday and why?
@LeavittDC: One of these teams is going to be 0-2, which is amazing given how much talent is on those rosters. I pick the Packers to win this one. With only one week to go on, it seems this will be a high-scoring game — neither defense looked impressive last week. As a Packers fans, I hope that home field makes the difference.
* Yes, I used the word “we.” Mock away. But we’re talking about a community-owned team, so there.
** When the team sucks, I reserve the right to revert back to calling them “they.”
WFY: I think the Skins bounce back, mostly because i want them too. 27-24.