Throughout the transformation of our offensive line over the past few seasons, bookends Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton have been familiar faces in a seemingly-never ending shuffle of players. Both tackles have been fixtures of the offense, and the Packers have come to rely on their steady and consistent performance. On any given Sunday, Tauscher and Clifton are simply expected to neutralize the opposing team's most vaunted pass rushers, a responsibility they've earned by doing it so well for so long.

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, all good things come to pass. Clifton and Tauscher aren't the young guns they used to be, and at 32 and 31 respectively, after 9 seasons both, age starts to become a concern. The loss of speed and mobility that age brings with it is like kryptonite in this league, even to a position considered as "unathletic"  as offensive tackle. The question isn't if it'll happen, but when. And in a business like the NFL, the ability to gauge when, and dealing with it properly, is one of the most important components of a GM's skill-set.

Some feel that these two hard-nosed veterans are on their last legs. Their lackluster performances this year, in which they've often looked sluggish and a step behind, are indicative of this development.

Yeah, Clifton might have neutralized Jared Allen, but he had to tackle him in order to do so. Other than that, he's given up 3 sacks and been flagged for 4 penalties in total, certainly not a great follow up to last year's Pro-Bowl worthy performance. True, Tauscher hasn't given up any sacks this year, but letting the likes of Jared DeVries get 4.5 QB pressures on Rodgers definitely isn't a good sign.

Some would say Clifton and Tauscher's early season blues are nothing to be worried about, just a phase that will soon be over. Clifton has been battling some nagging injuries, and once they're gone, he'll be back to top form. Tauscher's play has been a little rusty, and all that's keeping him from returning to greatness is reworking those fundamentals, not old age.

For Ted Thompson, tomorrow's game against the Colts might be the best opportunity to evaluate if ol' Mark and Chad have still got it in 'em, as they go up against arguably the league's best pure pass-rushers: Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis.

Both Freeney and Mathis possess elite athletic ability at the end spot, and have the skills and repertoire of moves to leave any offensive tackle grasping at air. Mathis, at only 242 pounds, uses sheer speed to produce a lightning quick pass-rush off the edge. Freeney uses his explosiveness and uncanny finesse to make his way to the quarterback, notorious for his lethal spin-move. Together, these two form the most formidable two man pass rush in the NFL.

Tomorrow's individual match-ups should give some insight into what we can expect from Tauscher and Clifton for the rest of this year, and future seasons to come. Their performances could go a long way in determining whether TT thinks they've still got some gas in the tank, or if he concludes it's best  to start actively looking for their replacements.