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Packers TE Tom Crabtree hauls in a 72-yard touchdown against the Cardinals

The NFL season never unfolds how we think it will. The same can be said about the Packers 2012 season.Who could have predicted the following?

• Tom Crabtree having more long touchdown catches than any wide receiver.
• 10 starters missing time with injuries.
• Special teams being a bright spot despite Mason Crosby going into a funk.
• James Jones being the team’s best wide receiver.
• Erik Walden having a solid season (Jersey Al actually nailed this one).

Rising

James Jones
Is James Jones the runner-up for Packers first-half MVP (behind Aaron Rodgers)? I’d probably put him behind Clay Matthews, but a case could be made that Jones has been the second most valuable player through nine games. Jones has not only made the routine catches, he’s now developed a knack for catching spectacular touchdowns like his grab before halftime on Sunday.  Read more... (809 words + 1 image, estimated 3:14 mins reading time)

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Packers WR Randall Cobb had another big game on Sunday against the Cardinals.

As Packers players kept limping off the field Sunday, Aaron Rodgers kept his team moving forward. Well, for the most part, anyway.

There were some frustrating moments, and more failed opportunities to bury a team before the fourth quarter, but given all the injuries, Sunday’s win over the Cardinals was a good one.

As the Packers added Clay Matthews and Bryan Bulaga to their multi-page list of injured players, they also added another notch in the win column. The Packers are now 6-3 heading into the bye and need the week off to heal and come back as strong as possible for the stretch run.

Will the injuries keep mounting and derail the season? Or will players heal and be well-rested come December and January?

Here’s hoping for the latter.

I’m filling in for Kris Burke on this week’s Game Balls and Lame Calls. Kris has a combination of SARS, the bird flu and mad cow disease (actually I think it’s the regular flu and a sinus infection), so he’s also on the injury report, too.

Here’s who stood out and who didn’t in the Packers win over the Cardinals.

Game Balls  Read more... (717 words + 1 image, estimated 2:52 mins reading time)

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Packers WR Jordy Nelson will test his injured hamstring on Friday. He remains questionable for Sunday.

Here’s a quick update on the Packers injury situation before you sit down for dinner:

The following players did not practice today: WR Jordy Nelson (hamstring); FB John Kuhn (hamstring); LB Nick Perry (knee); CB Sam Shields (shin/knee); DE Jerel Worthy (concussion); DE Mike Neal (ankle); WR Greg Jennings (groin); CB Charles Woodson (shoulder).

Coach Mike McCarthy said that Nelson will test his hamstring on Friday and that Jennings re-scheduled his surgery, but might not be in Philadelphia yet because of the storm.

Obviously, Jennings and Woodson will not play Sunday against Arizona.

My gut tells me all the other guys will be out as well. We’ll see.

All the injured players won’t matter if the Packers offensive line doesn’t come to play against the Cardinals. Arizona has an active front four and can make life miserable for Aaron Rodgers if the offensive line struggles early.

Adam Czech is a freelance reporter and a Packers fan living in the Twin Cities. Follow Adam on Twitter. Read more of Adam's writing on the Packers here.

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Randall Cobb played a big role in the Packers’ emotional win over the Saints on Sunday.

I laughed when the headline to Kevin Seifert’s game story popped up on my Twitter account Sunday night: “Emotional Packers save their season.”

“Really, Kevin?” I thought. “A season cannot be saved in week four. Calm down.”

I thought Kevin was reaching for a story angle to try and be different, get people riled up and generate web traffic.

But Seifert is an excellent reporter, one that isn’t prone to hyperbole and weird narratives that attempt to push reader’s buttons just for the hell of it. So I clicked on the story, read it, and decided that Seifert might be on to something.

This passage in particular stood out:

At 1-2, the Packers were facing some long odds if they lost Sunday’s game. Since the NFL moved to its current playoff format, 85.3 percent of teams that started 1-3 missed the playoffs. In a league in which most teams have relatively equal talent, the so-called “snowball effect” is very real.

I won’t summarize Seifert’s entire post — read it for yourself — but he makes some excellent points about emotion and the toll it would have taken on the Packers to lose another emotionally-charged game, this time at home to a team that was just as desperate as they were.  Read more... (659 words + 1 image, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)

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