You Must Listen to Aaron Rodgers

After the Packers were routed by the Falcons in the NFC championship game the "Man Who Must Be Listened To" Aaron Rodgers said this, "I don't think we need to rebuild. We need to reload We've just got to make sure we're going all-in every year to win. And I think we can take a big step this offseason."

Reading the lines were easy. Rodgers was saying it was time to bring in the final pieces of the puzzle since his time was drawing down, which is something I've been saying since before the Super Bowl. General Manager Ted Thompson built a playoff team that has made the playoffs for eight seasons in a row, but he absolutely refuses to build a Super Bowl team.

FAKE NEWS - Packers Edition

            “There certainly are some indications that the Packers might be a little more aggressive in free agency this year,” Ian Rapoport said on NFL Network. “From what I am told, I would think the Packers are going to try to get some free agents this year, along with trying to re-sign Jared Cook.”

            If anyone, and I mean anyone, including the "Tedders" and "Ask Vic", who drink so much Ted Thompson Kool-Aid their tongues are a permanent purple (think about that Tedders as you wear your green and gold proudly, but underneath it all you are, yuk, purple as you pledge your allegiance to a man blindly like shorn sheep) think The Ted is going to change his stripes now you are sadly mistaken.

Week 2 - Musings And Predictions

It looks like starting cornerback Sam Shields will not be playing because of a concussion. Outside linebacker Jayrone Elliott (hamstring), cornerback Josh Hawkins (hamstring) and safety Chris Banjo (hamstring) did not participate in practice and may be inactive on Sunday night. The other two on the injury list wide receivers Trevor Davis (shoulder) and Jeff Janis (broken hand) were full participants.

 

The Vikings will be without starting defensive tackle Shariff Floyd (knee) and may be without starting right cornerback Xavier Rhodes (knee) and starting left tackle Matt Kalil (hip). Last week's hero inside linebacker Eric Kendricks has an ankle injury, but he was a full participant as was running back Adrian Peterson (ankle). Former Packer wide receiver Charles Johnson has a quad injury, but he was also a full participant.

 

With that out of the way now down to tacks. Even though Shaun Hill did a decent job at quarterback in the win over the Titans No. 1 draft pick Sam Bradford will start this week. The key to him or anyone is getting a rush on him, so if the pass rush is there the Packers should keep the game a low scoring affair.

They Blinked

It's a good thing the word about the NFL's PED investigation didn't come from Packers General Manager Ted Thompson because after listening to him talk and reading and rereading and reading again his statement we still wouldn't know what he said, but the word did come down before the Packers hosted the Raiders and three of the "Al Jazeera 4" blinked.

Who Blinks First?

Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers and the rest of the "Al Jazeera 4" as they are now known have been given an ultimatum by the NFL to either summit to an interview or face an indefinite suspension until they sit down and discuss whether they are guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs or PEDs as they are known.

 

 Side note: For those of you who live in Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis the name refers back to 1968 and the "Chicago 7", who were peace activists who were put on trial for inciting a riot during the Democratic Convention.

 

In a Donald J. Trump world and working in Wisconsin for that matter it's bad enough to be lumped in with Islamic terrorists or terrorist-sympathizing scum with the name Al Jazeera attached permanently to your picture. The only thing worse would be if your middle name is Hussein.

Potpourri

The Perry Plan

 

This is Nick Perry's Moment and Last Chance

There seems to be method to the madness of General Manager Ted Thompson re-signing former No. 1 pick Nick Perry, when a lot of people, including me, thought it was time to let the often injured and unpotentialized linebacker go, but Thompson evidently had other plans.

 

Chasing a Ghost or What Did You Do During Free Agency?

For the first time since Aaron Rodgers became a starter the defense or special teams weren't the reason for a less than successful season. The ultimate extension of General Manager Ted Thompson's philosophy of building almost entirely from within and ignoring obvious weaknesses while the clock was ticking on Brett Favre's last years and is ticking on Rodgers' prime years has hurt the Packers brand. The Packers last year were a little better than average.

Thompson was asked about the window closing on the Rodgers era and he said this, "We're not going to chase a ghost just because we think the clock is ticking."

Translation: I guess the ghost he is talking about is bringing a Super Bowl back to Green Bay. He has already wasted four of the best years a quarterback has ever had in the history of the game, so why should he be worried now that Rodgers is on the backside of his career and coming off his worst season ever. As long as the Packers make the playoffs that is good enough for Thompson and the Trust in Ted crowd.

Two Thoughts

Peppers Blew It Again

Heading into the overtime the Packer defense was spent. It had played a good three quarters, but reverted to old habits in the fourth quarter leaving receivers wide open and not getting pressure on Carson Palmer. Andrew asked me if I thought we would win it in overtime and I didn't hesitate to say, "NO".

Our only chance was to get the ball and go down and score a touchdown. However, the Packers aren't that lucky, so the result of the "flip" was probably going to be in the Cardinals favor. If the defense was first on the field the game was over and, of course, it was.

How can anyone with a brain cell left firing could leave Larry Fitzgerald uncovered in overtime? On that play Julius Peppers was out of position by breaking coverage when he should have been in between Palmer and Fitzgerald.

Mike McCarthy said simply, 'blown coverage". If Peppers held his assignment he could have intercepted the long slow cross field pass or tipped it or forced Palmer to stop scrambling to square up and throw the ball over Peppers and if Palmer did do that then Mike Daniels would have hit him or sacked him or Palmer would have just kept running and I will assure you he would not have run 75 yards down field. If given a choice between covering an immobile Palmer or a wide receiver, who would you choose?

Please Say It Isn't So

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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.

Post-Game Analysis: Steelers Stats

Up and Down:



Aaron Rodgers UP before the safety

The Packers came back to Earth against the Steelers after the opening drive. With the totally inept Don Barclay starting at left tackle with David Bakhtiari out with a minor knee injury the Packers began the game at the 20 and 10 plays later Eddie Lacy scored easily from seven yards out. behind clear out blocks by Josh Sitton and the aforementioned Barclay and a crushing lead block by John Kuhn. James Starks then made it 8-0 on a two-yard run that was just as easy behind the blocking of center Corey Linsley and right guard T.J. Lang.

 

Lacy's touchdown accomplished two things I've been worried about for a couple seasons now - scoring inside the red zone and scoring or getting a first down needing two or less yards. Except for losing wide receiver Jordy Nelson on a freak knee injury the opening drive was as good as it gets.

Post-Game Analysis: The Defense - Backer Report

The starting unit was (left to right) Andy Mulumba, Sam Barrington, Nate Palmer and Julius Peppers with Clay Matthews (knee soreness), Mike Neal (hernia), Nick Perry (groin), and inside linebacker Tavarus Danzler (?) sitting out.

 

The first thing I can say is on the depth chart the often injured Matthews (he is now out with an elbow injury) is listed at left outside linebacker. I hate that move, but knew it was coming. I noted a few posts back how the defense changed for the better when Matthews moved to the middle. However, some times things get stuck in your brain and you can't get past it. Dom Capers thinks in linear terms and Matthews is an outside rusher (2.5 sacks and 19 tackles in the first eight games) plain and simple, conversation over when he actually proved he was a great inside rusher (8.5 sacks with 49 tackles in the last eight games after the move). Facts can be stubborn things and so can some coaches who can't see the forest for the trees. Some people are so hard-headed.

 

Mulumba has been the talk of training camp, but in the game he had only 3 assisted tackles and a half a sack. He was also the one who got caught inside when Jonas Gray broke outside for the 55-yard touchdown run. He was very sketchy.

 

Barrington has had a silent camp and didn't do much in the game with one assisted tackle. I hope its just one of those games and not Brad Jones all over again. Speaking of Jones he led the Eagles against the Colts with six tackles and 1 assisted tackle.

 

Nate Palmer has become the starter at Matthews' inside backer spot. Palmer was converted from outside linebacker (sounds familiar). He missed all of last year after suffering a serious knee injury in the final pre-season game. He has less stats than Barrington with no tackles, solo or otherwise. The starting inside duo were invisible.

 

Old Man River Peppers

Old Man River Peppers had a good game despite also having no stats. He was always around the ball. I hope he has another good year and not fade out as the season progresses. However, I predicted he would fade and stick with it.

 

Jayrone Elliott is the Sack Master

The second unit was Adrian Hubbard, Carl Bradford, Jake Ryan and Jayrone Elliott. This group was very productive. Elliott was the leading tackler (3 solo, 4 assisted, half a sack, 1 quarterback hit), Ryan the second leading tackler (3 solo, 3 assisted, 1 sack, 2 quarterback hits), Hubbard the sixth (2 solo, 1 assisted, 1 sack) and Bradford (1 solo, 1 assisted, 1 sack).

 

Jake Ryan getting to Jimmy Garoppolo

These four guys are making camp very interesting. I didn't notice any problems with their performance unlike the starters. The only thing I can add is Elliott was the pre-season phenom last year and then never saw the field during the season. I would like to see him more in the rotation. Ryan may be pushing Palmer for the starting job.

The third string was Jermauria Rasco, Joe Thomas, Josh Francis and James Vaughters. Vaughters had 2 tackles and Rasco had 1 solo, 1 assisted and 1 sack.

 

Injuries continue to plague Matthews, but I guess its good he hasn't had a recurrence of the hamstring issues he had his first four seasons. 2013 he had a broken thumb and last year a groin issue when he was playing outside linebacker, but no injuries when he was moved inside. Now that he's outside again the injuries have returned. Is there a connection there? I say there is. But what do I know.

 

Speaking of injuries Neal and Perry continue to be injury prone. Neal seems to be able to play at a high enough level to not be in trouble, but Perry is on his last rodeo. His option was not picked up and I would guess Perry will end up being put into the bust category when he is cut this year. I guess I just made another prediction.

ONE STEP FORWARD AND MAYBE TWO STEPS BACK

I am singing the praises of General Manager Ted Thompson (and anyone who knows me is aware of how much effort it takes for me to do that) with the release of the great pretender nine-year starting linebacker A.J. Hawk. In fact, when I started to write this joyous post my document crashed and I lost it. Now that shows how much I hate praising Thompson.

 

As I was driving back from a high school regional boys basketball game I was covering for a great metropolitan newspaper I heard on ESPN radio about Hawk being cut. I started singing, "Ding, Dong, the Hawk is gone." Thank goodness I was in the middle of nowhere, because I'm sure I would have been pulled over for being creating a driving hazard. I have been the leader of the "Dump Hawk" movement for at least five years.

 

Brad Jones & A.J. Hawk

I have intense feelings about the career of A. J. Hawk. He came out of Linebacker U (Ohio State) as the fifth pick in the Ted Thompson's second draft. Being drafted that high Hawk immediately became a starter at right outside linebacker. He remained on the outside his second season and moved to middle linebacker in 2008 when Nick Barnett was hurt.

 

He remained inside in 2009 when the Packers changed to a 3-4 defense. He has been a starter since his first year and has been extremely durable missing just two games and only six starts. His only missed games came in the middle of the 2011 season with a calf injury. Even last year he ended up playing in all 16 games, starting 13, despite being benched in game 9 when Clay Matthews was moved inside. He previously missed two starts in 2009 and one in 2010 and those must have been because Capers opened the game with a passing defensive alignment).