Packers 23 Lyins 31
The Week 5 debacle in Motown left this team truly Upside Down. There was Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide from the onslaught of mistakes which Signed, Sealed, Delivered the victory to a Lions team that really didn’t deserve it. Now, the question for us and the Packers becomes, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
It always sucks to lose. Any game, but certainly any time to Detroit. It’s even worse to have to write about it. A rant-fest can be fun as well as therapeutic, as like everyone else, I love to bitch and complain about this enigma-wrapped inside a riddle that we call the Packers.
The obvious proverbial Pink Elephant in the corner for this game was Crosby, who (now famously, or infamously) missed four field goals and an extra point. Do the math, and those points left wide left, right, and off the goal posts would have made the difference, even with the avalanche of other issues and miscues. Mark Twain once said “Eat a live frog first thing, and the rest of your day gets easier.” Hopefully, this was Mason’s live frog moment. He can hang his helmet on the fact it can’t get any worse…
The Lions were 4 of 4 in the Red Zone, with zero turnovers, which led directly to 17 of their points. Combined with the 13 pissed away by Crosby, the distasteful mathematical conclusion was inevitable. Still, can anyone deny the infusion of hope when we quickly punched it in to make it (24-8)?
Just one aspect of a troubling and confusing start to the season. McCarthy has to be sweating. He absolutely needs to be. Who would’ve thought before the season that the Brewers had a better shot at a championship than the Packers? This is a team and fan base that is out of patience with the usual suspects: Poor starts, lack of adjustments (stubbornness?), zero discipline (penalties), poor fundamentals (tackling), and a once again pissed-off franchise QB. Aaron is correct: The offense sucks right now. Injuries are only a small part of the problem; when the team was closer to “full strength,” the results were still way short...
Bottom line: This team is third in the NFL with 43 penalties, second in penalty yards allowed (413, or, almost a football field per game), and surrendered eight turnovers, including six fumbles. We are being beaten like we-know-who’s kid with an Ugly Stick…
As bad as it is, let’s continue to seek that elusive concept: Perspective. It could be much, much worse. It’s not like last year, when “Brett 2.0” (emphasis on the “0”) was leading this team into oblivion, with less hope than a fat pig strolling into Mutt’s…
Let’s shift to our humble neck of the Packerdom woods. Once again, we had a great crowd at Hall of Fame for this disaster. The club has been showing up in numbers. It didn’t go unnoticed that the Carolina fans were nowhere to be found. Have we prevailed in this Death Struggle for supremacy? The jury is out, but our efforts appear to have had the desired effect, much like a steady waterfall, constantly eroding and chipping away at the earth of lesser fans…
However, and unfortunately, it has not been all wine and roses. It has been all fun and games, but only for a select few. I call on The Committee (do we have a Committee?) to do a complete and thorough investigation into the administration and distribution of the pools and door prizes. The same people continue to win, despite incredible odds. Much like a slot machine that keeps paying out jackpots, something is clearly amiss.
I mean, Clark (nee Neil Petersen) wins the best door prize each and every week! We’ve literally stared into the Heart of Darkness together in our varied explorations and expeditions, and I can say with absolute conviction: He is not that lucky! I mean, I get it, with his snappy “Everyone look at me!” duds, his fandom clearly shines through. His rather impressive Packerdrobe is likely the only thing keeping him from being dismembered by the crowd. I’m warning you all: This emerging Prizegate is not going to end well. There will be no Peace without Justice. Like Jimmy, I’m Just Sayin’…
In sum, Stevie Wonder is a musical genius. It is definitely, in many ways, time to find Higher Ground. We are The Supremes: No matter what happens, the Packers and this club will Keep Me Hangin’ On…
Go, Pack, GO!!!
(Kraig Pringle)
Just Sayin’
I know many Packers fans have a hard time saying ANYTHING bad about Aaron Rodgers. So I will. Here goes. He criticized McCarthy last week and somewhat blamed him for the poor offensive performance due to poor play calling. Well, the play calling seemed to be pretty good on Sunday. It seems like the biggest failure of the offense on Sunday was partly due to some off target passes and a couple of lost fumbles by Mr. Rodgers. Can anyone say Karma? Yes, I am critising Aaron. He holds onto the ball too long waiting for the big play. Some of that falls on Mike McCarthy for his repetitive, predictable play calling. So McCarthy doesn't get off scot free either. How about a running back that averages almost 6 yards a carry, and gets 7 carries? AMAZINGly stupid. And I am beginning to really think like a couple of stories I perused about the game. McCarthy remade most of his staff. As far as the playbook he supposedly was going to rip it up and start anew; what happened? I don't know what most of you think, but it seems like the same playbook to me. Another article I read was talking about how MM has absolutely wasted the prime years of Rodgers. I sure can’t disagree with that. However, as I have said before, I put equal blame on Ted Thompson for the inferior roster he assembled year after year. And though none of the Free Agents signed during
And while Detroit is not an elite team, they do have a pretty good QB and were most likely pumped up playing the Packers at home.
Mason Crosby had what was probably the worst day of his kicking career, even all the way back to high school. Unless he has 2 games in a row like that, I myself will cut him a break. Who hasn’t had a bad day? I also know that we are only a third of the season in, and Rodgers has been playing hurt for most of the time. We have a bye week coming up. So maybe it will be a time to rewind things and get it going in the right direction.
As fast as the defense goes, they apparently played a decent game. But everything just looked a lot worse because of the Specialess Teams.
Look, I myself have not lost the faith in my team. I wasn’t expecting the Packers to go undefeated. The best case scenario is that the Packers could finish 13-2-1 with home field advantage in the playoffs. I am not expecting that, but I have not given up yet either…
Just Sayin’
(Jimmy Smith)
527 Justin Peterson
528 Devin Staack.
Lots of new items appeared on the prize table this week. Some of the XX door prizes went to 453 Leon Stenzel who chose a dog plaque, 515 Grayson Boselie got a license plate, and 507 Linda Bracke who will be passing a nerf football. 140 Erich Peschel can now play dominoes. 504 Michael Cox will stay dry under his new umbrella, 519 Wink Courchaine chose a camo hat, while 525 Leslie Fleming and 528 Devin Staack will keep their toes warm with socks. 526 Anthony Johnson will be cutting his meat with his new steak knives. A night light will brighten the path for 423 Melody Cox. 527 Justin Peterson chose a lanyard. 127 Kent Sargent chose a necklace and earrings which he presented to Christie’s sister who joined us for the day.
131 Gerald Schulz was awarded a $15 gift certificate from our friends at Hall of Fame Sports Grill for the correct answer to this week’s trivia question.
We had both a 50₵ and a $1 pool this week. Winners of the 50₵ pool were 131 Gerald Schulz (twice), 132 Sharon Schulz, and 431 Jan Zlebek. Dollar pool winners were 506 Sebastian Sharp (twice), and 241 Tiffany Bailey (twice).
Our next game is a Monday Night game, 8 o’clock on October 15, against the 49ers. I will be out of town, but I hope that many of you will be there to cheer in my place. I will be with you in spirit. Remember, through thick and thin—
be courageous!
(Marge 328)
Packers vs. Santa Clara
The real problem is what Air-ron was alluding to last week; the offense, for various reasons has NOT been able to finish drives, forcing Mason to come in to make what is becoming longer and longer attempts. So far this year, he has MADE as many FG’s over 40 yards then he attempted all of last year. He is on a pace to attempt 52 FG’s for the year, 19 more than any of his 12 years in the league. Here is some simple math, turn 2 missed FG’s into TD’s and we win the game… simple, right? The one odd stat from last weeks game is Green Bay had ZERO punts. Part of that is because 5 drives ended in field goal tries and 2 ended in fumbles, all part of Air-ron’s concerns.
So now we turn our attention to the 49’ers. A team who had high hopes with Jimmy Garoppolo as QB but like the Packers last year, now seem lost after their starting QB went down in week 3. Their only win this year is against the Lyins BUT that was with Jimmy G. under center. A win Monday could help the Pack’s tie-breaker if it comes down to common opponents but none of this matters if we can’t change our 1-1-1 division record to 4-1-1 by the end of the season.
With Garoppolo gone, 9’ers turn once again to C.J. Beathard, last year’s QB who was 1 of 10 in 2017 and is 0 for 2 in 2018. His QB rating is up from last year and the team is averaging almost 28 point a game, but their strength is not passing but in the running where they average 136 yards per game. The other strength is in the kicking game where Robby Gould is 10 of 11, his only miss was last week from 45 yards.
Packers, as I noted earlier, have some work to do if we are to return to a “championship caliber team” that Air-ron expects them to be. The running game seems to be in good shape with the return of Aaron Jones but doesn’t help much if you keep playing from behind. It is the passing game, the so called “strength of the offense”, that is struggling. How much can be contributed to our 4 top receivers and QB missing so much practice time, how much has Air-ron’s knee been affecting him AND how much will last Sunday’s hit on his knee set him back? Perhaps he is trying too hard. Maybe he is the one that needs to R-E-L-A-X. Because this is a Monday Night game, the first practice was yesterday, maybe the extra day will work wonders on our ailing hero's. In my opinion, our offense will struggle until they find that cohesion which can only come thru practice.
Our Defensive backs, the so called “strength of our defense”, have been hurt by injuries with 5 again on the injury list plus House put on IR a few weeks back, has them limping around and relying on back ups barely off the practice squad. Like the offense, the lack of practice time together has hurt their “cohesion” to. The bad news is C.J. Beathard has put up some numbers, and with us turning average players into super-stars, I hope we don’t make C.J. Beathard a fantasy foot-ball wonder.
We are once again back in the friendly confines of Lambeau Field (a plus for us) followed by a bye week before visiting the Rams. I can’t say for sure this will be a victory for the Pack, which does not mean to say I’ve given up on them because I’m not predicting a loss either. The winner of this game will be the one who sucks it up, plays as a team had has their best game of the year. Here is where I place my hope in the Packers. I will still back the Pack until the day I die and will always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS
Bleed Green My Friends
(Packer John)
