Welcome back to The Coach Clarahanson Show!!! Of course our lead story is the big new out of Minnesota last Sunday… Can Anthony Barr Recover This Season? MINNEAPOLIS-It's been a bittersweet week for Anthony Barr. First, he's on top of the world as literally hundreds of adoring Vikings fans in US Bank stadium cheered the injury of Aaron Rodgers -- a direct result of the late hit by the line backer and his subsequent driving of Rodgers' shoulder into the fake turf. Then, Barr found HIMSELF on the sideline later in the same game, concussed. A severe drop in cognitive function was apparent before halftime when Barr seemed to contort into spontaneous awkward body positions consistent with concussion-caused Spastic Cranial Uninterrupted Motor Based Abilities Grouping (a.k.a. SCUMBAG syndrome). Despite their victory over the Packers, most Vikings players were markedly somber in the locker room following the game – clearly distraught over the concussion that Anthony Barr incurred. When asked for his thoughts on Barr's injury, fellow teammate and All-Pro defensive lineman Everson Griffen said "This is, for all intents and purposes, pretty much the end of our season." And backup starting quarterback Case Keenum had similar remarks regarding Barr's impending lengthy duration out of the lineup, suggesting that "...lacing 'em up each Sunday is probably pointless now." Barr's concussion protocols could be a tricky proposition. Some players can bounce right back for the next game after a blunt force hit to the head, such as what happened to Packers swann-song wide receiver Davante Adams a week ago last Thursday. But the vast majority of NFL players, such as former Packers cornerback Sam Shields, could get knocked out of the league entirely by a mild autumn breeze if subsequently continuing to fail concussion interrogations, even despite smoking pounds of medicinal cannabis on therapeutic basement couches every day. And if all that weren’t bad enough, now Barr has been allegedly accused of sodomizing farm animals. Mildred Flapjack of Coon Rapids, Minnesota told local TV55 reporter Michael Michiels “I couldn’t believe my eyes as I was heading out to the barn, when I looked up I saw number 55 straddling Bessy’s backside!” Anonymous sources have confirmed these allegations, which has Midwestern farmers aghast and fearful for their livestock and livelihood. Rumors surfaced after Barr’s longtime friend, Leigh Harffy, let it slip in this recorded therapy session that the two of them would fondle milk cartons showing pictures of missing children, and then steal farm animals – usually sheep or bovines, for their unique method of tenderizing meat (Click on Link). The situation has rightfully provoked outrage and even threats toward Anthony Barr should he recover in time for the Christmas Eve eve game at Lambeau. Community organizer Martellus Wallace claimed “Barr’s lost all Green Bay privileges. Local dairy farmers will go medieval on his sorry ass.” Celebrities have chimed in, too. Off-again / on-again Manitowoc County inmate and Netflix superstar Steven Avery said “…the dude is just plain sick. It’s horrifying to think what he put those poor animals through. There’s a special place in hell for guys like that.” And former NFL running back Orenthal James Simpson concluded “I think he did it. The preponderance of evidence is overwhelming. That’ll be $10.” So, with his lack of cognitive brain function and the court of public opinion weighing heavily against him, can Anthony Barr get his head on straight in time for the playoffs? Well, assuming his backup can stem the tide long enough for the Vikings to muster a winning season, and presuming the Lions will present their pro forma collapse following the annual Detroit Superbowl on Thanksgiving Day, anything is possible. Bet on karma. Create a seam here - X's & O's about the game or a scheme “Adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it” - Pliny the Elder (b. Gaius Plinius Secundus) in AD 71 after his defeat in the Navel Battle of Vikingi, and later repeated by Mike Sherman the Dumbass after a self-induced debacle against the Πειρατής του βορρά on October 21st, 2001. All you need to know about the 2017 season can be told in a few illustrations. Too much of this… …led to this... …which resulted in this… ...and of course this... …and is summarized in this (the final Box Score). "So, Coach, is the season over?" No, NOTHING is over until we decide it is!! (Click on Link) As loyal readers know, Coach has been hard on Magic Mike from time-to-time and his completely incompetent Defensive-Coordinator / Bouncer-at-St.-Rita’s-Bingo-Night. But we must give Mike credit for his inspired speech and actions after the devastating injury to #12. (Click on Link) To be sure, losing Aaron Rodgers for the game to a broken clavicle was devastating. Like everyone else, Coach hopes for a 7 to 8-week recovery, as when #12 broke the left shoulder in 2013. But ’cause this time it’s his throwing side, Coach’s professional opinion is “this aint a good sign.” Important point --- we had no, none, nada, zip pressure on Case Keenum and we made the career journeyman look like a superstar. OK , slow down here, grab a pencil and take notes --- neither #12 nor #7 play on Defense. Hundley actually did pretty well under the circumstances. He was running for his life on virtually every snap. 3/5’s of the line was on the bench by the end of the game. Bulaga and Bakhtiari started, but were re-injured and Lane Taylor had his ankle rolled up in a pile. Of big concern to Coach is that B&B were limited in practice this week and Taylor didn’t practice at all on Wednesday…and don’t forget our #3 thru #5 backup tackles are on IR…hell, we even have a punter on IR. By the way, Vince Biegel, after spending the last several weeks at NuMale medical center, has finally been pulled off the Physically Unable to Perform list. But back to football… With #7 in charge the pattern under TT/MM/Big-Legume is unchanged. We have beaten the four teams we faced this year who had losing or break even records over their last 6 games, and we have lost to the two winning teams we faced. Now is the perfect opportunity for Eminem to back up last year’s proclamation that he is indeed “…one of the most successful coaches in this league.” Either that’s true, or Aaron Rodgers will prove by process of elimination that he can take any tool with a weight problem and a whistle into the playoffs. WTF - The Coach's take on football news that’s messed up NFL Ceremony Honors Retired 52-Year-Old Cornerback As Oldest Living Former Player SEATTLE—In a wildly successful attempt to garner more revenue for teams during their bye week, the NFL conducted a ceremony that filled CenturyLink Field with rabid Seahawks fans last Sunday. Eliciting a standing ovation for their longtime cornerback as he gripped his walker and slowly hobbled to midfield, the service honored 52-year-old Ronald Dutton as the league’s oldest living former player. “Ever since my father retired in 2002, he has missed being out on the field, and he would like you all to know how thrilled and excited he is to be honored by you all today,” said Dutton’s 22-year-old daughter Kayla as the hunched and visibly confused former Pro Bowler was directed to look into the camera for a photo-op with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell before gingerly attempting to lift his arm and wave to the roaring crowd. “We would like to thank the NFL for taking the time to salute their alumni, especially when those like my father have so little time left. Though as happy as he is today, I just know he wishes all of his teammates were still alive to be here with him.” Following the ceremony, Dutton’s family reportedly returned him to his assisted living home after the Seahawk’s great drifted to sleep in the stands during a 7-minute video clip of his career highlights played on the stadium’s giant screen in the north end zone. The Bears Still Suck - the Coach has proof When you’re the butt of Rob Riggle’s jokes every Sunday on Fox’s pregame show, you’re either Terry Bradshaw or da Sheekahgoa Bears… Too F’ing hilarious to pass up! (Click on Link) Bears Kicker: “I’m not gay, I just like to slow dance up close with guys.” BALTIMORE-Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but Bears placekicker Connor Barth is not gay. The fabulous eight-year veteran baller said as much on Chicago’s 670 THE SCORE radio show during a post-game phone interview from the steamy locker room after Sunday’s victory over the Ravens. “I just put it out there and asked Mitchell if he wanted to dance, that’s all. It’s not like I tried to kiss him or told him that I liked him or anything. Why, did he say something?” When asked about the awkward moment on the field, rookie quarterback Mitchell Tryburntskin laughed it off and said “I told him to get in line behind everyone else!” Rival GM Ted Thompson was reportedly interested in Barth when current Green Bay placekicker Mason Crosby uncharacteristically struggled making kicks 3 years ago. Recently, Crosby missed a couple of “gimme” extra point tries that almost cost the Packers their victory in Dallas. When asked if the overall success and long term contract of Crosby was a barrier to entertaining the thought of having Barth at camp in Green Bay next summer, Thompson smiled and winked saying “…no, I’m still interested in him.” Udder Stuff - commentary from the Badger Underground Are these Badgers for real? Are they coasting through games and hiding their true talent? We sure hope so! Last Saturday was pretty painful to watch as Bucky made a game of it against the Boil Lancers of Purdue. What a relief it was when we had that red zone pick late in the game and the Water Heater Fabricators knockin’ on the door. Even though at no point did the Badger Underground staff feel we were going to blow the Boilerpopper game, but the adage that “bad things happen when you turn the ball over” bit us multiple times, leaving the underdog hanging around and believing in themselves. Hornibrook came out threading the needle on two early passes, providing the illusion that he could continue to do so and get away with it. Pick #1 was thrown into a crowd of defenders. Yes, Danny Davis III ran the wrong route, but it would have been him vs. 2-3 defenders for a 50/50 ball. Hornibrook’s other pass that should not have been thrown took place on a screen route. It was obvious to everyone in Camp Randall & those watching the game at home that the play was well defended and going nowhere. It shoulda been thrown into the ground or outta bounds for the cry yi yi! Despite these self-destructive tendencies, Wisconsin did put up 494 yards of offense on a rainy day. If Jonathon Taylor had not fumbled near Purdue’s goal line, Wisconsin would have gone up 24-9, Taylor would not have sat out the next series and would have increased the likelihood of reaching his thousand yard in six games record. Hornibrook did pass for almost 200 yards and completed some huge third down passes late in the game to ensure the win. The most important was to Kendrick Pryor for 20 yards on third & 12 late in the game, preventing a final Purdon’t possession. Jonathon Taylor needs to share some tough guy pills with Braderick Shaw. He ended last year and came into this year with the most burst of any RB on our roster. Yeah, an early knee injury slowed him, but carry opportunities due to other RB injuries are going to waste. Taylor runs through arm tackles like they are high-fives, while Shaw gets taken down regularly with arm tackles. Regarding our previous mention of the vanishing Jazz Peavy, it was finally disclosed that he has been dealing with a leg injury for a few weeks. Third down go-to man turned decoy Fumigalli had zero targets probably due to continuing hamstring issues and a wet field. Cephus continues to dazzle with speed and good hands not seen in the Badgers offense for a few years. Too bad greater effort was not made to accelerate his development a year ago (before the 2nd half of the Ohio State game) when Wisconsin needed him the most and had all the other pieces in place for a playoff contender. Wisconsin’s offensive issues are correctable and yes, they would have triggered defeat at the hands of Penn State or Ohio State were those teams in Madison last weekend. There is plenty of time to clean that stuff up, but the ill-advised picks thrown by Hornibrook the last two weeks are coming at a time when he should be improving, not lapsing. Exceeding that sloppiness has been the rash of illegal procedure calls, particularly over the last two weeks. We don’t recall ever seeing anything like this since Barry arrived at Wisconsin. Wisconsin teams are typically disciplined, commit few penalties and take care of the ball. Focus boys, focus! Defensively, Wisconsin went vanilla after losing T.J. Edwards to targeting and losing Loudermilk to injury. Purdue took advantage, moving the ball and eating clock before their own self-destructive tendencies took over. The drop off from Edwards was noticeable as we got shoved around a bit. We go into the Maryland game as 24-point favorites. Maryland has three first string QBs and a playmaking receiver. They are down to their third string QB, but he can put up some numbers. They have beaten Texas and a Minnesota team in transition. Their problem is that they can’t stop the run or pass and can’t get to opposing QBs. This all plays into Wisconsin’s hands, with the inability to get to Hornibrook being a key to fluffing up those second half red zone conversion and QB rating statistics that were racked up against similar lesser defenses. We are still looking for the bubble screen and other TE plays that were a staple under Paul Chryst as OC. Even with Fumigalli’s injury, we have other TE’s who can catch the ball. It was cool to see Garrett Groshek come in as QB and run the ball twice for 32 yards. We see some stunt pounding formations with Garrett the true freshman from Amherst Junction along with Brad Shaw and Taylor and double TE’s. We call it the Oreo formation, the Wisconsin version of the wishbone. We finally get it together this Saturday against yet another lesser opponent. Dry field, 70 degrees, students late arriving, one turnover, one procedure penalty, no Hornibrook interceptions, Wisconsin 49, Maryland 17. We're gonna kick your a$$ - predictions for the next game The Saints have been on a roll of late and have won three games in a row in very strong fashion. In a surprise to Coach, they are actually #5 in Point Differential, while we fell to #14 after last week’s loss. “So does that means we will lose, Coach?” Hell no! Coach doesn’t care if 3/5’s of the OL is out and if Morgan Burnett is out at Safety. This is a real-man’s game, and real teams play and win with who they have on the field. Brett Hundley has been tutored by Mike McCarthy for 3 years and has an outstanding set of WR/TE’s, plus Aaron Jones in the backfield with him. The Packers probably have the fastest backfield in the NFL this week. Brett part deaux had a chance to practice with these folks, something the #2 QB doesn’t normally do during the season. It was evident Wednesday in the Don Hutson center that Martellus Bennett is already very comfortable dropping passes from Hundley. There are plenty of nay-sayers out there, and the Vegas line swung by 12 points (from Packers favored by 6 to now being 6 point dogs)…but Coach doesn’t care. We have a very good team with Super Bowl aspirations -- and we are playing at home, against the ’Aints. New Orleans has been taking the Packers lightly after the news of Aaron Rodgers going onto the IR; so lightly in fact that they substituted their regular practice regimen for a hacky-sack exhibition with the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team! For chrypes sakes, hey - we gotta hand it to dese guys. Count on me and all my inebriated bleacher-mates to pour deafening screams onto Drew Brees at high noon on Sunday, and that will make a difference. But perhaps not as much of a difference as the confidence that 3-star Mike has instilled in his players. (Click on Link) Nobody cares about injuries when it comes time to receive either your Lombardi or Participation trophy at the end of the year. Losing Aaron Rodgers is tough, but Packer fans, suck it up: New Orleans is next. GPB: 24 Aint’s: 21 “…just win baby” – Al Davis JB - Packers you forgot about, but stories you'll remember about them A lot can happen in 40 years… …but one thing hasn’t changed, Coach’s fond memories of his childhood idol in the Packers backfield, the blocker for Big John Brockington, unsung hero at fullback and number 1 pick by the Packers (soon after he blew his knee out in the college all-star game) in 1974, Barty Smith! There are some memorable names on my 1977 bubble gum card – I loved watching them all every Sunday at noon (the Packers weren’t good enough to get afternoon or Monday night games back then). And look at those stats! Which 2017 Packers are going to surpass 8 sacks, much less the 16 total that Dave’s Pureifory and Roller put up? Nicked Perry had 8 last year, but the $42 million hairdo with the wayward drone toy only had 5. And although another one of Coach’s all-time fav’s is Steve Odom, this week’s focus from the 1977 team stats leaders will be on Barty Smith, who had an underwhelming 554 yards rushing that year and less than 2,000 yards over 6 years. But he was a fullback and did a ton of blocking for John Brockington and Terdell “Turd Burglar” Middleton while trying to keep John Hadl off his own backside. By way of comparison, Ty Montgomery only had 457 yards last year. Anyway, enough with that crap. I betcha didn’t know Barty comes from a show biz family: And fullback Barty is not to be confused with wide receiver Barry Smith, who was a major flop as the Packers 1st round pick in 1973, and more infamously the illegitimate step-brother of Sonny Bono: Barty was a tough guy. Green Bay loved him for it and he loved them back. Said Barty of his years in GB, ““I lasted six years and we weren’t very good, but I remember fondly the way we were taken in by the people there. As mediocre as we were, we were treated exceptionally. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be there now as Super Bowl champions. That boggles the mind.”
After football, Barty parlayed his acquired affection for beer in Green Bay to land a lucrative sales job as a VP selling Coors, Corona, and other watery brews. You know, like making love in a canoe… Anyways, hats off to Barty Smith, and may the Packers play this week like he did (except that this time we win)! Now let’s go martyr the Saints.
0 Comments
Welcome back to The Coach Clarahanson Show!!! Our lead story… Intensity in Twin Cities MINNEAPOLIS—Green Bay Packers fans Betsy and Mindy Riemenschneider reached out to injured Minnesota Vikings players Dalvin Cook and Teddy Bridgewater on Tuesday for a goodwill double-date proposal. As preamble to attending the Vikings home game against Green Bay this Sunday, the Oostburg, Wisconsin twins will be visiting the twin-cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul on Friday for follow-up appointments with the orthopedic surgeon who intentionally broke their legs 8-weeks ago in order to enable them to walk in a straight line without tripping over their inner thighs. “Our mom can drive us!” exclaimed an exuberant Mindy, noting that it’s not possible for the twins, nor the recent 1st round draft picks in purple, to drive with their legs in mechanical restraints. Betsy revealed that she obtained Bridgewater’s phone number from her surgeon, Dr. Harold Babbar, who also repaired the quarterback’s separated knee-cap in August 2016, and purportedly is disgruntled over payments allegedly not made by the Vikings organization. Betsy went on saying “I told Teddy: ‘Ma is our designated driver, so that means we can all get drunk and do whatever!’ but who knows if he’ll go for it -- let’s just say he’s got a pretty good chance of getting lucky if he does … somebody’s ovulating!!!” Rookie running back Delvin Cook could not be reached for comment, but said through an interpreter that he hopes his legs will be as strong as theirs someday. Create a seam here - X's & O's about the game or a scheme Quick…back in the way back of your head. When was the last game that Travis Frederick (former UW Badger) and Nick Perry (former USC Condom) both had fumbles and fumble recoveries in the same game? After the game, Coach was a bit surprised to see we were +2 on turnovers for the game. That’s great, Coach said to himself, but self, all I remember is Diphtheria Scandal pick-6. Was there another turnover in da game? I doan remember dat one. So’s Coach digs a little deeper and thinks, “Criminey, not that whacky play at da end?” You betcha, the stat line for dat play was: 4-1 for the 2017 Season, with a 3rd straight win at JerryWorld, what could be better? Coach is gonna break it down for you... ...we lead the all-time series with the Cowgirls 15-13. …Aaron completed 19 passes and Aaron had 19 runs for 125 yards. …Aaron Jones has emerged as a legitimate running threat, with a +5 yds/carry average over two games. …the Offense continues to look a little bit better every week and obviously had the clutch drive to win the game with 1:16 left on the clock. …Janice Jefferies finally got to return a kickoff. It didn’t go anywhere, but they finally let him have a turn, so now he feels better. …Vogel had a game turning 59-yd punt with a minus 1 yd return to pin the Girls back at their 12-yard line, setting up the pick-6. ...last week’s burn victim, Damarious Candle, made the pick-6! …Dom “big Legume” Capers ran the base 3-4 for most the game… for a 2nd game in a row. That’s right, Dom had 3 D-linemen in for about half of the game….and shocker here…they shut down the run again!! Well for 3 quarters anyway (more below). …”Big Picture” we are averaging 27.4 points a game and have the Number 6 ranked offense. Fun fact, over the 8 previous seasons the MM/AR combo has averaged 27.7 points a game, so the offense is right on track with normal. ...Jerry Jones cried at the end of another Packer-Cowboy game as the Pack continues to dominate! He was so upset he announced this week that the Cowgirls will all have to stand at attention with their hands over their hearts when they are not actually playing on the field. OK, now that we have all the sunshine out of the way… as shown below, we have the No. 20 Ranked Defense, giving up 22.4 points per game. Like the Offense, we are right on track with MM/TT/Big Legume historical trends on Defense. In the SuperBowl year of 2010 we gave up 15.8 points per game and were ranked No. 1 in the NFL. The other 7 seasons (2009-2016, n/i 2010) we gave up 22.8 points per game and have averaged the 18th ranked Defense. Basically, exactly where we are now. Coach’s is tired of telling you the D is awful, so let’s ask you if your gizzard gets painful thinking about this “stuff”. Point 1 Run Defense? Fourth-quarter Ezekiel Elliott looked nothing like he did the first three quarters. After holding him to 31 yards on 16 carries the first three quarters, Elliott exploded for 85 yards on 13 carries in the fourth quarter. "We definitely hit our stride in the fourth quarter," Elliott said after the game. “You saw early in the game they were stacking the box crazy, so many guys were in there. But Linehan had faith in us and he kept running the ball and I guess they wore them out and in the fourth quarter we had some big gash runs." Oh, my gosh…is this the 1990’s? That’s the story line of every Packer-Cowboy game in the ‘90’s where Emmitt was bottled up for 3 Quarters and gashed us in the 4th. Coach asks you, is this good enough run D to win a SB? Point 2 Character of Team? Score GB 22 Dal 24; Dalass ball, 2nd & 7 @ Dal 13 yd line. GB is lined up in our now “standard” 2-4 Nickel D, but wait, Clay Matthews is lined up as one of the ILB’s, along with Jake Ryan. As you can see in the video (Click on Link), CMIII does a great job and breaks immediately on the pass. Hard to know for certain, but it looks like Zak Pisspot’s throw is disturbed by Clay’s presence and Dimlylit Candle easily runs back the infield pop-fly for a home run and a 28-24 Packers lead. (Coach is sponsoring a mixed-metaphor contest soon.) As fantastic as that play was, it completely falls apart when the fricking Dipstick Randle does the Junior High thing and tosses the ball at Prescott…drawing the 15-yard penalty for Unsportsmanlike Conduct on the Kickoff. As Coach said last week, I would cut this guy in an instant. Coach would expect the veterans on the team to go Code Red on this dumbass, as Coach would with age-appropriate disciplinary actions back in the day when preparing his Middle Schoolers for an athletic contest. Marty Bennett, if you’re reading this, it’s time for Dam Randall to get a golden shower and a swirly. Randall’s immature and moronic play set the Cowboy’s up at their 31-yard line and put them in position to possibly win the game with a TD. Coach asks you, is this player high enough character to win a SB? (#RandyMoss) Point 3 Coaching Score GB 22 Dal 24; Dalass ball, 3rd & 2 @ GB 11 yd line; 1:18 left on game clock. One of the reasons Coach has been optimistic this year about improving the D, is that we have added good, experienced veterans. You know, like we did with Hardy Nickerson …wait, uh, scratch that. Ahmad Brooks has been a stud LB at SF and we picked him up on the waiver wire during the offseason. So far, he’s looked good at OLB and Coach is predicting a 6-sack season for him in 2017. But this play absolutely drives me crazy! Before we dig into the mistake, let Coach point out that this was 3rd down with 1:18 left to go. If Brooks plays this properly, Dalass still may have scored and run out the clock in the process. Thank goodness, sometimes being lucky is better than being good. In the shot below, Brooks is lined up at ROLB/DE at the bottom of the screen, and Dak is in Pistol with Elliot behind him. Everyone in the stadium thinks Elliot is getting the ball to pick up the 1st down…especially Brooks. Dak fakes the handoff and Brooks crashes down the line to tackle Elliot in the backfield. Great play, only he doesn’t have the ball, dumbass. What Brooks was supposed to do is contain the end of the line first and make sure that Prescott doesn’t do exactly what he did do. Again…if he plays it correctly and he tackles Prescott in the backfield, we may have lost on a last second Dalass TD. We like being lucky. Coach asks you, is this Defense coached well enough to win a SB? Coach is always optimistic about the Pack and he will explain more later/below about why we are going to kick the V’Queens into next week…but for now feel free to shout “Coach Downer.” Bad defense does not win championships, and so far, Coach sees no evidence of sustained improvement on Defense. OK, enough realism about the Capers led Defense for today. To end this section on a bright note, last Saturday Coach saw Mark Murphy out at Menard’s, prepping to make The 2017 Participation Trophies really gleam. He saved big money. WTF - the Coach's take on football news that’s messed up Shameless. It was incredibly difficult to watch ESPN’s presentation of the Star Wars movie trailer being interrupted before and after by an NFL football game on Monday night. As the actors donning Stormtrooper outfits marched onto the field during halftime and pointed to the big screen (so fans knew where the trailer would be displayed), I threw up in my mouth. What’s worse, ESPN game announcer Sean McDonough was stuck in front of the camera for what seemed to be way too much time making obligatory comments using hyperbolic statements implying everybody cares about the movie that is set to release 2 months from now. Actually, nobody cares. Over 20 Years Later, Infamous NFL Referees Reappear IRVING, TX—Coddling the Cowboys “for old times’ sake,” 3 of the 7 NFL referees that threw consecutive NFC Championship games in favor of Dallas in the early 1990’s reared their ugly heads once again to thwart the Packers chances for victory on Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The worst of the bunch, head referee Terry McAulay, was a rookie on the 1995 crew that overtly handed NFC representation in Super Bowl XXX to the Cowboys. Retired Back Judge Earnie Frantz, with an unannounced appearance, made his presence known early by flagging Blake Martinez on a 3rd and Goal incompletion, claiming a personal foul when Blake avoided Dez Bryant, a defenseless receiver (but not as defenseless as that call). Of course, instead of having to kick a field goal, Dallas got a “free” TD with 1st and Goal from the 1 yd line. And, not to be outdone, head linesman Walt “Lazy Eye” Lupita pulled his classic 5-yard walk-off for a 10-yard holding penalty on Dallas late in their final drive – which, as it turns out, made the difference when the Cowboys eeked over the line to gain on 4th down of that possession. Fortunately for Green Bay as Rodgers started his final drive, both Lupita and Frantz had to immediately excuse themselves for their 6:30pm appointments at the Jerry Jones Cowboy Urinalysis Clinic (JJCUC) – and, without fellow zebras in cahoots, head ref McAulay had to rely on less tenured officials making unbiased calls based on the actual rules of the NFL. The Bears Still Suck - the Coach has proof Did you see that game Monday night? Well, then you know. Not only do we know that they suck, ESPN’s John Gruden even said “when I watch the Bears I get bored” during the nationally televised broadcast! Hey kids, believe it or not, the Monday Night Football game used to have the NFL’s best teams playing, not the crap on display Monday in Chicago. Da Bears trotted out their 107th quarterback in the last twenty-five years, and this Turdbiscut looks like the prior 106. Jay Cutler, Mike Glennon, whoever, they all sucked and so does this guy. The Vikings had no problem holding him scoreless in the 1st half. Although, to be fair, the Bears 1st touchdown was a pass … but by their punter! He looks like the best thrower of the bunch. Classic Bears: trade up from the #3 pick to #2 in order to draft a QB, wait to play him until all other rookie QB’s drafted after him (that have started) look like they belong in the NFL, and then when the Bears finally do play him -- the punter completes their only touchdown pass. Referencing him as a savior of the franchise and hailing him as “Chicago’s Brady Quinn,” Mitch Truebitchsky’s 1st start sure had the crowd fired up. Watching on TV, Coach actually saw Bears fans in the Soldiers Fields stands high fiving each other for a 1st Down gained in the 3rd quarter. Seriously. Like that means anything. That is just sad. For added evidence of Bears’ suckdom, that 1st Down … was overturned. Udder Stuff – commentary from the Badger Underground 10:43 mark in 3rd Quarter after pick 6: Barry Alvarez in typical subdued tone – “OK Chryst, your experiment with Hornibrook is over! See late 90’s game plans. In the short term, i.e. right TF now, you will adopt a run first, pounding attack! Otherwise I have an opening set up for you as the Sun Prairie HS….for the swim team! “Thank God!” says Badger Underground. Had it not been for this wise change of game plan, we would not have been nearly so accurate in predicting the score of the Nebraska game. Sure, Horn Dog had his way with the BYU Cougs. So TFW. He looked solidly like a typical UW QB who becomes an NFL clipboard holder (at best). In the first half against the ‘Holers, Horn Dog was positively Mike Samuels-esque. Hence the hypothetical call downstairs from Señor Alvarez. Pleasantly unanticipated was that true frosh Jonathon Taylor would run for 249 yards. Conversely, who woulda thunk that the normally stout defense would give up 313 yards in the first half alone? Anyway, it all worked out in the end and we won 38-17. Maybe we should quit our whining. .. But, gall darnit! Offensively, Hornibrook’s brief bouts of inaccuracy are becoming a concern! Despite two receivers being in the same spot, the pick-six pass (spurring the game winning decision to run relentlessly) against Nebraska should not have been thrown. As we have realized throughout most of the season, reserve offensive linemen will see playing time again this week due to injuries. The drop-off has a more significant impact on the passing game than on the running game. Enough about bygones and the 8th rated 5-0 team…What’s up next? Purdue! As you may recall, the Underground has a couple pointers for the Badgers to key on, but Bucky has not been listening!
Yes, we are tough graders, but if Bucky wants to be academically and otherwise eligible for the playoffs, he must do better. We think he can. So, what do we have coming at us from the Boilermakers this week? This? Kyle Orton was one of the best Bear QB’s in the last several decades (sad as that may be). Click here to see how Bucky took care of him. The other was a pretty good Pur-Don’t QB who wears similar colors on Sunday. Nevertheless, we occasionally had our way with him too! Click here to see how Wisconsin dominated the night he passed for over 500 yards in Camp Randall. We were there. The Badgers won. We will not see such nail biting this Saturday, not even close! There’s no arguing that the Boiler Plates have turned the corner off rock bottom and the players have bought into what the new coaching staff is selling. This Saturday, however, a handful of matchups will work in Wisconsin’s favor in a big way. Purdue lacks downfield receiving threats and cannot exploit Wisconsin’s sometimes vulnerable CB’s or lack of an edge pass rusher. Purdue does not run the ball well, making their offense relatively easy to defend—kind of like the Bears offense of the last two weeks. They do throw to TE’s frequently, but WI has no problem defending TE’s. Purdue will be dealing with some defensive injuries and will likely have little success in forcing Hornibrook out of the pocket. Despite playing a physical and attacking defense, they have only 5 sacks in 5 games. Look for them to put up a good fight defensively until Wisconsin’s O-line & running game wears them down in the second half. Expect a continuation of the Barry Alvarez “pound it” offensive attack. The BU staff would love nothing more than to see Wisconsin come out of the tunnel to a full student section, look crisp, put the hammer down immediately, and strangle this baby in the cradle. Forecasted rain could make for some turnovers which could keep Purdue hanging around. Despite the worry level for this Saturday being lower than that of the last two weeks, it would not be a good week to come out flat (again, Bucky needs to follow our pointers). We say 40-10 and Bucky rules. In other Big Ten news, last week’s Michigan State upset of Michigan was worth a double-take. Michigan State has seen its recruiting base eroded a lot by the arrival of Harbaugh. Given that Khaki Pants has recruited so well, he has been under heavy criticism this week for not just the loss last week, but the poor showings throughout this season. Look for Michigan to lay a beat-down on the Hosers this Saturday. The rest of the Big Ten schedule is quite frankly a snoozer. On a last note, a shout out to the ‘Clones of Iowa State! They bested the Sooners in a huge away game upset and allowed Bucky to climb up the worthless rankings by two notches. We're gonna kick your a$$ - predictions for the next game Point number “a” is that we won last week and passed the eye-test while doing it. We are 4-0 against bad and average teams and that’s what you need to do to get home playoff games at the end of the Season. After the Queens game, we should be able to say next week that we are 5-0 against mediocre teams. The table below is a little aide-memoire of how we got to this point and how strong our opponents were (as measured by how well they did in their six previous real games). The second point is that we are “for-real” again this year and are currently 7th in Point Differential and Turnover Differential (vs. 16 and 12 respectively for the purple penis eaters). These stats obviously don’t mean a thing during any given game, but it does point to the fact that we do have at least a good team that is “gooder” than the mediocre to good Visqueens. Recall on Monday night against the Bears they looked like a steamy pile of fresh dog doo...until Zimmer replaced Sam Bradford with Case Keenum at QB in the 2nd half. Then they looked more like the hard, flakey white dog poo that’s been sitting in the hot sun for a coupletree weeks. But not so fast matey... Mike Zimmer has been kryptonite for AR since his days as D-Coordinator in Cincinnati. Going back to 2009, Rodgers is 4-4 against Mike Zimmer defenses, although he did light it up in Lambeau for 38 points last Christmas Eve. Zimmer likes to rush 4, keep everyone in their rush lanes to keep Rodgers in the pocket, and play everyone else in coverage (mixing up Cover-2 and Zone). Expect much of the same this Sunday, but don’t be surprised if their best CB, Xavier Rhodes, is matched up on Davante Adams instead of Jordy. On Offense, they have a vastly improved OL and expect them to run a lot, even if you’ve never heard of the guy who has the ball. Case Keenum can pass (what is he, like their 7th string QB?), and Thielen and Diggs are very good receivers who will rack up a few yards and a TD. But, if we stop the run first and take our lumps in the passing game, we should come out just fine. And fear not…take solace in the tried and true adage: the Bears suck and the Vikings blow. This little video stroll down memory lane should bring you to an easy little chuckle... Classic Vikings Choke -- know your place Randy Moss can suck it! The word you are looking for is “schadenfreude” (look it up). In a “Randall Code Red Special” Coach sees this as the easiest game of the year so far, and an end-to-end blowout: Green By Packers: 34 Scandinavian seafaring pirates: 17 JB - Packers you forgot about, but stories you'll remember about them This week, we take you back to the 1961 NFL Championship game, the first ever in Lambeau Field. The Packers' only other championship home game until then was 22 years earlier in 1939, played at the State Fair Park in West Allis outside Milwaukee. To set the stage, the temperature at game time hovered at 20 °F and for several days the field had been covered with a tarp, topped by a foot of hay. The covering was particularly significant as just two days before, the temperature dipped to −15 °F. Field conditions were of paramount concern if the teams were to make effective use of the running game. At Lombardi’s insistence, all the Packers players used cleats and about half of the Giants players, led by head coach Allie Sherman, chose sneakers, believing they would grip better on a frozen field. At 6 a.m. on game day, workers began the arduous process of snow and hay removal by hand using baskets, as heavy equipment could have potentially damaged the field. Arguably, the icy conditions and the Giants’ error led to the 37-0 emphatic victory for the green and gold, the first of 5 championships in 7 years in the Lombardi era. Also of note, Packers Ray Nitschke, Boyd Dowler, and Paul Hornung, were on leave from the U.S. Army for this game. Times have changed…. Note there were a whopping five turnovers in this game. We highlight those of two Packers, Hank Gremminger and Jesse Whittenden who each had an INT off the now late NFL great, Y.A. Tittle (nice name). Both Texans are in the Packer Hall of Fame. After football, Hank was a contractor and later worked in the banking and insurance business, and was a county commissioner in Parker County (somewhere in Texas, I think). After football, Jesse was a bouncer at the then new Paradise Club in Appleton (you remember … “Guys, there’s strippers at the mall!”). Coach and his Badger Underground compadres frequented the shady, neon-lit establishment before it was outclassed by easy access to internet porn and cheating wives on Tinder. But I digress… Although the great Tittle had three consecutive NFL Championships with the Giants, he had a sub-par performance this day. He went 6 for 20 for 65 yards and 4 INT’s for a QB rating of 1.0 (check it out!). Who knows how he woulda done had the Giants worn cleats? We salute you Hank, Jesse and, what the heck – you, too, Yelberton Abraham! Now, let’s kick the Vikings ass!
Welcome back to The Coach Clarahanson Show!!! Congrats to this week's contest winner, Neal Enbob of Mukwonago, for correctly guessing a whopping six of Coach's top ten hotties! For his good taste and astute gift of observation, Neal wins a pair Brown County resident tickets in the standing level of the south end zone for next year's Bishop's Charities game! Here are the picks (I rated them in a manner that, should any of these lovelies take exception to a chick ranked better than her, a cat fight might break out)... 10. Channel West Coast 9. Elizabeth Banks 8. Megyn Kelly 7. “Hippie Jenny” from Forrest Gump 6. Daphne Blake 5. Carrie Underwood 4. That chick from Dead Pool 3. Halle Berry 2. Mila Kunas 1. Megan Fox You’re welcome. Now let’s talk some football! Create a seam here - X's & O's about the game or a scheme Wow, what a beat down? 35-14, eh? Just another typical Bears game… AR passed for 313 yards and 3 TDs for 102.6 rating. Just a few days earlier, he got his 1st career OT win and, with 303 career TD passes, he surpassed John Elway for 10th most TD’s all-time. Not bad for a week’s work. Lest we get too giddy about the big win, let’s be clear, the Bears were down 14-0 and the game was essentially over the by the time those losers had their 2nd play from scrimmage in the 1st Qtr. That allowed us to run the ball and Coach also recalls that we were 3-1 at this point last year and everyone was extolling the defense. “So, is there anything we should look to improve Coach?” Glad you asked. Well, in the good ole’ days of Vince, Curly, hell even Mike H., when a player got seriously out of line they were cut by the team. In Coach’s opinion, the Packer’s 2015 First Round Draft Pick Damarious Candle needs to be cut, or at least sent home to watch a couple of weeks of football on TV. To be fair, Randall was benched after Bears receiver Kendall Wright caught an 8-yard touchdown pass over him late in the first half. After the play, Randall acted as if he expected coverage help from another member of the secondary. Secondary Coach Joe Whitt replaced Randall with second-year pro Josh Hawkins and Randall was seated alone on the bench as the rest of the defense was either on the field or standing on the sideline. By the end of the game, Randall was nowhere to be seen on the bench and there were conflicting reports about whether he left on his own or was kicked out, and whether he left the stadium before the game was over, or not. Coach doesn’t give a rip about those juicy tidbits, the main thing is that he got his ass beat and he was a punk about it…which means good bye. Watch this video (Click on Link) and pay attention at the 6-8 second mark and then again in the 38-42 second mark where it’s replayed from another angle. Randall’s reaction -- that he thought he had help -- does match the video evidence. Look at the sequence of screen shots below from the video and decide for yourself. In the first shot it’s clear that there is no other help for Randall. There are 7 guys up crowding the line-of-scrimmage and Randall is the deepest DB. Just before the snap he looks left and right, so there is no question that he knows that the 4 DB’s are 1:1 with receivers. Just after the snap, at about 8 seconds on the video, Wright makes a shoulder move to the inside and Randall bites on the fake. Unrelated, I chose a really bad font color to point this out... Randall immediately tries to recover from his misstep, but you can see in his body language that he is crapping his shorts because he knows he’s by himself. It all happens in about a second of real time, but the result is a wide-open Wright who catches the easy TD. Not pretty, not acceptable, not on Coach’s team. Here’s hoping the “Leadership Team” grows a pair and lances this boil before it gets any worse. But back to the positive, there were so many cool story lines in this game that Coach could go on and on and on and on….. ….we now lead the all-time series 95-94-6 against the Bears, our first lead in the series since 1933 and we are ahead 3,370 to 3,345 on points scored. ….our top 5 tackles can’t play so the starting offensive line was comprised of four guards and a center and they played really well (two starters injured and the next three are all on IR). ….our top two running backs, Ty Montgomery and Jamall Williams, got knocked out of the game and Aaron Jones finishes the game looking like he’s the best of the three. ….oh, yeah, and there’s that cheap shot by Bear’s linebacker Danny Trevathan that concussed Davante “Where’s my mouthguard?” Adams. ….Dom “the Big Legume” Capers actually ran the base 3-4 for the majority of the game. That’s right, Dom actually had 3 D-linemen in for most of the game….and shocker here…they shut down the run!! ….we beat Bears D-Coordinator Vic Fangio, again. Coach thinks Vic is evil incarnate because he has bedeviled the MM/AR Offenses when he was at SF and now in Chicago. Anyways, the W will come in handy. WTF - the Coach's take on football news that’s messed up Does anyone else think "color rush" Thursday night games should involve teams with uniforms that don't display as black versus white? Just sayin. Rodgers: “I think I can play into my 70’s” GREEN BAY–Superstar NFL quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers, announced in an exclusive AARP/Sunset magazine interview that he believes he has discovered the secret to longevity and will play well past the government-mandated age of retirement. “It’s all about my conditioning and nutrition,” said Rodgers “much of which I learned from my good friend, Tom Brady.” And, much to the dismay of silver-haired reporter, Maxine Fishbeck, the virile 30-something eligible bachelor went on to espouse the performance enhancing effects of abstinence saying “My balls are bluer than Tim Tebow’s since I sent Oliva packing, but throwing an accurate football is an orgasm of its own in many respects.” When asked how long he thought he could play, Rodgers made no bones about his intent to break Brett Favre’s incredible consecutive games streak, suggesting he would more than double it even though his current streak began after his clavicle injury in 2013. Reacting to his QB’s bold assertion, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said "I hope Aaron CAN last that long because we will need him. It's clear we are never getting rid of Capers, and God help us if he lives to be 100." ADVERTISEMENT–From GMG and Fireside pictures, comes a suspense-filled drama starring ex-NFL great Peyton Manning. She had a perfect family … an adoring husband … an ideal life … but she also had a dark secret … she liked to collect … football players. (Click for THE DARK SIDE trailer) MADISON–In case you didn’t hear about this… What’s with the Badgers student section at Camp Randall? Student tickets for football games typically sell out in minutes via an electronic lottery system, while drinking opportunities are available all weekend, every weekend. The student section normally does not fill up until early in the second quarter, which makes for bad TV optics. Last Saturday, however, it NEVER filled up and was half empty for the fourth quarter with a mass exodus following “Jump Around” and a 21-10 lead. The culprit was found a mere 20-yards west of the stadium on Breese Terrace. Advances in beer bong technology by the Breckonridge Fluid Power Institute at the University have improved capacity, flow and the ability to accommodate multiple participants simultaneously. Avoiding the crowd surge prior to and following the game, and the accompanying cut-over to bargain beer, have encouraged more in-game indulgence. Look for this trend to continue as beer sales and a drinking age exemption inside Camp Randall are not in the near-term future. The Bears Still Suck - the Coach has proof Yeah, beating the Bears (again) is obviously great (yawn), but let’s get to the important takeaway from the evening…the Bears really do suck!! Please recall (or if that’s too hard, scroll down) that last week Coach predicted: ...in the end the Packers, despite have Dom Legume at Defensive Coordinator, will beat an improving Bears team 21-17, because:
Back in the days of yore, George Halas was known as an innovator of creative football. “Papa Bear” can rest proudly in his grave knowing that Mike, master-of-his-domain, Glennon effectuated the first 15-yard knee-boot-fumble-rooski in NFL history. Please recall (or if that’s too hard, scroll down) that in the pre-season, Coach reported that Chicago Bears head coach, John Fox was: …developing an innovative new turnover for the 2017 season and advised skeptics to "forget everything they think they know about giving the ball away." Well, he succeeded. Ya just gotta watch this once, a coupletree tymz, hey (Click on Link). Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing any $16 million passes from the arm of Mike Glennon on Thursday night. Man, this Glennon guy really reminds me of someone… Bring on Turdbiscuit! Udder Stuff – commentary from the Badger Underground Reflecting for a moment on the Northwestern game, their shaky offensive line was one of the deciding factors in the outcome. Thorson is among the conference’s top QB’s along with PSU’s McSorley, but too often found himself running for his life or attempting to shed Badgers tacklers who sacked him 8 times. Though RB Jackson is on track to break several conference rushing records, he was limited by a leg injury and Bucky’s KATN defense. Except for the prevent defense and resulting garbage points late in the game after the Badgers were up 31-10, Wisconsin’s defense relentlessly brought the heat for three quarters. Jim Leonhard unveiled several stunts and new defensive looks which confused NU’s OL. It was a huge day for safeties Dixon and Jamerson, and for LB’s Dooley & Connelly. WI won this game with one good quarter of complete football. Northwestern came into the season legitimately expecting to contend for the Big Ten West division title. They were among the more physical teams that Wisconsin has faced over the last two seasons. Wisconsin made this game closer than it should have been in the first half with extremely shaky ball security. Jazz Peavy, the vanishing man, got the bad mojo rolling on the first play from scrimmage with a careless fumble. A handful of other first half fumble opportunities fortunately did not result in turnovers. Throughout the game Badgers receivers handled the ball as if they were begging to cough it up. Gotta clean that up. High & tight, boys. Speaking of cleaning things up, I don’t recall Badgers receivers winning a single 50/50 ball battle this season. Three such opportunities were thwarted by borderline PI from NU defenders, none of which were called since hand-fighting was going both ways. Despite that, Badgers receivers were not aggressive enough in going for the ball. Hornibrook took some hits in the second quarter, got wobbled and threw two picks. He came out stepping into passes with better results in the decisive third quarter. Play action passes were quite effective in the second half and should continue to present opportunities all season. Joel Willie Hornibrook’s lack of mobility is a liability that someone is going to make us pay for later this season. NU dared Wisconsin to pass with 9 men in the box, knowing that they didn’t need to account for TE Fumagalli. Despite that, this season Hornibrook is resisting the temptation to force the ball to the primary receiver (Fumagalli or Peavy) and is working through his progressions. Provided that the OL allows him the time to do so, there are big passing numbers to be had. The Badgers go into the Cornholers game Saturday night as 11.5 point favorites. Nebraska is deservedly getting no respect from Vegas for consecutive wins against bottom feeders Illinois and Rutgers. This game is being billed locally as a showdown for the West title. It is not. Gone for Nebraska are the days of lining up a bunch of roided-up corn boys and running the option. This is not 1974. Look for Nebraska to lose 5 or 6 of their last 7 games. Nebraska possesses a mediocre QB in Tanner Lee, who is at least as immobile as A-Horn, but with a more porous OL in front of him. NIU sacked him 3 times and racked up 5 TFL’s. Lee has thrown 9 picks so far this season, including 3 pick-six’s. Anticipate yet another feeding frenzy from the Badgers’ front seven. The Cornholers do not run the ball well, making them one-dimensional. BU predicts 11 sacks, 5 hurries and an evening full of intimidation. Nebraska does, however, possess a duo of elite receivers who will present challenges to the Wisconsin secondary. Look for the Badgers front seven to limit that exposure. Good news for Wisconsin is that star Tight-End Troy Fumagalli returned to practice on Friday. Though it was widely reported that he suffered a hamstring injury settling a 50-yard dash bet with David Bahktiari, the Underground can refute that assertion. Noticing that Fumagalli only has 9-fingers, and subsequently working around a myriad of HIPAA restrictions to follow that lead, BU staff uncovered that he lost a digit and was subsequently shot in the hamstring while wood-working up north during the bye week. (Click on Link) So only Wisconsin can defeat Wisconsin in this game. Consistently good defense can be counted on, which is key to winning on the road. Expect Nebraska and everyone else we play this season to load the box and make Wisconsin’s young receivers beat them. Wisconsin’s biggest risk is that the young receivers are intimidated by the blackshirts and disappear, drop passes or fumble in the flat. Saturday would be a good night for Jazz Peavy to resurface from the ranks of the missing. Lincoln is well established as one of the CFB game-day experiences, which could also adversely impact the focus of young Badgers receivers. Here is a sampling of the top picks from the locally inbred field of dreams (#hotbodyweirdface)… Look for Danny Davis III and the other young Badgers receivers to overcome these distractions and git ’er done. Badgers 35, Cornholers 13. We're gonna kick your a$$ - predictions for the next game Awright, off to Dallas this weekend. Green Bay leads the all-time series 18-17-0 and have dominated recently with 6 wins over last 7 games. Those wins include knocking Dallas out of playoffs in 2014 and 2016, so the Cowboys will be out for revenge. (worth it to Click on Link) With all the injuries we’ve had to the Offensive line you may be interested to know how our “alumni” have been doing with their new teams and how they might have helped had we kept them. Former pro-bowler Josh Sitton (cut at the end of 2016 Training Camp) has been a frequent flyer on the Bears injury list and 2017 free agent T.J. Lang is on a similar path with the Lions. Surprisingly JC Tretter (also 2017 free agent) has managed to stay off of the injury report in Cleveland. As much as any of these guys could have helped the 2017 Packers, the salary cap reality of the NFL means you can’t keep them all and two of the three have already been sitting out of games anyway. The Packers have had their share of injuries but they are not the most injured team in the NFL, that honor goes to 2-2 Baltimore. The chart below shows the number of games won vs. the number of “games lost due to injury” and shows that Green Bay has lost 30 player-games so far. As Coach has pointed out previously, both New England and Green Bay use the IR as an active roster management tool, so those two clubs consistently look to be among the most injured. Interestingly, Kansas City, the only remaining undefeated team at 4-0, has had almost as many injuries as Green Bay. You can argue that the less injured teams are winning (Buffalo and Atlanta are examples of that) and that the more injured teams are losing (Indy and Chicago are examples off that), but overall there is not a strong correlation between injuries and winning or losing. The point is that unless your objective is winning another participation trophy this year we can’t whine about injuries, we just need to figure out how to get past them. So how are we doing? OK, to be sure, 3-1 is a good start, but that’s where we were last year before hitting a tough patch of losses. We’ve beaten the losing teams that we’ve played and we lost to the only team that had a winning record. To get a feel for how tough our schedule has been, Coach looked at the record of each or our opponents over the 6 games prior to when we played them. The teams we beat had a combined record of 6-12 and the Falcons were 5-1. Winning any game in the NFL is an accomplishment and we need to beat up on the losers…but we must beat the winning teams to get where we want to be at the end of the season. Dallas is another loser, but they won’t be pushovers. They are a strong rushing team and we’re going to need the Big Legume to play with 3 down linemen and make Zak Pisspot beat us with his arm. As we’ve seen through 4 weeks, especially in the loss to Atlanta, shutting down the run is critical to winning any game. We showed last week we can do it, now we have to shut down Ezekiel Elliott. You may recall that Coach is a firm believer that scoring more points than the other guys is a fundamental of winning football games. So how are we doing at the quarter point in the 2017 season? Not bad, OK, better than some, not as good as others. It’s still very early in the season to put too much weight on statistics (around Thanksgiving is a good time), but we’re averaging 5 more points than the opposition. While that’s not bad, most SB winners are in the +9 or greater range. Hopefully as we get the offensive line back together over the coming weeks we’ll see the point differential reflecting more dominant wins. While we are at number 8, Dallas is well down the list and basically is break-even, pretty much reflecting their 2-2 record. One thing Coach is not happy about is the Defense…. we are 15th in points allowed, giving up 20 points per game. Not good enough my friends, not good enough. While the Seattle game looked good at the time, they have shown themselves to be awful on Offense. And the Bear game, wow, in between Glennon handing us the ball we didn’t look that good against a very average Bears team. The Cowpokes have been playing well on Defense, but much like the Packers, they haven’t been getting any turnovers. The Pack climbed into 8th place on turnover differential with the Glennon-gift-package, but wasn’t getting much in the earlier games. So, what’s it gonna be this weekend? 31-24 Packers in a win fueled by at least one whacky special teams score. The week 3 Bears fiasco (the showboating on the blocked field goal that cost the Bears a TD) reminds Coach that the Cowpokes are very familiar with this kinda nonsense…in Super Bowl XXVII the Cowboy’s Leon Lett was on his way to guaranteed TD when the Bill’s Don Beebe (of Don Beebe’s House of Speed at Synergy Fields in Ashwaubenon) caught him from behind and knocked the ball away. Forced fumble JB - Packers you forgot about, but stories you'll remember about them Who is the top all time Packers special teams player named Travis? Arguably it is not Travis Jervey, who would be a pretty good guess. That Travis was well known for his reckless abandon on special teams in the mid-90’s. Now he is a surfer in Florida. Which Packer holds the team single season record for kickoff run backs for touchdown? Desmond Howard in 1996 would be a great guess, but wrong. Desmond was prolific that year in punt returns and of course had the really famous Super Bowl kickoff return for TD that was the dagger to the Pats and won him the Super Bowl MVP. Click here! Name two RB’s named Williams who were drafted by the Packers in the 4th round and hail from California. Here is a clue. One is Jamaal Williams. The other is this week’s feature player. Travis “The Roadrunner” Williams not only holds the Packer single season record for kickoff returns for touchdown, he holds the NFL record with 4 of them in his rookie season of 1967. He also holds the NFL single season kickoff return average of 41.1 yards! Like Desmond Howard in 1996, Williams contributed greatly to the drive to Super Bowl II.
Travis even had 2 kickoff returns for TD in one quarter! This was against the Cleveland Browns who actually did not suck back then. Coach Lombardi, genius that he was, pushed hard to draft Travis in the 4th round out of Arizona State. The insight paid off with Travis’ kickoff exploits even though he only had 1166 yards rushing in his 6 year career. After his injury shortened career, Travis fell on hard times, which is sad. Check out this video. Travis Williams, we salute you! Now let’s beat the Cowboys. |
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
Categories |