O' Connell has been GREAT. Not just punting but holding the ball. I mentioned this once before and I may be losing my mind in my old age, but Mason Crosby's XP attempts and FG attempts seem to go straight through the uprights. They don't seem to be doing that strange hook left then slice to the right anymore. Nope, just right down the middle.

I think we have to give our new ST Coach some kudos too as well as all the players who play ST. Coco is snapping the ball well, at least I haven't seen any issues. Rudy Ford and Keisean Nixon have been solid as has Leavitt when he's out on the field.

HEY, is it possible? Did the Packers FINALLY get it right with Bisaccia? It's still early but I think so. $2 million WELL spent.

One thing I've noticed with O'Donnell is the ball sounds different when it comes off his foot, like it was hit with authority.

It's somewhat like the sound the clubface makes in the hands of a great driver of a golf ball. It just sounds right and tight.

I hope we can keep his leg fresh. It might put him out of practice, but, 2 punts a game is a number that our O should leave him because they score.

So nice to have this conversation and hope we can keep having it.

Thanks Cory.

It’s great to see some very good punting, its been too long. I hope he isn’t our MVP very often thou. Its early but the arrow is pointing up for the ST’s.

O'Donnell has honestly been a big surprise for me. His punting has been better then I was thinking it would be. He has been really good at changing field position and pinning teams back. He has good experience punting in bad weather too.

The part that really stands out to me though isn't his punting. Its his holding. He has been very good at holding. Its a very underrated job, but extremely important. The part that makes me think its been really good is watching Crosby's FG's. Every one of them are going straight. There is no slice or hook. It is straight on. I don't remember the last time I had seen him do that. I have to give a lot of that credit to O'Donnell.
I will also give credit to our Long Snapper as well. He has been really good at this point.

Signing O'Donnell will likely be overlooked when talked about best free agent additions. But he absolutely has been a great addition.

Now looking at the big picture, I believe we are a better team than last year. Yes, we have lost Adams but that allowed us to sign some very good defensive players. Our defense is better than last year, our ST's are certainly better than it has been in years and our offensive is trending upwards. Our OL is rounding into shape and our WR's are gaining experience and gaining Rodgers' trust.

I am disappointed in Watkins and disappointed that Watson has been hurt. We may need to sign someone but not sure who is available at this point in time. It may not be an option for us.

On paper, it sure looked like we took a lateral-to-backwards step with the change in punting personnel, but it's clearly been a massive upswing.

It's almost like coach Bisaccia really knows what he's doing.

While I understand the thinking behind 'MVP', it brings up another thought: when you say the punter is doing such a great job it means the offense isn't. O'Donnell doesn't get on the field unless the offense stalls.

But I agree he's been great. If I was coaching a punter I would say, 'pick a side and kick the ball as far as you can out of bounds'. Why teams try to cover a punt return is beside me. Unlike kickoffs, there's no penalty for kicking the ball out of bounds. Kick it 50 yards, no return, we win.

Another thing to ponder: why does the NFL count field goal distance from the point of contact with the kicker's foot, but counts the distance on punts from the line of scrimmage?

Well let's not get ahead of the ball just yet. We will see how he does in January but so far so good! Have good feeling about this guy! Go Pack Go

Its great to see solid, and consistent, punting that pins opposing offenses deep. I'd bet the defense is thankful for him. If he can continue into the cold weather, even better. Yes, he has cold weather experience, let's see it in a Packer uniform first. His holding game is a huge plus as well. So far, he's been an excellent offseason pickup.

A punter as MVP so far, Cory? Really?

Then I read this: "He tallied seven punts on Sunday between two of the NFC’s heavyweights and five of those were inside the 20. That amount is the most for a Packers punter since 1976."

Since 1976? Sold me, Cory! That is amazing.

Getting Rich as ST coach was inspired. Not only is he quickly flipping the Packer legacy of ST futility...he has a keen eye for ST talent. He lobbied for O'Donnell and Nixon. Gutey listened too and drafted players with ST skills for STs. Check, check and check.

Rich's preseason STs were ragged and leaky...but he was conducting interviews to find his best guys.

He has his squad now and most of his guys are playing with focus and urgency...led by O'Donnell and Nixon and Ford.

Love it! WeTeams are Rich!

I know this will be taken as a pessimistic thought, but there are 4 parts of a team, Offense, Defense, Special Teams, and HC, as much as the one mentioned has made huge strides forward this game, I worry about the evaporation of another in the process, Offense, and particularly because of the HC, though some will point to Rodgers, but anything Rodgers does/doesn't do in accordance with game plan/scheme is on the HC.

I would be leery about boasting the punter being the MVP in any game, as it likely means another aspect has suffered an evaporation plunge. Again, we take the win, but if Brady had one or two of the three WO's available, this game is a loss, and the punter would be the last thing talked about, much less deemed the MVP. Celebrate the play of the punter, but if all others do their job, the punter should be awarded with a helmet headbutt and perhaps a mention of his performance. Punters won't cover the glaring flaws witnessed against Tampa Bay every week

The only issue I had with special teams was the running into the kicker and then the block in the back lost 40 yard field position. I know the calls wered that good, or bad for some, but I am thinking situational awareness. You could see the offense had been stopped and the game was going to be close. So, the call should have been to deter the coverage and get good field position. Doing this woiuld have yielded a field goal because Rodgers had a good return into field goal position.

Taking those three points rather than the risk of not blocking the punt would have made that 2 point conversion a non issue. That is what I call situational awareness and winning the game 17-14 if the two point conversion was good.

MVP? Only if it stands for Most Valuable Punter. Then he is. Otherwise, no.

I've never seen a guy knock it like O'Donnell. I hope he keeps it up. It'll be more difficult when the weather gets worse.

He had a snap that he caught on about our 10 and launched from the 15 and that baby landed on the 20 near the sideline. That's over 65 yards in the air.

I think he's great so far. I can't imagine how he could have done any better.

My biggest concern is coach Bisaccia having a stroke on the sideline the next time Rodgers calls for a fair catch when there isn't an opposing player withing 20 yards of him. I guess he got a little "animated" on Sunday when that happened. Hopefully they find a way to replace Rodgers by the end of the year.

O’Connell, one of four special team aces making a huge difference. Props to Gutey once again for some amazing under-radar signings. Granted, signings with Bisacia’s strong recommendation of course.

The Raiders wanted Josh McDaniels, so the Packers were happy to take Bisacia. Life is GOOD! For us. 😂