It has been an interesting season and year. No fooball analyst would have looked into their “crystal ball” and foreseen the Green Bay Packers heading into the Thanksgiving weekend 9-1 on top of the NFC North division. Time flies when you are having so much fun as Packer fan. 

Besides the normal family things, here are the things that I am most thankful in the football world:

• The Green Bay Packers are 9-1 with a substantial lead in the NFC North division.

• Brett Favre is still playing at a high level and avoiding his previous mistakes as the NFL’s top “gunslinger.”  There has not been much talk about his retirement as he continues to prove that he can still play with the top quarterbacks in the NFL.

• The Green Bay Packer defense is reminience of the Great Packer defenses in the mid-90s that led the Packers to the Super Bowl in 1996 and 1997. This was a time when all the eyes where on the three-time MVP Brett Favre, but it was the Packer defense that lead them to the NFL championship.

• The Green Bay Packers are starting to have some success with the running game to balance off the well oiled Packer passing game. The rise of Ryan Grant, who is wearing number 25(Dorsey Leven’s old number), may indicate playoff success. The Packers can not reach the ultimate Super Bowl goal solely on the arm of Brett Farve. 

• The Packers, the NFL youngest team, continue to outplay more experienced NFL teams and are winning the close games that they lost in the past several years.  NFL football is still a team sport and the Packers are showing what a team can accomplish.

• Mike McCarthy is the winningest Packer coach through his first 25 games as Green Bay Packer head coach.  He is currently out performing Vince Lombardi, Curly Lambeau, and Mike Holmgren in the beginning of his coaching tenure.

• Unless something dramatic changes, the Packers will head to the playoffs in 2007.

• Though he now has every major NFL quarterback record under his belt, Brett Favre focuses on his leadship and winning games not passing records. One can definitely see his postive impact on the Packers young receiving corps.

• My daughter was able to see her first Packer game in Lambeau field this year. Since the game, she keeps reminding me of the noise in Lambeau field. She says “Daddy, it sure was loud at the game.”  Hopefully, the noise will continue as the Packers head into the playoffs.

I want to take a minute and thank all the PackerIQ.com staff and the Packer fans that visit this web site.  It is your participation that truly makes this all worth while. Happy thanksgiving to you and your families!!

For the PackerIQ.com NFL Picks contest participants, you may have noticed that spreads have been entered early again this year.  In fact, there are no spreads for this week’s games. This is a PackerIQ.com tradition so they can be entered early as we are aware that many people travel to be with their families on the holiday.  Families are first and then the Packers !!! Drive safe!!