Create a seam here - X's & O's about the game or a scheme Before getting into the upcoming battle with the Lambs, let's reflect on the game last week... It was another resounding victory for the Green Bay, Wisconsin ACME Meat Packing Company's "Packers" Professional Football Team on Sunday, beating the 49ers 17-3. Notably, the Packers are one of only a handful of NFL teams without a mascot. It was reported by anonymous sources that there were several individuals from a long-standing activist group in San Francisco that offered to create and become a "Packer" mascot, but Mark Murphy was said to be "uncomfortable" by what the shirtless gentlemen in leather chaps had proposed. Apparently, members of this same organization made a similar offer to become the mascot of the former Houston "Oilers" franchise several years ago, following a game they attended via complementary tickets from then Line Backer, Ted Thompson. So yeah, yeah, yeah, the offense was pedestrian and the defense looked like superhero's when Colon Polypnick threw nose-diving footballs at the feet of his receivers. Blah, blah, blah. See the Press-Gazette for more drivel like that. The Coach will cut to the chase: “Looking Back” – What do we know so far about the 2015 Packers? The 2015 Packers have matched the starts of the two most recent 4-0 undefeated teams --- the 2007 & 2011 squads. Are we excited about two road wins and two home wins? You bet we are excited. But is this team any different than the two that produced heart wrenching playoff losses to mediocre Giant’s teams? Well, we won’t really know until January, but Coach is pretty excited about the 96th edition of the Green & Gold… M&M’s or Capers?…I never liked Capers, in fact I’m allergic to legumes so it’s actually a genetic rejection of peas, lima beans and Dom Capers -- but this edition of the Packers is the most balance I remember since the 1996 Season:
http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/team-yards-per-play-differential/2015/ WTF - The Coach's take on a bad ref call or a bad play call or the like And the doctor said, “Rectum… It nearly killed ’m!” C’mon, Clay -- No need to kiss your bicep when dropping Kapernick in the backfield. I think your other sack celebration was much more upsetting to him (pictured below). Is that a new move that you learned in San Francisco? Now for my favorite target – the ref’s: Wow, they were BAAAAAAAAD on Sunday. For the 1st time I can ever recall, though, they were bad in a way that actually favored the Packers. Usually we are getting rear-ended in San Francisco by the ref's (graphic photos to jog your memory below). We unbelievably got several fortuitous calls in the early stages of this past Sunday's game (for example, BJ Raji jumping offsides and slaming his fist in disgust, only to have the penalty assigned to Kapernick). Since there was not much scoring in the latter part of the game, I think the ref’s “blowing it” in our favor early contributed in some small way to the victory. The Bears Still Suck - the Coach has proof Now that the Bears ditched their best 2 defensive players, they actually won a game. Figures. Jay Gutless looked bad (as always) against the lowly Raiders, but the Cubs' mildly retarded step-brothers, da Bears, were able to still squeak one into the win column to stay slightly ahead of those juggernaut Detroit Cry-on's ... looking forward to Thanksgiving Day (a.k.a. "Lions Super Bowl"), when we have the night game on NFL Network to humiliate Cutler once again and retire Brett Hundley's #7 jersey. By the way, I had to drive to Chicago for other business on Tuesday. That sucked. What's weird is that they are so bass-ackward there that the speed limit goes down from 70mph to 65mph when you cross the border, but everyone with Illinois plates increases their speed from 79mph to 85mph. What a bunch of jag-offs. They can't do anything right. Oh yeah, Tollways ... that's fun - great idea, FIB's. I hope you appreciate our FREEways when you come up north to spend a fortune enjoying our nature. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm3JodBR-vs Udder stuff - commentary from the Badger Underground An elimination game looms Saturday for Wisconsin and Nebraska. The dropsies for Wisconsin began against Hawaii and worsened during the Iowa game. Wheelright's drop late cost 3-7 points before the Stave fumble took another 3-7 points off the board. Wasted was Schobert's career day on defense. Wisconsin was without its top two pass catchers against Iowa and may be without them vs Nebraska. Offensively, this is Wisconsin's weakest OL, receiver group and tailback cast since 1991. Blame goes to Gary Anderson burning bridges with state HS coaches and WI's 4th year admissions czar. Our athletic program has the second highest admission standards, surpassed only by Stanford. Ranking #2 in engineering, business or stem cell research is important. Ranking #2 in athlete admissions, ahead of Northwestern and Michigan is downright foolish. At a time when the FB and BB programs are finally attracting blue chip talent, we cannot get them in the door. We will face the gem of our recruiting class on Saturday--an academic non-qualifier who plays RB for the Cornholers. Nebraska doesn't play D like Iowa did and cannot run the ball. Their QB may find himself throwing 30 times, 5 of them one-hoppers. Look for a big day for Schobert and Biegel. We win this game with our defense. Our only flaw will be DB's not turning around for the ball and exploiting the many pick opportunities that come their way. Our receivers will again be unable to get separation--a negative that has plagued them since Abbrederis graduated. We may finally make some hay throwing to backs. I expect a better game from Fumagali, another week removed from returning from a broken hand. Don't let this season come down to a Stave-led rally or having to make a FG Saturday. Speaking of Schobert, he was signed to attend North Dakota State. Bielema saw him put up defensive MVP numbers at the HS all star game in Oshkosh, which prompted the question to his D coordinator "How did we miss this guy?" Schobert was offered to walk on at WI following the game. He will play Sunday's in the NFL. We're gonna kick your a$$ - predictions for the next game First of all, it should be noted that a Ram is technically a male bighorn sheep, which doesn't sound too scary until you realize they can weigh over 300-lbs and run a 4.2/40 en route to knocking you senseless. If you are female, a friendly Ram will say,"Hey, ewe!" But enough about nature, ... How will we beat the Rams? To be honest, this game is not a slam dunk - but we can do it by following the game plan this coach is doling out: - McCarthy’s influence on special teams is making week-by-week improvement. That will help – it might be a key reason we win. Need to contain Tavon Austin and other undersized quick guys with weird combinations of nonsensical first names (see also DeAnthony Thomas, Jarvis Landry, Cordarrelle Patterson, etc.). - M&M’s influence on the big legume (Capers) is palpable, we now have many, many more snaps with 6, 7 and even 8 defenders in the box, and this is a noticeable improvement over previous years. We will need that to stop not-so-girly Gurley. - Players, players, players…..our Draft-Day investment in the D over the last few years seems to be paying off and we now have the most talented and motivated D-Line in the last 20 years. Raji, Guion and Daniels are playing for contracts, Datone Jones wants to be noticed and the massive and athletic #64 (Pennel) is doing something every time he gets on the field. Matthews is a monster at Middle LB and he now understands the D, #53 Perry is finally contributing, Mike Neal is healthy, Peppers is ageless and Jaaaayroan Elliot is a kid on fire….the DB’s are playing solidly and even the rookies seem to know how to play. We need to be at least equal to St. Louie's defensive effort. - Sadistically, the injury to Jordy may be helping, with the offense taking yards in little chunks the TOP is almost 33 minutes and the D is playing more rested. It might make 40-point games fewer and farther between, but it also makes you better against good offenses, physical defenses and opponents in January. For historical reference, see the explosive (but 8-8) 1983 Packers. espn.go.com/abcsports/mnf/s/gbwashclassic.html - All of that is interesting, but what we really know is that we have the best quarterback in the history of the League. Rodgers' impact is inestimable (O’Reilly’s word of the day yesterday ... I just HAD to use it!). This is a much better team than the 2013 version and could probably be a little better than 0.500 with Tolzien at the helm, but Rodgers is clearly the difference. Having said that, I cringed a bit because the same thing was being written in 2013 by poser pundits a few days before Rodgers broke his collarbone. …turns out the Pack didn’t have the supporting cast that was suggested, although several other injuries (Cobb) also hit mid-season. What to look for with the Lambs --- they have an outstanding front 4 and will use the same formula all teams have tried the last few years that have beaten the Packers --- they will rush 4 and play coverage with 7. They will play solid special teams and will ram Gurley down our throat. Once every 6 or 7 plays Foles will take a downfield shot (and why not? ...it worked for him at Lambeau when he was an Eagle). The Pack will counter by taking away Gurley and letting Foles have a few long ones. Look for Alonzo Harris to get 5-8 carries and a TD, Aaron to throw two TD’s and unfortunately one pick. The game will ultimately boil down to turnover ratio and special teams mistakes. In a Lambeau Divisional Round Playoff preview: Packers 27, Rams 24 thanks to a couple of timely picks by Hayward and Randall. JB - Packer players you forgot about, but stories you'll remember about them It's about time we pay tribute to #5. Vince Ferragamo. Many of you thought that the Golden Domer's number was retired by Green Bay, but not so. "V-Fer" (as teammates affectionately called him) strapped on that number as a Packer in 1985 -- the only player to do so after Paul Hornung retired from the Packers. Ferragamo was originally drafted by the then Los Angeles Rams of Anaheim, California and eventually started for them in Super Bowl XIV, making him the 1st QB to ever start a Super Bowl in the same season as his first career start (lost to Steelers, 31-19). Ferragamo enjoyed his best statistical season the following year in which he threw for 30 touchdowns, tied for second most in the NFL, and the Rams again made the playoffs, but were defeated by Dallas, 34–13 in an NFC Wild Card Playoff game. He made brief pit stops in Montreal and Buffalo (both are CFL teams) before coming to Green Bay for an impressive preseason debut that landed him a 2-year stint. He started 3 games, sharing time with other back-ups to Randy Wright: Chuck Fusina and Joe Shield. But Vince wasn't the 1st big name QB that we got from the LA Rams... A decade earlier, after announcing that veteran QB Jack Concannon, Jerry Tagge's backup, would start Sunday against the Lions in Detroit, head coach Dan Devine obtained veteran John Hadl from the Los Angeles Rams for five (coincidence?) draft choices and waived the Packers' other quarterback, Dean Carlson. Hadl, 34, and in his 13th season of pro ball, was expensive. To get him, the Packers gave up first-, second- and third-round choices in the next draft, and a first and second choice in 1976. ...which basically was the 2nd worst trade in history, behind Minnesota giving 5 players and 6 draft picks to Dallas for Herschel Walker (including Jesse Solomon, Isiac Holt, Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Kevin Smith, and Darren Woodson.). So we salute you, number 5, Vince Ferragamo! John Hadl, you sucked. ...but not as bad as former Nebraska Cornholer, Jerry Tagge, though.
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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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