October 2009 - Posts

• Packers 31, Browns 3 - That's More Like It

  Posted Oct 25 2009, 04:09 PM by Jay_Sorgi

  That's more like it, Packers.

  Your 31-3 broasting of the Browns, and the way you did it, was a lot better than the performance you provided against the lowly Lions.

  That's more like it.

  Last week, five sacks allowed on Aaron Rodgers.

  This time, zero.

  Of course, the fact you were able to run the ball 40 times for 202 yards helps. Granted, it wasn't the greatest team you were facing, with the 30th ranked run defense in pro football.

  Still, that's more like it.

  The defense hasn't had a problem - outside of a couple stupid penalties - in the last two weeks. No teams reaching the end zone.

  Yes, they were led by Daunte Culpepper and Derek Anderson, and the Browns have only four TD's all year.

  Still, no scores in two weeks is a major coup. 139 total yards allowed.

  That's more like it.

  I'm still not thrilled with eight penalties against a fantastically flawed Browns team. You need to be close to perfect in that category against the Vikings to beat them like the Steelers did this week.

  That's not like it.

  But in every other category, that's definitely more like it.

  Yes, I was the guy calling last week the worst 26-point win EVER.

  This week, very few complaints on my end.

  We'll see about next week, though.

  Brett Favre and the Vikings are coming in angry about their loss to Pittsburgh where Favre got pick-sixed to end the game.

  (He's also coming in mad at Ted Thompson for all that happened between them.)

  We've seen that a couple times in his tenure as a Packer.

  Al Harris, practice your dreadlocks in your wake.

  But you need to get the pass rush going to have any shot on that. Don't be afraid to blitz, though historically Favre kills you.

  But you didn't blitz last time, and Favre killed you.

  Pick your poison, Packers. Perhaps the blitz version of the poison won't burn your insides as much, and you'll live to see a victory.

  Of course, a better pass protection for Rodgers will assist the cause as well.

  Still, you needed a confidence boost before the showdown.

  You got it.

  That's more like it.

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• Analysis: Worst 26-Point Win EVER

  Posted Oct 19 2009, 08:18 AM by Jay_Sorgi

  Repeat after me: thank goodness they were playing the Lions.

  13 penalties by green-and-gold clad heroes for 130 yards.

  Four calls against Chad Clifton by himself.

  Thank goodness they were playing the Lions.

  Five drives reaching the red zone.

  Only one breaks the goal line.

  Thank goodness they were playing the Lions.

  Aaron Rodgers threw for 358 yards and two touchdowns.

  Despite those five sacks.

  Thank goodness they were playing the Lions.

  I remember reading a story about one time when Vince Lombardi's Packers won a preseason game 41-17, and he stood on top of some object and absolutely ripped his team a new one in the locker room.

  In his grave, or in Heaven, a million "what the hell's going on out here" screams must have come after watching this one, the worst 26-point win EVER.

  I know I love to reference Brazilian flagmakers losing fabric with all the yellow hankies falling on the temperate tundra of October on Sunday.

  At this pace, Pele himself will come up to Green Bay and give the Lombardi-like rear end-chewing about this team's lack of discipline.

  The question is whether Mike McCarthy is doing something about it.  If he is, it's not working.

  After his Packers committed 11 penalties in a 31-24 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals:

  "We need to change that around here. It's a focus and we'll stay after it."

  After the Packers' loss to Minnesota on October 6th, in which the team committed five more penalties than the purple people:

  "It's something that's addressed," he told the Journal Sentinel.

  "I don't like how we've had more penalties than them, and that's happened a lot."

  There's a scratch on the record, Coach.  The same song keeps playing from your mouth.

  Your team has committed more penalties than any NFL team over the last three years.

  It again reared its ugly head.  13 penalties against the Lions?  Whaaaaaaa?

  More proof that this is the worst 26-point win EVER?

  Five sacks to the Lions' front four and friends. 

  If this had been Jared Allen and company, Rodgers might have suffered grass stains on the white of his jersey numbers about half of his dropbacks, potentially negating all of his 358 yards passing.

  The magenta hat-brimmed coach's comments?

  "The two big negatives are the sacks and the penalties. So, pre-snap, no excuse. No one feels good about that, but we'll look at the other stuff."

  Then later: "We have to get it cleaned up."

  My guy Bill Michaels, host of 620WTMJ's Packers Gameday postgame show Packers OT, makes the point that someone else needs to get cleaned up.

  All after the worst 26-point win EVER.

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• Don't Hate Brett Favre, Just Hate The Favre-Ups

  Posted Oct 05 2009, 08:40 AM by Jay_Sorgi

  The day before Tractor-Gate Bowl I (or whatever moniker you choose for this contest), my wife and I happened to bump into a friend in church.

  The Mass was done, and we got around to catching up. The subject came to tonight's showdown in the Metrodome between the Packers and the team with the quarterback who played for them for 16 years.

  From our friend, the words "I hate Favre" came out of her mouth. In a church, no less.

  Trust me. I have had plenty of radio time, on-line analysis stories, blog entries, and other things where I have given my opinion on all the things Brett Favre has done, lies he's told, backstabbing, Machiavellian manipulations, etc. etc. in this 19-month sad saga.

  In fact, I'm now convinced that the moment he decided to "retire" the first time, he was never planning on retiring, and from the moment he teared up inside Lambeau Field on March 6th, 2008, his watery eyes were set on wearing purple in Minnesota.

  Regardless of all the antipathy I've felt toward what he's done, I cannot bring myself to say the words "I hate Brett Favre."

  Why?

  Click here to read the reasons.

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