Greenville Packer Backers: 2019 Week 07

Packers 23 Lyins 22

It’s sad; In case you haven’t heard it anywhere on sports media this week, the Packers are 5-1. That doesn’t seem to be news, but Trey Flowers hands to the face has made him a national poster child for the “Inept Refs”. To be honest, that was as much “hands to the face” as it was a Lyins touchdown (see Jimmy’s comments).

Can we blame the refs? Maybe, maybe not. There are 8 refs watching 22 players move as fast as they can and they have only a millisecond to determine if something wasn’t right; a monument task. Even with replay, slo-mo, blow-ups and still shots, some calls still cannot be said with 100% certainty if it was or was not a foul. On the other hand, our game wasn’t the only one in question this week. Baker Mayfield (even with the possibility of a fine) told the press the refs were “pretty bad today”. I watched the end of the Dalass/NYJ game were the cryboy’s last scoring drive had penalties on 6 consecutive plays (3 for 50 on the Jet’s, 2 for 17 on Dalass and 1 declined). Will things change? Will it get better? No and No. The NFL is happiest when there’s drama, just ask the Kardashian’s.

It’s also sad because of what you might have missed. Missed was our defense allowing a total of 299 yards; this includes the early passes of 66 & 58 yards. Missed was the hustle Alexander and Sullivan made on those plays to make tackles before the endzone. Forcing one to a field goal, the other to the “Phantom TD” (see Jimmy’s comments). Missed was the Lyins having a total of 68 yards in the 2^nd half. Missed was the defense forcing 5 field goals; twice stopping the Lyins with drives of 2 and 8 yards. Missed was our offense scoring in every quarter; something that hasn’t happened this season and they did this with MVS as their best receiver. Missed was Jamaal Williams running for 104 yards. It could have been 107 and a TD but he sacrificed that for a victory. Missed was the Lyins having only 56 yards rushing, 9 of it by Stafford. Missed was “Booger” McFarland’s biased comment at the end of the game about Green Bay not wanting to give the ball back to a “Red Hot” Stafford. Huh??? The boy was 6 of 16 for 46 yards in the second half! Hard to even melt ice with a fire like that.

For those of you that went home or to bed at halftime, I understand why. Work before Packers. Don’t feel bad, even Vince would agree with you. I hope I was able to fill you in on what nobody was talking about this week. Minus our 3 turnovers and the two big passing plays, this was a dominating performance that should never have come down to a refs call.

On a side bar, some justice was served. The E-gulls Derek Barnett was fined 28K for his helmet to helmet hit on Williams and Jonathan Ford was fined the same for his hit on Shepard. As far as the E-gulls are concerned, it was money well spent. On the other hand, both Kenny Clark & Z Smith were fined 10.5K in the Dalass game for unsportsmanlike conduct and Aaron Jones was fined the same for taunting (his bye-bye wave on his touchdown run).

Bottom line, the Pack is 5-1, 3-0 in division play and in 1^st place in the only division to have all four teams without a losing record; too bad nobody is talking about that. For us, it doesn’t matter because we know and because we all Bleed Green My Friends

(Packer John)

Just Sayin’

See, I told you last week that the Ghost Of Packers Past was still hanging around. That would be Ted Thompson. The man had an uncanny ability to use high draft choices on defensive players that were inept. And that was exactly what was happening during the first quarter. Fortunately, there was an exorcism that happened between the first and second quarters that expunged the TT demon and that seemed to have helped. BUT, there was another, life altering, non-football thing that also happened that let Mason Crosby get his first Lambeau Leap. That would be KARMA. Since the Eagles game came down to the Eagles DB using the “straight jacket” play on Valdez-Scantling to cause an interception, resulting in no penalty, I am thinking that karma came into play by the officials actually calling penalties, 2 times no less, against Trey Flowers for hands to the face on David Bakhtiari. On the replays, Flowers looks to have his hands on David B.’s shoulder pads only. Now, David B. was craning his neck back, and from a certain angle, it could have looked like hands to the face. And you have to take into account that the refs are watching it at full speed while it is happening, and have to make the call immediately. We get to look at it in slow motion, from several angles, several times. So did we get away with a couple of bogus calls that may have changed the game? Well, the NFL has made the statement that one of the calls was legit, but one was not. But who knows, maybe AR12 completes a long pass on the next play if no penalty had been called. Also, let’s take into account the 2 consecutive plays that no Pass Interference was called on the Lions. Aaron Jones was beyond 5 yards from the line of scrimmage when the DE just plain knocked him down. On the very next play, Jake Kumerow was going to turn for a back shoulder throw. But he couldn’t turn since the DB had a hold of his jersey. Booger McFarland didn’t have much to say on those 2 plays, huh? And, isn’t every scoring play supposed to be reviewed? On 4^th and goal, when the Lions “scored” their TD, one official said the runner was down at the half yard line. You know, the ref with the best view of the ball? The other official said he broke the plane. The official from the backside of the runner. We saw replay ourselves. It looked to me that the runner was stopped short of the goal line. The head ref steps in and says “touchdown”. I did not see any review and the announcers made no mention of it. Before Crosby’s winning FG, the score was 22-20 Lions. Take away that previous Lions TD, and the game would have been 20-15 Packers. So the Packers would have been in the “run out the clock mode” at that point. Listen, the Lions got 5 FGs when they got in the redzone, or close to it, and didn’t punch it in. So they left a lot of points out on the field. So if they want to cry about injustice, they can run down to Walmart and buy some Kleenex.

Any football fan who watched the game, no matter who they were pulling for, can put their own spin on it. There are many football games every year, at every level, that have controversy. But the bottom line is that the Packers are 5-1. They have a victory over each divisional opponent so far this season. And with a 5-1 record after 6 games, I am a happy cheesehead.

But back to the game a bit. After the exorcism at the end of the first quarter, the defense settled down. The Smith boys have really changed the look of the defense, huh? I also like it that Mike Pettine is down on the field this year instead of up in the booth. That lets him talk face-to-face with his guys when they come off the field. Stafford only passed for about 97 yards after the 1^st quarter. They had less than 60 yards rushing for the entire game. So basically, for the last ¾ of the game, the defense did their part. The main problem seemed to be with the offense and the “numbilitis”. That would be when one’s hand are numb and they can’t hold onto things, which leads to fumbles and “defleptions”. (For any new readers, a defleption is where the WR should catch the ball, but instead of catching the ball, he deflects it to the defensive player, which results in an interception. Defleption. (Said interception goes against the QB in the official statistics, whereas the NFL should have a category where the defleption goes against the WR, who should have caught the damn ball.) And by the way, how about that Jamal Williams sitting down and not running into score a TD, thereby leaving the Lions almost 2 minutes to drive down the field. And also, how about the WR that was cut on the final cutdown, was NOT claimed off waivers by any other team in the league and then re-signed to the Packers Practice Squad. You know, that No. 6 WR Allen Lazard? I think he has earned some meaningful reps in games to come…

Just Sayin’

(Jimmy Smith)

GPB In Our SPARE TIME

50 Packer backers met at Spare Time on Monday night to cheer on our team. We also welcomed new member:

552 Regina Dillinger.

We’re happy to have you with us!

Clothing was again a top choice among the doorprize winners. 538 Shea Ray and 531 Sara Hansen chose tee shirts, and 541 Sam Claridge got a great Packer golf shirt. 431 Jan Zlebek gifted his buddy with a Packer camo hat. 552 Regina Dillinger chose a metal pilsner mug and 221 Barb Gmbrell will be serving liquid refreshment from her new set of pint glasses. 532 John Blando now has a Packer book bag to carry all his Packer paraphernalia to the game each week and 183 Kim Hein will show her Packer pride with a license plate. 241 Tiffany Bailey chose a lanyard and a bracelet, 328 Marge Bramlett has a keychain flashlight and a deck of cards, and 507 Linda Bracke chose 2 decks of cards.

Winners of the $1 board for the pool were 557 Terri Denman, 542 Kathy Mervyn, 101 Jamie Ware, and 431 Jan Zlebek. Congratulations to you lucky folks! 120 Neil Petersen posted the correct answer to this week’s trivia question. He is the proud recipient of a $25 gift card from our good friends at Spare Time.

Join us Sunday at 1:00 at Spare Time for our game against the Raiders. I’ll be there wearing my lucky earrings cheering on our team with as many of you as possible. I just love it when we fill the place and rock it! Until then, it’s loving our team through thick and thin…

Marge 328

Packer’s vs. Radars

Hello again my friends this is Robin Leach with another fabulous episode of “The working class saved his money and is now going on a vacay!” Boy, now that would be a show wouldn’t it?

Picture this: Leaving from Charlotte-Douglas Airport Fri-day and flying non-stop Business Class to Milwaukee, renting a truck (because it’s only $3 more a day) driving to Appleton, WI and staying in the Hilton Doubletree Inn, cruising to Green Bay on Saturday, touring the stadium, buying souvenirs at the pro-shop, going to the Hall of Fame, seeing the 4 shining Lombardi Trophies. Going to another souvenir shop, and then dining in luxury at Brett Favre’s Steakhouse, a Green Bay tradition! Returning to Green Bay on Sunday, going on a quest for parking (is the Kmart still there? Someone give me the 411!) Going to the new Tundra Tailgate zone that is sponsored by Smithfield and re-named. Drinking a few “tasty beverages” gathering a few new friend and calling the boys (What day is it?). Getting a pic with my employee Mr. Murphy. And then entering the not-yet Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field to watch the Leaders of the NFC North play the Oakland/LA/Las Vegas Raiders. Go Pack!! Go!!! Return to Appleton and do everything in reverse order until I’m back in Charlotte on Monday night! Whew!! Will my arms be tired!!

Yes, friends, Yours Truly is going to be your Roving Reporter and returning to my pilgrimage of the Holy Land, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

I love going to Green Bay! I’ve been there less than 10 times, and have seen 5 live games. Only 2 at Lambeau though. Games at Lambeau are different. We don’t really care what color jersey you wear, you’re our guest. That’s not the way it is at other cities. Anyone who’s gone to Atlanta to see a game knows exactly what I’m talking about.

Weather is always a concern when going to Green Bay. It’s going to start off chilly and stay in the Upper 50’s to low 60’s. I’ll be in the shade because of the extension they made, so I’m going to be bundled. I may even break out the long johns! Let’s talk about the team though.

DaVante Adams is still out with Turf Toe. I had heard the term before but didn’t pay it much attention until it hit one of our guys, so I did some research. I can understand why this would hobble the average person, much less an athlete. You don’t think much about your big toe, but it’s the anchor for your foot. You use it to balance while you walk. If you’re running, it provides the point to push off to take the next step. You plant it to cut when you’re running a route. You kinda need your big toe. Ah, but here’s the rub; you can’t do anything about it.

Anyone who sees me knows that for a long time, I walked with a pronounced limp. It’s much better now, it’s more of a funny walk. I had surgery on it in 2012! I need to walk, I do my exercises to strengthen calves, hamstrings, quads, glutes, but my feet and ankles yawn and roll their eyes. They’re the cats of your body. You ankles and feet are made up of ligaments, tendons and bones. Bones will heal, tendons and ligaments need rest. They don’t heal like organs, bones or muscle. They’re connective tissues. You need Rest, you need Ice, you need Compression, and you need Elevation. How are you going to get RICE when you have to walk around on them all day? You follow your doctor’s orders and you do your PT. I hope DaVante recovers quickly. He was definitely missed Monday night!

The Packers signed WR Ryan Grant this week. No, not THAT Ryan Grant, our RB from 10 years ago. Ryan Grant played for the Raiders earlier this season, I don’t know how much he remembers of the play book, but he may be able to help Coach Pettine scheme up some looks for the D. He works out with DaVante in the offseason, so hopefully he and Aaron can get on the same page and make some things happen while the Packers deal with some injuries and dinged up players.

Well, I’ve got to go pack my bags and gas up my Rolls Royce as I head out of my incredible mansion on my way to the airport! This is Robin Leach wishing you champagne dreams and

Go Pack Go!

(Ken Hill)