1 Dec 2008
QUOTE: “Every production of genius must be the production of enthusiasm.” Benjamin Disraeli
RANDOM GAME THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS...
1. Weather was a great equalizer yesterday, especially on the East Coast. Road teams were 10-2.
2. I love tradition more than anything and don't want to take away the Thanksgiving game from Detroit, but the Lions need to do something to improve or else lose that game. That was embarrassing. They are worse than some of the expansion teams I have seen.
3. How many more road games are the Cardinals going to lose and still be considered a good playoff team? They are benefiting from a very soft schedule and a very good passing offense.
4. I would expect the Giants to place Plaxico Burress on the NFI list, which means Non-Football Related Injury. By doing so, they would not have to pay him his base salary for the rest of the season and could go after his signing bonus. I suspect they have had enough of this circus called Plaxico. The NFL Network’s Adam Schefter had the best line of all: "The Barney Fife of Hip Hop." How dumb was that move by Plax?
5. Besides Antonio Pierce, there was another player involved in the incident, but he did not go to the hospital. He went home. Smart move.
6. Eli Manning played well yesterday, and one thing that was proven in the Redskins-Giants game was that the Skins’ corners could not cover the Giants’ wide outs. DeAngelo Hall? Please.
7. The Skins just cannot score enough points. In the past four weeks, they’ve scored 7 (yesterday), 20, 10 and 6. They are really struggling offensively and just are not able to generate big plays.
8. I feel bad for Romeo Crennel. He’s going to be evaluated the next four weeks and he loses his starting quarterback. What amazes me is why the Browns need four weeks. I suspect they know what kind of coach he is right now.
9. Losing Gary Brackett will hurt the Colts, but this week they have the Bengals coming to town. It helps to have a soft opponent as you sort out your talent.
10. Aaron Rodgers has played well, but he missed a moment yesterday to rally the fans and his teammates behind him with a come-from-behind win. Instead, he threw an interception and left people wondering what could have been had Brett Favre still been there.
11. Pittsburgh is really playing well right now and doing a better job of protecting Big Ben. I never thought the Steelers could win on the road with Max Starks at left tackle, but they are. Holding the Pats to one third-down conversion was just amazing. When they play on a fast track, their defense is even faster.
12. The Patriots are not the same team on defense, and their lack of speed really is hurting them. They will spend the whole off season repairing their defense.
13. The Jets should not feel too badly about that game yesterday. The Broncos can throw the ball on anyone, and they attacked the Jets in the best fashion -- all nickel runs and no two-back sets.
14. The Jets’ Darrelle Revis is a Pro Bowl player for sure this season. I rarely ever see a pass completed on him when he is locked on man to man.
15. Why do teams run trick plays against the Broncos? All you have to do is run and execute your offense and it will work. The Jets gave away points with some of their play calls. Third and one pass, fourth and one another pass, with only one wide out in the route?
16. Did anyone see Jets first rounder Vernon Gholston running after Jay Cutler? He looked like Herman Munster trying to turn and redirect.
17. Peyton Hillis reminds me of Jim Taylor of the Green Bay Packers. He just moves the chains and is very strong. He might not be a flashy runner, but he is a productive runner.
18. When the Saints got the ball back, I never thought Drew Brees would turn it over TWICE. The Saints are just not good enough, and Brees might have cost himself the MVP with that performance.
19. The Bucs, particularly Jeff Garcia, are hard to watch on offense, but they are so good on defense. Garcia struggles to make plays and is so erratic in the pocket.
20. It’s over for San Diego this year. The Chargers just cannot get off the field on third down, and now that Rivers is not playing well, they are struggling on offense. Forget about LT, Rivers needs to carry the team, and it is hard when you only have the ball on average for 28 minutes.
21. Did you notice last night how poorly Darren Sharper was tackling? He gave the Bears their big plays with his angles and missed tackles.
22. Another week and the Raiders cannot get the ball to a wide receiver. Whomever the next coach is, he needs to bring with him a pro passing game. What was that call on the fake field goal?
23. The Chiefs played 15 rookies and first-year players and still won the game. Great bounce back game for the Chiefs.
24. Minnesota is in the driver’s seat in the NFC North. How come I don't feel good about that prediction?
25. The 49ers won a game with less than 200 yards of offense. They are the first team to come from the west and win on the east. Congratulations.
Rodgers can be blamed as much as you want, but the Packers problems start with Special Teams and Defense. Offense put up 29 and 31 points the last 2 games and lost both. Over the season, they put up 27.8 points per game and still are just 5-7. they brought in a punter who cannot punt further than 35 yards. Special teams give up big returns to average returners after every score. You can ask your QB to win games, but the Packers do that every week, when McCarthy stood there at the shareholders meeting in spring and said the defense is the best unit of this team and has to win games this year.
And the Packers' problems rest squarely at the puny feet, having been hatched in the puny mind, of Ted The Weasel Thompson.
"... he threw an interception and left people wondering what could have been had Brett Favre still been there."
Um, no, Packer fans know exactly what 'could have been' had Favre still been there. Namely, the exact same thing.
Aaron--Many, if not a growing majority, of Packer fans know no such thing, and you should not presume to speak for all fans.
Hatin' on Thompson again, eh Big John?
Actually, this may surprise you, but I'm beginning to get frustrated with TT myself. He didn't try to sign any marquee free agents this offseason or make any trades to bring anyone in, and the team is paying the price. Thompson next year has to be more aggressive in the offseason, and bring in more help for the O-line and D-line in particular. I agree with his philosophy of building through the draft, but sometimes you have to take risks in free agency or trades, too. I still have faith in Thompson, but he has a lot of work to do this offseason.
Mike,
The Pats better fix their defense in the offseason...they have NO pass rush and can't cover my grandmother...other than that, they are great! Wilfork is a stud, Mayo is a keeper, and the D line is okay against the run for the most part, but the rest of them are JAGS. Time to cut the cord on Bruschi, Vrabel and Hobbs...get some SPEED and PASH RUSHERS please..
Separate question for Mike on that game - regarding GB taking the FG at the end there. Why do I seem to be the only person on the planet upset by that play call?
It's 4th and less than a yard in a tie game where your special teams are getting roasted and your defense is struggling with less than two minutes to play. If you go for it, you have a 50-50 chance of getting the score. If not, it's still tied and the opposing team is buried (good chance for a safety or at least get a stop, minimum they'd have to move 65 yards to even attempt a FG).
What am I missing here - every commentator I'm reading is either saying or implying that the FG was a no-brainer but frankly, I thought it cost us the game and was the dumbest play call of the year. What am I missing here?
The Packers need a new special teams coach, a new punter, defensive line help, linebacker help, and then maybe offensive line help.
Pretty much in that order.
The 99 yard pass that the Bears gave up to Berrian might have been the worst play I've ever seen. DB Tillman should have been cut on the spot and made to walk to the locker room without even his jersey on. To have the announcers try and claim it was a coverage mistake was ridiculous. Berrian was practically on the sideline, who did Tillman think was going to help him, one of the guys on the chain gang?
Scott M- you weren't the only person upset about it: I was at the game and I HATED them taking the FG. I think that's "playing not to lose" instead of playing to win. If the ball had been on the 2 or 3, I would have understood them taking the 3 points. But on the 1 yd line you go for it. If you can't get that one last yard you don't deserve to win anyway, but at least TRY for it... I think McCarthy had too much trust in his defense, one that has failed in the closing minutes too often this season.
Scott M. and Sean - I see what you are saying, but let's assume they wouldn't have gotten it in, Panthers get the ball, march down the field and score on a last second field goal. then everybody would ask for McCarthy's head for being "too stupid to take the FG". You have the chance to go ahead 3 points with 1:35 to go. What coach tries to punch it in? Nobody. The odds are largely in your favor, if you don't allow the Panthers a long return. All they had was one more timeout, and let's say you stop them at their 25 at the return. then to have a realistic shot in those conditions to even tie the game, they'd have needed to go 45 yards. Not impossible, but hard to do. But of course, the special teams grandpa the Packers have as a ST coach cannot bring anybody to tackle or remain in their lane. But since my Packers are rebuilding through the draft and improve from within (all McCarthy's words), we can be looking forward to the same coaches and players next year, plus 10-15 rookies. Will be another 6-10 season, as this year will be (after all, we should win the last against the Lions, although we probably make sure they end up 1-15).
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Dec 01, 2008
09:53 AM
Michael wrote: "[Rodgers] threw an interception and left people wondering what could have been had Brett Favre still been there."
I don't think that this is fair to Rodgers. As a long time Packer fan I can tell you that Favre threw his share of game killing ints, especially in big games. Remember the Eagles playoff game a few years ago or even the playoff game against the Giants from last year. If the Packers defense was playing as well as it did last year nobody would be questioning Rodgers.
Stoch