Well, I thought Packer John had given me a cupcake game review assignment this past week. After the Packers smoked the Jaguars I was going to simply type all the reasons I love the Packers, about what a fantastic team they have this year, how much fun they are to watch, what great camaraderie they have, how everybody is on the same page of the playbook, blah, blah, blah, kiss-kiss, hug-hug, smiley emoji, heart emoji, Lombardi Trophy emoji.
Nope. RED LIGHT! “What the hell’s going on out here?” I gave all the answers as to how the Packers can walk off with an easy victory in my TOP TEN Predictions list in my Jaguars game preview article. They ignored almost all of them! OK, settle down you say. Yes, the Packers did win this game on a great defensive stand in the final minute. Rashan Gary and Preston Smith had two very timely sacks, and the defense even stopped the opposing team on a 4th and 26 (all of Spare Time groaned when Travis Wieloch mentioned that down and distance over the microphone before the play. That tragedy happened way back in the 2004 playoffs! Why does it still hurt?). So what did happen in this game versus my way too optimistic TOP TEN Predictions?
1) The game time temperature will be less than half the 2016 game in Jacksonville. CORRECT. 38 degrees vs 90 in 2016. But this did not seem to bother the Jaguars at all. It was the Packers who were numb (reference the Jaguar’s 91 yard punt return TD early in the 2nd quarter).
2) The Packers will score on their opening possession. WRONG. WAY WRONG. The Packers went 3 and out on their first possession which set the stage for their lackluster performance during most of the game. In fact, the Packers did not score on their first 3 possessions!
3) Davante Adams will have 2 TD catches. WRONG. But the 1 TD catch he had was an awesome leaping, twisting grab for the game winning score and should count for two TD’s. Or at least put an asterisk on this incorrect prediction because Davante had a TD catch earlier in the game which was called back because of a holding penalty. Side note: how about Marquez Valdes-Scantling stepping up when the defense was focused on Adams? 4 catches for 149 yards including a speedy 78-yard TD (GREEN LIGHT!).
4) Aaron Jones will have 100+ all-purpose yards. WRONG. He had 95 (46 Rushing; 49 Receiving). Jones was about to break 100 in the 4th quarter, but he was stuffed on a critical 3rd and 1 play. We are 9 games into the season so I am afraid opposing teams have started paying more attention to our “non Pro Bowl” running back. Even so, Jones had a solid outing with some highlight reel material. Hopefully he, Williams, and Ervin all stay healthy for the rest of the season to share the workload of our crucial running game to balance the offense.
5) Aaron Rodgers will not throw an interception. WRONG. Rodgers had a few overthrows in the first half but was more accurate in the 2nd half until he simply threw to the wrong guy late in the 3rd Quarter with the game tied. That led to a Jaguars’ go-ahead field goal. Fortunately, Rodgers stayed on target during the next drive cumulating with the Adams’ game-winning TD catch.
6) The Packers will score 30 or more points. WRONG. But 24 was enough. Barely.
7) The Jaguars will be held to less than 100 yards rushing. WRONG. Ugh. Our defense got run over again. James Robinson was the only Jaguar to rush and he had 109 yards. Mike Pettine must figure this out before the playoffs.
8) The Packers will force at least 1 turnover. CORRECT. Adrian Amos intercepted a pass right before halftime to give the Packers another scoring chance. But we had to settle for a field goal instead of a TD due to a sack and a holding penalty.
9) Either my wife Ella (#599) or I (#398) will win a door (“Top 10” from page 1) prize. WRONG. But congratulations to all the other GPB winners on Sunday. Wait --- as a newsletter article writer is this where I am supposed to whine about the cheating office staff and spout conspiracy theories of dropped entry tags and misread member numbers?
10) We will enjoy yet another glorious Green Bay Packer victory!!! CORRECT! Everyone quit complaining. A win is a win is a win! 7-2! Up by +2.5 games in the North and we still get to play the sucky Bears twice! First Seed in the NFC with a tie-breaker over the Saints (let us hope that Tampa Bay loss does not come back to haunt us)! My predication accuracy = 3 out of 10 = 30% = Solid F. I guess that will be the last time Packer John asks me to provide a knowledgeable game preview.
(editors note: WRONG!)
GO-PACK-GO!
(Bill Demuth)
Just Sayin'
Well, one tradition that is still strong in Green Bay is the Packers playing to the level of their competition. It was that way under Mike McCarthy and it was that way against the Jaguars. And it was no less pathetic on Sunday than it was under McCarthy. It was also the second game in a row where the ugly win was better than the aforementioned root canal. The two absolute biggest plays of the game were the 2 sacks by Rashan Gary and Preston Smith. I know it is hard to hear the commentary inside Spare Time, but Greg Jennings made the comment (something like) ”defensive coordinators around the league know that the Packers defense doesn’t play hard and don’t play with physicality.” . Yeah, I know it is Greg Jennings, but can you really argue that comment after watching the Packers defense play the Jaguars? I can’t. And once again, the rush defense had no answer for an opposing running game that they should have been expecting and prepared for. Everyone, except Mike Pettine, should have known that rookie Jake Luton, making only his second NFL start at QB, was going to depend on the running game. The saving grace for the defense was the 2 sacks at the end of the game. Then the graphic came up 4th and 26. Shades of Philadelphia ! ! . (That was 16 years ago, so some of you youngsters might need to look that one up). This wasn’t a playoff game, but damn, that was too eerie. Meanwhile, there was some good news for the offense. MVS was on fire. He had 6 targets, 4 receptions for 149 yards and 1 TD. Maybe that confidence is growing. If this team has ANY aspirations of going deep in the playoffs, we need him to keep it up, and Adams as well. Getting Allen Lazard back also should be in that equation. OK, a little off the field stuff. As I guess most have seen, David Bakhtiari got a contract extension. I feel sure that this contract extension had implications as to why no trade was made before the deadline to bring in another WR. Another story that us “older” fans were saddened about was the passing of Paul Hornung. If there are some younger generation fans reading this article, here is the kind of impact player Paul Hornung was: in 1960, he led the NFL in scoring with 176 points. That was when the season was only 12 games. In 1961, the NFL went to 14 games. In 1978, they went to 16 games. And still, that record stood for 46 years until it was broken in 2006. Also, in 1956, at Notre Dame, Hornung led the team offensively in passing, rushing, scoring, kickoff and punt returns, and punting. He also played defense, led in passes broken up, and was second in interceptions and tackles made. In spite of Notre Dame's 2- 8 record, Hornung won the Heisman Trophy in 1956 as the year's outstanding U.S. college football player – the only time a player from a losing team has been so honored. That is one reason the Heisman Trophy has lost much of its luster. Today, the Heisman Trophy is basically reserved for the top QB on a winning team. No other player is given serious consideration. On to Indianapolis, Go Pack Go !!!
Just Sayin’
(Jimmy Smith)
GPB In Our SPARE TIME
With 47 bonified Greenville Packer Backers whoopin’ and hollerin’ and cheering at Spare Time on Sunday afternoon, the Green and Gold came out Vic- Toe-Ree-Us! There were times when it was lookin’ thin, but thick prevailed and all is good… Some great door prizes went home with 9 lucky members. 328 Marge Bramlett chose an underbed storage box. 221 Barb Gambrell joined the facemask club, and 127 Kent Sargent let 550 Heather Baily choose a warm wrap. Everyone else is part of the family of tee shirt winners. 503 Steve Sabin,117 Nick Papala, 572 Craig Phillips,185 Ken Hill, 123 Kraig aka Lewis and 120 Neil aka Clark all left with new shirts. Let it be known that for the second week in a row our comrade Clark chose a women’s shirt… we’re raising our eyebrows at the office table as he told a likely story. We’ll ask this week for sure! We filled TWO $1 football pools this week. Congratulations to winners 120 Neil Petersen Clark, 537 Wayne Boyd, 328 Marge Bramlett, 589 Kathy McGrew, 101 Jamie Ware, 242 Christina Harrison and 149 Travis Wieloch (2). The correct answer to the trivia question was provided by 328 Marge Bramlett. She was the grateful recipient of a $25 gift card provided by our friends and sponsors at Spare Time. Keep your eyes and tummies on the lookout for the specials coming out of the Spare Time Kitchens. They have had some really great options for our group these past few weeks. Thank you, Spare Time! The Pack will be meeting the horseshoe helmets this Sunday. Thanks to the NFL and their flexing, the game will be at 4:20 or thereabouts. Never mind—we’ll be there doing what we always do when we get the chance to cheer on our team.
Always through thick and thin (but thick is better!)
Marge 328
Packers vs Indy Ponies
The Baltimore Colts will be coming out of their Indianapolis burrow on Sunday and face the NFC-Leading Green Bay Packers. That’s right, I said “NFC-Leading,” if the playoffs were held today, the Packers would be the Number One seed, all roads to the Superbowl would come through Lambeau Field. That’s not a guarantee and I’m not sure how that all shakes out as far as if a 5th seed beats the second, is that who plays the Packers, or does it come from the worst regular season record or what? Like Mike McCarthy used to say, “It’s one game at a time, until we reach ten wins, then we’ll look at where we are.” The Colts are no pushovers. They have the Number one defense in the NFL. They stuffed Mountain Man Derrick Henry this past Thursday, holding him to 103 yards on 19 carries, but one of those was a long of 20 yards, and no touchdowns. Henry is a giant. He runs angry and he will stiffarm you into next week! He’s 6’-3”, 250. He’s massive. By comparison Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams are 5’-9” and 208, 6’-0 and 213 respectively. A.J. Dillon is 6’-0 and 250 also, but he’s got Coronavirus and won’t be available. So how do you stop a team that’s willing to put 8 in the box and have just one safety high as coverage? You run a butt load of passing drills with EQB, and MVS as your main targets because you know Davante is going to get his touches! You run Jones and Jamaal out of the backfield to catch passes from Aaron. You have to use all the weapons you have. Unfortunately, “Aaron Rodgers and those weapons he has…” has become, “Aaron Rodgers and what weapons does he have?” EQB and MVS aren’t Donald Driver and Jordy Nelson. Davante is probably better than Greg Jennings though. I’d call a draw between Lazard and James Jones. Late this afternoon (Tuesday) the Packers announced Lazard was off IR and would be available to go against the Colts. We also have our full complement of Tight Ends ready to go. Let’s not forget the 6’-2”, 225 lb elephant in the room. One Aaron Charles Rodgers. Rodgers hasn’t surpassed 26 passing touchdowns in each of the last three seasons. He’s hit that mark in nine games in 2020. His passer rating is a league best 116.4; he has just 1 rushing TD so far, but with his speed, he is always a threat to tuck it and run for 15. Indy coach Frank Reich was effusive in his praise of Number 12. “Green Bay is one of the top teams in this league, has been for the last couple years and a very dangerous team. I just think the world of the Rodgers, I just think he’s a unique player.” This game comes down to execution. Who can do their job when the opponent is down, distracted or not looking. We know with Aaron, his hard count, quick snap, those things matter. He will use every trick he can to trip up the Colts and hopefully despite being underdogs, we can beat Baltimore. *I’ve just been handed this. The Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis (Are you sure??) in 1984! I don’t follow professional football though; I follow PACKER Football! Go Pack! Go!!
(Ken Hill)
My fellow Packer Backers help me in wishing Kasi & Tiffany White a Very Happy Anniversary! Cheers to a lifetime more!
A special shout out to Taylor (Spare-Time Manager) celebrating the last of her childhood birthday’s on Thanksgiving Day.
Send your birthday, anniversary, graduation or other milestone Shout-out’s to me at: heatherbailey80@gmail.com
(Heather Bailey)
HELP WANTED
This may be just short of bugging you, but the club is in need of people to help buy and bag up weekly prizes plus another to keep track of the money-in/money-out. Both are sit at your computer type jobs that can be done anytime during the week. I am willing to help you start up and be there to answer any questions that may arise. Thanks to those who have stepped up to keep the club going on gameday, but these mid-week opportunities still await you. See the game-day signup sheet at the front table or talk or email me.
~ Packer John.
