September 2006 Archives
9/28/2006
Our "upgraded" secondary, Harris, Woodson, Manuel and Collins, take up over 12% of our cap space but have given up an average of 301 yards per game - second worst in the NFL. Compare that to 2005, sans Woodson and Manuel, when the Pack gave up 235.4 yards per game, 7th best in the NFL. So who is to blame? Bob McGinn blamed secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer last week. And PackerNews.com' Pete Dougherty called out Schottenheimer again on Tuesday. What about ex-Eagle Al Harris? Is he to blame? McCarthy discussed Al's play in his news conference yesterday. Actually, he didn't really rip him, only said Harris was, "not as consistent as he [Harris] would like." Al responded to McCarthy, appropriately (and through the media of course): "If he feels that I'm the problem, then getting me out of here may be the way they need to go... If that's what he thinks, then that's the way they need to go. I'm pretty sure there's somebody out there that would like me to play for them." | ||
 | ||
| ||
| Remember... there's no game Sunday. The Pack plays on Monday Night vs the Eagles. (I'm wishing for some payback for that "fourth-and-26".) In case you live in a hole... MNF is now on ESPN, not ABC. JSonline's game preview. ESPN Insider's scouting report. The Philly Enquirer's pre-game notes. NFL.com's preliminary injury report And sadly... Packer Great William Henderson's career may be coming to a close. His career stats won't show what he did for the Pack. | ||
| ||
|
9/26/2006 No serious injuries of note. Via McCarthy's Monday press conference, here's a run-down of the aches & pains: Kenderick Allen - toe Ryan Pickett - ankle Koren Robinson - tweaked knee Nick Collins - cramps |
|
|
| It's a bit of a chicken or the egg situation: winning Packers teams always run the ball well. We started the season by releasing Davenport and trading Gado. Then Ahman went out and ran 110 yards in the loss vs. the Bears. In Sunday's win, Ahman had 131 total yards and a TD. 68 of those yards and the TD came via the air. Ahman's injuries don't seem to hampering his all-purpose yards, so I've got to think that the new "zone blocking system" is not helping the Pack take control on the ground. In order to turn this season around, the running game has to improve. So, lets compare our numbers to the last great Packer running season - 2003. That year, the Pack averaged, per game, 31 attemps, 160 yards, 1.2 TDs. Compare 2006 to 2003: Vs Bears: The dropsees are our other, recurring running game problem. Tom Silverstein wrote a great article about the recent fumbles on JSOnline. Ahman has two drops in key sitations this year. And Herron lost the ball against the Lions after a great reception. Put the drops aside for a minute... Does McCarthy need to dedicate this team to pounding the ball and getting 30+ attemps per game? Or does the futility of the OLine and the Zone Blocking Scheme require Brett to throw the ball 30+ times in order to get a win? |
|
|
9/24/2006 Ahman almost blew it. With :54 to go, and the Pack up by a touchdown, Green rushed to the left, desperately close to a first down that would have ended the game. Instead, in typical Ahman Green style, he fumbled and gave the ball back to the Lions. The Lions could only manage to go 24 yards before the Packers' defense denied both a hail mary and the Lions a chance at a comeback. It was Ahman's second fourth-quarter fumble of the season. Ahman is a fumbler. When is it going to cost us a game? |
|
|
| From the box score: |
|
|
| The Pack improves to 1-2 with a much-needed win over the Lions. ESPN's box score is located here. JSonline's game summary is here. Brett Favre quote: "At times I said to myself, 'Ok, we can do this'. It reminds me of what we are capable of." Audio from the postgame news conference here. |
|
|
| The Pack plays the Lions in Detroit. The game starts at noon and it's on Fox. Lions are favored by 7. Previews: JSOnline. Green Bay Press Gazette's 3 things to watch. Packer Chatters' preview. |
|
|
9/22/2006 From Simmons's column this week: BYE (-10.5) over RaidersLet's hope that, when the Packers bye week comes along, Simmons will only have us as underdogs by a TD. |
|
|
| Thursday's Packer injury report suddenly has Ahman Green on it. He injuried his hamstring in practice Thursday. Scout.com's PackerReport has the details. If he can't go, that means Herron is the starter. Either way the Pack will have a tough time running the ball on Sunday. The Lions have held the Bears to just 89 yards rushing and Seahawks to just 91 yards. |
|
|
9/21/2006 If you had an eye on the Bears-Lions game last Sunday, you know that Detroit looked as bad as the Packers did playing against Chicago. The Lions weren't shut out, but the spread was just as wide, with the Bears taking that game 34-7. This was after Roy Williams guaranteed that the Lions would win, and that they were close to scoring 40 points in a game. That sure worked out great. I bring this up, of course, because the Pack plays the Lions this weekend. Whether you think this is a 4-12 team, a 5-11 team, or something else, those wins have got to come from somewhere, and last I checked, the schedule wasn't changed so that Green Bay had four games against the Raiders. ESPN's Power Rankings, which have the Packers "up" to #30 (up! ugh.), put the Lions at #27. In other words, ESPN writers think that the Lions are really the team that laid down for Chicago, not the team that made a game of with Seattle. Lions blogger Sean Yuille feels the same way: I'm more hopeful than the Bears game, but if they play the way they did in Chicago, than we may be talking about an 0-3 record.Of course, that's exactly what every Wisconsinite is thinking as well: step it up, or fall deeper into the quagmire that is the 2006 season. The Bears? Okay. A pretty good team, we just shouldn't have been embarassed like that. The Saints? Ouch. It'll motivate us to fight harder. But if Green Bay loses this weekend, it pretty much guarantees that the season is lost: Favre gets to spend 3/4 of his last season playing out the string, and the strong performances of guys like Donald Driver, Aaron Kampman, and (please?) Ahman Green will be wasted amid an enforced rebuilding year. Is that a lot of pressure for one game in Week 3 between two of the weakest teams in football? Yeah, of course: that's the NFL. The Saints game proved that the Packers offense has some life, and maybe the defense will produce as well, now that it doesn't have Reggie Bush to worry about. There's hope: at least enough to carry us through one more week. |
|
|
9/20/2006 Getting an early start on Sunday's Lions/Packers matchup. Where: Detroit's Ford Field, indoor "Stadium Turf" field Gametime: 1pm TV: Fox Lions depth chart. Injuries: Lions: LB Lewis, WR Bodiford, TE Fitzsimmons, G Verba PackerNews.com's preview. Detroit Free Press on Greg Jennings. Mitch Albom on the Lions' loss to the Bears. SI.com on Roy Williams's ridiculous victory guarantee. Why can't he do that to the Packers, and get them fired up? |
|
|
9/19/2006  If you've got a photo and you want it to show here... tag it with "packerbacker" in Flickr.com and we'll make sure we put it up. |
|
|
| Another episode of "all things Packers". |
|
|
| There's some growing talk about a potential Favre trade. The thought process is as follows: None of the local guys have dared to print anything about such rumors. But do a search for "trade favre" in Google news, and you'll find several outside-the-state media drawing their own Favre-trade conclusions. |
|
|
|
|
9/18/2006 |
|
|
Jason Wilde's Monday morning column/wrapup:The Packers' offense turned the three takeaways - two Drew Brees fumbles (one caused by Kampman, the other by Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila) and an Al Harris interception - into only one touchdown and two field goals. Bob Mcginn's article on JSonline.com: "At this point, having lost two straight at home, it's anyone's guess just how low the Packers might go in 2006." JSOnline points out that Farve is just 1-7 in comeback chances in 2005 and 2006. Michael Hunt's Monday morning column: "Because they cannot run the football with any degree of proficiency, the Packers threw away the one advantage they had, 13-0 at Lambeau Field, thus allowing the Saints to turn the game into the kind of track meet that favored their higher-powered personnel." Bubba Franks had an awful day, and apologized to the team. PackerNews.com's Game Notebook. Gado had three carries for 36 yards, including a 27-yarder against the Indianapolis Colts. Houston Chronicle article here (about 1/2 down the page). |
|
|
9/17/2006 Box Score here. Game summary from PackerNews.com: This was a winnable game that could have done a world of good for a young Green Bay Packers team groping for any kind of success and identity. |
|
|
9/15/2006 We still couldn't quite figure out why the Gado trade to the Texans happened. The official line is that the players "fit" their new teams better. Then I realized... Mike Sherman is an assistant with the Texans. |
|
|
9/14/2006 Every season, the inevitable late-season-full-roster-swap takes place between the bottom-dwellers of my fantasy league. Usually, it's The Hos and The Mullet. Doesn't this Gado-for-Morency trade sound like a fantasy trade? According to Journal-Sentinel this is supposed to be a trade to help us get a receiving back on long third downs. Morency had 10 receptions for 87 yards in 2005. His full stats from last season are located here. The Hos and The Mullet would be proud. |
|
|
9/13/2006 Offensive futility wasn't limited to the Packers last weekend: There was an average of 34.6 points per game in the first weekend of NFL action, the lowest for the first weekend of games since 1977, when there was an average of 27.4 in 14 games. Following that season, the NFL changed its rules on offensive holding, permitting extended-arms and open-hands blocking.Is it that all these offenses really aren't that good? Defenses getting better? A bunch of bad teams (who shall remain nameless) playing a bunch of good teams? Do the rules need to change? For my part, I love low-scoring games, at least those that are low-scoring due to defensive prowess, not offensive ineffectiveness--if I want to watch lots of offense, I can always turn on Sportscenter and watch 10-second snippets of 30-yard runs and touchdown passes. After all, if the Packers are going to win very many games this year, our best hope lies in inflicting a few shutouts ourselves. |
|
|
| J/S columnist Cliff Christl is getting a lot of pub after his Tuesday column about Koren Robinson. It's called "Shame, Shame on the Packers". Worth a read. Also... The timing of the the Robinson signing seems like a desperate move. The Packers could have signed him last week, but would have been responsible for his entire 2006 salary. So, in reality, the timing is contract/money related. If Koren drives a truck into Legends in week 5, the Packers can release him and not have to pay him for the rest of the season. |
|
|
| I've heard from old FIB friends all week, and I'm seriously getting sick of it. But, I'm happy to know that there's one FIB isn't having a great week: The furniture store on Route 34 west of Plano promised that if the Bears shut out the Packers in the season opener at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Labor Day weekend shoppers would get their furniture free. |
|
|
9/12/2006 I was riding the subway last night, coming back from a concert, proudly wearing my ball-and-glove logo Brewers hat. Two guys on the train are talking about how awesome Reggie Bush is and what a big season he's going to have. Guy #1: And you know what? Their schedule is soft, man. Guy #2: Yeah? Guy #1: You know who they play next? The Green Bay Packers! At least most New Yorkers don't know enough about the Brewers to say such things. This was a nice follow-up to a chat I had with my friend Joe, a hardcore Giants fan. He trashed Mike Sherman for a minute, then asked who the Packers' new coach was. I told him, and pointed out that McCarthy was the 49ers offensive coordinator last year. Joe just laughed. |
|
|
 So, he may be suspended by the League, but... according to JSOnline.com...Thompson said Robinson would be able to help the Packers both as a receiver and a returner and would probably be available Sunday for the New Orleans game. Link to full article here. |
|
|
| The Packers are terrible and we have a Wide Receiver with personal problems. No, it's not the 1985 Packers. It's 2006, and the Packers have signed Koren Robinson. Maybe Peg Lautenschlager can provide him with some advice? |
|
|
9/11/2006 Post game coach/player quotes. Green Bay Press Gazette's post-game grades Chris Havel's Rants and Raves. Michael Hunt: "Glory Days Fade into Distance". |
|
|
9/10/2006 Mark Chumura, on the ESPN Radio Milwaukee (1510) "Football Show", commented that if the Packers go 0-4 or 1-3 going into the week five bye, they'll start to look to play Aaron Rodgers. On NBC's "Football Night in America", Sterling Sharpe called the loss "atrocious". Sharpe added, "This loss will cost Brett Favre his job." |
|
|
| Disgusting loss to the hated Bears. Box score is here. It was Favre's first shutout. Silver lining? Ahman Green ran for 110 yards and had 22 yards receiving. Defense played the run well - held the Bears to 109 yards and no scores. Remember to make your Packer season record prediction here. |
|
|
| 3:15: I've got my Favre jersey on. Game time. 3:30: It's the 1st quarter and Woodson looks like a big waste of money. 3:35: This is going to be a painful game to watch. 3:50 Is this Bill Maas doing the Fox color? I thought Fox canned him? He's annoying, but he's not as annoying as usual, so maybe it's not Maas. 4:00 Run defense looks great, actually. Chicago isn't getting much at all. Too bad the Pack's passing defense is absolutely brutal. 4:15 Has Favre played yet? Do we have an offensive unit? 4:45 Second half starts and the Pack D gets their first punt. Nice! 4:47 The Punt goes out of bounds at the Pack 4. 4:55 Fox has this little sound at the start of each play when the down/yards to go disappear. It's really annoying me. 5:15 Wife says "Gosh, they stink." (She's a pats fan.) Forces me to change over to the Federer/Roddick final. 5:20 Fox has a robot animation. What the hell is that (other than creepy)? 5:35 It's 26-0. Gamblers that took the Bears are wondering what the line makers were smoking. 5:40 Is Greg Jennings playing? I see Ferguson a bunch but no sign of Jennings. 5:45 Has favre thrown an INT? Opp just threw one to Tillman. 5:50 Ferguson just interfered in the end zone... and no call. Then another Favre INT. 6:00 Directv High Def customers are screwed. For some reason, Directv didn't show 4 games. No clue why. And, I just realized, the HD channel lineup does not include the Milwaukee's (crappy) CBS station. So, when the pack is on CBS (away AFC games), they won't be in HD for directv viewers. Hmm. 6:10 Game is over, thank god. 26-0. |
|
|
9/8/2006 JSOnline.com's pre-Game preview. Ahman is ready to face the bears and Henderson practiced on Wednesday. Jason Wilde reports that Woodson will be the primary punt returner. Ticket brokers are happy about this season opener. More as I find em... |
|
|
| What will the Packers do this season? Make your prediction here, via our comments. Before Sunday's game, add your pick. Will they go 9-7? 10-6? 2-14? Put it on the line now, and we'll try to reward the winner (no promises - we're welchers). Tie breaker: number of Brett Favre interceptions. 2005: 4-12 and Favre had 29 INTs. Please use the comments. |
|
|
9/7/2006 I am mad. Not at my favorite team, the Packers, or its greatest player, Brett Favre, but at my fellow Packers fans. How many of these “Fans” remember the glory years of the 70s, 80s, and early 90s? The Packers were horrible with some remarkably unremarkable players. And then we walked into perhaps the greatest QB who has ever played the game. Season after season, he put up tremendous stats, winning MVP three times, taking the Packers to the SB twice and the Promised Land finally after decades of torturous wait. My team was finally not just respectable, but was the "IT" team of the NFL. Even after they reached their peak, the Packers were always the focus of attention, still getting those national TV games. Still making the playoffs with nary a losing season in sight. But thanks to the mismanagement of the front office, what was a solid all around team, built around very good offensive lines that could protect the best QB in the NFL and allow the team to run the ball, is now a complete mess. Letting lineman after lineman go, without finding a way to adequately replace them was felonious. Anyone who knows anything about football knows the game is won on the lines, especially the offensive line. That’s why great O linemen get big bucks. You could have God himself back there, but without a line to a) give him time and b) to balance the offense by running affectively, even the big man himself would throw 25 INTs a season. Simply put, when the defense doesn’t have to respect the run because they know that the offense can’t and, more importantly, won’t run because they are not committed to it, they can play purely against the pass. Yes, Brett makes some ‘dumb’ throws, but considering the fact that his men are often being tightly covered, he has defenders on his back, and that there is really no other option (throwing it away every down won’t win you games), he has little choice. So, instead of directing our ire ate the greatest player we could have every hoped to have (yes, ask yourself, who else over the past 14 years would you have rather had from any player in the NFL?), lets direct it at the front office. I was at the "4th and 23", and am still sick to my stomach. Allowing Sherman to waste away what was a potential SB team and then allowing this team be gutted with out a systematic approach to rebuilding, is inexcusable. Favre on any decent team this year would throw 27 TDs with 15 INTs and probably 3,800 yards. He has the smarts and the arm and the toughness. But all that is worthless without a line. Thank you, Mike Sherman. |
|
|
| A lot is being said, this week, about how badly the Bears defense is going to take apart our new rookie offensive lineman. But the Packers may have a secret weapon: Rex Grossman. Grossman has been critized widely in the local Chicago media all preseason. And now the sentiment is now getting louder, as the first anti-Grossman website has popped up at BenchRex.com. From BenchRex.com: "Bears fans don't want Rex to play for their team. They prefer he just goes home and plays with himself." |
|
|
9/6/2006 Update injuries here. BEARS QUESTIONABLE: RB Cedric Benson (Shoulder) WR Mark Bradley (Hip) DE Alex Brown (Shoulder) SS Mike Brown (Achilles) WR Justin Gage (Rib) DE Israel Idonije (Ankle) TE Gabriel Reid (Back) FB J.D. Runnels (Ankle) PACKERS OUT: T Junius Coston (Knee) PACKERS DOUBTFUL: CB Will Blackmon (Foot) PACKERS QUESTIONABLE: FB William Henderson (Knee) |
|
|
| My fantasy draft was tonight. We used to be a nice 12 team league, but someone invited two new people in. We have 14 teams and 14 roster spots. In other words, the first 2-3 rounds of the draft are super important and then it's a roll of the dice. Here's my roster. (Yes, I'm a homer. At least I didn't take Farve because he didn't go until the 11th round.) QB Peyton Manning, QB Matt Leinart, RB Ahman Green, RB Lendale White, RB Lawrence Maroney, RB Samkon Gado, RB Mike Anderson, WR Steve Smith, WR Joe Horn, WR Brandon Stokely, WR Greg Jennings, WR Chris Henry, DEF Bears, K Ryan Longwell I'm screwed. |
|
|
9/5/2006 VikingUpdate.com is reporting that Koren Robinson was in Green Bay on Sunday and may be signed by the Packers. Robinson potentially is going to be suspended by the league, but regardless, it would be an interesting pickup. Maybe Koren can host a nice boating outing on Green Bay? |
|
|
9/4/2006 Brett recently taped an interview with Bob Costas for the HBO Show Costas Now. JSOnline has the details. The BIG quote that will surely get Packer fans talking: If it comes to a point where they do start over and I feel like I can play and they say, 'Brett, if you want to go somewhere else, go ahead, but we've got to start over. It's time for us to rebuild. It just doesn't make sense, so do what you want.' If I got the itch at some point, I can't say 'no.' The interview airs Wednesday night. |
|
|
| The Packers picked up three players off waivers yesterday: safety Charlie Peprah, guard Tony Palmer, and cornerback Jarrett Bush. The Pack now has to release one player. >> Update: They released cornerback Jason Horton and are looking to add another receiver. |
|
|
9/3/2006 Final cuts were announced by Thompson on Saturday afternoon. The Packers are down to 51; Two lower than the league maximum. Most notable: Najeh Davenport, Rod Gardner, and Cory Rodgers. Davenport is probably a big surprise to most Packer fans since he looked to be the #2 RB during the pre-season. Supposedly, the Packers had been shopping him around for the last two weeks and no teams showed an interest. He lost support after strong showings from Gado and Beach - younger players that were drafted by Mike Sherman. Rodgers is Thompson's 2006 4th round pick. GMs don't like to admit their mistakes so Rodgers must have really sucked. The Reactions: JSonline on Davenport and Rodgers. Chris Havel on Thompson. We're sad to see Ben Brown go. We hope he joins the practice squad. Maybe Thompson left those two spots open other teams' garbage? Possibly ex-Seahawks WR Peter Warrick, ex-Cowboys RT Rob Petitti, or ex-Lions WR Charles Rogers will see some green and gold? |
|
|
9/2/2006  Well, I missed yesterday's pre-season game. Besides Greg Jennings's elevation to a starter and fabulous opening-drive catch, doesn't seem like I missed much.Because we couldn't tell you much, here's the link to PackerNews.com's post game coverage. |
|
|
9/1/2006 The NEW Packers.com |
|
|
| Due to a hacker disrupting my normal job, it's been hard to update the PBB. Then we've got a 3pm kickoff... on a Friday? Who thought this was a good idea? Here are today's pregame links: |
