Welcome back to The Coach Clarahanson Show!!! In Coach’s Humble Opinion: …the season is long. No shit, Sherlock. A lot can and will happen to change how good the Packers will be, and how good other teams will be, by the time the playoffs come around. I know, not a lot of ** BREAKING NEWS ** there, but my point is to not go into this game thinking it will forecast how January plays out. Arizona is hot right now (uh, their NFL team, I mean). Possibly as hot as they will be all year. They are undefeated and if they get better each week the rest of the NFL is fucked. However, this IS the Cardinals we are talking about so they could experience their annual mid-season collapse any week now (see also, Minnesota Vikings). ...fingers crossed. So a banged up, battered and bruised Green Bay team littered with bums off the street must head out west on 3-days rest again (seems like that's the case every year since Thursday night games became a thing) to take on the undefeated redbirds. I recall in 2011 the Packers beat the Giants in New York by a field goal with just a few games remaining in the regular season, only to lose to them by 17-points at home in the Divisional Round of the playoffs (the G-men went on to beat the Pats in the Super Bowl that year). A lot happened between those 2 games in that season. A LOT. Coach wants you to enjoy the game Thursday night, but don’t use it as some sort of Packers measuring stick for how good or bad they will be in the playoffs because a lot can -- and will -- happen between now and then (but the Bears will still suck) ... at least, in Coach's humble opinion. Create A Seam Here – X’s & O’s about the game or a scheme It was the best of times; it was the worst of times… …Coach predicted a blowout, and we did win by 14, but it did not feel good. The game was entertaining and now we are 6-1, but it sure would be nice to win with some style points. … the Skins QB is a kid called Taylor Heinicke, who played College Ball at Old Dominion and has been a 3rd String/Practice Squad guy with the Viqueens, Pats, Texans, Panthers, St. Louis BattleHawks (XFL) and now the Skins; one of those “fan favorite” guys that we always seem to have around the Packers. Heinicke’s dad was apparently a die-hard Packer fan, and he grew up idolizing Favre and wears #4 in honor of Favre. Too bad for Heinicke, the dumbass dove and hit his knee on the turf and was down on the 1, and the TD was called back! (But let’s be clear, in real football he scored a TD, just not in the current NFL where nobody understands the rules anymore because they are over complicated.) On the following play the Defense had one of their best plays of the year (on 4th and inches). We got the better of Heinicke on this play, but he did run scramble for 95 yards total, a real concern going into the TH night game against Kyler Murray and the Cards. The WTF’s have four 1st Round Picks in their D-Line, one of the best in the NFL, and it showed on Sunday. They completely shut down the running game, we had 13 rushes for 40 yards and Dillion had 2 fumbles on 3 carries (Rodgers had an additional 17 on 2 carries). On this one we were not only beaten but beaten while trying to hold. On pass plays Rodgers was generally under pressure, particularly when the Skins were stunting, much like the last two games. Rodgers gets sacked by 93 Jonathan Allen when he beats C Patrick and LG Runyon on a stunt. The formula for making it difficult on the Packers is to get home with 4 rushers and drop 7 into coverage. Give the Skins credit, even with no DB’s to speak of, they held us 304 Total Yards and 27 min time-of-possession. On top of good D, we had another problem this week with FG kicking. Have a good look, the ball is not only low it’s spinning sideways. A bad kick for sure, but we had “leakage” in the middle and on the Packers right side (again). We are not getting it done in the place-kicking game, and “leakage” was coach-speak from ST Coach Drayton and LaFleur for “our guys cannot f’ng block.” Gotta fix that. So, we won? Yes, Jimmy we did, even if it didn’t feel like it. "We're 6-1," Rodgers said. "Coach's dream situation is winning and still being able to correct a lot of things, so they're happy." Let’s have a gander at the big picture and look at all the Drives for both teams throughout the game. One of the reasons the game felt choppy and not really in our favor is that 5 out of our 9 Drives ended in a punt a fumble or a blocked FG. We scored some points, but we did not control the clock. On 7 of the Skins 10 Drives, we had a good outcome on Defense (no points, the blue line below). Many of those Defensive drives felt bad because we gave up so many yards, but we did block a FG and got an INT and a fumble. Rashan Gary had a fantastic game and Lowry, Coach’s favorite whipping boy over the last few years, has been playing pretty dog gone good in 2021 (unfortunately for him this was ruled a fumble recovery and not an INT). Shockingly, to Coach, we now have the No. 7 Scoring Defense and over the last three games, we have the NO. 3 Scoring Defense behind the Cards and the Bucs!! Let’s hope we can take this D to Arizona! Football is a game of inches. In a moment of, “Really, your gonna call that here?”... On first and 99 ¾ yards from our own goal line, Cobb got called for a false start. Both the Packers and the Skins got a laugh out of this one. Anyway, that’s not the point for Coach. We went absolutely nowhere on this drive after Heinicke was stopped on 4th and goal. Rodgers had a good day statistically, but did nothing on this drive when we were leading 21-7 in the 3rd Qtr. The Sabermetrics guys will tell you that statically the Defensive Team has a higher chance of scoring here then the Offensive Team. Not so for the 2021 Packers. Let Coach introduce you to the Packers MVP for the win over the Skins. In a complete “tole-ya-so” moment for Coach … it has been clear from game one that Borky the punter has been one of the best free agent acquisitions of the Offseason. Borky had three punts:
Borky, your MVP of the game and a guy who is going to win a few more down the stretch. WTF – Coach’s take on football news that’s messed up ‘New York Times’ Releases Jerry Jones’ Hateful Telegrams Slamming Ottoman Empire ARLINGTON, TX—Revealing hundreds of humiliating and bigoted messages wired by the Cowboys owner last century, The New York Times released a trove of hateful Jerry Jones telegrams Wednesday in which he repeatedly slams the Ottoman Empire. “The Sultan and his brainless Mohammedan hordes are fools for thinking they have any right to rule the Levant,” said one of Jones’ messages, which contain repeated insulting references to the Anatolian people as “greedy spice merchants,” and “butchers of the Balkans.” “I told the Czar he should have crushed that rabble when he had the chance, but now the whole world still trembles in fear of those degraded pirates. Hopefully the Greeks will have their revenge and soon the world will finally be free of the Ottoman menace.” At press time, Jones was refusing to resign as Cowboys owner citing those opinions as completely normal considering the historical context of Texas in the year 2021. The Bears Still Suck – Coach has proof Injured Bear Praying It’s Season Ending CHICAGO—Clutching his hand and screaming in pain in hopes of willing his ligaments into being torn, Bears running back Khalil Herbert was praying after his team's humiliating loss Sunday that his injury would be season ending. “The doctor was smiling as he escorted me off the field; I hope he was just doing that to make me feel better,” said Herbert, who claimed that going down after a brutal collision only to hear you could be back on the field by November was every Bear’s nightmare. “As soon as I went down, I could tell it was only going to be a month, six weeks if I can milk it. You come into the season with so much promise thinking you could be cut loose, but now I can only hope God looks over me and I end up on the IR.” At press time, Herbert was slamming the Bears medical staff for their incompetence after being told he could return next week. Udder Stuff – Commentary from the Badger Underground PREPPING FOR CAMP RANDALL CORN ROAST! After the as-predicted drubbing of the Boil Lancers on their home turf, we at the BU are getting fired up. As a reminder, here is what we foreshadowed in last week’s dispatch, as we pat ourselves on the back with a victory lap (prediction was 31-10)...
We are not sure if he put "Death Row" on the arm to scare Purdue or to scare away anyone who might potentially try to stick a vaccine in his arm, but we love that he’s writing menacing phrases on his arm with marker. That is who you want playing linebacker. Who could have predicted that Bucky wouldn’t have a completed pass in the last 39 minutes of the game, finished 1-11 on 3rd downs and had 5 fumbles, 4 by Braelon Allen. The offense still can’t pass block and Chryst obviously does not trust it enough to give a more balanced attack. With two offenses seemingly incapable of executing a forward pass facing off Saturday, the game will be decided on turnovers. Iowa has been more successful creating turnovers and not committing turnovers. Don’t expect Chryst to allow many opportunities. The alternative would be ugly, like the 2015 clash when Badger QB Joel Stave was responsible for 4 turnovers - 2 fumbles, 2 INTs - including a botched handoff at the Iowa 1-yard-line in the 4th quarter and the Badgers trailing 10-6. Iowa’s offensive line is just as bad as Bucky’s when it comes to pass blocking. Most receptions either way will be to tight ends, with a few going to running backs. Offensive scores will be set up by turnovers and a resulting short field. Expect at least one strip six. Bucky’s defense will spend more time in the Iowa backfield than they will spend in our backfield, see #5 above! We rush for 140 yards and Iowa rushes for 85 yards. Neither team exceeds 120 yards passing. We attempt more than 10 passes only if we fall behind by 7 or more. Bucky will be the last one standing, 13-6. We’re Gonna Kick Your @$$ – predictions for the upcoming game The Arizona Cardinals are the NFL's only undefeated team! Oh no, we cannot win! How you say in Engrish? Oh yeah, "Bullshit." Statistically it’s true, we are toast:
Not so fast, Bucko -- Vegas has installed the Cards as 3.5-point winners. Wait, are they nuts, the Cards should kill us! No, Jimmy, Vegas is not crazy, we have a real shot at winning this game. Jimmy, you may be aware that BeriBeri is out as D-Coordinator with Covid, and that D-Backs Coach and former Top-5 NFL DC Jerry Gray will be running the Defensive show. Advantage Packers. You may also be aware that Davante Adams is out, and Rodgers does a better job of running the offense with him on the sidelines (6-0 without Adams in the LaFleur era, put “Adams” in the search bar above and you’ll see the analysis from two weeks ago). Advantage Packers. No BeriBeri, no Adams? No problem! These are exactly the kind of challenges that provides Rodgers the motivation to play well and spread the ball around! Let’s take a little trip down memory lane, you may remember the headline from 2018, the last time we played the Cards … … and the outcome of that game … which lead to the firing of Melissa McCarthy…. Goodbye and good riddance to McCarthy, hello LaFleur, thank you Cards! We are 45-26-4 all-time against the Racine / Chicago / St. Louis / Phoenix Cardinals. NFL/Packers interstitial trivia … quick, what was the last Team that Curly Lambeau coached?
Coach is not gonna tell ya, you have the Google, you can figure it out … Ok, back to The Show!!!, in the Rodgers era we are 2-2 in the Regular Season (1-1 Home and Away), with an average score of about Packers 22-20 over the Cards. The “however” is that we’ve had two heartbreaking OT losses in the desert. Both Playoff OT losses were on TD’s, including the heartbreaker in 2016 on Larry Fitzgerald’s TD. But our 2021 team is much more like 1982 than 2016. Wait, what? 1982 NFC Playoffs: January 8, 1983 The Packers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 41-16 in the first home playoff game since the Ice Bowl 15 years earlier. Bart Starr’s Packers finished 5-3-1 during the strike-shortened 1982 season, which earned them the 3rd-seed in the expanded NFC Playoffs and a date with Neil Lomax, O.J. Anderson and the Cardinals. Lynn Dickey was starting his first playoff game, and the veteran signal-caller came through with flying colors. Dickey threw for 260 yards and four touchdowns, including a sweet 60-yard toss to John Jefferson in the first quarter that put the Packers in the lead for good. J.J. finished the game with six grabs for 148 yards and a pair of scores. For Dickey, who played in Green Bay from 1976-1985, the game was the high point of his career. “I just kept thinking, ‘Man, mid-January, it’s the playoffs at Lambeau Field. It doesn’t get any better than this,’” Dickey said. Truer words never spoken. Nobody else may see the win, but Coach does! Packers 30 (OT) Cards 27 JB – Packers you forgot about, but stories you’ll remember about them So Coach was at Lambeau on Sunday (of course) and after the final gun I befriended a senior man donning Washington Football Team wear who came to Green Bay from DC to watch the game. I ask him if the fans here treated him well, and I’m proud to say he quickly responded “Yes, everyone was real nice here.” We did the small talk thing and he mentioned that coming to Lambeau was on his bucket list. I asked him why, and he said he wanted to see Rodgers in person (he also joked Washington would take Rodgers if he wants out of Green Bay next year). Then another senior citizen (must have been eves dropping on us) leaned in and commented that it was his first game at Lambeau, too, and he’s been a fan since Lombardi was a Coach in 1959. The first gentlemen then said (to my amazement), “Oh, I played against one of Lombardi's players when I was in high school, Willy Wood. I was from the east side of DC and he played for the technical school, Armstrong. He was a big deal in DC in those days, but we won the game 24-23.” I said “You still remember the score?” and he replied, “Well, it was a pretty big game!” Awesome stuff. Anyways, I immediately went to the interweb when I got home to find and share the lowdown on Packers great, Willy Wood (you’re welcome)… Willy Vernell Wood was an eight-time Pro Bowler and a nine-time All-Pro. In 1989, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. More than that, Willy Wood was one of the best defensive backs in NFL history, grabbing 48 interceptions during his career, with a reputation as a tough hitter. He had a memorable interception in Super Bowl I when the Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs. He has a street named after him in Washington DC. “Willie Wood Way” is the block of N Street NW between First Street NW and New York Avenue NW. He grew up on this stretch of road in the 1950s, and Wood played football at the neighborhood boys club before he went on to become a star player at Armstrong High School and a quarterback at USC -- the first African-American quarterback to play in what is now the Pac-12 Conference. Undrafted out of USC, he was granted a try-out with Green Bay. Wood changed his position to safety in his rookie year, and played for the Packers from 1960 to 1971, winning five NFL championships. He holds the record for most consecutive starts by a safety in NFL history. Wood went into coaching and was the first black coach in professional football when he coached the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League in 1975. He was also the first black coach in the Canadian Football League. Holy F’ing shit that’s amazing! I wish I knew more about Willy Wood sooner, because he had an amazing career – unfortunately the best of it on the grid iron was a little before Coach’s time. Also unfortunate, he past away in February of last year … he was 84 years old. Now, I think(?) the WFT fan that I met may have mentioned Willy Wood was a grade or two ahead of him in high school, which means my new acquaintance is probably over 83 years old. I hope I am that spry if/when I get to be that age. Oh, and he did mention he intends to come back to Green Bay again next year to watch another game! So, a lot of salutes go out this week:
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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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