Green Bay Packers Notebook: Matt Flynn's Performance and Offensive Line Changes?

For the better part of three years, Green Bay Packers fans have clamored for a veteran quarterback to backup Aaron Rodgers.

General manager Ted Thompson has, for better or worse, ignored those cries.

Still, fans have always shuttered at the prospect of Rodgers going down and missing time.

That nightmare scenario is possibly coming to fruition this week. Rodgers won't practice until Friday at the earliest and that puts him in serious danger of missing Sunday's game in New England.

Insert Matt Flynn.

A former seventh round pick in 2008, Flynn has had the better part of three years running the Packers offense. That certainly didn't show up last Sunday, when Rodgers was pulled from the game in the second quarter.

While the stats weren't terrible—177 yards passing in just over two quarters—Flynn made three mistakes that made him look like a shaky option at best as a backup:

1. His interception in the endzone. Flynn locks onto Driver immediately, and proceeds to throw the pass directly into the chest of Deandre Levy. Game-changing turnover.
2. Flynn turns the wrong way on a third and one hand off. Packers lose yards and have to punt.
3. His fourth down throw on the final possession. He shouldn't have been put in that position, but his throw was terrible.

All that against one of the league's worst defenses in Detroit.

Certainly the Lions' pressure from their front four affected Flynn just as it had Rodgers in the first half.

To Flynn's credit, the Packers scored exactly three more points with him as quarterback than they did with Rodgers.

But let's put last Sunday in perspective: Flynn has had about three years to develop and learn the Packers' offense, much like Rodgers did behind Brett Favre.

Remember back to 2007 for a second though: In Dallas that year, Favre got knocked out of the game and in came Rodgers against a really good Cowboys team that finished 13-3.

He didn't bring the Packers back, but he was excellent in filling in for Favre. His final stat line: 20-of-28, 218 yards and a touchdown—a far cry from Flynn's debut in Detroit.

That performance filled a lot of Packers' fans with confidence about the team's backup quarterback situation. It'd be tough to argue feeling the same this time around.

But who knows, maybe with a full week of practice with the first-team offense Flynn will be more prepared and confident.

A couple things are for sure:

Heading to New England to face a team that hasn't lost at home in 26 games is going to be a much different demon than coming off the bench in Detroit.

Then throw in Tom Brady and a nationally televised game, and you have a bad combination of factors leading into your first ever NFL start.

Welcome to the spotlight, Matt Flynn.

Time To Re-evaluate the Line?

Over the past two seasons, the Packers' offensive line has been in a state of chaos. First in '09, we witnessed Rodgers being sacked a league-leading 50 times, and now in 2010, we see a line that can't run block to save their life.

When a collective group has struggled as mightily as this one has, it's time for some wholesale changes.

But where to being?

A lot of people are calling for line coach Dave Campen's job; that's fair enough, considering the struggles of the past two seasons.

However, McCarthy has said numerous times that Campen was "one of the best" he's been around. That leads me to believe he isn't going anywhere soon.

If you factor out the coach, the evaluation starts with deciding what Chad Clifton has left. Sure, he's the leading vote-getter right now at the NFC tackle spot for the Pro Bowl (how?!?), but that doesn't mean he's the clear cut starter there next season.

Clifton will be 35 when the season starts next fall, and it's clear that after his solid start, he's slowed down considerably lately. He was over matched last week and those knees aren't getting any healthier.

Does that mean that the Packers need to draft another tackle in the first round? That answer could very well be yes come April.

At left guard, Daryn Colledge just isn't the answer. He was excellent in 2008, but he regressed last year and he hasn't improved this season. He doesn't do anything particularly well and he's a non-factor in the running game.

He's also a coming free agent, so there's no telling his future. In my mind, he hasn't earned much compensation for his play in a Packers' uniform.

Then there is Scott Wells, the Packers' center. He's smart and he's been with Rodgers for the majority of his career, but he doesn't do anything particularly well either.

He's not a good run blocker and he typically can't match up with some of the better defensive tackles. In a division with Ndamukong Suh and Kevin Williams, you need a solid interior and I'm not sure Wells provides that.

Plus, Wells will turn 30 next year, so there needs to be a long term option at hand anyway.

With that said, we can be confident that Josh Sitton and Bryan Bulaga will be fixtures in the line for the foreseeable future.

Two of the building blocks are in place.

But is it possible that the Packers will have three different starters on their offensive line when the 2011 season opens up?

It's something the Packers are going to have to take a long look at when 2010 comes to an end.