Packers 17 Fredskins 31
Table of Contents:
A. Football Sucks Right Now
B. Redskins Review
C. Hall of Fame
The league has a poor history with these issues. Somehow, the Packers constantly end up a lightning rod for these controversial calls which lead to head-scratching losses (or ties). It perhaps began several years ago, with the Immaculate Deception by Golden Tate in Seattle. The only time in NFL history a team scored an offensive TD on an interception, which ultimately cost us a Super Bowl. Then, the whole “what is a catch” fiasco with Dez Bryant (albeit a bad call in our favor)…Have they ever really straightened that one out?
Then, leading with the head, or “targeting,” confusion ripped through the game, again altering games on plays that left players on both sides confused and tentative. Not the way to play football.
Now, the protect-the-QB hysteria has led to ridiculous penalties across the league, prompting even QBs to decry the nonsense. Unfortunately, in what appears to be Claymaker’s swan song season with the Packers, he has been the test case and the primary example for what is totally wrong. He has had big hits on the QB flagged late in each of our games (so far). The irony is we won the one time that he truly deserved a penalty. The waist-wrap he gave Cousins was a ridiculous bailout which cost Jaire Alexander his first INT and cost the game to a division rival. Don’t say it wasn’t a loss…a tie under those circumstances was a brutal blow that will likely come back to haunt us.
The pooh-pooh on Alex Smith in Washington, where you could literally see Clay’s hands release as they hit the turf…this was (hopefully) the worst I’ve ever seen. Didn’t cost us the game, which we will get to, but effectively tossed the last bit of dirt on the casket.
B. Redskins Review. We all saw it, it doesn’t take my Pulitzer-nominated insight to tell you what went down. Of course, the terrible call. But this game was there for the taking. Aaron wasn’t sharp by his standards, but the offense had more drops than an afternoon shower. The coaches had the scheme, and they put the offense in all kinds of great looks against the Redskins defense. Guys were open all day. Aaron missed a few, but too many guys literally, and most importantly figuratively, dropping the ball at key moments. And Randall Cobb…
Again, the ugly Injury Specter resides in Packerville. The injuries are looking like a Who’s Who. Again. And again, and again. Who stepped on the rabbit’s foot and brought all this down on us?
As such, I call upon all of you to do any and all of the following (including but not limited to): A vigorous rain dance; smoke the peace pipe, preferably with some good peyote; break some mirrors (seven would be ideal); walk under a ladder; start cutting off the paths of black cats; do a shot of Wild Turkey while spinning counterclockwise, uttering “Seem,
Maybe start a hashtag movement…instead of #metoo, I again call upon all of you to submit entries. I’ll start the process. How about #cutthebs or #wtfdothegodshaveagainstthepack? The winning entry gets to sit on Packer John’s lap for an entire quarter of any game of their choice…
C. Hall of Fame. I love the place, but it’s certainly not perfect. Clark (nee Neil Petersen) and myself (Lewis) ultimately landed here after about a dozen drop-ins at other places, it was our figurative Passage to the West. We even had a suspension bridge named after us. It was the best option for the club.
We’ve seen some issues with overcrowding. It’s been Standing Room Only, with people turning away to go elsewhere. There are people in the ear of management bitching about the favoritism to the Packers and our club. The management is wondering if our mutual arrangement is truly benefitting them. Q: What to do? A: Keep turning out in numbers. Have lunch at the game. Buy your table a beer or a drink. Try the brat they put on the menu. Use your credit card and worry about it later. If we keep bringing the crowd, and generating a little more revenue for them, the pretenders from the other 31 teams will ultimately fade…
Don’t send your money to starving kids in some third world country where warlords will co-opt the money anyway. Redirect it to local concerns and do your civic duty all in one shot. Redirect it to the HOF, the club, and ultimately, your better experience while watching our team and enjoying the fellowship, which is what it’s all about… Go, Pack, GO!!!
(Kraig Pringle)
Just Sayin’
Something that might have kept us competitive in that game would have been our receiving corps
I have another question. I guess most of us, at one time or another, has used mosquito repellent. Does Adrian Petersen have a supply of Packer Repellent? He was out of the league for a year. He goes to the Saints, then the Cardinals, and one might think he is pretty much done with his career. He signs with the REFskins, starts against the Packers, and you would think he is 25 yrs. old again. He was running all over the defense. And speaking of the defense, does anyone think there has been much improvement after 3 games? Personally, I don’t see it. However, I am going to give Pettine a little slack. Somewhat like Dom Capers, he had a lot of mediocre players to work with. A difference now is that we will see if Pettine can best utilize the talent he has, scheme and make adjustments unlike Capers did. I do think the talent level of the defense has risen under Gute. We just need to have a little patience for a bit. Something I never heard anyone ever talk about was if Thompson was such a great talent evaluator and such a draft guru, why were so many undrafted free agents making the team every year? I just think Rodgers covered up so many warts on the Packer roster, for so many years, that we were all brainwashed into thinking we had a good team. And then when he got hurt last year, reality reared its ugly head and revealed an ugly roster. As much as many will not want to admit, this is somewhat of a rebuilding year.
Another thing that I think should be considered is to rest Rodgers. He has little mobility right now. And when he does run around, he is compensating for the knee, which could lead to him injuring something else. That happens. It happened to Robert Brooks. It happened to me. It could happen to Aaron. His timing and throws are off due to not being able to practice during the week. He had many throws that were short or thrown behind the receivers. If Mike McCarthy is the “highly successful” coach that he thinks he is, then he & Joe Philbin can come up with a game plan for Kizer and/or Boyle that could get us through the next 2 or 3 games. And then we have the BYE in week 7. That would give Rodgers 3 or 4 weeks to get the knee in better shape...
Just Sayin’
(Jimmy Smith)
GPB Hall Of Fame Report
Door prizes went to 262 Tom Zumbach who chose a tee shirt and 220 Jimmy Smith, 321 Sheila Chase, and 520 whose “tootsies” will be warm in new socks. A nightlight will shine for 505 Heather Sharp, while 328 Marge Bramlett will be enjoying tunes through her new earbuds. 431 Jan Zlebek will store his cash in his new wallet. 520 will serve up goodies on a Packer platter while 507 Linda Bracke will enjoy a meal packed in her new lunchbox. 455 Brenda Davenport is now the proud owner of a Packer cooler. The packer umbrella will keep the raindrops off 453 Leon Stenzel.
The winner of the trivia contest and the recipient of a $15 gift certificate from our friends at Hall of Fame Sports Grill is 127 Kent Sargent.
We had both a 50₵ and a $1 pool this week. Winners of the 50₵ pool were 221 Barbara Gambrell, 431 Jan Zlebek, 241 Tiffany Bailey, and “Cat.” Dollar pool winners were 242 Christina Harrison, 131 Gerald Schulz, 328 Marge Bramlett, and 221 Barbara Gambrell.
Please give a Packer welcome to our newest members:
519 Wink Courchine
520 Angela Blazer
521 Diane Humphrey
522 Harvey Humphrey
Although the final score didn’t exactly float our boats, as a group we were able to support our Packers and cheer them on. I hope to see as many of you (if not more) returning on Sunday for the 1:00 kick off against the Bills. Remember, we love our Pack through thick and thin. We will always be courageous!
(Marge 328)
First off, I’d like to congratulate the Bills on taking care of the viqueens last week, too bad we didn’t take full advantage of it. This could however give us a tie breaker for common opponents with a win the Sunday; then that nasty tie won’t be a factor. It is interesting to note that of the two games that have ended in a tie (Stealers & Browns in week 1 & Packers & viqueens in week 2) all lost their games the following week. Maybe it was destiny for the viqueens to lose, to any opponent, maybe not.
In any event, the Bills are coming into this game thinking they are “THE” team. They still need to remember they have rookie Josh Allen at starting QB (with Nate Peterman, whoever he is, as backup), plus if running backs McCoy & Murphy can’t play (both with rib injuries), this leaves them with Chris Ivory & Taiwan Jones in the backfield. This is also a chance to see ex-Packer Micah Hyde but like his time in Green Bay, he is once again on the injury list; making his reunion against the Packers a little shaky. The Bills may come into this game with a little swagger, but to prove themselves to the world as a Superbowl contender, they will need to do it in Lambeau Field.
But who exactly will the Packers be on Sunday? We all know about Air-ron’s knee. We all watched him skipping down the field, we have all seen his pinpoint throws barely hit the side of a barn. Is not practicing all week hurting the timing of the receiver’s? Is this why Cobb had so many drops or is there another reason? Jimmy thinks we should rest Air-ron and I agree. I also have concerns, like Jimmy, about putting Kiser behind the wheel with Tim Boyle waiting in the wings. The offensive line may be hurting too. RT Bryan Bulaga & RG Justin McCray are both hurt. This leaves Byron Bell as the only backup to BOTH positions. Of course they can still insert Jason Spriggs and Lucas Patrick but both are more Leftsided players.
On the defensive side the main problem is the ankle injury to Muhammad Wilkerson, one that may be season ending. This leaves the Pack with 4 players to fill the front three spots. Daniels, Clark, Adams & Lowry are all good players but they will need to play almost every play, a daunting task. Kevin King, Tramon Williams and Devon House (now on the reserved/injured list) missed most if not all of last week’s game. They did sign Bashaud Breeland this week to fill House’s open spot. Like the front line, this leaves 6 players for 4 positions in the defensive backfield. My prediction is we will see some creative defenses from Mike Pettine.
The other thing on defense is the penalties. On Washington’s second TD drive, it was 79 total yards, 52 of which were Packer penalties (3 Pass interference and 1 for taunting); somehow, this needs to be cleaned up. And of course, for the 3rd time in 3 weeks, Clay draws a “Hurting the QB Feelings” penalty. Like the other two, the league backed up this penalty even before the game ended, almost like they rehearsed this before the game even started. Clay is 3 for 3, Daniels lets go of Cousins thinking the ball was thrown, Ben Roethlisberger admits to “selling the hit” by Jason Pierre-Paul and Miami’s William Hayes is out for the season with a torn ACL when he tried to avoid the full body contact on his sack of Derek Carr. The competition committee is meeting soon, maybe they can stop this runaway train but my guess is they will add more coal to the boiler so they can get to the end of the tracks faster.
How far do we go with a one legged Rodgers? Are we risking the future of Air-ron? Mike Shannahan did the same thing with RGIII, rode him til he couldn’t walk; RGIII was never the same after that. A lot of questions in this week’s article with very few answers, at least from a fans point of view. A frustrating year so far, but nothing a good W can’t cure or at least put a Band-Aid on it for a while. As for me, maybe another beer or two during the game will help easy the frustration. Maybe something we should all try; what can it hurt? I haven’t giving up yet and never will because I had a blood test done this week and to no surprise, I
Bleed Green My Friends
(Packer John)
