Welcome back to The Coach Clarahanson Show !!! Before we get started, congratulations go to this week’s contest winner, Cam Elto from Stratford, who correctly selected Ellie Golden as the most disappointing Butter Face. Honorable mention selections for Great Body, But Her Face Is Not included Kim McGuire and Brooke Hogan. For his entry, Cam wins 2 unopened bottles and 1 partially opened bottle of Special Golden Estrus doe-in-heat scent from 2013 that Coach found in his garage on a shelf behind his outboard motor flusher last weekend. Good on you, Cam, and good luck in the bush. In Coach’s Humble Opinion: …the Packers have pretty much become the Badgers. Every few years we think THIS is the year the Badgers are going to be National Champs. And then they fall on their face. We get excited by the pre-season hype (i.e., a top ten ranking), and our delusions of grandeur build during the first few games when they pummel the Wofford’s and Middle Tennessee State’s of the college world by handing the ball off to the likes of Jonathan Taylor, Melvin Gordon, Montee Ball, James White, Anthony Davis and Ron Dayne. …But then every one of these guys gets stuffed by tOSU or any SEC team. And that brings us to the Gootey LaFleur led Packers of today… When it comes to playing the big boys, the Packers fall short. Yeah, yeah, 13-3 last year, 5-1 this year, but you have to admit the schedule has been kind the last 2 years. Rodgers and Co. do an impressive job beating up on The Sisters of The Poor, but when it comes to teams that have a strong defense and a solid run game, they get their asses handed to them. Just a fact. If they wanna change Coach’s mind, they are going to have to dominate the division (a fairly weak one at that), plus go into California and beat the 49ers. I can even live with a split against the Bears (ha ha, just kidding) or a loss to the Titans, but we can’t let the Niners have our number any longer if we intend to hoist St. Vincent’s trophy in February …at least, in my humble opinion. ADVERTISEMENT Create A Seam Here – X’s & O’s about the game or a scheme I guess you, the loyal reader, has known for some time that Coach has better vision into the future than Jeane Dixon, Nostradamus or Punxsutawney Phil. Proving it yet again… The “bounce back” game was just that. The Pack coasted to an easy victory in Houston on Sunday. Rodgers had one of his worst career games vs. the Bucs last week, but wasn’t intercepted this week and had four TD throws. Rodgers joined Brady (60), Brees (54) and P. Manning (51) as the fourth QB in NFL history with 50 career games of at least three touchdown passes and zero interceptions. The big win was all the more impressive because it came with six key players inactive due to injury: RB Aaron Jones, LT David Bakhtiari, S Darnell Savage, CB Kevin King, RB Tyler Ervin and DL Tyler Lancaster (QB Jordan was the only healthy inactive). Coach digresses here to mention that the Texans obviously did not get the memo on Davante Adams. He caught 13 for 196 yards and 2 TD’s and was rarely double teamed. This play by Adams was not only typical of the day but hilarious! Much like he’s been doing all year, LaFleur called a good game against inferior talent. The play below is the 2nd Packers TD, a pass to Sternberger early in the 2nd Qtr. The formation had been used a couple of times earlier:
…and he’s wide open…. OK, are the Packers real? Davey Downer points out that we have only beaten losing teams and one 0.500 team… …but as “they” say, you can only play the teams on your schedule. (Who is “they” anyway?) What’s frustrating about the Texans game is that we attempted to punt 5 times!! The Texans were led by JJ Watt and playing hard, but we beat ourselves. Coach honestly thinks we should have had 49 points, not a measly 35. The week before the Buc’s beat us with good ole fashioned Defense. They took away Aaron Jones and then keyed on Davante Adams, causing both AR and LaFleur to panic. This week we got back on-track with the Offense against a bad Defense. Next week we’ll get a chance to prove we are back against a real Defense; we play the Niners next Thursday. {Ok, but let’s not overlook the Viqueens first.} OK kids, let’s be clear. The only goal in Green Bay is to win the Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter how many participation trophies Murphy wants to hand out, it’s a losing season if we don’t get a Lombardi. Let’s say for the sake of discussion that the Offense is good enough to win a Super Bowl, are we good enough on Special Teams and Defense to win the Super Bowl? Special Teams against Houston: We had no FG attempts, Crosby made all of his Extra Point attempts and he all 6 of his Kickoffs through the endzone, so no news there is good news. (Crosby is 9 of 9 on FG and 22 of 23 on XP so far in 2020.) Swerve (Tyler Ervin) was injured and his replacement, Darrius Sheperd, had a 6-yd punt return (that’s 9 more yards than his total last season) and two kickoff returns, one out past the 25, let’s give the return game a C+/B- Our punting was mixed. On the positive side, JK Scott averaged 52 yards on the 4 punts that weren’t blocked. But we did get one blocked and on two others he out-kicked the coverage, breaking the 8th Commandment of Football. 8th Commandment of Football – Thou shalt not outkick thine coverage, lest it yield poor field position. In this particular case we got lucky that the punt wasn’t blocked, and that Houston had a penalty on the return. More importantly, what is the “check” to switch to a fake punt? When the gunner “hold-up” guys moved in for the potential block, most teams will check to a short-pass to the gunner, who will be wide open. Just saying, rather than a booming, over-kicked, punt, we cudda hadda 1st Down. Fire Menenga? The Texans got the ball at the Packers 22 and were held to a FG, so the damage was limited (more farther below). So how the hell did this happen? With Aaron Jones inactive, Dexter Williams was brought up from the PS and given the “up-man” job on the punt team. And what do we know now Johnny? Now we know why Dexter Williams was cut after camp. The mess got worse on the play as gunner Ka’dar Holman ripped the helmet off his cover guy. It’s amazing we only gave up 3 after a DFU play like that (doubly...F’d). Punt Team Grade: C- Overall Grade for Special Teams: B- Good enough to not lose the Super Bowl Not good enough to win the Super Bowl (No Desmond Howards here) Whadda’bout the D? Coach has been harping on the D since 2011 and he doesn’t see that changing any time soon. But there were definitely positive signs in the Texan’s game! The whole of the 2020 Season, the good and the bad, can be seen in two plays… ...the scene: 7:12 in the 2nd Qtr, Houston ball, 1st & 10 on their own 2-yd line, after the best punt of the day pinned them there. 1st & 10 @ the 2-yd line – A Lowry Sighting!! Dean Lowry (94) stayed low (sort of), pushed his man back and had a TFL down on the goal line! If Lowry can actually start to play again, we might have a chance. Aaarggh … just when we have a chance to take-over the game and crush their spirit… …as good as UDFA Krys Barnes has been, on 2nd Down he got schooled by Randall Cobb (man I wish we had Randall back … well, Houston ARE sellers at this point – just sayin). So just like that, we urinated away a great play on 1st down by making a coverage mistake on 2nd down. After this play, Cobb went on to have several catches on this drive as Houston went the length of the field and kicked another FG. For the year we have had many similar situations, a great Defensive play followed by a bone-headed play, but against Houston we snuffed out 8 of their 12 drives, the best mark of 2020 so far:
Let’s take a walk down positivity lane for the Defense! The following plays are intended to illustrate the points made and are not all in chronological sequence. On Houston’s 1st drive we had them at 3rd & 1; a situation where you could almost guarantee that the opposition would make a 1st down in all of our previous games. Look at this play! We’re in a 3-3 Nickle (3 DL), all of the DL get a positive push and both Preston Smith (ROLB) and Z’Darius Smith (LOLB) actually play straight-up contain (instead of cheating inside, which Z has been doing on almost every play all year). All of the correct line play allows Josh Jackson to come up and make a tackle for loss (TFL). Alright dammit, we actually got a stop on 3rd & 1! OK, another situation from a different drive: 2nd & 9, a likely passing situation. We’re in a 2-4 Nickel, with “Z” at LOLB and “P” at ROLB. Unlike previous weeks, “Z” bull rushes to the outside and does not slip inside for the easy path to the QB. Because there is no lane to the outside, Deshaun Watson tries to escape up the middle and Z collapses-in to finish off the sack. Houston went the length of the field on their opening drive of the 3rd Qtr and there were plenty of mistakes by our D! (The drive ended in a TD.) But in a real ray of sunshine, on 1st & Goal at the 2, all of the DL stayed in their gaps and (sort-of) stayed low. Kingsley Keke got the biggest push and this allowed Kamal Martin (#54) to shoot the gap and make the tackle in the backfield. Rookie, 5th Rnd pick, ILB, Kamal Martin was a star in training camp but hurt his knee. After beginning the year on IR, the Texans game was his first in the NFL and he did great: 6 tackles including the TFL above. After the blocked Packers punt, Houston gained 5-yds on 1st down and were at 2nd & 5 on the Packers 17. Z Smith (#55) was at LOLB and Montravious Adams (#90) at LDE. Planned or not, Z loops inside and Montravious slides outside to the left. As the play breaks down he faces-up Desahuan Watson who has to throw the ball away. This play was key to holding the Texans to only 11 yards on 7 plays after the blocked punt. Montravious: the 3rd Rnd pick a couple of years ago that has never panned out. Is he finally getting it? Is he over his injuries? Let’s hope so, he came to the Packers highly touted and we really need good DL play to accompany Clark. Holy cow, the Rookies are everywhere! On 3rd & Goal at the 8, with the Packers up 28-10, the Texans were threatening to make it a two-score-game. A quick dumpoff to Duke Johnson in the flat went nowhere! This TFL by Vernon Scott was key in holding the Texans to a FG on this drive. Vernon Scott was the Packers first pick in the 7th Rnd of the 2020 Draft (#236 overall) and has played sporadically in 4 of the 6 games so far. This next play is Coach’s favorite of the entire game. Since the 2012 NFC Divisional Round Playoff Game in SF, when Colin Kaepernik ran wild for 181 yards, mainly on read-option plays, Coach has been going crazy because we never defend it. The Defensive concept is very, very simple. One player on each side always has QB run responsibility (usually a DE or OLB, sometimes a CB). This is a beautiful, beautiful play! Preston Smith calmly steps over the line of scrimmage and just waits for Deshaun Watson to run into him! He has gotten a lot of bad press this year because he hasn’t had the flashy sacks. Coach observes he’s dropped back in coverage a lot, but when he’s on the line he’s been doing his job. When all 11 do their job plays like this will happen regularly. Welcome Henry Black! (Who the hell is Henry Black?). Henry was a 2020 Undrafted Free Agent (UDFA) out of Baylor. Black was cut after training camp and signed to the Packers’ Practice Squad when the Season began. Henry was signed to the active roster on October 25th, the morning of the game with Houston! Lucky? Good? Coach doesn’t know and doesn’t care. For a UDFA literally only a few hours into his first stint on the Packers’ roster, he did pretty damn good! Overall, we did pretty decent on Defense. Probably the most important point is that not only are we playing better, we are also building depth. With several starters out, we had guys making contributions that were nowhere near making the Roster after final training camp cuts. We still have a lot to correct and must continue to eliminate the numerous mistakes, but we made a big stride this week. It looks like we have enough talent, we just need to get it coached-up. Good enough D to win a Super Bowl? Not right now, but it looks like we just might have the pieces to become a Top-10 D – which is good enough. WTF – Coach’s take on football news that’s messed up Tampa Bay Buccaneers Thrilled To Be Playing In Front Of Such A Large Crowd St. Petersburg, FL—On the morning of their battle against the undefeated Green Bay Packers, a consistent theme had emerged from the Tampa Bay locker room: sheer excitement to be playing in front of such a large crowd at their home stadium. While many observers were concerned that the socially distanced crowd of almost 7,000 fans would feel small and awkward, Tampa Bay players have suggested the opposite; that such a vast gathering of people created a high pressure, tense environment which they were able to feed off of. “I’ve been with the Bucs for 6 years, so a stadium this packed is definitely something new and exciting to experience,” offensive tackle Donovan Smith observed. “But that’s what big games are supposed to be like, right?” “Between the crowd noise and the masks, it’s been tough to communicate on the sideline,” added head coach Bruce Arians. Packers players seemed to be unfazed by the crowd size, with one anonymous player observing, “We have training camp practices with more people than this.” If the Tampa Bay football team continues their winning ways experts say that, theoretically, the Buccaneers could actually sell out a home playoff game, albeit highly unlikely and optimistic hyperbole. The Bears Still Suck – Coach has proof Matt Nagy Insists It’s Way Too Early To Think About Destroying Career Of Trevor Lawrence CHICAGO—Condemning radio hosts and fans who have seen the obvious chink in the Bears' armor and already started talking about the upcoming draft, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy insisted Tuesday that it was way too early to think about how the team would destroy the career of top quarterback prospect Trevor Lawrence. “Look, I know people love to speculate, but my focus is on wasting the careers of the players in THIS locker room,” said Nagy, claiming that current quarterback Nick Foles is still a viable player with a lot of experience and talent to squander. “I’m not thinking about who is going to be throwing pick-sixes next year, I’m thinking about who’s going to be sacked six times next week. This is a long season, and I’m zeroed in on making sure Bobby [Massie] never develops into a Pro Bowl lineman. I don’t have time to talk about [Trevor] Lawrence, I’ve got a shitty game plan to put together.” At press time, Nagy added that if the Bears moved up in the draft like they did for Mitchell Trubisky, Lawrence might simply elect to retire from football anyway. Udder Stuff – Commentary from the Badger Underground MADISON, WI -The Badger Underground has found out that the UW English department has taken a step not taken in decades. It has allowed students to add a verb to the local campus official language to the extent that it can even be used on exams. This step follows in the recent entry into the national vernacular of the gerund, toobin’. We are of course talking about the mertzing of Illinois. This verb may take many forms as it developed, but the department listed this working definition: MERTZ – v. To make a debut start as quarterback and throw 5 TD passes with at least 20 completions and a greater than 95% completion percentage. In the future, this verb may be developed to apply in many ways such as:
The last time the department stepped in, it was also about a UW QB in the 90’s: SAMUEL – v. To get happy feet at the slightest sign of pressure and scamper for a -5 to +5 yard gain. So, on with our happy analysis. HOLY CRAP! Of course, everyone has read the gaudy reports of young Graham’s auspicious start. Here at BU, we have been calling for him to replace the dependable Jackie Coan since the first game last year at USF. We even deplored this in person from the Tampa stadium in person. However high our hopes were, we have been blown away from the performance on Friday. Our expectations were for Mertz to do a decent job and win with a few TD’s and a lot of dependence on the run game. He would have had some things to work on. So now, after this stellar performance, what TF can he do better? Sadly, we cannot expect numbers like this all the time, but we also cannot be happier about this start. As a team, what else looked great on Saturday?
What are things to improve?
NEWS ALERT: Enough happy talk. In the Badger fan buzz kill of the century, Mertz tested positive to Covid and will be out for at least 21 days, as well as backup 3rd stringer QB Chase Wolf, missing 3 games including the one in in the Big House against Khaki Pants and the Weasels. We are looking at the possibility of multiple cancelled games (Nebraska already cancelled). We may have to tie our hopes on 4th string Kimberly HS star Danny Vandenboom, an awakened run game, and a solid D. We’re Gonna Kick Your @$$ – predictions for the upcoming game OK boys, time to pour it on. These are the same ass-hole fans that are always jerks when they show up at Lambeau and it’s time to give it back. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to watch them cry into their “skol” chant this week because they won’t be at Lambeau. Sadly, neither will we. People will be staying away by the thousands. And Coach is gonna have to watch from the couch, and maybe do that last lawn mowing of the year. Hey Norm, whatsa difference between Vikings fans and mosquitoes? Mosquitoes are only annoying in the summer. Hey Norm, are you ascared a catchin’ the CORVID? Ja? Well jist hang in da Vikings end zone … nobody catches anything daer. Hey Norm, whatsa difference between a carp and a Vikings fan? Well … I supposed one iz a bottom feeding scum sucker, ’en I guess the other iz a fish. Hey Norm, why did the Vikings fan cross the road? I dunno, dat’s what I was wundering when I accelerated. This will be the first time since 2009 that the Vikings and Packers will complete their regular-season series by Week 8. Since 2008 (Rodgers’-era), the Pack has an 8-3-2 record against the Vikings at Lambeau Field, including Playoffs. And don’t forget, we kicked their asses up in St. Paul in WK1. The Queens were resting up last week, but waayyy back in Week 6, they allowed 40 points for a second time this season (first time was to us) when they lost to the Falcons, 40-23. QB Kirby Cousins threw three TD passes and the turd also threw three interceptions in a game they trailed wire-to-wire. A non-existent run game (32 yards on 13 carries) forced the Queens into a possession time under 22 minutes (19:53) for a third time this season. A great start to 2020 for the Queens! What the hell is going on over there in St. Paul? Most of the “experts” picked the Viqueens to win the Norris Division over the Packers, who were “just lucky” in 2019. Yyyyeahhhh… The Vikings made some big news during their bye, but not really what was expected. Some thought that Zimmer would be fired with the team off to its worst-ever start under him at 1-5, but instead the Vikings seemed to indicate they are in full tanking mode by trading defensive end Yannick Ngakoue to Baltimore for two draft picks. The same Ngakoue whom the Vikings traded two draft picks for to Jacksonville on the eve of the season. He had been playing very well with five sacks, two forced fumbles, seven quarterback hits and 12 tackles. There probably will be more deals coming by the Nov. 3 Trade Deadline. Also during the bye, the Vikings ruled out former Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter for the season. Defensive back George Iloka tore his ACL during a bye-week practice. Cook, meanwhile, was leading the NFL in rushing before he missed a 40-23 Week 6 home loss to Atlanta with a groin injury, but he is likely to play this week. Cook, who got a big contract extension on the eve of the season, has 489 yards and seven TDs rushing. The Vikings are 5-2 ATS in their past seven as underdogs. The natives are restless, Head Coach Miles Zimmerman is on the hot-seat and signing journeyman QB Kirby Cousins to a whopper of contract is looking even more stupid than it did when it was signed. Coach is pretty sure he’s discovered the real reason they suck even more than normal this year. Shown below is actual film footage of a Viqueens “session” (Click on Link). So … hmmm … what is the PC way to say this? The Viqueens have an apparent “attraction” to each other’s spandex-clad posteriors. I guess it’s an “attraction” … or is it an “orientation”? Well Coach is pretty sure it’s no longer a “preference”. (Or maybe it’s the other way around?) Not that there’s anything wrong with it, of course. From a statistical view, this will not be a contest at all. As you can see in the table below, during the 2020 Season we:
Throw in home field and we should be 14/15-point favorites. Historically we lead the series by 10 games and we beat them by about a FG on average. But Coach, how does all of that translate to this game? You only have to go as far as the QB Position to know who’s gonna win this game; we are going to beat them going away. Vegas doesn’t quite see it that way, they are “only” favoring us by a touchdown. Coach doesn’t really care; we just want the “W”. So let’s finish today’s lesson with some more fun: What do you call 53 people sitting around a TV watching the Super Bowl? The Minnesota Vikings. What did the Vikings fan say when they won the Super Bowl? "Dammit mom, why'd you wake me up?” What are the Vikings going to do after they win the Super Bowl? Turn off the PlayStation. Normally Division Games are close, but not this time. The Queens have already quit on Zimmer. Packers 34 Vikings 17 Chevon McNuggets - G.O.A.T. facts to chew on JB – Packers you forgot about, but stories you’ll remember about them This week Coach salutes a funny character and superior athlete who excelled at linebacker for the Packers. Fred Carr was the No. 1 draft pick in 1968 (Vince Lombardi’s final Packers draft class). Lombardi considered Carr the most talented athlete in the draft. He didn’t play at a position of particular need, but Lombardi felt Carr’s talent was too impressive to pass on. Carr stood 6-foot-5, weighed 238 pounds and could run a 4.7 40-yard dash in full gear, according to Lombardi. Over a 10 year career in Green Bay, Carr never missed a game. He was a defensive captain from 1975 to 1977 and was named to the Pro Bowl 3 times. He was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1983. Carr also had a bigger-than-life personality.
"(Carr) was one hell of a character," former defensive end Alden Roche said in a 2001 interview. "He kept us laughing. This guy was always joking or harassing somebody or something. You remember the year Ted Hendricks was there? Two all-pro linebackers. They hit it off good." It was Hendricks' only season with the Packers, and he and Carr couldn't have complemented each other any better on the field. It's also hard to imagine they could have pulled off any more pranks than they did off the field. "They go buy a car during training camp," Roche remembered. "I think they paid $150 and bought an old white Edsel or something. It's summer time and I think it still had spikes on the tires for snow. After training camp, they go get an apartment together. "So every morning going to practice, Fred would drive the car. It was a four-door car and he'd get the paper and open the back door of the car and let Mr. Hendricks in the back. When he dipped in, Fred would hand him the paper and close the door. Then Fred would drive off to practice. He did this three, four days in a row. One morning he drives off and he drives backwards. And he keeps driving backwards. Ted is back there trying to read the paper and he says, 'Fred, what the hell are you doing?' They're driving down Lombardi Avenue backwards with Ted in the back screaming. "There's a cop on the corner and he saw them and took off after them. Fred made it to Lambeau Field and they jump out of the car and Ted Hendricks goes to the policeman and says, 'Look officer, we're late for practice, here are three tickets to the game.' Those guys were characters. They were a riot." Joking aside, "He was something," the late Pat Peppler, who ran the Packers' personnel department from 1963 to 1972, once said of Carr. “In practice, he would go out and play corner and cover receivers all over. He was all over the field. Could jump. He'd play that weak-side linebacker and knock down passes to the corner. We knew he wasn't a rocket scientist. But, boy, he was a good athlete. He could run like a deer."
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Welcome back to The Coach Clarahanson Show !!! In Coach’s Humble Opinion: …Grand Slam Cities are a real thing. Remember this? In 2011, the Packers were undefeated for 13 straight games coming off of a Super Bowl victory, the Brewers made it to the NLCS, the Badgers won the Big Ten Championship in football and played in the Rose Bowl while their basketball team advanced to Sweet 16. Yeah, the Bucks were still sucking hind tit in terms of Wisconsin sports dominance back then, but since have followed suit and are now considered perennial contenders in the NBA. Most Wisconsin teams sucked for a long time, then all of a sudden they all got good together. Like airplane crashes, championship caliber teams seem to come to cities in 3’s (in our case the teams of Wisconsin at-large are like that of a single community, especially considering this week’s Packers opponent has a metropolitan population that is over 1 million more people than the whole state of Wisconsin combined). In 2007-08, the Boston Red Sox and Celtics both were champions in their respective Leagues, the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl in their otherwise undefeated season that year, and even the Boston Bruins of the NHL made the playoffs that season. When multiple major sports Leagues’ champions hail from the same community in a period of 1 year, I call that a Grand Slam City. Fun fact: No U.S. (or Canadian) city has ever won all four major sports championships in the same year. However, before the NBA was formed in 1946, one city DID win all three major sports (MLB, NFL, NHL) championships in the same year. That city was Detroit, and the year was 1935. That is not intended to be a joke, but understandably you might find it funny (as I do) at the expense of Detroit Lions fans. There are similar examples from other cities as well (Oakland, New York, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, etc.). So that brings us to Tampa Bay. The Lightning just won The Stanley Cup. Now the Rays are in The World Series and, even if the heavily favored Bucs don’t play in the Super Bowl at the end of this season, the game will still be in their home stadium! Another fun fact: No team has ever played in the Super Bowl in their home stadium. ...which made winning SB45 in Dallas that much sweeter. I’m not sure why it often happens this way (Grand Slam cities), but it happens way more often than the law of averages equates to. Here are 3 possible hypotheses:
ADVERTISEMENT Create A Seam Here – X’s & O’s about the game or a scheme So WTF happened Coach? A 38-10 final score after leading 10-0 at the end of the 1st Quarter? Jimmy, maybe you’ll understand the game if you study this analysis put together by the crack-anal-ists at The Coach Clarahanson Show !!! There’s no other way to describe it other than there was a complete and total meltdown, even worse than 3-Mile-Island (if that makes no sense to you, then you are obviously too young, so look-up SNL “Pepsi Syndrome” on YouseTubes). Oh, and try not to do too deep of a rabbit hole dig if you come across a related story link for "Love Canal" because it's not what you think / hope. Coach was so overcome that he had to go outside and blow off some steam after the game. It’s not often that we are so totally dismantled during a game. Even during the “lost-decade” of the ‘80’s we rarely had so thorough of an ass-kicking. One angle Coach looked at was the “its’ not so much the heat, it’s the humidity” story. It was 88 Deg F and humid, 40 deg hotter than Green Bay. Maybe it was a factor, much like when the OL was puking from a big night out before the Bolts game last year in LA at Lambeau West. But that doesn’t explain the ass-kicking, twice, from the Niners last year at Corduroy Stadium. After some reflection, Coach suggests that you can think about this game and this team something like this: Packers vs. Buccaneers Ballet vs. Boxing LaFleur vs. Lombardi French Cuisine vs. Italian Cuisine Unnecessary complexity to hide poor ingredients vs. Fresh, high-quality ingredients and simple preparation We have an extremely complex “wide-zone-run-motion-offense.” Against the untalented and undisciplined, average-to-below-average NFL Defense, this level of sophistication and complexity renders the illusion of superiority. Much like Italian Cuisine, the Buccaneers brought superior, fresh, ingredients and prepared them in a simple, straightforward way. Pretty much what Lombardi preached. Petite Fleur may have an outstanding 18-5 record as a rookie HC, but for the love-of-Lombardi, 4 of the 5 losses have been total blowouts at the hands of very simple, smashmouth Defensive Teams. We continue to try the same things on Offense and Defense. When they work, they’re great … but when they don’t, we keep using them and we get blown out. Another point that really bugs Coach, Petite Fleur rarely calls out Special Teams or Defense. We sucked on D in this game and Petite Fleur has said zippo about this…just “on to Cincinnati.” It’s as if he only Coaches the Offense. Is the HC of the whole team? Part of the genius of the Hoodie over there at the Boston Football Team is that there is no one “system.” The formations and concepts are adapted and changed for each game to match the opponent and the situation at hand. So onto a few X&O’s. Many people felt like we owned the 1st Qtr, and indeed we were up 10-0 at the end of the first. But let’s just look at the first three plays of the game and see if that rings true: 1st Down Aaron Jones takes the pitch and tries to run around left end. The play gets blown up because right guard Luca Patrick (62) is slow getting up-field and misses his assignment to block MLB Devin White (45). The “however” here is that even if Patrick makes the block, OLB Lavante David (54) was there to clean up anyway and maybe Jones gets 1-yd instead of zero. 2nd Down Holy crap, this should have been a a Pick-6. Carlton Davis the splits the block of Davante Adams and Bobby Tonyan and breaks up the pass attempt to Jones. If he would have cut inside, he would have easily strolled to the end zone. 3rd Down The Buc’s bring Devin White on the blitz, Aaron Jones fakes a block and leave’s White hanging. A nice 20-yard pick-up on what Rodgers later admitted was an “off-schedule” play … that’s the politically correct NFL speak for “street football”, “you go down to the Oldsmobile and cut-in Bobby”. Almost all of the big plays in the 1st Qtr were “off schedule”. Much like the McCarthy Offense, almost all of our 1st Qtr yardage came on Rodgers dropping back, patting the ball (“pat, pat, pat”) then running around and trying to find somebody. That worked for 7 of 11 passing, 95 yards and a TD, but it was not sustainable. Buc’s shutdown the outside run Our finesse runner, Aaron Jones had 4 carries for (-1 yd) in the 1st Quarter; he was (-2yds) on 3 carries to the outside and his only positive play was for 1-yd on his TD up the middle. AJ Dillion and Williams had 39 yards on 4 carries, all to the inside. The 1st Drive Coulda Been a TD During the 1st drive of the game, on 1st & 10 on the TB 23, Rodgers attempted a throw to Extra Special Bitter. I guess he didn’t get the memo that Rodgers will throw to him occasionally. This is the kind of BS that drives Coach crazy. Sophisticated Offense? Apparently too complicated for some. We had zero penalties and no turnovers in the first quarter, but 30% of the plays went nowhere (incomplete or zero yards rushing). This pattern of poor execution Offense continued for the rest of the game, but we added in penalties and turnovers and as a result scored no more points the rest of the way. Remember that “almost Pick-6” on the 2nd play of the game? Buc’s CB Jamel Dean said that from film-study he knew that Adams was running an out-route when he came in motion across the formation. Ouch … we’re predictable. So the Offense had a completely shitty day. The Defense will pick up the slack, right? Well in the 1st Qtr they forced a 3-&-Out on the 1st drive and 30 yards-and-a-punt on the 2nd, so it looked like they might. In the end they just couldn’t help the team and it was “S-O-S” time (Same ole poop). Here’s a nice view of Raven Greene missing a TFL opportunity, see also “New Orleans – Gm 3 2020” above. Last, but certainly not least, Zilarious Smith will not get out of Coach’s Doghouse until he can play a game without dumbass, lazy mistakes. The play below highlights what every opponent of the Packers knows: run directly at Z Smith, he will open a big hole for you. The play above is immediately after the 2nd AR interception. Z Smith is actually in the correct position initially, he’s on the outside shoulder of the OT, holding the edge and plugging up the running lane. It looks good, but then he jumps to the inside…apparently to “beat” the tackle and get a sack of the QB? Maybe he didn’t know it was a run play? This is total and complete laziness…there’s not a HS Coach in the U S of A that would accept this, Zilarious would be running laps after practice for shit like that. This happens every week so at some point I guess you have to ask what he is being taught to do by the coaching staff... Rodgers “Figured Out”? Both Petite Fleur and Rodgers got very touchy this week when they were asked if the Packers have been “figured out” by the NFL. Colin Cowherd and Rob Reischel both made the point this week that Rodgers is fantastic in Regular Season games but has not carried the team in the Playoffs since 2010. It’s up to A.A. Ron to prove them wrong. When Packers GM Brian Gutekunst was asked about Rodgers 35.4 Passing Rating vs. Tom Brady’s 104.9, Gooty said: “Hah, are you kidding? Now you know why I drafted Love.” Is everything lost for the Season Coach? Well, let’s not overreact Jimmy, but Coach recommends not spending any cash on SB Tickets until the recurring mistakes start getting corrected. And… there were a couple of rays of hope: The middle of the DL (Kenny Clark, Montravious Adams, Kingsley Keke, Dean Lowry and Tyler Lancaster) collectively had their best game of the year and really shutdown the Buc’s running game up the middle. We can run up the middle. Since the day Lombardi ascended Mt. Sinai and was given the Football Commandments, nothing has changed: 4th Commandment of Football – When thou hast Doubt, Trust in the Lord and go North or South. Trust not the Siren call of Lucifer and the Glow of the Rising or Setting Sun; Fore there be Kein Points at the Edges of yon Pasture. Jamaal Williams and AJ Dillion combined for 65-yds on 9 carries, all but one of those carries were up the middle. AJ Dillion is for real On 3rd & 1 at the GB 21 at 10:53 in the 4th, AJ Dillion busted a 20-yd run. Remember from the Chippewa on down that the Home Schedule is back loaded, and he will be a load when Lambeau gets sloppy and the gales of November come early. WTF – Coach’s take on football news that’s messed up Gronkowski Hits Electrotherapy Machine On Sidelines To Help Keep Brain Loose St. Petersburg, FL—Strapping his head in after struggling with tightness and dissociation on the last drive, Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski hit the electrotherapy machine during Thursday night’s game to help keep his brain loose while he was on the sidelines. “It’s not too bad when I’m focused on the field, but the second I sit down, I can feel my temporal lobe knot up,” said Gronkowski, who noted that his tunneling vision cleared up as the 10-amp electrical current coursed through his cerebellum. “It can be tough on long drives because after five minutes I start to forget the entire playbook, so it’s good to get the neurons firing again. It doesn’t fix all the mood swings or anything, it just keeps me warm and remembering what city I’m in. But with all this talking and looking at things, I still know I’m gonna be laid up icing my brain for days.” At press time, a blocking Gronkowksi had leveled two defenders after mistaking them for a 10-foot demon and Patriots coach Bill Belichick. The Bears Still Suck – Coach has proof Mitch Trubisky Studying Game Tapes In Hopes Of Discovering What Bears Saw In Him In First Place CHICAGO—Scouring plays for any hint at something that could provide insight, Chicago quarterback Mitch Trubisky reportedly spent Thursday studying game tape in hopes of discovering what the Bears saw in him in the first place. “I look at my throwing mechanics and think they must be nuts, but there must have been something that made people think I was good,” said Trubisky while rewinding another of his old starts for UNC in the hopes of catching some of the boundless potential and talent he always felt he had in at least one of the plays. “My accuracy was more solid, but I wasn’t under the same kind of pressure back then. Okay, wow, I really fired that one in—wait no, it got intercepted. Maybe it was my love of the game? I looked a lot happier playing back then, that’s for sure.” At press time, Trubisky was viewing a video tape of his first start in an Ohio grammar school YMCA Flag Football league. Udder Stuff – Commentary from the Badger Underground Big Ten Football is Finally Back! Whoa, whoa! ...got a little excited there! One week at a time: Wisconsin vs. Illinois Beer bongs at the Big Ten Pub laced with tequila. Whoa yeah it feels good to have Badger something to cheer for. After the on-paper Wisconsin NCAA BB Final Four win the Football team has a tough act to follow.
We’re Gonna Kick Your @$$ – predictions for the upcoming game This one is simple…. …the Texans are motivated to win because they have:
…but, no matter how you slice it:
Rodgers popped it a little too early in the Tampa Creamsicle game last week, Coach predicts he’ll put that back in the gun and save it for this week. But most important of all … Coach will be there on the side-line to help Petite Fleur and Rodgers focus on keeping it simple. Packers 34 Texans 24 Chevon McNuggets - G.O.A.T. facts to chew on JB – Packers you forgot about, but stories you’ll remember about them This week Coach winds the way-back machine to the post-war optimism of 1950 to celebrate Clarence Valentine McGeary, Jr, a former North Dakota Bison from St. Paul. Number 44, “Can” (as he was called by his friends) McGeary was 6’-5” 250-pounds and drafted by the Packers to play defensive line. …sort of like putting a Lurch-faced Kyler Fackrell at nose tackle. What appears obvious in this, the only known photo of Can McGeary in a Packers uniform, is that he was probably too lanky to be lower than his opponent at the line of scrimmage, which is critical for success as a defensive nose tackle. To get around this obstacle, Can would often try to intimidate the Center on the opposing team early on in games. If, as often is the case, a Center would look down or underneath his legs as he grasped the ball in his hands, McGeary would forcibly knock the Center over, sending him tumbling backwards and inducing some degree of pain.
Well, it wasn’t long after the first few games that opposing Centers caught on to McGeary’s schtick, and Packers new head coach Gene Ronzani was not fond of repeatedly giving other team’s offenses an extra down with 5-yards to boot every time Can would plunge offsides to knock over their Center. Thus, McGeary’s stint made him 1-and-done Packer. Yet, even though he only played 12 games in the NFL, the term “Can the Center” lingers in the dirty-pool handbook of prep school football programs across the country to this day. I still recall us telling our Junior High School nose tackle, Don, “Can the Center!” to watch him knock that guy on his ass. It never really had a lingering effect on the game (although we did go undefeated, just sayin), but it sure was fun to do! So, Clarence McGeary, because if you ain’t cheatin you ain’t tryin, we salute you! First of all, GET WELL GERRY! (and learn how to spell your name properly) What's the deal with all of Coach's best buds having bad tickers? At least you'll have something decent to read while you're on the mend (or do you just look at the pictures?)... Welcome back to The Coach Clarahanson Show !!! In Coach’s Humble Opinion: The Packers should take a QB in the 1st round every year… As a general rule Coach thinks it is too risky to draft for need over talent in the 1st round. The 1st round is truly the “Best Player Available” (BPA) round, regardless of a team’s needs – which should be addressed in the later rounds (because good teams don’t lose their mind trying to make their worst position into the team’s best position via a rookie). In a perfect world, the Packers would have the best player available in the 1st Round also be of a position of glaring need when it’s their turn to the draft, but there is only a 4.5% chance of that happening. Legit 1st round talent is just plain too hard to come by – as are good quarterbacks, which we all know are the most valued players on any team. That’s why the Packers should draft a 1st Round talent QB every year. Taking a QB 1st is in our control ... and doesn’t prevent occasional trade-ups (e.g. Savage & Longhair), but the key is having a “decent” QB on a rookie contract so you have enough money to afford a top team on D and a pretty good (decent) team on O. Core to this contention is spending at least 50% of salary cap on D (vs. our less than 45% today). Keep the coffers loaded to grab proven defensive talent when they hit free agency. Lots of average QB’s have won the Super Bowl (Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Jeff Hostetler, Nick Foles, etc.), but it’s DEFENSE that wins championships. Keep firing our 1st round pick at QB’s every year in the hopes of having a top flight QB on his rookie contract – there’s a 73% chance of success for that, historically (or a winner 3 out of every 4 years), Brett Favre’s “1 out of 4” draft class notwithstanding. Recall there is a 5th year option on a 1st Rounder. Sure, there will be lots of “How fast does he develop, ready at year 2 or year 5, etc.?” questions, but you’ll always have a cleanup batter on deck and you can likely trade a well-performing QB at peak value (say after year 4 when the next team can have the cheap 5th year). The benefits of this are multiple, but most notably: little to no drop-off if the starter gets injured or traded, gaining additional accumulated draft picks or key player swaps via trade, plus LOTS OF CAP SPACE FOR DEFENSE (by my math, roughly a 17% or $32 million increase in 2020 funds available for the Packers to have acquired better talent on D, hypothetically, of course). Would this ever NOT work? No. Unless… ALL teams adopted this approach. In that case (if you don’t mind a little extrapolation), a new era in NFL drafting could result: the “QB-Round” of the draft in which all 32 teams must select a QB. Wouldn’t THAT be awesome!?! Yes, Coach, that WOULD be awesome. The 1st day of the NFL draft dedicated to each team selecting only a quarterback. (ESPN will be calling me shortly after this publication, no doubt.) Every team would have a legit shot at sifting through the QB bin, a bigger premium would be placed on “football players” and good coaching, and league parity would abound. (Roger Goodell will soon be calling me, too.) But I digress… In summary, if the Packers intend to consistently win Lombardi Trophies for the foreseeable future (and I sure hope they do), then Gootey should build a championship Defense by paradoxically drafting a QB in the 1st Round every year. …at least, in my humble opinion. Create A Seam Here – X’s & O’s about the game or a scheme 4 & 0h-baby and an Offense on pace to break all Team & NFL records for scoring! Knocking off the Dirty Birds 30-16 was a nice 14-point win and very far off of Coach’s prediction of a 16-point win. Let’s have a quick look at how we got here: GM 1 Summary – Vikings Takeaway the run (“only” 158 yards)? No problem! D Adams has 158 yds receiving, 2 TD’s GM 2 Summary – Lions Takeaway the pass (“only” 248 yds)? No problem! A Jones has 168 yds rushing, 2 TD’s GM 3 Summary – Saints Takeaway the run (“only” 98 yds)? Takeaway Davante Adams (injured)? No problem! A Lazard has 146 yds receiving, 1 TD Gm 4 Summary - Falcons No WR’s (Lazard & Adams injured)? Takeaway the run (“only” 88 yards)? No problem!
Bobby T just could not be stopped by the Dirty Birds. Even when they tackled him off the line of scrimmage, he simply somersaulted his way into the EZ. In a simply amazing show of flexibility on Offense, we had 327 total yards receiving, but only 86 of those yards were on passes to guys listed as Receivers. Each week the Offense has faced a different Defensive strategy (takeaway this guy, takeaway that guy) and we’ve had a ton of injuries already on Offense: WR’s Davante Adams Alan Lazard Equanimmeous St. Brown TE’s Marcedes Lewis Josiah Deguara OL Rick Wagner Lane Taylor Billy Turner Between LaFleur’s game plans and Rodgers execution it’s been a thing of beauty. After 5 weeks, 4 games and the Bye, we are still the No. 1 Offense in the NFL! We are also No. 2 in Point Differential, a key indicator for success in the Post-Season The “however” in all of this is the Defense. It’s ranked in the middle-of-the-NFL at No. 17. Give them credit that there was some improvement in the last game:
Finally! Above we have an example of how to play run D by Zilarious and the rest! This is 2nd & 6 at the ATL 29 on their 1st drive. Zilarious is lined up at Left DE/LOLB at the top of the screen. After the snap you see Jaire crash in on a run-blitz, but look more carefully at Z Smith. He actually stayed where he was supposed to be, which funneled RB Todd Girly right into baby-faced DT Tyler Lancaster. This led directly to the 3 & out on the 1st drive. Maybe there really is hope that the D can improve! Alas, there were still plenty of mistakes and we decided not to play D in the 3rd and let them score 2 TD’s right away. All-in-all the Packers look really strong and going into Game 5 / Week 6 of the NFL Season. Coach will argue that we are the best team in the NFC and we should not be afraid of any of the pretenders over in the AFL either. Granted, way too early to start making room in the trophy case at 1265 Lombardi Ave, but Coach is really pleased with where we are at the ¼-Pole of the 2020 Season. But seriously, do any of these teams scare you? WTF – Coach’s take on football news that’s messed up Tom Brady Not Sure How To Ask Coach For Tape Of Packers Practice TAMPA, FL—Expressing concerns that Tampa Bay had not yet undertaken the basic prep he used to do in New England, quarterback Tom Brady confessed Monday that he wasn’t sure how to ask Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians for tape of their opponent’s practice. “This is a new system, so I don’t know whether we go over tape of the Packers walkthrough as a team or if I need to study it myself,” said Brady, who conceded that Arians might be too busy working on a game plan and decided to schedule the normal step-by-step breakdown of Green Bay’s latest scrimmage and playbook. “I never even had to ask Bill [Belichick], he’d just send an intern my way to debrief me. Bruce hasn’t said anything about it yet, but I need to hunker down in the film room with the exact plays the defense is practicing against us and listening to the calls that they plan to make at the line. It takes a while to memorize all that, so hopefully coach sends some tape my way soon.” At press time, Brady decided to fly his own cameraman to film the Packer’s practice after a terse meeting with Arians. The Bears Still Suck – Coach has proof Until a week ago Sunday when Nick Foles replaced him as the starting QB, Mitch Trubisky had made 44 regular season starts for the Bears. This was the 26th time in the last 29 seasons the Bears have started multiple quarterbacks. I know, you’re not surprised by that. Nobody is. That is just how it is in Chicago, which is further proof the Bears still suck. So, just for shits and giggles, let’s take a stroll down Memory Lane to review QB’s da Bears have had with tenures similar to that of the Turdbiscut. Mitch should expect his name to roll off the tongue of football aficionados in the years to come, much like the names of these guys – his Bears QB predecessors, do. Nice knowin’ ya, Mitch. Coach predicts you will be Teddy Bridgewater’s backup in 2021 for the Carolina Panthers. Udder Stuff – Commentary from the Badger Underground Tension Builds as Bucky Gets Ready to Play Hello all loyal Badger Underground readers. The cardboard cut out fan cutting has started in earnest. The leading cardboard cutouts for display at Camp Randall next Friday night are: 1. Art the Window Washer: A campus staple in the 70’s and early 80’s. 2. Elroy Hirsch: Cripes, we used to wear Elroy masks back in the day. This is a no brainer! 3. Chris Farley: His motivational speech at the 1994 Rose Bowl pep rally will be remembered forever. Nobody yet knew the character that would become Matt Foley. 4. The Portage Plumber: He was the precursor to Jump Around. 5. Pink Flamingos: Thanks Leon Varjian and The Pail and Shovel Party! 6. Also Rans: Ron Dayne, Darrel Beveled, Cephus’s girlfriend, Tunnel Bob. Anyway, here is the big sports news around Madtown.
We’re Gonna Kick Your @$$ – predictions for the upcoming game The Buccaneers have always been a bit confused when it comes to their “identity” so it was no surprise when Tom Brady jumped at the chance of joining the Creamsicles: Similarly, with his focus locked on the priorities for the 2020 NFL Season, Buc’s Coach Bruce Aryan has become quite popular with the fairer sex. WTF, oh well, it is the Creamsicles. Is Florida part of California? OK, back to the other part of football. You know, the part where they actually play football. The Packers and the Bucs are sort of mirror images. We have the No. 1 Offense; they have the No. 8 Defense We have the No. 17 Defense; they have the No. 11 Offense. They will have hot and humid weather in Tampa this weekend, we will have… …the opportunity to go see if there’s deer tracks in the snow up by da cabin. Historically we are ahead 33-21-1 in the series with an average winning margin of 3.6 pts. Speaking of Packers-Buc’s history, do you remember this one? December 12, 1983:Packers 12, Buccaneers 9 (OT) Jan Stenerud provided all the Pack's scoring… Jan Stenerud kicked the winning field goal in overtime to improve the Packers' record to 8-7-0 and place them in a tie with the Detroit Lions for first place in the NFC Central. Stenerud kicked four field goals in the game to provide the Packers with all of their points. In this game, he passed George Blanda for first place in NFL history with 338 career field goals. The win was also Bart Starr's last as head coach of the Packers. One week later, the Packers lost to the Chicago Bears in their season finale and missed the playoffs. Starr was fired shortly after the game. Packers quarterback Lynn Dickey also made history during this game by passing the 4,000-yard mark for the season. That had only been done four times previously in NFL history (Joe Namath, Dan Fouts twice and Brian Sipe were the others). Dickey finished the season with a career-high 4,458 yards passing. This was also the last game Howard Cosell announced on Monday Night Football. He had been with the show since it started in 1970. But I digress… Looking to this week’s game, our net average point margin for 2020 is 7.4 pts better than the Bucs (see table above). Giving them 3 points for being home, we net out at 4.4 points better…and no surprise…we are favored by 2.5 in Vegas. The story line on most of sportstalk radio has been Packers running game vs. the TB run defense… can we beat them? The Buc’s have had the NFL’s best run defense for two years now, with their 2020 avg of 2.7 yards/rush being even better than modern era record held by the 2000 Raven’s rush defense (we’ll see if it holds up for the Season). They have very good linebackers, but we are damn good at running the ball (No. 5 overall at 5.1 yds/attempt) and they are missing their version of Kenny Clark (Vita Vea) due to injury. Tampa’s TE’s were threatened by VV’s obvious intent to become the starting TE, so they “accidentally” took him out with a cheap-shot. Before the cheap-shot, Vitamix anchored the line along with former Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul. They probably will hold us to one of our lowest rushing games in 2020, but we will still gash them for more yards than any other team. A more interesting stat to Coach is how the apparently-washed-up Aaron Rodgers is doing compared to Brady. Both teams are balanced and more less the same, but we have Rodgers, they have Brady. It’s no secret in the NFL, the Pack is doing better this year than last. In 2019 we ranked 16th in yards/pass-attempt and now in 2020 we are No.2 (6.7-2019; 8.5-2020). Rodgers is well aware of the criticism he was getting after last year, basically washed-up! Packers draft a QB and Rodger’s career is finito! Rodgers, 36, has basically given a one-fingered-salute to all of those critics. Through 4 games, Rodgers has thrown 13 touchdowns against zero interceptions and over the Bye-week he delivered one of the best QB quotes of all-time: "I sometimes laugh when people talk about down years for me because a lot of times down years for me are career years for most quarterbacks." Rodger’s “down year”, last year, he had a Passer Rating of 95.4, which got Coach thinking about some “other” QB’s and how they did… Eli Manning’s won 2 Super Bowl MVP awards…and never had a year as good as Rodgers’ “off” year. In fact, in 2009 when his rating was 93.6, it was the only year he ever was above 90. Joe Flacco, Super Bowl MVP, never had a year as good as Rodgers’ “off” year. Jay Cutler, the Bears’ best QB ever, never had a year as good as Rodgers’ “off” year. So yes, Aaron, you are in fact correct. Your “down year” wasn’t so bad! If we look back at Brady’s last year with Billy B & the Pats, we see that he was behind Rodgers at 6.3 yds/attempt. This year Brady has improved and now playing at the level of Rodgers “down year”. Brady is getting very sensitive to AR passing him by, so in a juvenile test of ability, he challenged AR to “a duel” of sorts. Coach’s hidden mic picked up Brady challenging Rodgers to a counting duel, “OK, ‘A-Rod’ if you’re so great, I challenge you to beat me in a counting contest. You count TD’s-to-Bobby-Tonyan and I’ll count Downs-at-the-end-of-the-Bears-game. Whoever can keep the most accurate count will win a night with Giselle. Whoever loses has to keep her.” You see here Rodgers using his fingers so that he can be doubly-sure that Bobby Tonyan has caught 3 TD’s in the game. The referees verified that both the counting to three was correct and the AR used proper form. Tom Brady was so excited with the opportunity to come back from a 19-20 deficit and beat the Bears that he lost track of the down with 30 seconds left in the game. Tell me again, who's the GOAT? Yes, Tommy, we gonna KYA. Packers 34 Bucs 24 Chevon McNuggets - G.O.A.T. facts to chew on JB – Packers you forgot about, but stories you’ll remember about them Well, Fall is here. It’s getting cold and the leaves are blowing off the trees in violent fashion, which brings me to one of my favorite Packer players of year gone by, #86 Ed West. As a blocking Tight End, Ed caught less than 20 passes at Auburn and never scored a touchdown there, probably because they ran the wishbone featuring Bo Jackson. Clearing waivers after being the last roster cut made by Forrest Gregg, undrafted Ed West was signed to the team because of his hard work ethic noticed by the head coach during practices. Ed said "Green Bay reminded me of home. I flew into the airport and saw farm fields, not skyscrapers, and knew I'd fit right in." After Gregg’s tenure and two disappointing seasons under Lindy Infante, general manager Ron Wolf hired Mike Holmgren in 1992 as Green Bay's new head coach. Every player on the roster, including West, was evaluated. When asked how an old school player like Ed West was able to make the team as it transitioned to the west coast offense, Wolf said "Ed was a great blocker, a tough guy, who was a competitor and got the most out of his ability. He gave everything he had in practice; he gave everything he had on Sundays. You can't ask for anything more. He earned the respect of his teammates and guys admired him. It's a credit to him he had the success that he did - he earned it." Then Brett Favre showed up… Brett nicknamed Ed “The Toolbox” because, as Favre put it, “When he came to work he brought all the tools to get the job done." The nickname also referred to his work ethic, toughness and blue-collar approach to his profession. West missed less than 5 games due to injury in 11 seasons in Green Bay. However, being from the deep south, Ed never really acclimated well to the cold mid-Western weather. In one late October game against the Bears in Chicago, the temperature was barely above freezing, it was raining hard, and the wind was blowing fiercely. Favre later said it was the coldest game he could remember playing in. At one point in the huddle after Favre dialed up a pass play, Ed West actually replied to Favre, “Don’t throw me the ball.” Now that’s old school.
After retirement West said he enjoyed his football career in Green Bay, where he posted 202 receptions for 2,321 yards and 25 touchdowns, statistics worthy of consideration for the Packers Hall of Fame. "That would be a great honor," West said. "Hopefully, I don't have to kick the bucket before I'm in." Indeed, Ed, indeed. Welcome back to The Coach Clarahanson Show !!! In Coach’s Humble Opinion: The Bye week is for Coach, too… …so I’m taking the week off to musky fish, drink beer, practice shooting my 9mm, and change the batteries on my trail cams (but not necessarily in that order). In lieu of me writing titillating tidbits on the Packers for you this week, I will instead drop off a few NFL headlines that you might have missed -- which I’m sure you will enjoy. …at least, in my humble opinion. Andy Reid’s Face Shield Splattered With Chew Spit Saints QB Jameis Winston Tests Positive For Slew Of Obscure Bat Diseases Unrelated To Covid-19 Jerry Jones Lowers Permissible Attendance to 122% of Capacity, Citing “An abundance of caution” Colin Kaepernick Pulls Over To Lecture Homeless Man On His White Privilege Joe Biden Seen Sniffing Cardboard Cutout Fans At Arizona Cardinals Game Roger Goodell Confident NFL Doing Enough To Market Stars Like Patrick Mahomes and the Latino Player |
Author"Coach" is the insightful collective brain and funny bone of a few legendary Packer fans who provide everything you need to know (and what Packers beat writers often plagiarize) about the Green & Gold, plus a weekly guest appearance by The Badger Underground. Archives
November 2022
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