Packers-Lions Game
The Packers will lose today, so it's just as well that I have to work while watching the game, ...so I might as well post my angry comments up here during the game.
KickoffAn improvement, we're not starting inside the 20!
1st SeriesAll that talk about the Packers abandoning the run last week has continued into this game, ...3 passes, two dropped.
Lions DriveIt's nice to see consistancy in your team, ...guess how the Lions got their first two first downs? Dump off screen pass to a running back out of the backfield.
Sound familiar?
Jennings TDWow, what is it about Jennings? In the pre-season most of his big plays and TDs came on broken coverages where defenders stumbled into one another or rubbed each other out. Now it's happened in the regular season. I give that credit to McCarthy, designing routes that give his players a chance to get open and get down field.
Two commercial breaks since the TD and no replays of it??
Oh yeah, and you can tell we're a bad team again, getting Ron Pitts and grandpa Simpson two weeks in a row. At least we're not getting Maas, ...if Favre retires, expect a healthy dose of Maas next year.
Lions TDAh, yes. There it is. A running back out of the backfield completely fools the Packers and makes Marquand Manuel look like a flailing rag doll. All you need now is to replace a bunch of all-pro players with a bag of acorns and you have the mission statement of the Ted Thompson regime.
Defensive TDI feel like I should make the sign of the cross for protection while saying these words, ...Ahmad Carrol makes a great play on the ball. And right now I'd prefer to see him starting over Manuel.
HerronI've never understood the desire to keep Herron on the roster. He's never done anything to warrant it, except possibly suck slightly less than other cast-offs. What did Ron Wolf say last year about NFL Europe players?
2nd HalfI'm assuming Herron is already on the bus enroute to Green Bay because the new guy is playing.
After an uneventful 3rd quarter, the Packers defense shows up and pins the Lions deep in their own territory, get good field position, and Favre authors a gutsy TD drive.
FinaleThe Packers step up again on defense and manage to hold off the Lions for the rest of the game, surrendering only another FG.
But, lest we forget that we are watching the worst team in the league play the third worst team in the league, Ahman promptly fumbles and gives the Lions one more drive to try and tie the game.
But Kitna couldn't get the ball into the end zone and with that, we ended the sordid-but-very-real possibility of an 0-16 season.
Can we really ask for anything more?
Saints-Packers Recap
Here's all you need to know.
First Quarter: (5:40) Drew Brees dumps off a pass to Deuce McAllister out of the backfield for 24 yards, completely fooling the Packers. First Down.
Second Quarter:(8:52) Drew Brees dumps off a pass to Reggie Bush out of the backfield for 10 yards, completely fooling the Packers. First Down.
(3:15) Drew Brees dumps off a pass to AaronStecker out of the backfield for 7 yards, completely fooling the Packers. First Down.
(1:19) Drew Brees dumps off a pass to C.McIntyre out of the backfield for 10 yards, completely fooling the Packers. First Down.
Third Quarter:(4:24) Drew Brees dumps off a pass to Reggie Bush out of the backfield for 23 yards, completely fooling the Packers. First Down.
(3:34) Drew Brees dumps off a pass to Reggie Bush out of the backfield for 7 yards, completely fooling the Packers.
Fourth Quarter:(10:12) Drew Brees dumps off a pass to Reggie Bush out of the backfield for 7 yards, completely fooling the Packers. First Down.
And on the offensive side:
First Quarter:1-10-NO15 (9:36) B.Favre pass
incomplete short left to G.Jennings.
2-10-NO15 (9:32) B.Favre pass
incomplete short right to B.Franks.
3-10-NO15 (9:25) B.Favre pass short middle to A.Green to NO 6 for 9 yards
fg
Second Quarter:1-10-GB23 (14:47) B.Favre pass
incomplete deep middle to D.Driver.
2-10-GB23 (14:42) B.Favre pass short right to D.Martin to GB 30 for 7 yards
3-3-GB30 (14:04) B.Favre pass
incomplete short middle to D.Driver.
punt
1-10-GB20 (11:33) PENALTY on GB-B.Franks, False Start - No Play.
1-15-GB15 (11:33) B.Favre pass
incomplete short middle to B.Franks.
2-15-GB15 (11:29) B.Favre pass
incomplete short left to G.Jennings.
3-15-GB15 (11:26) B.Favre pass
incomplete short middle to A.Green.
punt
after a first down ...
1-10-GB31 (:36) B.Favre pass short right to A.Green to GB 38 for 7 yards
2-3-GB38 (:30) B.Favre pass
incomplete deep right to R.Ferguson.
3-3-GB38 (:25) B.Favre pass
incomplete short left to R.Martin.
punt
Third Quarter:1-10-GB16 (5:36) A.Green right tackle to GB 17 for 1 yard
2-9-GB17 (5:00) B.Favre pass
incomplete short left to B.Franks.
3-9-GB17 (4:56) B.Favre pass short right to G.Jennings ran ob at GB 24 for 7 yards
punt
Fourth Quarter:1-10-GB41 (12:21) B.Favre sacked at GB 29 for -12 yards
2-22-GB29 (11:51) PENALTY on GB-T.Moll, False Start - No Play.
2-27-GB24 (11:34) B.Favre pass
incomplete deep left to G.Jennings
3-27-GB24 (11:29) A.Green right tackle to GB 23 for -1 yards
punt
and the final series:
after a first down, ...
1-10-NO44 (2:17) B.Favre pass
incomplete short left to A.Green.
2-10-NO44 (2:10) B.Favre pass
incomplete short left to D.Martin.
3-10-NO44 (2:07) B.Favre pass
incomplete deep left to G.Jennings.
4-10-NO44 (2:02) B.Favre pass
incomplete deep left to R.Ferguson.
Packers - Bears: No Contest
While watching the game with two family members (one, a Viking fan) who managed to talk trash throughout the entire game and never (I really mean NEVER) managed to say anything remotely interesting or accurate, I did come to some conclusions.
One, I can't believe the Packers paid $52 million dollars for a punt returner.
What's that you say? He's plays defense as well? I don't think you're right about that, ...I didn't see him play any defense, did you?Two, I for one was shocked, yes
SHOCKED that the achitect of the NFL's worst offense last year managed to put up ZERO points at home in the season opener. No one could have seen that coming.
Three, I've been too mean to Ted Thompson. He's NOT the
NFL's dumbest GM. Nope. He's actually one of the world's 50 smartest squirrels.
Just look at those pictures, ...same build, same haircut, same beady eyes, same brainpan, ...he even hoards 7th round draft picks like nuts in the winter.
It explains a lot. Outside of Detroit, you don't usually see someone take over a team and systematically run it into the ground.
And you just know that he's up in his tree now, sitting on a throne of acorns, clicking is paws together, nibbling on a twig he traded a 3rd round pick for in a complicated 3 team deal, ...and he's smiling.
"It's all going according to plan."
Beware the squirrel with a plan.
Prediction Time – Packers ‘06
Ok (sigh), ...here we go ...My old system for predicting Packer wins is out the window. While reasonably effective, it was based on the fact that it was always pretty easy to tell how good the Packers would be in any given year.
Stability was the key. The Packers always had the same strengths, same weaknesses, same tendencies. The only variables would be how good the other teams were and how healthy the Packers would be.
But this season,
no one has any idea how bad this team really is.
Most people suspect the Packers will be one of the bottom 4 or 5 teams in the league, and I agree with that.
But I think they might actually
win more games than last year.
Ok, ok, just hear me out, ...
If the Packers are one of the bottom 5 teams in the NFL, their saving grace is the fact that they likely play the
other bottom 4 teams in league this year.
So, my initial thoughts are that they will be a worse team than last year because:
They are worse on the offensive line.
Too inexperienced in the secondary and linebacking corps.
They lost their defensive leader (Jim Bates) who was a very special coach that won't be easily replaced.
Favre looks worse than he did last year.
And of course,
this guy is worth 2 losses just by his presence.
Despite these obvious deficiencies, I think they could have as many as 5 wins.
HereÂ?s my win/loss guesses. W= probable win, L=definite loss, O=coin toss.
L da Bears
W Saints
O @ Lions
L @ Eagles
O Rams
bye
L @ Dolphins
O Cardinals
O @Bills
L @Vikings
L Patriots
L @Seahawks
W Jets
W @49ers
W Lions
O Vikings
O @Bears So, 6 easy losses, 4 possible victories, and 6 questions.
Out of the 6 questions, 5 are probable losses: @Lions, Rams, Cardinals, Vikings, Bears.
That leaves the Buffalo Bills. The Bills will be coming off of their Bye week, having just lost to New England and looking forward to Indianapolis the following week, they could be looking past the Packers. If the Packers are going to step up and surprise somebody, it will be the Bills.
That's 5-11. That's my baseline.
In former years, I would look at the team and decide if it was more likely that they would be stronger than anticipated or weaker. I always went with "stronger" and added 1 or 2 wins to my baseline.
This year I'm tempted to take 1 win away from them because of their many, many deficiencies, but I can't.
5-11 is my pick.I think they will get totally blown out in a lot games, and that most games won't be as close as last year. Buy I think they will gel at some point and put together a few games where they have a chance to win, but I just don't see them having the talent to pull it off.
I wouldn't be shocked if they won 6 games or 2 games this year. Either is a
very real possibility.
Email Sent to Michael Hunt
This is a copy of the email I sent to Journal columnist Michael "No coach should ever be fired" Hunt regarding his
Yost-defending column.
Normally I wouldn't send an email to a columnist, but Hunt actually reads them and replies to them via his column. Plus, I thought his column was good in that it contained all of the usual tripe the Yost-Selig-Garner apologists usually toss out there. So, read his
column first, then the response ...
Hello Mr. Hunt,
I like your column and read it regularly. I'll keep this short.
No, Yost should not be fired because Jenkins slumped his way through five months of baseball, ...he should be fired because he kept putting Jenkins in the starting lineup (even against lefties, and even in late innings!) while he slumped his way through five months of baseball.
And no, Yost should not be fired because Turnbow blew up, ...he should be fired because he continued to put Turnbow out there (ruining his psyche, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and ruining the effort of his other players) long after it was obvious to even casual fans that Turnbow has lost it and needed a long stint on the bench to work out his problems.
Similarly, it's not Yost's fault that Chad Moeller can't hit major league pitching, but it is his fault for keeping him in the big leagues for a year-and-a-half of embarassing at-bats.
I take your point on applying a football mentality to baseball, but I point to a guy down I-94 who seems to use something like a football mentality successfully, ...Ozzie Guillen.
I think most professional athletes will give you 100% every day, and most if not all current Brewers do. But I think that good coaches are the coaches that get more out of you.
And finally, I like the idea of firing him because of the message it sends to the league and the team. The old days are gone. We expect to win. And failure is no longer tolerated. Too bad we will be sending the opposite message yet again.
Sincerely,
Mr. Frogurt
