NFL 2010/2011

[Disgruntled70sHab]

The Packer who ran the interception back is Clay Matthews. Dallas had no response for him tonight. He owned the Cowboys. Rod Woodson had a strong game as well.

In fact, that's another tough win for the GB defence, IMO. I had renewed hope for the Pack this year after they beat the Jets 9-0. Their defence is giving their offence a chance to win the game.

However, I noticed Romo on the sidelines and the cameras weren't nice to him. While his team was having their butts handed to them, the cameras showed him with a huge grin on his face.

It almost seems like there's not enough people who really give a hoot in Dallas right now.

Cheers.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Well, reports are out there suggesting Dallas coach, Wade Phillips, has been fired. I couldn't believe the look on the Dallas bench. Just about every player, except Romo, looked like they had the life sucked out of them.

I'm looking at the Packers remaining games and there aren't any easy ones. A tough road to the playoffs me thinks.

Cheers.

Edit: the Pack released veteran CB, Al Harris earlier today. I think he's being replaced by Sam Shields who has been playing excellent ball of late.

Interesting stat I heard last night, though; the Packers have had two injuries at every level of defence. That's two injuries (at least) to the front four, the linebacker corps and the secondary. They're soldiering on, though.

[CentreHice]

Maybe the Bills should try something like this.

[Tankdriver]

Finally had a chance to catch a Bills game today...No wonder we are always considered a loser team...Last 4 mins of the game - interception in the red zone, and in OT on a great return, the returner trips over his own blocker (could of gone all the way). Buffalo had to punt at Pitts 40 yard line. They then stop Pittsburgh on their own one yard line and when Pittsburgh punts it - fumbles the punt (and recovers it)....after getting a few first downs we throw it deep to a wide open man in the end zone and he DROPS it....Buffalo does get it into field goal range to only get sacked and have to punt again.....Then Rothesburger gets a chance on 3 and 8 and after 6 seconds of scrambling finally finds an open man and gets a 20 yard gain. He guides Pittsburgh down the field for a chip shot field goal in overtime....

God, can we just finish last so we have a chance to BLOW another first round pick?

[Disgruntled70sHab]

My heart is still in defib mode ... Packers over the Bears 10-3 in a defensive battle. Tough football game but the Packers are in!!! And the Giants (sob, sob) are out!

WOOT!! WOOT!!

[Yossarian]

Hey Dis, I know you are a huge Pack fan like me, as well as Saskhab and a few others,I believe!! Despite my reservations about McCarthy, this team has overcome huge obstacles this year with all the key injuries. I'm looking towards a long playoff run (the path looks to be Phil, Atl and Chi). They've played each team this year, beat Phil and Chi, and could have have easily beaten Chi in the other game, and Atl on the road as well (if McCarthy challenged that ATL fumble before an Atlanta TD, it was their game!!).

Capers is a defensive guru making that transformation to the 3-4 complete in 2 years. The defence is playing lights out. Jenkins, Bigby and Zombo may likely play as well, so they may have some extra bodies to make them even tougher. Pressure Vick all game long, and his game will go to the dogs!!!

4:30 pm on Sunday!!!!!! I'm juiced!!

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Hey Yossarian,

It was nice to hear this for a change; Donald Driver apparently said that the word around the NFL playoff teams is that no one wants to play the Packers.

The injuries started hitting the Packers right in the pre-season. Ryan Grant went down in game one and from what the NFL announcers have been saying, the Packers have had at least two injuries at every position on defence. From what I remember, at one point it was two defensive linemen, three linebackers, and two significant injuries to the secondary.

They've done a good job with Grant and Jermichael Finlay out. Finlay is a huge loss because he's too fast for the linebackers to cover and too big for the corners to cover. TSN has an out of date injury list, but check that out when you have the time.

www.tsn.ca/nfl/injuries/

Still they've played through it. Now it's the Eagles this Sunday. Well, if our defence plays like it did against the Jets or even the Bears last weekend, we're going to do just fine I think. I can't believe how tough our defence is this year despite the injuries. Even against New England they weren't all that bad.

And while some people would blame Matt Flynn's inexperience for that loss, I simply can't get mad at the kid. He was a trooper, but what I liked the most about that game was how balanced the attack was. If we had, let's say for squats and giggles, 60 plays from scrimmage throughout the game, 28 of them were running plays and the remaining 32 plays were passing. That's the kind of gameplan that kept the Packers moving forward even against a team like the Patriots.

Have to get by Philadelphia first, though. After that there's a lot of very good teams. The Pats, Ravens, Jets, Bears, Saints, Steelers ... and the rest are tough too.

To be honest, Yossarian, I was thinking about the Packers last night while watching the juniors. My favourite player this year has been John Kuhn. Here's a guy who stuck around the Steeler organization for years only to get released after training camp only to be brought back on the Steeler practice squad. However, he's been a major factor to the attack this year. I'm looking forward to Sunday afternoon very much.

Cheers.

[CentreHice]

Hey Dis....were you worried for a second there?

Beathing several sighs of relief after Williams's interception, I bet!

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Absolutely, CH! I wasn't sure why Vick went for the TD, or why he didn't spike the ball beforehand. What made the difference for me in this game:

- two missed FGs by the Eagles. This was huge.

- a dropped pass that might have resulted in a Packer TD by James Jones. Perfect pass right in the hands.

- 132 yards rushing by the Packers, 123 of those yards by rookie James Starks.

Saw the Ravens game too. The Chiefs were never in the game at all. They just self-destructed on each sequence it seemed.

Very tough order for Green Bay now. They have to win in Atlanta. They can do it, but it's going to take a Herculean effort. Atlanta is very tough at home.

But, the Packers have had a pretty tough road of it all year. It's paying off now I dare say.

Cheers.

[Yossarian]

Hey Dis, what a game!!!

I'm pretty comfortable going back to Atlanta. Not an easy task for sure, but the Pack should have won the regular season game there. McCarthy did not challenge Gonzalez's clear dropped pass on 4th down, that would have given them possession. Atl went on to score a TD a few plays later and ended up winning by 3. There was also Rodger's fumble at the 1 yard line, too. I don't think Starks was even active that game.

Atl has pro-bowlers at RB, WR, TE and QB, so they will be tough. I wish the Pack had a full week to prepare though. It is still a winnable game.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Jan 9, 2011 21:23:15 GMT -5 Yossarian said:

Hey Dis, what a game!!!

I'm pretty comfortable going back to Atlanta. Not an easy task for sure, but the Pack should have won the regular season game there. McCarthy did not challenge Gonzalez's clear dropped pass on 4th down, that would have given them possession. Atl went on to score a TD a few plays later and ended up winning by 3. There was also Rodger's fumble at the 1 yard line, too. I don't think Starks was even active that game.

Atl has pro-bowlers at RB, WR, TE and QB, so they will be tough. I wish the Pack had a full week to prepare though. It is still a winnable game.

I had forgotten totally about that that Yossarian. Thanks.

I think the Packer D will have to tighten up. They gave up far too many points yesterday and they're simply better than that.

Just a few more things from yesterday:

* That must have been the best screen pass I've seen in years. That play to Brandon Jackson kind of reminded me of the Packer "Rock Rush" back in the day. The had four blockers in front of him and they basically picked and chose who they wanted to block.

* The opposition now knows when John Kuhn is one the field. They know he's the go-to guy for short yardage, but at the same time they can exploit that in a big way.

* Unfortunately, Rogers can expect at least one dropped pass per game. Yesterday there were two very catchable passes that were dropped. However, one could have been the the end of the game but Jones simply couldn't squeeze it.

* Rogers used nine different receivers yesterday (if the media guy was accurate ... will check on that later).

* Now the opposition will have to keep Starks on their radar too. This guy gave the Packers a very balanced attack yesterday that reminded me of their effort against New England. They may have lost that game with backup, Matt Flynn, in the game, but it was very winnable. They had a very balanced attack against an excellent team.

Atlanta it is, then. A tough task, but like you said, it's very do-able.

Cheers.

[Yossarian]

I have a similar feeling about Sat against Atl then I did against Philly yesterday. If the Pack do not beat themselves they should win. They grossly outgained Atl in the regular season meeting, and did themselves in. I'm glad Atl lost a late season game at home against NO, to bring their confidence down a notch, considering Ryan's otherwise impeccable home record.

James Jones is infuriating. Too many drops, and fumbles over his carrier. His late fumble against Chicago cost them that first game. I said this on a Packer forum...if you're going to execute the hard part by beating a quality corner like Asante Samuel as clean as he did, you may as well execute the easy part by catching the perfectly thrown ball.

Yeah, that screen pass reminded me of the screens they used to run under Holmgren, when they ran a purer WCO.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

I stand corrected Yossarian. I said they gave up far too many points, when I meant to say that they gave up far too many yards.

Back to that screen pass to Jackson. I saw the replay on NFL.com and one of the bazzillion cameras caught a pretty flagrant hold that wasn't called. Check it out when you have the time.

Packers/Eagles highlights

Mind you, I thought there were a few more penalties that weren't called.

That aside, a friend of mine in Ottawa has offered to order me a Packers home jersey with the name and numbers I want; my choice is #30, John Kuhn. I guess he knows of a guy in Ottawa who owns his own sports shop and he's getting our jerseys for $79.95 ... Stick a finger in my eye, hope to eat a mud pie ... no guff man. I'm really not sure who he's picking up but I suspect it's Rogers.

Kuhn may/may not be with the organization for much longer, or as long as I'd like to see him there, but this is the guy who toiled around the Pittsburgh Steeler organization for years. He'd get cut and sign on with the practice squad just about every year and as soon as he went on waivers the Packers picked him up. He doesn't have blazing speed, but he does seem to come up with the big plays when the opposition least expects it. They know when he's on the field and as I was saying before, that's a good thing. Rogers used him as a decoy on short and goal against the Bears and ended up throwing the game-winning TD.

There's a lot of really good teams, though, Yossarian. They're all deserving to be where they are. I'm thinking of throwing $2 bucks to the wind and taking all of the longshots this weekend, except the Packers that is. I'm hoping the Jest give the Patriots all they can handle but at the same time it wouldn't bother me to see them eliminated from the playoffs. They're a tough football team and they're capable of taking anyone out.

This is where I thought GB actually had a chance, though. Despite all of the injuries this year, the Packers took the Jets 9-0 right in their own field. This win convinced me that anything can happen with the Packers. Then Rogers went down of course.

The Ravens and the Steelers. Another hugely tough game between two very evenly-matched teams. I'm leaning towards the Steelers if only because they have home field advantage and their defence reflects the "Pittsburgh philosophy" I like to call it. For years their team has been built on defence first, then running backs, then ... However, the Ravens offence finally came to life against the Chiefs. I know the Chiefs didn't compete well at all but that was the knock against the Ravens; limited offence.

And, I want Seattle out thank you very much.

Cheers.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

The most memorable thing about the Packers/Falcons game:
.
"... we didn't punt ..." that was Aaron Rogers quote at the end of the game.

I don't know if I've ever seen a game where at team didn't have to punt at least once.

Packers dismantle the Falcons 48-21. Rogers was brilliant!

Wouldn't mind seeing the Bears removed tomorrow.

Cheers.

[Yossarian]

That performance by Rodgers, on the road in a hostile environment against the #1 seed, was epic.

I agree with you Dis, nothing would please me more than Chicago being eliminated. Not because they are feared, but just because they are hated. If the Pack play the way they did last night against anyone, the SB is theirs.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

... and the Patriots are gone ...

Cheers.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Jan 16, 2011 10:44:18 GMT -5 Yossarian said:

That performance by Rodgers, on the road in a hostile environment against the #1 seed, was epic.

I agree with you Dis, nothing would please me more than Chicago being eliminated. Not because they are feared, but just because they are hated. If the Pack play the way they did last night against anyone, the SB is theirs.

Yossarian, did you notice what happened on John Kuhn's first TD? The Packers went into a 3-back set but they brought in NT, BJ Raji to block for Kuhn. By doing this they told the Falcons two things:

* This is what we're doing, and
* This is where we're going.

I also see the Jets and Bears are advancing as well. It's one thing to trash talk, but an entirely different thing to back it up. Well done to the Jets.

Cheers.

[jkr]

Jan 16, 2011 20:55:15 GMT -5 Disgruntled70sHab said:

... and the Patriots are gone ...

Cheers.

I hate the big mouth Ryan & the Jets. I don't think much of Rothlisberger as a person either. Is it possible for both teams to lose next week.

[Yossarian]

Jan 16, 2011 21:17:07 GMT -5 Disgruntled70sHab said:

Jan 16, 2011 10:44:18 GMT -5 Yossarian said:

That performance by Rodgers, on the road in a hostile environment against the #1 seed, was epic.

I agree with you Dis, nothing would please me more than Chicago being eliminated. Not because they are feared, but just because they are hated. If the Pack play the way they did last night against anyone, the SB is theirs.

Yossarian, did you notice what happened on John Kuhn's first TD? The Packers went into a 3-back set but they brought in NT, BJ Raji to block for Kuhn. By doing this they told the Falcons two things:

* This is what we're doing, and
* This is where we're going.

I also see the Jets and Bears are advancing as well. It's one thing to trash talk, but an entirely different thing to back it up. Well done to the Jets.

Cheers.

Yes, and they chose the right side of the line to do it on. Right where their biggest and best O-lineman is, RG Josh Sitton. So the tacklers need to take on 320 lbs Sitton, 340 lbs Raji, 270 blocking FB Johnson, then the 250 lbs fullback Kuhn. I thought it was brilliant!! Reminded me of Chicago using William "the Fridge" Perry.