Letter to the Editor:
The Packers are playing horribly and can’t put together a complete game. They could have lost to the lowly Rams! The Packers disappointed Packer Nation, failing to score at all in the second half and allowing a ridiculous 424 net yards. The receivers had uncharacteristic drops, leading to *gasp* one interception. Its time to face the facts, Mike McCarthy can’t call a good game, and Ted Thompson’s draft and develop strategy is for clowns. Please, please, please, call Bill Cowher to provide some leadership! We will never get the Lombardi trophy back with these bozos! I want Brett Favre back!
Our defense gives up too many yards in the air and Aaron Rodgers should never-ever-ever throw an interception! How dare his QB rating fall under 150! Why didn’t we sign Randy Moss when we had the chance? Greg Jennings is nowhere near as much of a team player and drops way too many passes. Seriously, who thinks Charlie Peprah can actually fill the shoes of Nick Collins? Last I checked, Darren Sharper was available. For the love of Grilled Cheesus, sign a free agent! Clay Matthews is playing horribly! Two sacks in six games! With all this talent we should be better than this! And don’t get me started about the Brewers, I’d rather they never made the playoffs than lose in the NLCS!
Sincerely,
Disgruntled Wisconsin Sports Fan
Game Review: St. Louis Rams at Green Bay Packers
Final Scoreline: 24-3
Predicted Scoreline: 42-10 (Once again, a solid prediction)
Mega-Lombardi Cheesecake Award: Aaron Rodgers
Cheesecake Awards: Desmond Bishop, Morgan Burnett, Clay Matthews
Rotten Egg Awards: Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings, Donald Driver
Cotton-Headed-Ninny-Muggins Award: Sam Shields (it's not even worth writing about)
Wait a second, just how spoiled is Wisconsin? The Packers won, 24-3, extending their streak to twelve straight games and improving their current record to 6-0. That ties Vince Lombardi’s winning streak, set in 1961-62. Let’s put that in perspective, from the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 until 1991, the Packers posted winning records in just four seasons. With ten games left, we have more wins than we had total in fourteen of the seasons during the ugly 70s and 80s (I’m just glad most of my memories are from the 90s and 00s). Superbowl champs, back to back hall of fame caliber quarterbacks and a 12-0 run. Don’t worry, be happy!
So what if the Packers have surrendered a significant number of yards? As Tom Silverstein said: “The Packers give away 400 yards like banks give away pens.” Banks give away pens so that you’ll keep writing checks and paying overdraft penalties and ATM fees (You’d think America would get this by now, $3 a month just for a debit card!). After six games, Dom Caper’s strategy is clear: stop the run and force the opposition to pass thereby providing more time for the offense to score and more opportunities for interceptions. Once the Packers are up two scores or more, pin the ears back and force turnovers. After six wins and zero losses, it's clear the strategy is working.
The Rams failed to score a touchdown and punched home one measly field goal (I know St Louis cant put points on the board against a CFL team, but still, giving up just 3 points is impressive). After the game, coach McCarthy commented: "At the end of the day, it's about keeping them out of the end zone. I would definitely say that's a win for our defense." Yards are meaningless without points! Through six games, the Packers have surrendered just 19 points per game (8th best in the league), intercepted 11 passes (2nd), forced five fumbles (12th) and sacked the quarterback 15 times (10th). This is a premier defense with an elite ball hawking secondary. The scary part...they will only get better.
Desmond Bishop, the Green Bay Packers monstrous middle linebacker (when Superman goes to bed, he puts on his Desmond Bishop pajamas), continued his Probowl season with 14 tackles, earning him a well deserved Cheesecake Award. Through six games, Bishop leads the NFC in tackles with 57; last year he finished with 105 tackles (Chuck Norris tells stories about Desmond Bishop...ok, I'm done).
Morgan Burnett put together another impressive game (and another Cheesecake Award) at safety with 9 tackles and a forced fumble. He did miss a big tackle on the Rams first possession when Lance Kendricks, a former Badger, rumbled for a 45 yard gain, but he made up for it with pivotal, drive stopping hits in the second half. After breaking his hand last week during practice, Burnett played with a massive club cast, making his nine tackles all the more impressive (I'd blame his cast for the missed tackle on Kendricks).
The last Cheesecake Award goes to fan favorite Clay Matthews for his consistent pressure on Sam Bradford and three pass deflections. While he did only register one sack, Matthews added three quarterback hits and two hurries. Sam Bradford took bone-crunching hits from Matthews and ended up on a stretcher getting x-rays after the game. Over six games, Matthews leads the league in sacks, QB hits and hurries as a combined pass rushing metric. Add to this the fact that he's playing with a severely strained quadricep, forcing him to sit out practices, and Matthews looks his beastly self.
On offense, Aaron Rodgers (17 of 28, 310yds, 3TDs, 1INT) looked incredible, especially in the first half. His cross-body, rolling left touchdown pass in blustery winds to WR James Jones (1 catch, 35yds, 1TD) was a throw no other QB in the league could complete. A simple Cheesecake Award does not do Aaron Rodgers justice! Hence Packer Insanity has bestowed him with a Mega-Lombardi Cheesecake Award. His performance through six games is simply indescribable. For Rodgers, excellence is so routine that it's getting hard to find new things to say about it.
On the other hand, the rest of the Packers offense performed lethargically and lacked their usual explosiveness, especially at the skill positions during the second half. James Starks (13 carries, 49 yards) and Ryan Grant (9 carries, 25 yards) averaged a pathetic 3.3 yards per carry against a league-worst St. Louis run defense. The Packers attempted numerous tosses and sweeps to the outside, only to be held in check either by the offensive line's inability to seal the edge or a lack of speed by Grant and Starks.
All the Rotten Egg Awards, however, are tossed at Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson and Donald Driver for their horrific drops. If it weren't for them, Rodgers would have posted a career day against a depleted Rams secondary. Greg Jennings (6 catches, 82 yards) posted modest numbers, but his interception causing drop brought back horrific nightmares of last seasons loss to the Lions. Jordy Nelson (2 catches, 104 yards, 1TD) exploded for a 93 yard score in the first half only to play like a high schooler in the second. Lastly, where is Donald Driver (3 catches, 25 yds, 1TD)? Admittedly, the Packers are a deep team at receiver, and he did score a touchdown (other than actually catching the ball, that was all #12). Unfortunately, Donald Driver, a Packer legend, seems to have forgotten how to catch...an important ability for a 36-year-old WR on a young, deep team. Randall Cobb has now entered the building.
The Skinny:
Sure, this team has faults, weaknesses and areas to improve...but none of them have led to losses and each week shows drastic improvement. Yeah, they have a shot at 16-0, something Charles Woodson admits: "We have a very, very good team," Woodson said. "I feel like everytime we step on that field we'll be better than our opponent. Can we (go 16-0)? Yeah, sure. But we have to take it one game at a time." Rather than sitting here, worrying about what might go wrong or the disastrous amount of yards opponents are racking up....Packer Nation, it's time to revel in the moment and enjoy each and every Packer victory! This is history in the making, just ask anyone who suffered through Packer fandom the 70s and 80s.
Up Next: A Viqueen Spanking
Quotables & Notables:
With a 119.6 passer rating on Sunday, Rodgers became the first quarterback since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to post six consecutive 110+ ratings to start a season. No one has started with more than four straight.
Coach McCarthy, when asked if concerned about the second half: "Well we won by three touchdowns. We can spin this any way you want. I'm completely in tune with the things we could have done better, but last time I checked, you win by three touchdowns, that's a pretty significant win."
Randall Cobb (rcobb18) on Twitter: "6-0 and we haven't even played our best ball. #scary"
Sam Shields received a concussion after running around like cotton-headed-ninny-muggins in the end zone on an interception. No word on whether he will miss time.
