By MIKE VANDERMAUSE
Green Bay Press-Gazette

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Ever get hustled on the golf course, or taken for a ride by a slick salesman? That's how I felt watching the Green Bay Packers demolish the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers in their season opener Monday night.

You get the sense the Packers have been sandbagging us all through training camp. They played possum through a lackluster preseason, allowing doubt to creep in about the 2004 season.

While everyone got distracted by relatively minor issues, Mike Sherman and his team quietly went about the business of preparing for the games that count.

Many observers spent the better part of August dissecting the Packers' punting situation and pondering the strength of Tim Couch's rag arm. In the grand scheme of things, these were tiny blips on the radar screen.

While everyone wanted to dwell on the absence of a selfish starting cornerback, Sherman and the Packers chose to invest their energy on more important matters.

Injuries to center Mike Flanagan and guard Mike Wahle produced some uneven exhibition game performances by the first-team offense and almost made us forget that when healthy, the Packers have the best offensive line in the conference, if not the entire league.

While fourth-and-26 reminders were shouted from the rooftops and billboards around town, Sherman's deliberate steps to rectify the defensive problems went virtually unnoticed. Anyone who doesn't believe Bob Slowik is a significant upgrade as defensive coordinator, or that Mark Roman was a free-agent steal at safety, isn't paying attention.

For whatever reason, Sherman doesn't get the respect he deserves, whether it's from self-absorbed cornerback Mike McKenzie, or from those obsessed with the notion that one man can't be both a head coach and general manager.

In the meantime, all Sherman does is consistently guide his team to victories. For those scoring at home, his record since 2001 is 35-14.

After last season, the Panthers' John Fox was proclaimed in some corners as a coaching genius. If you didn't notice, Sherman took Fox to school on Monday night.

Considering the hostile environment and stiff competition, it was one of the Packers' most impressive season-opening victories in a long time.

It would be a mistake to place too much significance on one win. And certainly not all of the skeptics will go away.

The injury to Grady Jackson could spell trouble down the road. The Panthers' offensive line isn't nearly as good as it was a year ago, which diminished the Packers' stellar defensive performance in the eyes of some people. The Packers' cornerbacks continue to look vulnerable.

But as far as the Packers are concerned, you can keep those doubts coming. Low expectations tend to bring out the best in them.

"If you win the game, you haven't really done anything just yet," said a nonchalant Sherman after his team's impressive debut, sounding like a sly fox that had just swallowed a plump hen.

"You keep an even keel through this thing. You keep working. We don't ever get too high or too low."

Sherman remains content to lie in the weeds, until the moment is right to strike. There was no better time than Monday night.

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