Please Say It Isn't So

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I've Come to a Few Conclusions

Rodgers and the Packers Left Arizona Dazed And Confused

The 2015 Packers are the worst playoff team in the league. The last time the Packers were this bad was 2008 the first year after Brett Favre when they finished 6-10 in Aaron Rodgers' first year as a starter. In fact, before the Cardinals debacle Mike McCarthy was complaining out loud that there was too much negativity concerning the Packers and people ought to realize they have won 10 games. One terrible loss later McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers are singing from the same songbook saying every thing will be all right next week against the Vikings. They need to take the bull by the tail and face the ugly situation.

 

You might be wondering why I call the Packers the worse playoff team in the league. I think anyone who has watched the Packers play know they are lucky to be in the playoffs and over .500. Since starting the season 6-0 the Packers are 4-5 and really should be 9-6 with luck combined with stupid coaching and playing causing the Hail Mary pass to work.

 

Aaron Rodgers is having his worse season since he became a starter. He is missing throws he normally makes in his sleep and hasn't made plays when it counts. If Rodgers was on his game the Packers would be 13-2 with a win over the Panthers (ouch), wins over the Lions and the Bears at home instead of losses (ouch and double ouch). I would say the loss to the Broncos was more on the defense than Rodgers even though he didn't have a good day and the loss to the Cardinals was a total collapse of mythic proportions.

 

We Need a Miracle

Will The Valley of the Sun Be A Garden of Earthly Delights or a Disaster in the Desert

The Packers are in the playoffs, but they still have things to play for. With games against the Arizona Cardinals on the road and the Vikings at home the Packers are masters of their own domain. If the Packers beat the Cardinals and Vikings the No. 2 seed is still in play and a first round bye. If the Packers lose to the Cardinals and then beat the Vikings they Packers win the North and clinch the No. 3 seed and a home game instead of having to hit the road as a wild card to play the Vikings again.

More Wonderful Woodson Musings

Charles Woodson's Hall of Fame Jersey

It seems now that retirement is all so real as is a spot in Canton Charles Woodson has changed his mind about which team he will represent when he goes into the Hall of Fame. The announcers said during the win over the Chargers that Woodson has now decided to represent both the Raiders and the Packers when he is enshrined after saying earlier he was going to represent the team he retired with, which is the Raiders.

Whatever epiphany hit Woodson between last week and this week the "Playmaker" realized one absolute truth about his storied career. If it wasn't for the Packers he probably would have been out of the league nine years ago and would never have had a Hall of Fame Career.

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That and Charles Woodson

Charles Woodson Announcing His Retirement in Two Games

Evidently after not picking off Aaron Rodgers last Sunday Charles Woodson decided to call it a day as far as his career is concerned. It seems funny that he turned 180 degrees around from an earlier statement that he would be back next season and beyond. 

 

Actually I think what changed his mind was the injury he seemed to occur when he caused the fumble by James Starks. Even though he has played all season with a dislocated shoulder getting dinged on a normal hard hit he used to do in his sleep may have changed his mind.

 

No matter what caused it a part of me feels sad that Woodson is hanging up his cleats. I will cheer his Hall of Fame induction (even though it will be in a Raiders uniform). I know that part of the reason the Packers won their fourth Super Bowl trophy was the leadership and play of Woodson. 

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS, PART NANYE & NAMBILI

THE SUBLIME
Today's 11th edition is "what's in a name" focusing on nicknames. Can you guess what the nicknames of the current Packers? Well, I won't make you look to the bottom of the page, so here they are.


The Original 'Curly' Lambeau

Defense

Busari Raji Jr.: His true nickname is B.J., but since he is using that as his real name he has now proclaimed himself "The Freezer" in reference to William "The Refrigerator" Perry.

Letroy Guion: "Gucci" because of his resemblance to rapper Gucci Mane.

Mike Pennel: "Baby Hayneworth" for looking like Albert Hayneworth before Hayneworth got lazy.

William Clay Matthews III: "Claymaker" for making plays early in his Packers career.

Jayrone Elliott: "Sackmaster" for the three sack game against the Rams he had in the preseason last season.

Demetri Goodson: "Meech". Goodson’s mother remembers Demetri as a baby who arrived two months early, weighing 4 pounds. "He’s always been a fighter," she said. He became "Meech," soon after, named after his godfather.

Ha’Sean Treshon Clinton-Dix: He was called "Ha Ha" by his grandmother when he was 3 or 4 years old.

"Black Hole" of Oakland Edition

The 'Black Hole'

Aaron Rodgers will be making his first trip back home to play at the O.co Coliseum, which is know more as the "Black Hole" in Oakland and the home of the Oakland A's. The Packers will be playing in Oakland for the first timein 12 years with the last game being the infamous Dec. 22, 2003 game the day after Brett Favre's father died. Favre threw four TD passes and beat the Raiders, 41-7. Ahman Green rushed for 127 yards.

 

We could only hope for a similar outcome, but not similar circumstances. The Packers go in with a one game lead in the North Division over the Vikings, who hosts at the Bears Sunday at noon.

 

The Packers will be playing the game without cornerback Sam Shields (concussion) and wide receiver/kick returner Ty Montgomery (ankle). Wide receiver Davante Adams (foot), defensive tackle Mike Daniels (hamstring), guard T.J. Lang (shoulder/ankle) and center Corey Linsley (ankle) listed as questionable.

The Playmaker Before The Claymaker

The Playmaker

I don't know if any of you Johnny Come Lately Packer Backers remember there was a face of the defense that wasn't William "Claymaker" Matthews III, who during his brief 7-year stay with the Green and Gold was better than Clay Matthews has been and probably ever will be.

 

His name is Charles Woodson and Sunday when the Packers invade the "Black Hole" Aaron Rodgers and company will face him again as the starting strong safety for the Oakland Raiders. He is the oldest defensive player in the NFL at 39 years of age and is currently tied for 4th in the NFL with 5 interceptions.

 

During his time with the Packers Woodson (2006-2012) was as good as they come culminating in him being named NFL Defensive Player of the Year, something Claymaker has yet to achieve, and finished his time in America's Vacation Land tied for fourth on the Packers all-time interceptions list with 38 behind safety Bobby Dillon with 52 (1952-59), strong safety Willie Wood with 48 (1960-71), cornerback Herb Adderley with 39 (1961-69) and tied with strong safety LeRoy Butler (1990-01).

Back to the Future for the Packer Offense

Back to the Future-Mike McCarthy Calling the Plays

For whatever reason Head Coach Mike McCarthy taking back the play calling duties regenerized the lethargic Packers offense to its second best performance of the season with only 448 total yards gained against the Chiefs in week three topping it.

 

From what I saw there was four things going on that brought about this offensive explosion. First, the Packers were facing a Cowboys defense that has trouble stopping the run giving up an average of 104.6 yards a game coming in. I only mention this because it is true. Beyond the cold hard statistics the Packers this season haven't been known to take advantage of weaknesses and Sunday they did.

Which Packer Team Will Show Up?

The win over the Detroit Lions in the Miracle in Motown proved just one thing. You never know which Packers team will show up. Will it be the team that played the first 30 minutes of the Lions game or will it be the team that played the second 30 minutes.

 

The 2015 Packers are definitely a flawed team. The offense, of all things, is the problem right now. The line is beat up and even when it was healthy, or relatively healthy, it wasn't opening holes after the first three games. Eddie Lacy is up-and-down. The receivers don't get open and when they do they drop the pass. Aaron Rodgers has not been himself since the first three games missing and overthrowing open receivers when they do get free.

 

Rodgers Has To Be Healthy

Master of Their Domain

 

After Thursday's Miracle in Motown the Packer players had a weekend off to enjoy the win and prepare for the final month on the season. I also enjoyed the weekend with prep basketball games Friday and Saturday night won by the local teams and a very enjoyable Sunday starting with the Collapse in ChiTown and finishing with the Seahawk Slaughter before hosting the chili supper birthday party of my 94-year old uncle. It was a great weekend indeed.

Hail Aaron

Aaron Rodgers a bit excited after throwing the greatest pass of his life

Hail, Hail, the gang's alright! A win over the Lions usually isn't much to cheer about, but these Lions aren't your father's Lions. After the Lions matriarch Martha Ford took charge and made changes on the coaching staff that turned the Lions around starting with the win over the Packers at Lambeau Field the Lions won three in a row and were a force to be reckoned with. The win was a good win. This could be just what the up-and-down Packers need to finish the season strong.

 

Richard Rodgers making the greatest reception of his life

Take that all you Richard Rodgers haters. I said a few days ago that Aaron Rodgers needed to look for him because he and Justin Perillo, for that matter, were the only ones getting open and catching the ball.

 

Adding Injury to Injury

Season on the Line

Tonight's road game against the Lions will be more of gut check than I realized. The best offensive line in recent memory is hurting and hurting bad. With the season on the line the hopes and dreams of all Packer Backers may have to be shouldered by Josh Walker, Don Barclay and Lane Taylor.

Defensive Thoughts

Damarious Randall Picking Off Superman

Let me start off saying the defense got some recognition this week when rookie cornerback Damarious Randall was named the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Month for November.

The man with the Johnny Unitas hightops led all rookies with two interceptions on back-to-back pickings of Peyton Manning and Cam Newton. He leads the team with 12 pass breakups and recovered the onside kick in the first game against the Lions to give the Packers a chance to win the game. Sadly they didn't.

Gut Check Time

These Green Bay Chill guts look good, but the Packers don't

I am one of many (I think) who feel Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers is a majority liability and should be fired today, if not yesterday, last week, last year, two years ago and five years ago the season after the Super Bow. But nobody listens to me.

With that being said who would have thought that the problems the Packers are current experiencing have nothing to do with defense (well not nothing, but more on that in the next post) during the current losing streak (4 of the last 5), but has everything to do with offense, Aaron Rodgers and the receiving corps.

The offense has never been this dysfunctional during the Mike McCarthy era (10 seasons) and it seems he has no clue there is a problem and/or no clue how to fix it. The crap that comes out of his mouth during every press conference is evidence of a man who is living in the same parallel universe the Republicans live in - one of their own reality, but not one that has anything to do with the real world.

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS, PART TI

A Magic Moment

BURSTING THE TOP OFF THE SUBLIME SCALE

Taking His Rightful Place Amongst The Immortals

Thursday night was the epitome of the highest highs and the lowest lows, but on a sublime scale of 0 to 10—with 0 representing zero sublimity and 10 representing metaphysical sublimity—halftime in a totally ridiculous football game was 1000.

With metaphysical certitude the three greatest Packers quarterbacks will never be in the same house again and for an extremely fragile Bart Starr to make the trip and come out onto the his Field of Glory on a cold, rainy evening to honor Brett Favre was one for the ages.

Turkey and Bear Edition

It's a short week and I have come up short with my usual insights and musings. I have been busy with my evening job, but to be honest there hasn't been much new to talk about since the win over the Vikings.

I Was Wrong

I Was Wrong about #73 J.C. Tretter at Center

I'm seriously thinking about no longer making predictions because every time, except for when I'm off-blog I have been wrong lately. I started off wishy-washy and didn't pick the season opener with the Bears. I then predicted a 35-24 loss to the Seahawks before picking correctly, but not the right score wins over Chiefs, 49ers, Rams and Chargers. At that point I was 4-1-1.

 

Then the season went off the track both for the Packers and myself. I predicted a 27-21 win over the Broncos (wrong). I then gave up predicting the score and got it right by predicting a loss to the Panthers, but have been wrong the last two weeks predicting a win over the Lions and a loss to the Vikings to put my season record at 5-4-1. No as good as my day job, but I will press on with more predictions for the rest of the season.

 

In my day (or more exactly afternoon and evening) job I just finished my best season as a prep football picker for my daily newspaper where I finished tied for second out of eight with the reporter that always beats me year in and year out one game out of first place. My previous best was third place three games out. For the record over the course of 13 weeks I had an 82.6% success ratio picking 133 winners out of 161 games.

 

It's All About the Da' Coach

After what happened Sunday on and off the field there is absolutely, positively no doubt the Packer losing streak and its end was all about former Bears (and Saints) head coach Mike Ditka.

 

When the McDonald's commercials began airing the Packers were at 6-0 and for three weeks and two different versions, at least that's all I saw, the Packers lost games to Denver, Carolina and Detroit - yes the Lions of all teams and at Lambeau Field no less - while the Vikings won all three games during that span and it took a week (even Ditka can't pull off miracles) before the Bears won the next two games, so you all know it had to be because of demonic forces.

 

Maybe It's Not Olivia After All

Olivia Hoping to Kiss and Make Up

The revelation that Aaron Rodgers has an injured shoulder should take some of the heat off Miss Olivia Munn, if she has taken my advice and kept her mouth shut.

 

The disturbing thing about the Munn Polarization is how fast the RC Packer Fans and TITs turned on her. I would have thought Packer Backers were above that sort of thing, but I guess I forgot Wisconsin is mainly conservative country and today's conservatives are always ready to make it us against them and poor Miss Munn is about as them as they come being a liberal actress. It's only a small step to go after Rodgers because he is from California and they all know that is where all the nuts and liberals are.

 

It's funny how it started with Miss Munn taking umbrage at an ESPN columnist suggesting Rodger's less than stellar play could have something to do with a situation at home. If she had not said a word it would have come and gone and I bet the Packers fans wouldn't have picked up on it. But fighting back turned it into a bonified excuse for some segments of Packer society and they jumped on it and Miss Munn.

 

Once a conservative digs up a bone they don't let it go. Even if the truth comes out like a shoulder injury that makes no difference because they already have their explanation and they are sticking to it. Like I said before I'm afraid this has already gone too far and it won't end up good. I only hope those narrow minded Packer fans understand that going after Miss Munn might end up with Rodgers asking for a trade. Think about the unintended consequences.

 

Now back to the real world. The season is at that make or break point. A loss to the Vikings will only follow with a loss to Bears at Lambeau Field. The skid has to stop Sunday and all facets of the team playing at peak efficiency. The Vikings are not a pushover anymore.

Mumm's the Word

Are There Domestic Problems Ahead?

Olivia Munn should stay in the background and keep her mouth shut. Taking to the twitterverse to respond to an ESPN columnist is not a good idea. Girlfriends, wives, sisters and mothers need to stay out of the fight when their significant others are having issues on the field of play. Their involvement only intensifies the issues and makes the struggles their paramour or baby boy is having harder to overcome since they now have to take to defend their loved ones and take their concentration off the problems at hand.

 

Munn had done well staying out of the daily issues her professional high-profile athlete lover has had to deal with this season, but now she decides to get into the fight when Aaron Rodgers needs to concentrate more to stop his season from totally going over the cliff.

 

The comment she objected to is speculation there might be something going on at home to cause Rodgers' declining level of play. He didn't say she was withholding sex or they were having knockdown drag out fights or anything else specific. Just the 5th possible reason on a list of five.

 

It Figures

 

The Packers can't win for losing. Hell, the Packers can't win period right now losing to one of the worst teams in the NFL at Lambeau Field.

 

1. As Timmer said two weeks ago all the superstitious and ritual things Packer Backers do mean nothing to the play on the field, but it seems an old nemesis, now a TV pitchman, has put a real curse on the Packers. IT FIGURES.

The most beloved Bears coach of all time Mike Ditka (sorry George Halas, but it's true) is currently doing a series of commercials for McDonalds and in them he has donned Packer regalia and is rooting for the Packers. When it first came out Bears fans to a man were mad as hell, but there was method in that old man's madness. Since they started running the Packers have lost three straight games. (this BEARS repeating) IT FIGURES!!!!!!!!!

 

2. The last thing the Packers needed was to lose to the Lions before hitting the road against the first-place Minnesota Vikings and playing a Thanksgiving home game with the possible appearance of Bart Starr against the suddenly resurgent Chicago Bears. However, the Packers did lose. IT FIGURES.

 

3. Despite all the offensive woes during the game the Packers would have won the game if Mason Crosby had made a last-second field goal. Despite blowing the 2-point conversion the Packers recovered an on-side kick and gained enough yards to win the game. However, when you are snake bit things happen and Crosby's kick was blocked. IT FIGURES.

 

Sober and Somber

Lions snap 24-year old losing streak at Lambeau Field

It's a gloomy day and it has nothing to do with the rain coming down outside. The Packers have officially hit their low mark of this season with the loss to the lowly Lions for the first time at Lambeau Field since 1991. There are no knights on white horses coming to save this season, so it's now left to the players on the field, the coaches on the sideline and up in the sky box to dig deep down and come up with a solution, if there is one.

 

Packer Backers are very superstitious with our rituals and wearing the same clothes, etc, etc, etc, but something Timmer said during the loss to the Panthers, "nothing we do means anything," hit the problem right on the head. I guess I was the only one who heard him because he wasn't saying to anyone, he was just lamenting to himself about the futility of the fans and I would add pundits to do anything about the play of our beloved Packers. The Packers are now in free fall with a chance of a long losing streak in the offing.

 

Stark Reality

James Starks riding to the rescue

This week the Packers offense better be back to normal and maybe the benching of Eddie Lacy in favor of James Starks will be the catalyst. If it isn't this might be the beginning of the unraveling of the Packers season with the Vikings as the national doubleheader game coming up followed by the resurgent Bears and finally a rematch against the Lions.

 

As far as Starks is concerned this will be his 7th career start and 2nd this season. He also started the Chargers game even though Lacy wasn't on the injured list.

 

It's funny about Lacy. He went to the airwaves this past week to dispel rumors he was fat or hurt. After he said his ankle wasn't bothering him and he wasn't fat, he said "I honestly don’t know what it is. Definitely, I’m off to a different start. I’m not playing how I was the previous two years. Later on in the season, maybe it’ll pick back up. But as of right now, this is just the move that is going to be. This season [Starks] has definitely been the better player between the both of us. That’s just the move. Who knows how long it’s going to be like this," Lacy said. "Maybe things pick back up for me and it’s right back and we’re never having this discussion again. You don’t know where this could lead to. But as of right now, for the team, this is pretty much the best move."

Another Maalox Moment

Maalox Moment

I absolutely hate playing wounded teams and especially struggling quarterback, especially now that Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers has survived another week. The Lions are the epitome of dysfunction with both the team in general and quarterback Matt Stafford in particular stuck in a funk. With the last three games as my only yardstick I could be swigging Maalox early and often with a green liquor chaser (last week's desperation shot of choice).

 

Any hope for Capers being fired any time soon or possibly ever has been squashed after Head Coach Mike McCarthy was quoted as saying, "discipline in his approach" is Capers’ best attribute as a coordinator. "I think it says a lot about the man. He believes. He believes in the system. He believes in the players. He believes in the program. We’re very fortunate to have him here, and he’s been an excellent – not only defensive coordinator – but he’s been very good from a head-coaching perspective to bounce things off of." Like maybe asking how to cope when your area of responsibility sucks.

 

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS, PART NAU

PRETTY SUBLIME

Lombardi's Den

Today marks a milestone post 100. This blog began on January 11 of this year, so it took 10 months to the day to share 100 of my thoughts. I hope they were all worth reading.

Aaron Rodgers Gets Scared and So Am I


Aaron Rodgers throws tablet in Disgust - NFL Videos

One thing that came out of the Panther loss was Aaron Rodgers got scared. He had a chance to tie the game and show he is as clutch as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but "I got scared by something_" and threw an interception. Evidently the beating Rodgers has been getting is getting to him. It this continues he might be have to be replaced by Scott Tolzien and who really wants that.



Here's why Rodgers was so disgusted

I don't think he will be mentioned as the greatest quarterback playing today any more unless the Packers win the remainder of their games, including the Super Bowl, and that's not going to happen as long as Dom Capers is in charge of the defense because no matter how many points Rodgers puts up the defense will give up one more.

Panther Preview

Cam Newton after hearing he is facing the Packer defense

Now to the game at hand. The road game against the 7-0 Panthers has some interesting aspects.

 

First Sam Shields (shoulder-injured when he fell down and not after being hit), Ty Montgomery (sprained ankle) and Quinten Rollins (neck) are most likely out. Bryan Bulaga (knee), T. J. Lang (illness) and Mike Neal (hip) have been added to the injury list on Saturday and Bulaga and Land are listed as probable and Neal questionable. Clay Matthews (ankle/knee), Nick Perry (shoulder/hand) and Aaron Ripkowski (illness) are also probable.