FanHouse NickCollins

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

I don't have to go out on a limb to say that 6-10 wasn't a goal for the Green Bay Packers in 2008. Yes, they lost Brett Favre to retirement/unretirement/trade. Yes, many thought the Packers would fall off from a 13-3 mark in 2007, even before Favre became a New York Jet. But last year was close to disastrous for the Packers, as a leaky defense blew numerous fourth-quarter leads, and the team slipped to third in the NFC North. Expectations are higher than that, and now there will be pressure on management, making its job even harder.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

On its surface, the 2008 season appears to have been an unmitigated disaster for the Green Bay Packers. After the Packers made the NFC Championship Game the season before, fans painfully watched the Brett Favre retirement/unretirement/stick-it-to-Ted saga play out, and then got to see new starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers play well before the team fell apart around him.

Perhaps it took longer than expected for Mike McCarthy, but the search is over. The Packers canned defensive coordinator Bob Sanders after a miserable season, and speculation on a replacement immediately began to center around former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan.

When Nolan took the job in Denver, the talk turned to former Redskins and Jaguars coordinator Gregg Williams. He ended up going to New Orleans, leaving McCarthy to what was presumably his third choice for a coordinator.

The third choice for McCarthy is a veteran coach with a ton of credibility around the NFL. Former Carolina and Houston head coach Dom Capers, a very successful defensive coach, is going to take over the Packers' defense.

We told you earlier Monday of the firing of Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Bob Sanders. It was hardly a surprise, but the fact that head coach Mike McCarthy waited a full week after the end of the season made it possible that he had someone specific in mind to take over.

I mentioned then that former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan was close to McCarthy, and there were already rumors that he was a candidate for the gig.

Now, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is reporting that Nolan is rounding up defensive assistants, and he is preparing to become the Packers' new defensive coordinator.

While this is certainly good news for Packers fans, as Nolan is an accomplished defensive coach, things aren't all rosy. There are some serious questions that surround this potential move.

Namely, what scheme will the Packers play?

The AFC and NFC Pro Bowlers were announced a short while ago, and why make some pointless comment you are sure not to laugh at when we can just give you the rosters instead? Here goes.

This just hasn't been Green Bay's year.

Many fans are going to trace it directly back to the day the Packers decided to go with Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback, even though future Hall of Famer Brett Favre was contemplating a return from his short retirement.

Others will look -- more accurately -- at the day general manager Ted Thompson traded hulking defensive tackle Corey Williams to Cleveland to avoid giving him a huge contract. Or the day Thompson decided that second-year tackle Justin Harrell would be able to fill that void.

Coming from a Packer fan, there are too many people to point fingers at on this one.

While Rodgers is not at all immune, he's handled the spotlight very well. His teammates have praised his play on the field, and they've praised his off-field presence. This fan believes you couldn't have scripted a better transition from Favre to the next guy. Rodgers didn't ask for it to go down this way, and nearly all the criticism that's been thrown his way has been completely unfair.

He's played well. Others who carried high expectations into the season have not. The reality is that the Packers are 5-7, an extreme longshot for the playoffs, and Sunday's fourth quarter was a microcosm of the season to this point.

Quick: Who had "Packers by 20" for this one?

Yeah, me neither.

In fact, "Colts by 20" seemed like a much more likely option.

But I guess the Packers may have heard a few too many lines this week about their status as a home dog, or their two straight losses at Lambeau Field. Head coach Mike McCarthy has really emphasized winning at home since he got the job, and the results have been pretty good to this point. It made sense that a prideful bunch would step up their game in what was close to a national spotlight, with a large part of the country getting Sunday's game on CBS.

Or maybe the Packers are just pissed about the latest Favre story.

No matter the reason, the Packers played an inspired game today. The offensive game plan was pretty obvious. Green Bay wanted to control the ball and keep Peyton Manning from attacking the Packers' banged-up defense.

As we would find out, the ball-control thing worked well, but the Green Bay defense was the story of the day.