Matt Flynn threw for 480 yards and 6 touchdowns against the Detroit Lions - franchise records. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Matt Flynn … holy cow.

The Green Bay Packers’ backup quarterback’s name will forever be linked with that latter phrase, not only in Packers Nation, but across the NFL.

In fact, his six touchdown passes today will not only be admired by Packers coaches, players and fans, but it no doubt will lead to a big payday in the coming months. That said, it most likely will not be with the Green Bay Packers.

So, what about the game?

Well, to say the Packers’ 45-41 win over the Detroit Lions on this first day of 2012 was a shootout is a vast understatement. Flynn and Matthew Stafford, quarterback of  the playoff-bound Detroit Lions, went toe-to-toe in this one, punching and counterpunching all day long, matching touchdown for touchdown.

In the end, they combined for 1,000 passing yards and 11 touchdowns – an NFL record.

With those numbers, the impression was there was no defense in this one. You could certainly argue that, but in siding with the Packers, they played without linebacker Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson as coach Mike McCarthy reached deep into his bench on that side of the ball to give his starters time to rest and to give the backups some much-needed game experience.

For more about this incredible game, take the jump and don’t forget to Like Lombardiave.com at Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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Aaron Rodgers

Yes, we all knew this one was coming. Rodgers has the hopes and dreams of millions to deal with while leading the Packers offense. The offense (and team most likely) will go as Rodgers goes. If he’s doing well, the team will. If he doesn’t do well, then the team most likely won’t. The main key for him is to stay healthy and stay off of his back. Staying off his back leads to our next key for the season…

The Offensive Line

For Rodgers to be successful, he needs a successful or at least decent offensive line. The Packers offensive line is bookended by Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher who have been through just about everything in the green and gold. The middle three positions of the offensive line is where the concern pops up. Center Scott Wells is listed as questionable for Monday night’s opener against the Minnesota Vikings, which means that guard Jason Spitz will slide over to center, giving Darryn Colledge and Allen Barbre the starting nods, most likely.  The Packers offensive linemen will be the key to Rodgers’ success this season.  If they keep him upright, the Packers win ten games.  If they don’t, then that really sucks.

The Secondary

Al Harris is 33.  Charles Woodson is 31.  They’re obviously nearing the end of their line.  After them is a group of unproven or subpar defensive backs.  Jarrett Bush remains on the team because he can also play safety.  Tramon Williams came on strong at the end of last year, but he will have to back it up this year.  Will Blackmon is usually injured and Patrick Lee is green.  At safety, Atari Bigby has the strong safety spot locked up, but Nick Collins barely beat out the young, big, and athletic Aaron Rouse for that spot.  Expect to see a lot of Rouse this year in the secondary, as Mike McCarthy really likes him.  The Dallas Cowboys come to town Week 3.  The Indianapolis Colts come in Week 7.  Will the secondary be ready to stop these aerial assaults?

Many of us felt this pick was coming at #30 during the NFL Draft. But that got traded to the New York Jets. Then we thought it was coming at #36. Jordy Nelson came instead. #56? Sounds good to me. Wait, nevermind. Then it finally came at #60, 30 picks later than we thought: the Packers drafted a cornerback. Al Harris is going to be 34 this season. Charles Woodson is going to be 32. Harris was absolutely destroyed by Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants during the NFC Championship Game (which prompted me to push for the drafting of James Hardy). It was the general feeling that the Packers were drafting a cornerback at #30, whether Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Aqib Talib, Mike Jenkins, or Antoine Cason dropped to the Packers or the Packers picked Brandon Flowers.  None of the happened.  The Packers went with Nelson at #36.  Packers fans and analysts were left waiting until #56 to see which cornerback the Packers were going to choose.  The Packers threw a curveball by selecting Brian Brohm (I’m still scratching my head).  This left #60, where the inevitable happened: the Packers picked a cornerback, the tenth defensive back taken in the draft, Patrick Lee, from Auburn University.

From what has been said about Lee, he seems to be the perfect pick for the Packers system.  At 6’0″, 200 pounds, he has decent size for a corner and is big enough to imitate the physical style played by Packer starters Woodson and Harris.  There is a lot of youth in the secondary currently, with Will Blackmon, Jarrett Bush, and Tramon Williams all with three or less years of experience competing for the nickel back slot next to Woodson and Harris.  Williams played there the last few games of 2007 and did a decent job.

In his senior season at Auburn, Lee had 55 tackles (40 solo), four interceptions, and 10 passes broken up.  Lee can also throw his name into the kick return competition if he so pleases, as he averaged 25.8-yards per kickoff return as a senior.  GM Ted Thompson said Lee was a “real good value pick” for #60.  I agree with that sentiment as this draft was saturated with cornerbacks, and we definitely do not want an Ahmad Carroll repeat.  Thompson also said:

“He’s a tough guy. He likes to play bump-and-run. We think he’s going to fit well with what we do on defense in terms of putting these guys in lockdown situations.”

I think I’ll pick Lee to win the competition for the third cornerback slot.  If he doesn’t win it, I expect him to have it sometime during the season.