There are two days left before the Packers take the field against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field and before the pre-season began I was feeling pretty good, but now I don't know what to expect.
My brother Larry made a comment last week and it got me thinking. Aaron Rodgers hasn't throw a pass in a game since 3 minutes left in the first quarter of the Aug. 23rd game against the Steelers. His last play was being sacked in the end zone for a safety.
After that Rodgers declared he had had enough and didn't need to play another down until the games counted. It was funny because back in July Coach Mike McCarthy declared they wouldn't limit Rodgers' playing time during the pre-season, but once Jordy Nelson went down against the Steelers and Don Barclay was a turnstile at left tackle in place of David Bakhtiari he was not only limited, but totally finished.
The last two pre-season games Rodgers not only wasn't dressed, but he didn't seem to be into the game. He couldn't be bothered to help with his three backup quarterbacks and now as I think about as I write this he is starting to act like a certain No. 4 (this is how Rodgers refers to Brett Favre) his last three years in Green Bay when Brett said it wasn't his job to tutor his backup who happened to be Rodgers.
Hummn, movie star girlfriend Olivia Munn, appearing on game shows (and winning Jeopardy), being called the best quarterback in the league and a certain Hall of Famer, maybe everything is going to his head. Next we'll find out he has his own locker room and gets catered food before, during and after games..
The last time Rodgers sat out a game without being injured was the final game of the 2011 season when Ndamukong Suh said he was out to get Rodgers and McCarthy blinked and let Matt Flynn (who never got hit and threw a record six TD passes) play.
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| Aaron Rodgers hiding out or is it |
Watch out tangent rant starting! The one thing I can't stand from a football coach when he backs down from threats by other coaches or players or some other perceived danger. Here at SIU-C many years ago Coach Jerry Kill ended the regional rivalry game with Murray State because he said the team was intentional trying to hurt his players. Football is a rough man's sport and you don't whine about somebody trying to hurt you. You just hit them back harder until they stop. You don't take your ball home and never play them again.
That is not football and McCarthy being scared of Suh was the wrong way to handle the situation. Vince Lombardi, Forrest Gregg, Jerry Kramer, Fuzzy Thurston, Bob Skoronski, Jim Ringo/Ken Bowman, Jim Taylor or even Paul Hornung wouldn't back down if someone had said they were going to hurt Bart Starr. First, Bart wouldn't hide and second that person would have been handed his ass pretty quickly.
Remember the story about Fred "The Hammer" Williamson spouting off about how the Packers' receivers couldn't beat him and how he was going to "drop the hammer" (his nickname for the forearm blow he would deliver to the heads of opposing receivers) on them. Well, the old men not only beat him deep, but ran over "The Hammer" and knocked him out of the game.
That is not football and McCarthy being scared of Suh was the wrong way to handle the situation. Vince Lombardi, Forrest Gregg, Jerry Kramer, Fuzzy Thurston, Bob Skoronski, Jim Ringo/Ken Bowman, Jim Taylor or even Paul Hornung wouldn't back down if someone had said they were going to hurt Bart Starr. First, Bart wouldn't hide and second that person would have been handed his ass pretty quickly.
Remember the story about Fred "The Hammer" Williamson spouting off about how the Packers' receivers couldn't beat him and how he was going to "drop the hammer" (his nickname for the forearm blow he would deliver to the heads of opposing receivers) on them. Well, the old men not only beat him deep, but ran over "The Hammer" and knocked him out of the game.
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| The Hammer getting beat by old man Max McGee |
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| The Hammer carted off the field on a stretcher |
Hummmm, what was I talking about?. Lets, see. Oh, I remember it was something my brother said. The last time Rodgers sat out a game (not because of any injury) was the last game of the 15-1 season after the Super Bowl. And do you remember what happened, boys and girls? The Packers lost to the 9-7 Giants, 37-20, in their first playoff game and Rodgers had a very pedestrian game (26-of-46 for 264 yards with two touchdown passes and one interception with eight of his completions going to his running backs).
This year out of four pre-season games Rodgers has only played 18 minutes and 15 seconds and not a down since August 23rd - a full three weeks ago. He's thrown just 24 passes in anger sinceJanuary 18th.
This year out of four pre-season games Rodgers has only played 18 minutes and 15 seconds and not a down since August 23rd - a full three weeks ago. He's thrown just 24 passes in anger sinceJanuary 18th.
Now the Packers are notorious for starting slow (the last three years the Packers lost their season opener and have opened 1-2) and having your quarterback not used to playing against live people out to get you can't be good.
Like I said I was feeling good about starting against the Train Wreck Bears, but now after seeing how bad the first-string defense played against Sam Bradford, Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow the last time they played I am worried. The entire starting defense and offense didn't play in the final pre-season game against the Saints, so all the starters haven't played in two weeks.
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| Bootleg Brew Chillin' Before The Game |
It's bad enough to keep losing your first game to a good team, but if we lose to Jay Cutler and the Bears I can't show my face at the Cellar again. So the Bootleg Brew is chillin' and I hope the Packers don't need an extra special "Pouring of the Beer" this Sunday to pull out a win.
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