FanHouse Charles Woodson

Editor's Note: Bruce Ciskie, a lifelong Packers fan, opines about the state of his beloved team.

High expectations greeted the Green Bay Packers in August, as the team arrived at training camp. Practices -- held across the street from Lambeau Field -- were very physical, as the Packers tried to show they wouldn't be bullied around like they were far too often in 2008.

That 6-10 season, we all were told, was a memory. It was a fluke. It wasn't how things would be conducted in Green Bay. Bad tackling, soft defense, poor special teams play, and stupid penalties were going to be a thing of the past.

Or not.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It was mesmerizing, tantalizing for the fans, the 71,213 of them who filled Lambeau Field -- the most ever in this 52-year-old building. Maybe that was why, late in the fourth quarter, camera bulbs were flashing high and low as if it were the kickoff. Or why Packers fans were still on edge at that point, even though their team was cooked.

Yes, Brett Favre rolled them twice -- once in his new dome in Minnesota, and now here on Sunday on hallowed football ground. The Packers half expected him to show up and play the game in flip-flops to match his mental trickery. You know, this Packers legend, this turncoat in purple -- he had punched them in the gut before.

And after Minnesota's 38-26 win, after Favre had thrown four touchdown passes to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' three, and after the Vikings swept the season series between these long-time rivals, Favre had earned the bragging rights.

There were massive changes made on the Green Bay Packers coaching staff after 2008 -- a season in which the team went 6-10, seemingly bottomed out on defense with a generally putrid season, and somehow couldn't score enough points with a highly-rated quarterback and potent offense to make up for all of it.

New coordinator Dom Capers brought promises of change with him, as he installed the 3-4 defense. However, an alarming performance Sunday at home against Cincinnati showed that Capers and his new staff still have a lot of work, as they try to pull the players out of a funk that threatens to ruin yet another football season in Wisconsin.

The Cincinnati Bengals have not played a regular season game at Lambeau Field since 1995. That means wide receiver Chad Ochocinco has never had an opportunity to play a game that counts in Green Bay.

It all changes Sunday, when Ochocinco's Bengals visit the Packers. In advance of that game, Ochocinco took part in a teleconference with Green Bay reporters. The results were predictable, as hilarity ensued.

As noted by the Green Bay Press Gazette, Ochocinco seems to have some interest in trying out a longtime Packer tradition if he finds the end zone.

Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco started a trend last season: rookie quarterbacks who started from Week One and led their teams to the playoffs.

So the Detroit Lions and New York Jets are trying it this year with Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez. Although if Stafford gets the Lions from 0-16 to the postseason as a rookie, he probably should go directly to Canton.

In any case, Stafford and Sanchez will start Sunday in New Orleans and Houston as the NFL season finally gets under way after what seems like an eternal offseason.

There are other QB story lines the first week (although folks often forget there are 21 other guys on the field).

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. " We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Injuries are not an excuse. It's also not permissible to point fingers at guys on the other side of the ball when your team has problems. No one in Green Bay will do this, despite the way things went down last year. The Packers lost eight of their ten games by a combined total of 30 points. Despite this, no one in the locker room pinned the blame on the three-ring circus in training camp, major injuries on defense, or anything else.

GREEN BAY, Wisc. -- Typically, it's the third preseason game when you see starters get the most playing time. Since the Buffalo Bills are playing five games instead of four, they only expect to use their starters into the second quarter at Lambeau FIeld.

The Packers should use their top players for around 20-25 snaps Saturday night at Lambeau Field. That should even out fairly well. When the Bills have the ball, the Packers will face something they aren't used to seeing.

News of Brett Favre's decision to hop on a plane from Mississippi to Minnesota traveled fast Tuesday. While Viking fans reacted with elation and nearly rioted on team headquarters, there was also reason to reach across the border for reaction from Green Bay.

The Packers were practicing when the news broke, but reporters flocked for the chance to ask players, coaches, and the general manager for their thoughts. To the surprise of precisely no one, the media didn't get much out of their energy and zeal for a story.

I was in the hospital when Charles Woodson beat out Peyton Manning to win the 1997 Heisman Trophy. It was my freshman year of college, and I was still fighting the battles of a pre-adolescent; my tonsils had just been removed. I was in surgery when the ceremony date arrived and I didn't find out the result until the next morning. My dad called the hospital from Nashville, and I was still a bit woozy from the surgery.

"Well," he said, "Charles Woodson won it."

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Now that the Packers aren't on the "Forget it" list for quarterback Michael Vick, Green Bay cornerback Charles Woodson says he would have no problem welcoming the controversial player to his team.