Welcome back to The Coach Clarahanson Show !!! Create a seam here - X's and O's about the game or a scheme It turns out that there was a game last weekend, a 23-zip ass-kicking by the Baltimore Raven/Browns. The first home shutout since the Pats put on a 35-0 spanking on the Pack 12 years earlier-to-the-day, November 19th, 2006. Coach was at that Pat’s game, and it was awful. Coach was also at last week’s Raven game, and it was awful. The only positive thing to say about those games is that the 38-10 whooping at Lambeau by the Jets in 2006 was even worse. Courtesy of Iopollo Sports Information Services (ISIS), we have a more detailed picture of just how awful the offense was. As ISIS points out, “the Ravens dropped 7 and rushed 4 most of the game, and Hundley didn't know where to go with the ball. He was tentative and insecure, facing a strong secondary committing a lot of men to making sure he didn't know where to go with the football. “The running game was non-existent (22 designed runs, 56 yards, 2.5 yards per carry and a lost fumble) so the Ravens were just happy to wait for Hundley to screw things up, and he did.” Yep, that’s what we all saw. While some have pointed to the play of our Legume-led-Defense as a positive outcome of the game… Coach remains in the Missouri-mode … “show me.” Baltimore has one of the worst offenses in the NFL and is one of the most injured teams in the NFL. The Chart below is from ManGamesLost.Com and shows the cumulative impact of all of their injuries. The Chart also shows that, even with the AR injury, the Pack has had only an average level of injuries and negative impact. This Coach is getting more and more upset when he starts to think of Eminem compared to some of the coaches of yore and how they have handled losing a starting quarterback. "Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence" Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) “Gentlemen, we will chase complexity, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can also achieve confusion.” Michael John McCarthy (November 10th, 1963 – until present day. Unknown date of firing from GPB, Vegas over/under is week 13) “Oh, and yeah (sniff), we also had a great week of practice (sniff), so if we can get that great practice (sniff), and of course, all of things we actually practiced (sniff), and some of those things that we discussed, but didn’t actually practice (sniff), to translate over to the game (sniff), then you know (sniff), we should do pretty well. It’s hard to win games in the NFL (sniff). Brett Hundley (cough) is my quarterback.” Congratulations Mike, you’ve reached your goal of confusion and have achieved symmetry. {Crowd makes polite golf clap here.} That's no hyperbole, and this level of futility got Coach thinking about truly great coaches. Mike McCarthy is a good coach. Just ask him. And maybe he is, compared to his idol and mentor Marty Schottenheimer. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and ignore his first couple of years. Favre retiring and A-Rod growing into the role was a bit bumpy. Since 2009, the beginning of the Rodgers/Capers/Thompson/McCarthy era, the Packers have won a remarkable 67% of their regular season games. Not bad, probably in the same league as Bellichick (77%) and Lombardi (75%) and maybe even the ’72 Dolphins who Shula coached to 14-0 (100%). But how does McCarthy stack up against the other Coaches when he has to use his back up QB, a real test of how well the Coach can direct his Team? Bill Bellichik has won 13 out 19 games (68%) without Tom Terrific in the 262-game-Brady-era. Don Shula won all 9 games started by backup QB Earl Morrall (#15 below) when he replaced starter Bob Griese during the Fins perfect ’72 Season. (Earl Morrall was known known as one of the greatest backup quarterbacks in NFL history. He played twenty-one seasons in the NFL as a QB and occasionally punted. During the 1968 Baltimore Colts season, he filled in for an injured Johnny Unitas leading to an NFL championship shutout victory in Super Bowl III, and during the 1972 Miami Dolphins season he filled in for an injured Bob Griese, leading to Super Bowl VII.) I knew Earl Morrall, and Brett Hundley is no Earl Morrall. Vince Lombardi won 12 games out of 18 started by backup QB’s. Most of those games were played by Zeke Bratkowski, #12 below, when he stood in for Bart Starr. Mike McCarthy has won 4 out 13 games (30%) without Aaron Rodgers in the TT/MM/Big-Legume/AR-era. No doubt that the QB is the most important position in the NFL. But let’s be crystal clear here…there is zero data to support McCarthy’s claim that he is any more than an average Joe at coaching. There have been some positive moments when Matt Flynn and Brett Hundley have stepped in for AR…but it’s just too painfully obvious that the whole team is not prepared sufficiently to play in the NFL. This is true on Defense and even more so on perpetually bad Special Teams play. What it really shows is that we are no more than a less-than-mediocre team, with a less-than-average coach and one fantastic player. As much as Coach dislikes the Cowboys and disdains their former Coach JimmyJohns-son, he did say something worth repeating… “…Success in the NFL is not based on who makes the most great plays, it’s who makes the less bad mistakes.”** ** Note: Jimmy Johnson is an NFL-pre-game-talking-head and former friend of Jerry Jones. He also makes a really good sub sandwich freaky fast. Please excuse the completely non-grammatical construction of his comments. The great Coaches sweat the details and match the scheme to the abilities of the players. McCarthy loves to make it complex and ensures that there is confusion on the field. If you want to vent your frustration and justified righteous indignation, Coach has found two web sites for you to peruse. The “McCarthy’s 5 Worst Coaching Traits” (which are comprised of…) 1. Play Calling (see #2) 2. Game Management/Adjustments (Coach thinks this is same as #1) 3. Player Selection and Substitutions (OK, but maybe this is #4 or #5) 4. Defensive Coaching Oversight (Duh.) 5. Fragile Ego – Public Relations (Coach doesn’t see how this affects wins / losses, its just entertainment value in post-game press conferences). Explanations of McCarthy's 5 Worst Coaching Traits (Click on Link) ...and the “Fire McCarthy” Facebook page. WTF - Coach's take on football news that's messed up In case you hadn’t heard, the NFL says Jerry Jones’ conduct is detrimental to the league … he is preparing to sue the NFL in order to remove Commissioner Roger Goodell from office. You see NFL ratings and revenue are way down this year, and Jones is not going to sit idly by while the precious income of millions of Americans migrates away from NFL merchandising toward a smoking hot stock market (#EarlyRetirement). Funny how Jerry Jones was just inducted in the Hall of Fame only 4 months ago, and now he’s a problem (#OrenthalJamesSimpson). A posthumous induction probably would have been better. …and we still wait for Jerry Kramer to be inducted? Note that Jerry Kramer actually played in the NFL, and won five NFL championships (instead of buying a team that won 3). Oh, and Kramer was named to the NFL's 50th Anniversary Team, which featured all Hall-of-Famers -- except him. Yep, Goodell has to go. Packers Duo Teams Up for Hollywood Sequel: Up In Smoke II GREEN BAY-Last year’s most exciting rookie, Geronimo Allison, has apparently taken this year’s most exciting rookie, Aaron Jones, under his wing. Pulled over in Manitowoc County for driving at speeds in excess of over 90mph, Aaron Jones admitted to Sherriff’s Deputy James Franz that he had been smoking marijuana. Ironically, teammate Allison was pulled over on that exact same stretch of I-43 for the exact same offense, and was hauled in to the County Corrections office for possessing marijuana, but at that time claiming “Uh, that’s not mine.” “I told Aaron” said Allison “when you smoke as much weed as we do, you’re gonna eventually get busted. But don’t be like me, tell the truth.” Jones gave credit to his sinsemilla sensei, Geronimo, for the guidance. “G gave me lots of good advice. We spent about an hour together in my backyard -- following my dog around with a baggie after he ate my stash.” The Bears Still Suck – Coach has proof None of these stats will shock you:
Bears’ Sitton to Packers GM: “Please Take Me Back, Ted!” CHICAGO—Bears Left Guard Josh Sitton is sick of being a loser. He said as much in a post-practice press conference Tuesday afternoon. “I can’t take it anymore, exclaimed the multiple-time pro-bowler.” Even without Aaron Rodgers, the Packers were able to defeat the bottom-dwelling Bears two weeks ago. In a frustrating rant, the UCF alum told reporters “I only took the job here because of the money, I always knew the Bears had no chance of being competitive. But now I realize the money isn’t worth it. I know this is gonna sound bad coming from one of the players on the team, but the Bears really suck.” Unconfirmed sources have alleged that, in a secret meeting arranged by Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in October 2017 between Josh Sitton and Packers Director of Player Personnel Elliot Wolf, Sitton offered his guaranteed money from the Bears to the Packers organization if GM Ted Thompson would take him back for the league minimum salary. When reached for comment this past week regarding Josh’s open offer, Thompson said “We’re pretty set with loads of healthy talent available on our offensive line right now, but I’ll think about it.” Udder Stuff – Commentary from the Badger Underground On a day of very poor NCAAF matchups, the Wisconsin vs. Michigan tilt was moved to 11 am to accommodate the evening Fox broadcast of a Pac-10 matchup. BU staff were among the many deer hunters lured away from the woods to watch Wisconsin vs. Michigan live. Much of the 12% decrease in opening weekend whitetail deer kill may be attributed to the duration of this game preventing hunters from getting back to their stands on a timely basis. That said, the time spent watching this game was worth it. Michigan is the best opponent that Wisconsin has faced this season. Wisconsin had at most a slight advantage on both sides of the LOS, before making some big passing connections in the second half and wearing Michigan down. For the second week in a row, Hornibrook completed some spectacular passes into keyhole tight windows with freshman receivers making great plays on the ball. As long as passes like these are going to be attempted, interceptions will continue to happen. The one interception thrown by the nation’s interception leader was thrown to a window that did not exist. That stuff needs to stop, along with red zone procedure penalties and holding penalties wiping out Jonathon Taylor touchdowns As foreshadowed here, Michigan’s run game was shut down by Wisconsin’s stout front seven. Michigan did do some damage via the passing game, with a pivotal first half TD disallowed. Immediately following was a momentum-changing make-up call overturning a Danny Davis III reception to convert a third down. It all evens out (#EvenSteven). Peeking ahead to Minnesota, everything on paper indicates that Wisconsin should shitstomp the Goophs on Saturday. Expect a large contingent of Badgers fans in attendance. In games where MN has failed to run the ball, their offense has melted down. After changing to a more mobile QB a few weeks ago, only 42 percent of passes have been completed since. MN is without their top WR. Wisconsin’s defense has enjoyed a steady diet of one-dimensional offenses all season. This Saturday should be a feeding frenzy. There’s nothing special about the Goophs’ defense against the run or pass. DE’s are undersized. They too have done ok against the many weaker Big Ten offenses, but have been lit up by the better teams. As coach Fleck has pointed out, failure is part of the growth process. There has been a lot of growing taking place at U of Minnesota this season. Wisconsin comes into this game 16.5 point favorites. Losing this game would be comparable to tripping on one’s dick, something Wisconsin has set out to do with flat first half performances during the last three axe game meetings. This game is the Goophs’ Rose Bowl. Winning it would make their season (#Pitt v. Miami). Expect a hard hitting game like the last three, prolonged if Wisconsin commits the usual array of first half sloppiness. Note that Wisconsin came out of the Minnesota game suffering injuries which contributed to defeat in Indy a week later two out of the last three years. Three years ago, Wisconsin lost their top offensive lineman and another offensive lineman due to injuries vs. MN. Containing Melvin Gordon and heating up Joel Stave came easy for the Bucknuts. Last year, having already lost NT Sagapolu to a broken wrist a few weeks earlier, Conor Sheehy broke his wrist vs. the Goophs. Once the DL exhausted itself with a short rotation vs. Penn State, Watt & Biegel became far less effective in the second half, allowing the secondary to be exploited. Recalling our Cotton Bowl victory over Western Michigan last year, Wisconsin is quite familiar with PJ Fleck (aka, captain of the cliché). In Badger Underground’s up close and personal background check, we discovered that PJ’s first wife was a hottie (#Sha-wing!). Too many nights chasing tail in Kalamazoo and a rumored one-nighter with a booster’s wife, apparently a visit or two to local gentlemen’s clubs and a passion for motor-boating led to wife #2. During the Gopher wooing process, PJ was spotted rowing the love boat on Lake Minnetonka with this new girl in town. As this season has spiraled downward for Minnesota’s fighting rodents -- taking a 9-win team and transforming it into a 5-win bowl ineligible team, PJ has again swapped out—this time for a trendy life partner. We’re gonna kick you’re a$$ - predictions for the upcoming game ...in light of the current situation, this week Coach debuts: “What the FUTSA” (what has to happen For Us To Stay Alive?) This week the Pack is a 14-point underdog game to the Stillers. So, “What the FUTSA”? Not so long ago, the Pack was a 14 pt underdog on the road during a season with high expectations. * *Maybe you have heard of the Super Bowl? The Packers won a trophy there in 2010 by beating the Stillers. In game 14 of that Season, the Packers were 14.5 pt dogs as they entered Foxboro to play the Pats on December 19th, 2010. The Pack came into the game at 8-5, with a loss the previous week in Motor City after AR was concussed in the 1st half. Problem? No problem! Matt Flynn to the rescue! We actually kicked NE’s butt for the entire game, with a couple of tiny exceptions. Defense? No problem! Offense? No Problem! Ahh, well we did have 2 turnovers and were minus 2 for the game. Special Teams? Ahh…… Dan Connolly rumbled 71 yards with what is believed to be the longest kickoff return ever by an offensive lineman (Click on Link). The Packers kicked their asses for 59 minutes…only to be submarined by a guard on a kick return. Oh yeah, Tom Brady did pitch two touchdown passes as the New England Patriots edged the Green Bay Packers 31-27 for their sixth straight win. Do you see the symmetry? I see the symmetry. You don’t? Well squint and hold your left foot up after you put some aluminum foil on your head, dummy. We started this year with high expectations only to see China Doll on the sidelines again. But now we have a budding Earl Morrall. He can’t win a game, but he can throw a pass into a moving car (Click on Link), so, you know, we have that working for us. I doubt Bend Roverburger can do that! Basically, we are counting on Big Ben and the Stillers fans to choke on their yellow towels, and, that we play perfectly on Defense & Special Teams, and, Hundley is “serviceable”. Should be no problem, Coach recommends you go 5 large on the Pack. F*** the Pittsburgh Steelers (Click on Link). Packers 27 Stillers 26 OK, hey I can dream too….. “Playoffs?” … Cue Jim Mora …”Playoffs?” No, no more local-talk-radio buzz about the playoffs. Coach isn’t going to weigh in on probabilities, other than to point out “Norm, it don’t look so good.” But, Coach will lay out the picture for you. IF we make it to 10-6, then we have a pretty decent shot of making the playoffs. Knock yourself silly with the following playoffs calculator. As you’ll see, if we drop to 9-7 and it’s more like 25% chance. How the Packers can make the playoffs (Click on Link For us to go 10-6, we need to go 2-1 over the next 3 games, and then we need Aaron Rodgers to ride a white horse into Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on December, 17th and win the last 3 games. Coach captured secret footage of Bianca Jagger actually training the horse for Rodgers to use. JB - Packers you forgot about, but stories you'll remember about them Back-up QB … a relevant topic in Green Bay these days. Since 1992 we’ve never really had to think about it … though now twice in the last 5 seasons it’s been a topic of crisis when AR broke his left and right clavicles. TJ Rubley, Brett Hundley, Matt Flynn, Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien, and who knows, maybe Joe Callahan. Hopefully they’ll all be answers to trivia questions, but recent history says we should always have a proven backup on the roster. With this week's JB we consider two of the best backup QB’s to ever play the game, Zeke Bratkowski of the Packers and Earl Morrall of the Colts and Dolphins. During a 1989 interview, Earl Morrall was asked what it took to come off the bench and be an effective quarterback and team leader. His response was, "When you get the chance to do the job, you have to do the job. That's all there is to it." In his more than two decades in the NFL, Earl Morrall played for six different teams, starting in 1956 as a first-round selection by the San Francisco 49ers and eventually was traded in 1968 to the Baltimore Colts. When regular Colts QB Johnny Unitas was injured in the final exhibition game, head coach Don Shula made Morrall the team's starter (#KurtWarner). Morrall went on to lead the Colts to a 13-1 record, then added two playoff victories en route to winning the NFL's Most Valuable Player award, leading the Colts into Super Bowl III (upset by Namath's Jets). Two years later, Morrall again replaced an injured Unitas in Super Bowl V, and the Colts won 16-13 over the Dallas Cowboys. In 1972, when Shula was the Dolphins head coach, Bratkowski joined him there and replaced the injured Bob Griese for the Dolphins during the team's Game 5 win over the San Diego Chargers. The victory gave Miami a 5-0 record, with Morrall building on that win to lead the team to the first undefeated regular season in the NFL since 1942 and the only undefeated season ever at 17-0 (14 regular season wins and three playoff wins). Morrall started 11 out of the 17 games that year. Morrall retired from the Dolphins in 1977 and was the oldest quarterback to start and win a football game in the NFL until Doug Flutie and then Vinny Testaverde broke his record almost 30 years later. In those 21 seasons, Morrall was part of 255 games, completing 1,379 passes for 20,809 yards and 161 touchdowns. Earl Morrall became the quarterback coach at the University of Miami and during his time there he worked with Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde and Mark Richt. Unfortunately, Earl died in 2014 and isn’t around to coach-up Brett Hundley. The Packers' all-time great backup QB Zeke Bratkowksi came to national prominence during his sophomore season at Georgia in 1951, and was twice the SEC passing leader. During his three-year career with the Bulldogs, he completed 360 passes for 4,863 yards. Bratkowski was considered one of college football's greatest quarterbacks of his day and was the NCAA's all-time leading passer until 1961. He also led the NCAA in punting his senior year in 1953 with a 42.6 yard average. Bratkowski was selected by the Chicago Bears as a "future choice" in the second round of the 1953 NFL draft and joined the Bears in 1954. After Bear’s QB George Blanda was lost for the season with a separated shoulder, Bratkowski started and won the last four games of the season. Bratkowski played with the Bears thru 1960 and then was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 1961. He played in Los Angeles for 2½ seasons before being signed in October 1963 by Vince Lombardi for the $100 waiver fee to become the "super sub" to Bart Starr. Nicknamed “Uncle Zekie” he became an ideal backup and spot starter during the Lombardi championship era. The most important point is that he won 67% of his games a starter in place of Bart Starr. In a 15-year NFL career, he passed for 10,345 yards and 65 touchdowns.
In the Western Conference playoff game versus the Baltimore Colts in 1965, Bratkowski relieved the injured Starr early in the game and led the Packers to a 13–10 overtime victory on December 26 at Lambeau Field. The Pack went on to win the NFL championship game against the Cleveland Browns on January 2, 1966. Can Brett Hundley do something like this? I dunno…but Zeke’s win was the first of three consecutive NFL titles for the Packers, unprecedented in the playoff era, and yet to be repeated. After coaching under Phil Bengtson in 1969 and 1970, Bratkowski came out of retirement to play again for the Packers in 1971 under first-year head coach Dan Devine, and appeared in six games -- with one start. The following year, Bratkowski became an assistant coach for the Chicago Bears, where he wasted a coupla years holding a clipboard on the sideline as a Bears player-coach, kinda like Burt Reynolds in Longest Yard, until he retired after the ’74 Season. A superbly conditioned athlete, Bratkowski was an early advocate of aerobic training for pro football players. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1989 and he was elected to the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. I have to admit, I didn’t know that existed. I bet the induction ceremony is a hoot! A big Coach Clarahanson salute to you, Zeke…we wish you were still available to help!
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9/6/2023 12:11:59 am
When you have finished returning your vehicle, take the lifts or escalators located on the south side of the deck and go up to Level 2's lobby. From here you can leave the building by way of one of the canopy covered passageways.
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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
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