I remember Mason Crosby being able to knock that ball out of the back of the end zone.  I remember Kampan automatically being double teamed.  I remember Jennings having sticky fingers.  I remember Clifton being a rock.  I remember when Lee was up and coming.  Remember when Wells was serviceable?

  What in gods named happened!?  Alright, I'll admit, I'm not trying to be an alarmist or crazy or nay-saying doomsayer.  I still think the Pack has an excellent chance to be good this season, but all I've seen is glimmers from that pre-season schmorgishborg of awesomeness.  I guess what got me is the "solid" players we used to have being reduced to mush.

Is it just me or is Crosby missing a ton of field goals this year?  Okay okay, I know, his misses are mostly from 50 plus range and not ten years ago announcers would call a coach nuts for kicking it past 50 yards and today they don't seem to give a damn.  I suppose I can let that slide for now.  What really bothers me is his leg strength.  I could of sworn when we picked him up, he'd club that ball into the next state on kick offs.  Our special teams would just sort of trot a couple yards down the field and then maybe exchange phone numbers from pals from the other team because they knew the ball was going out the back of the end zone.  Maybe my memory is just rose colored.  I don't know.  Am I wrong?  What happened?

Poor poor Aaron Kampan.  There goes the whole "Put one of if not the best DE in at LB and see how it works out" scheme we had.  I mean, I might be able to name a handful of DEs that are as good as him, but not one that's better.  Now this is just me being crazy, and you're more than welcome to call me crazy and poke me with sticks after uttering this, but, I think they should have kept him at DE.  The guy is great against the run, great against the pass and always took up two blockers.  Just because he's 50 pounds to light or whatever the reason was, I think it was a mistake to get him out of his three and four point stance.  Proof is in the pudding, now the man is starting to get some half way decent pressure now that they let him "get in the dirt" on obvious passing downs.  Ugh, I just threw up a little in my mouth after actually quoting the Goose.  It's sad though, more because I think we're gonna lose him.  He's gone.  We might franchise him, but there's no way the best 4-3 rusher in the league is going to stick around and hang out with the pack in pass coverage.  We're not going to get half of what he's worth or we're going to grossly overpay him for playing a position he's not made for.

Did Jennings get some summer surgery that I wasn't aware of?  Did he come into camp out of shape?  What in Gods name happened to this guy?  He used to be automatic.  Fast, sure handed and could break your ankles like Allen Iverson.  Maybe Aaron doesn't have the time to let Jennings's routes develop, but that's when you toss it to a great receiver because you know he's going to go up and fight for it... and get it anyways.  He used to be a younger Steve Smith, now I just don't know what to think of the kid.  Donald Driver looks like he's 25 out there, (I read that somewhere and it sure sounds accurate) outrunning guys 7 years younger than him and out-muscling linebackers.  Jennings looks weak in comparison.  Maybe Driver is just having that good of a year that it's making Jennings look bad, but man, I doubt it.

Clifton used to be the solid end to our line.  For the past couple of years he's been getting old and you could see it in his play, but he was still solid.  This year, he has a zillion penalties and has been hurt all but the first 7 minutes of the pre-season.  He can't do it anymore and it's sad to see the giant fall.  He's just not dependable.  He's not the guy who held Jared Allen to next to nothing, by himself.  Lang is doing okay, but man, if I saw this coming 3 years ago, how in the world did our coaching staff miss it?  I know a lot of people have issues with TT and MM, but this is a very valid question I don't hear anyone asking.  Really?  You thought Clifton was going to start all 16 games?  Really?  Are you sure?  How can you start someone who you don't even expect to make it through the whole season?

Maybe Lee just had a bad game against the Browns, maybe he's feeling the pinch from Finley doing so well, maybe he's got some personal thing going on we don't know about.  Whatever it is, his drops and penalties are waay up since even the beginning of the season.  Hopefully it's just a slump, I've always thought he was a solid player who you want on your team but lately he's been hurting us more than helping us.

As for Wells, I totally see why he lost his starting job.  I'll be the first to admit the guy has outstanding footwork and great hands and uses what weight he has to his advantage, but the guy gets pushed 4 yards back on every play.  It was painfully obvious on the goal line downs we had.  Had to run away from the center just to get close to getting in.  Has he always played this average or is this something new?  I can't remember well enough, but I always thought he did alright against the Williams brothers, but Grady Jackson and the Lions third string gave him (and everyone else on that line) a problem.  It was no different with the Browns.

Okay, well, this is my first "fan post."  I guess I was just wondering what you guys thought.  Feel more than free to call me some moron who doesn't know what he's talking about, because lets face it, I am.  I watch the games and read the articles and that's about it.  I spend absolutely no time looking up stats or nothing like that.  Everything I have writtin could very well be wrong.