Packer's Shareholder Meeting!

We'll be posting live tweets from Lambeau Field as we cover the Packers' Shareholder meeting tomorrow morning. Follow us on Twitter (click that link over there to the right) or search for us at @PackersSandlot.

We will give you all the Packer updates straight from sources like Mark Murphy, Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy.

Don't miss it!

MMQB and Brother Russ

MMQB: The Packer team that dominated the regular season disappears in the playoffs

The Green Bay Packers went 15-1 through the regular season by doing two things consistently: making big plays on offense while piling tons of yards and many, many scores and surrendering tons of yards on defense while piling up big plays. So when the game started at the most hallowed of grounds for the Packers vs. Giants in the NFC Divisional Playoffs, you can forgive me if I thought there would be more of the same.

Unfortunately, not so much. In fact, I wondered where the team that went 15-1 went on Sunday...

• That team always won the turnover battle. The team I saw tonight put the ball on the ground so many times I almost lost count.
• That 15-1 team scored an average of 35 points per game. This other team I was watching could barely make it to 20.
• The best team in the NFC had a dominating passing attack. The team I saw today dropped at least 7 passes (and you could argue that total should be 9 or 10).
• The worst defense in the NFL was best when defending in the red zone but surrendered a whopping 37 points, some of which were almost uncontested.

How do you get a handle on a loss like this? Can you take anything positive away?  I can’t think of a thing. The most humiliating moment came when the Giants were merely trying to run out the clock and the almost accidentally scored a touchdown in the final minutes. At one point in the dark moments at the end, the Packers put 11 men in the box, snuffed the point of attack and should have had a stop for a loss...but gave up a 23 yard running play. Think about what that means: your defense, with 11 men all keying on the run, got whipped by 10 guys and 1ball carrier when you kew exactly what the other guy was going to do.

That debacle in the last two minutes of the first half...can you play any worse defense? That sequence was the worst I’ve seen the Packers play all year. Maybe in two years. How does that happen in the post season???

The turning point was when the Packer defense finally put some pressure on Eli Manning and forced a pick. Yes, great, high-fives all around and then John Kuhn fumbles the ball back to the Giants a few plays later. Then it was a TD and the rout was on.

Aaron Rodgers was harassed all day, and did what he could. The Giants’ pass rush was far better than our offensive line. The Packer defense had a few moments of pressure but the Giant protection was far better than the almost pointless effort put forth by our team. When the Giants passed, there was always a man open. When the Packers passed, it was always into coverage. When the Giants made a play, there was always a Packer there to miss a tackle. When the Packers made a play, there was always a Giant defender there to strip the ball.

I’m sorry to be so negative here: the Packers had a GREAT regular season! They set team records for wins, consecutive wins, yards, points, passer rating...the list goes on and on. But the team that did all that through 17 weeks in the regular season was not the team that showed up this Sunday. Sad to say it but it’s true.

I’m not usually the one to point the finger of blame but in this contest there are fingers a-plenty to go around:

• Mike McCarthy had two weeks to get his team ready to play this game. And they looked like scared play-off newbies from the opening kick-off. The Giants are a pretty good team playing their best ball of the season, but they are just not that good.
• Dom Capers has had four months to try to develop some kind of defense. ANY defense. And, if you are to judge this season by any objective measure, he has failed miserably. One of the best defenses in the NFL in 2010 devolves into one of the worst in 2011. You have to place a lot of the burden on the coaching for that failure.
• Where were the stars in this game? Where were the playmakers? I can tell you where: they were on the visitors side of the field. Woodson? Missing. Matthews? Absent. Rodgers? Not firing on all cylinders. Jennings? Who? Read the stats and down the line and you will notice the usual suspects to have played an exceedingly mediocre game.

To see the Giants celebrating at Lambeau with blue-cheese headed fans after this win was almost too much to bear. The Packer team that had brought us so much joy in a 15-1 season was absent from the friendly environs of Lambeau Field Sunday and we sincerely missed their attendance. If the team we enjoyed watching this year had just shown up, this  would have been a better game. But, alas, they fumbled away any chance to repeat the glory of the 2010 season. I hope each and every player who missed a tackle, dropped a pass or put the ball on the turf is taking a good, long look at themselves in the mirror as I write this. The window of opportunity to win a Super Bowl is very tight. The 2011 Green Bay Packers just slammed that window shut on themselves and they all have to live with that.

I give a lot of credit to the New York Giants for developing a superb game plan and executing it to perfection but, in the final analysis, it was the Green Bay Packers that handed this victory to them in the form of turnovers, missed tackles and dropped passes.

As always, it’s been a great time reporting on the Packers for you this season. Despite the final outcome, I think we can all say this was a great season, one for the record books. We here at The MMQB compound will watch the conference championships with interest (did you hear the Lambeau faithful set up a cheer for the Niners late in the contest?) and, as always, enjoy the Super Bowl for more than just the commercials. Tonight the Packers booted away any chance to be a team of destiny, a team of dynasty. Now all we can do is trust that Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy can learn from this defeat and build a better future for us in 2012: that’s all we’ve got, after all.

See you on Draft Day!

MMQB:The First Annual MMQB Awards

I’ve got more to say!

While the AFC contenders and pretenders fight it out to see who will face the Packers in Indianapolis and the Giants get ready to test their mettle at Lambeau next week, I thought I’d take the opportunity of the bye to reflect back on the regular season just completed to see who were the best (and the worst) players and influences on this team. So without further ado, (or at least minimal ado and in no particular order), we now present The First Annual MMQB Awards. (Cue the NFL Films inspirational music)

• Dual tri-fecta Award of Merit: Not only did the Packers win three professional football games in 11 days (Vikings 11/14, Bucs 11/20 and Lions 11/24) but they won on Thanksgiving Day (Lions), Christmas Day (Bears) and New Years Day (Lions again). I have no way of researching this but I can’t imagine that any team in the history of the NFL has done either of those things, much less both in one year.

• Lineman of the year: Center Scott Wells. At one time I considered Wells the weak link on the offensive line. As the only lineman to start every game for the Packers, he has not only shown his durability but he has been consistently effective. Can you remember any bad snaps from  this guy? All year? Neither can I.

• Worst Loss to Injury: Nick Collins. After reviewing some highlights from 2010, I can see clearly why our defensive secondary can’t cover anybody. They are missing the leadership and skills of Nick Collins back there. With him on the DL and not the football field, you’ve got the likes of Jarrett Bush trying to cover people.

• Worst Loss to Free Agency: Cullen Jenkins. Look at the Packer front seven in 2010. Now look at that same group in 2011. Who is missing? Jenkins. Look at the sack total from both years. See anything? I don’t care about Ted Thompson’s reputation for penny-pinching on the veteran free agents and I don’t care about those that tell me it doesn’t matter, we’re 15-1. It does matter. With his push up the middle, there is no way QB’s are throwing for 400+ yards against our team every week. The sack totals go up (not from Jenkins but from his busting of pockets and forcing QB’s into the arms of our linebackers) and all those UGLY defensive performances are much less so.

• Best Back-UP: Matt Flynn. If you don’t know why, you didn’t see the franchise record-setting performance against the Lions. If you didn’t see that, I don’t want to talk to you.

• Biggest Disappointment, Offense: Jermichael Finely. This was to be his year. He stayed healthy and he had a pretty good year, but not a dominating one. J-Mike should have been dominating. Dropped passes in several contests exposed his hands. He still has the tools and the talent but I don’t believe he is the elite TE he thinks he is.

• Biggest Disappointment, Defense: Tie - Frank Zombo, Brad Jones, Vic So’oto, Erik Walden. We needed someone to step up and bring a credible pass rush opposite Clay Matthews. Haven’t seen it happen yet. So we’ve gone through two full seasons looking for another OLB  and we have yet to find the guy.

• Rookie Of The Year: Randall Cobb. He has made a minor impact as a receiver (as would be expected for a rookie with four great receivers in front of him) but his contributions as a return man have been outstanding. He’s got a kick return for a TD and a punt return for a score as well. In the last decade, the Packers haven’t even had a sniff at this kind of weapon. Sure, he’s had a few fumbles and made some poor decisions, but overall, he’s been a 1000% improvement.

• Best Running Back: Ryan Grant. Coming back from a season-ending injury in 2010, Grant was expected to compete with James Starks for the starting spot but he failed to impress in any way. But Starks had nagging injuries of his own and Grant came back and made valuable contributions, especially late in the season.

• Defensive MVP: Clay Matthews. His sack totals are way down but his impact on the game as a whole is way up. He requires a double-team or at the very least a chip on every play. That imposes a limit on what opposing offenses can do. He’s #9 on the team in tackles and #1 in sacks. He’s got three interceptions and a pick-six. He is around just about every play on defense. He’s a leader on and off the field. You could make an argument that Charles Woodson is a close second but his fading talents in coverage make me give Mathews the edge.

• Offensive MVP: Aaron Rodgers. No surprises here. A-Rodg has had, arguably, the best season ever for an NFL QB. Others may lead in certain statistical categories but if you look at yards, yards per catch, TD passes, interceptions, passer rating and (most importantly) wins, you cannot make an argument for any other QB. Not Brees, not Brady. Tim Tebow, the media darling, isn’t a pimple on Rodgers’ ass. After watching Matt Flynn dismantle the Lions, you could argue that it’s the team and the system that make Aaron so good. And you would be right. But you can have the best receivers, the best coaches and the best game plan in the world and if you don’t have that topflight guy under center, it’s not going to be pretty.

• Late-to-the-party Award: The MMQB. On Tuesday, January 3^rd at approximately 1935 local standard time, I finally (FINALLY) made it official and became an owner of the Green Bay Packers. To be a very small part of such a long-standing and storied organization is truly a humbling experience. I know there are thousands of owners and I know that this piece of paper isn’t even worth the paper it’s printed on. I can’t sell it and it will never make me a red cent. That doesn’t matter. I’ve bought houses, cars, toys, computers and phones that I was absolutely lusting after and I’ve never had the kind of thrill I had when I finalized that purchase. And if you are worrying about the “cannot criticize NFL teams or officials” clause in the stock offering, don’t: I used my alter ego’s name on the document, so yer ever-lovin’ MMQB is free to let the rants fly!

MMQB: Matt Flynn leads the Green Bay Packers to a stirring victory over the Lions

This was a day that should have been all about playing it safe. With absolutely nothing to play for, Mike McCarthy chose to sit his two biggest playmakers on defense, two ailing offensive skill players and his MVP quarterback. Just to make sure he’d have all of them available in two weeks when the post-season really opens up at Lambeau Field. Putting back-up QB Matt Flynn in as your starter isn’t necessarily saying “we just want to get out of here without too much damage” and tank the game: he’s a pretty good quarterback, based on his performance last year against the Patriots. Little did we know that while MM was putting in his second and third stringers, he was not backing off of going for a victory one iota.

Flynn, after a slow start (one-for-three and a fumble) played most of the game in a passable imitation of Aaron Rodgers. He did have the one pick but he would end the day with the most yards and most TD’s in one game for any quarterback in Packer history. Yes, you read that right: Flynn went 31-44, 480 yards and threw for six TD’s. That’s with only three receivers dressed, a makeshift offensive line and a highly motivated and full-strength Lions team wanting nothing more than to lock up the 5th seed and get their first win in Wisconsin since 1991.

This game was basically an opportunity for Flynn to put a highlight reel together for potential teams next season: he is free-agent after this season ends and is likely to be highly sought-after by teams looking for a starting-caliber QB. Well, he got the best collection of clips to ever grace a coach’s film projector. 

You, me and everybody else look at Aaron Rodgers as the heart and soul of that offense and we would all be right. We also assumed that if anything happened to A-Rodg, our season would be over. How wrong we were! Little did we know that lurking just behind our on-field leader was a lieutenant who was more than capable of stepping in without a bit of fall-off in production. We are a lucky bunch of fans! If the unthinkable would happen somewhere along the way, we can rest assured that Flynn can handle it. Too bad he won’t be with the team next year but Flynn has earned his shot to be a starter somewhere today.

Unfortunately, the Packer defense had no such answers on their side of the ball. With Woodson and Matthews in street clothes, the Packer defenders, already the second-worst in terms of yardage in the entire NFL, set new standards for wretchedness. How bad was it? Well, we get to celebrate Flynn’s achievement along with Matthew Stafford’s: He set franchise records for completions, yardage and touchdowns. The Packer D gave up an obscene 571 yards in total offense including 244 by Calvin Johnson who they pretty much shut down on Thanksgiving. It probably didn’t help that we had special-teamers off the third string trying to cover guys. It also didn’t help that we saw defensive linemen and linebackers attempting to cover Johnson while guys like Tramon Williams sat back in coverage and whiffed on tackles like high-school freshmen in their first August practice. That is bad scheming and bad coaching. Yes, they did  have their usual allotment of turnovers and you have to be thankful for that. But this defense, even at full strength is going to get TORCHED by someone like Drew Brees. Remember, this defense gives up 400 yards to third-stringers and rookies. You can argue that the bend-but-don’t-break style has worked so far in terms of wins but look at the game today: Matt Flynn, our back-up QB, had to have the best day of any Packer QB ever to just barely win this game. You just cannot expect that is going to happen in the playoffs. The Packers were bent, creased, spindled and fully mutilated and they might just face this team again!

But enough about the defense as quite frankly, I’m sick and tired of watching them get smacked around. No, I want to mention Jordy Nelson (9 catches, 162 yards and 3 TD’s) who is rapidly becoming an even bigger weapon than Jennings. I want to give props to Ryan Grant (12 runs for only 48 yards but an 80 yard TD on a little bitty screen) who may not have the burst he once did but he’s proven his worth with Starks out. How about Donald Driver? He only had two catches for 52 yards but one was for a 35-yard TD. 

On the bad side, you have to point a finger at Pat Lee, pressed into kick return duty with Cobb on the bench. He mis-handles the opening kick and can only swat it out of the end zone. The next kick, he lets it bounce off his shin and then pulls it back into the endzone for a safety. He was instrumental in staking the Lions to a 9-point lead before Flynn could even get his jock strap on. Welcome to the waiver wire. And, Mr. Suh, I’m so darn glad you were able to get a sack and then do a mock-Rodgers celebration. Good for you for getting that done without pulling a knife or drowning a puppy. You’ve really grown up. Your defense still sucks.

I am a firm believer in playing each and every game to win. I was of the opinion that McCarthy should not have sat a single starter and gone right for the throat and for the win. Well, he sat his most valuable guys, let his injured rest and still went for the win. Nicely done. The Packer second and third teams took it to the Lion starters and, while it certainly wasn’t pretty in places, we still came away with a win and end the season 15-1. I can’t imagine a better outcome.

Now we all have a few weeks off to figure out how this team will fare in the post season. After watching them tonight, I think our offense can score on anybody and that includes the Niners. I think any opposing offense will have to put up crazy numbers to even get close. Hopefully, our defense can rise to the occasion.

MMQB: Packers wrap up home field advantage but questions still remain about the defense...

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and goodwill towards men. And women. And any assorted girls and boys trolling along underfoot this holiday weekend!

I have been admonished by all the after-Christmas party-goers at my house tonight to not go into my normal “glass half empty” rants tonight. The fact that my team has won just about everything they can in the regular season, with only a nothing-left-to-play-for game against the Lions remaining, should put me in the bestest of holiday moods, right? I mean, I’ve got a four day weekend to spend with Mrs. MMQB, I’ve been surrounded by friends and family, I’ve received some excellent gifts, spent some quality time with my parents and kids (even long-distance holiday time with #2 Son and his gal via Skype), and the Packers beat the Bears! What’s not to love, right?

Darn, this is hard. OK, I’m pressing REAL hard on the keyboard, trying not to rain all kind of derision upon the Packer defense. If you watched this game, you know what I’m talking about, making a third string QB look like Johnny F*****g Unitas and a third string running back look like Barry F*****g Sanders. Whoa. That was very negative. Slap my wrist and take away my pumpkin pie! (HEY! I meant that figuratively. I was eating that!)

No, I think I have to be on by best behavior (I still think that pie-forfeiture was uncalled for) since it’s Christmas. Soooo here is my best imitation of a glass WAY more than half full writer:

• Wow, that Aaron Rodgers is good. Five TD’s, no picks and 283 yards. Plus, the dude rushed for some vital yardage as well. Sure, he was off target on a few throws but he more than made up for them with more great plays. His play has eclipsed that of old whatshisname Bent Somebody in every category. Except for interceptions and game-crushing plays.  
• James Jones and Jordy Nelson stepped into the void left by Jennings tonight. As much as they were absent in the loss to KC last week, these two guys were vital to the Packer efforts tonight. And don’t forget the contributions of Driver (2 for 29), Grant (2 for 34) and Cobb (2 for 22). Those were some tough yards and big plays.
• Jermicheal Finley (sigh) is really trying my patience. I don’t mean this to sound negative but in the last two games after Jennings went down, he has had to step into the role of playmaker and has not measured up. Yes, he did have that very nice TD catch but he had two outright drops and two more balls thrown that he should have caught. I’m happy he’s on the team, he’s out best receiving TE but he is not the man he needs to be in terms of taking over a game. Early this year (and last year before he was injured) J-Mike could not be covered. Now, it’s 50-50 if he does get open that he’ll catch the ball.
• I’m loving what I’m seeing from Clay Matthews. The sack totals are way off but his impact in the running game and in coverage (two picks in the last three games) is 112% over and above where he was a year ago when he was racking up those massive QB sack numbers.

So now the Packers have secured home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They’ve set franchise records for victories, consecutive victories and just about every passing mark there is. Tons and tons of records are being set by Rodgers and if he’s not the league MVP this year, the voting is rigged. So what can they possibly be playing for against the Lions next week? The Lions are in the playoffs for the first time since Boy George was popular. The Packers are in and have everything a regular season can give. What to play for on either side? Pride and momentum, that’s all. Will McCarthy sit his starters? Will we see Matt Flynn in the second quarter? Will this look like a preseason game? Quite possibly. But I sincerely believe that MM and the Packers want to go into the post-season on a roll and with a 14-1 record. They have not looked great the last two weeks against, quite frankly, teams that are just coasting along on fumes. What will happen against a powerful offensive team like New Orleans or a defense like San Francisco? Nothing good. They can treat this game against Detroit as a great way to warm up, get some momentum going into the bye and work out some of ugly kinks (you know I’m looking at you, Defense) that have reared up lately.

MMQB: XPOSED! Packers play their worst game in a calendar year and are shown up by Kansas City

Besides the normal black depression that all Packer fans are feeling right now after a loss, we are all dealing with the knowledge that we let a clearly inferior team beat us. It happens every year and I had hoped that we would get through this miracle season without it but you knew it was coming: the game the Packers mail in.

I should have seen it coming! We had one weak-ass opponent left on the schedule. Not going anywhere, no reason to think that they have anything but “please don’t hurt me” left in the tank. Last year we saw it against the Redskins and the Dolphins (and, to be honest, in the first Bears and Lions games) and here it was again!

Everybody and his mother are going to be all over this, looking at the loss of Jennings and the problems along the offensive line and the pressures of trying to accomplish the perfect season...blah, blah, yadda, yadda. You want to know why the Packers lost? I got it here for ya:

• Jordy Nelson: In what should have been the biggest opportunity of his career, Mr. Nelson was flagged for two offensive interference plays in the first quarter (first was good, second was totally bogus) and ended us with a pedestrian two catches for 29 yards. And he got flagged one other time for a false start. 
• Jermicheal Finley: He ended the day as the top Packer receiver for the afternoon (3 catches, 83 yards) and set up the first Packer TD of the day but his three (or four) drops in the first half set the tone for the rest of  the day. J-Mike makes those grabs and the Packers are maybe up by 10 at halftime. I am totally over him. 
• Aaron Rodgers: As good as A-Rodg has been in 2011, he stunk up the joint today. 17 for 35, 1 TD and 235 yards. An OK game for most QB’s but pretty poor based on his production so far. He was high, low and all over the place. He should have been picked off at least two times and maybe three.
• The entire Packer defense: one would think that forcing four field goals in four KC trips inside the 20 would be total victory for the defense but one would be wrong in that assessment. Those drives, while ultimately not successful in scoring a TD, chewed up large chunks of clock and kept Aaron Rodgers and his offense sitting on the sidelines. Win for the Chiefs. And if you add in a lack of turnovers (the Packer D never even got a glimmer) you  should have seen the loss coming.
• Mike McCarthy: With a stuttering offense, MM decides to attempt a 59 yard field goal. It missed but a defensive penalty allowed a second chance and darn if that one didn’t miss too. In the first quarter, those are the WRONG DAMN CALLS! You punt the freaking ball and you let your D do  their job. And if KC didn’t have a direct line into the Packer huddle, it sure looked like it.
• The KC defense:   No one else has been able to do it and I still don’t know how the Chiefs did it but they covered literally everybody and were still able to put all kinds of ugly pressure on Aaron Rodgers. No doubt some of that is due to the unsettled nature of the Packer O-line but you have to give a huge amount of credit to the KC secondary.
• The KC offense: If the KC defense looked like they had a direct line into the Packer huddles, the defense might have been even more in the know. When the Packers brought pressure, they had a screen called. When the Packers dropped off, the Chiefs found the seams. You want to know the difference maker? When the Chiefs needed a catch, the Packer defenders were playing soft and there was always a man open, completely undefended. Conversely, there was not one (no a singe damn one!) Packer wide-out who was open all day! Every single pass was contended. Even the completions were into tight coverage.

So you and I can go on an on all day long about how the Packers missed Jennings or they were looking past the Chiefs. Those are all just excuses. The reason the Packers blew their chance at a perfect season was that they were out-played, out-executed and out-coached (by Romeo Crennel!) in every phase of the game!

So now the 24/7 NFL media will be able, with a clear conscience, to devote 100% of their coverage to Tim Tebow and the Broncos. I’m sure the Packer’s pursuit of history was just a distraction from the true biggest story of the year. And maybe that’s an OK thing. Mike McCarthy said it best after the game: “We were beaten.” At 13-1, the Packers are still the #1 seed in the playoffs. They are still the best team in the NFL and they are still the favorites to get to and win the Super Bowl. The shot at legendary status is all done with. We can quite worrying about when and if Mike McCarthy will sit his starters. There is no reason to do so now. Now all they need to do is win.

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Visit The Packers Sandlot (http://packerssandlot.blogspot.com/) for the new home of The MMQB. 

MMQB: Packers go up big early and win going away by 30: Can anybody slow them down? The Tee-Broncos? PLEASE!

Did the Green Bay Packers play on Sunday? If you watch the post-game highlights or scan the Intert00bs, you would have thought that the only game going was Broncos vs. Bears. Yes, it was a miracle finish, for Teebow and the Broncos to beat the Bears (or maybe we should credit the Bears for sucking so completely) but the real story was going on in Green Bay, Wisconsin as the Packers were dismantling the overmatched Oakland Raiders.

How can you not love the Broncos? Simple: the Broncos and their QB are an awful team for 55 minutes. Then they suddenly come to life and play out of their heads and win. I will say this now and shout it from the highest mountain top: I WANT the Broncos vs. Packers in the Super Bowl. The Packers will not be within one score in the last five minutes against that team. In fact, I would predict the Broncos to be down by at least 21 in the last five minutes of a potential Green Bay/Denver SB tilt.

But I’m sick to death of the Broncos. I’m here to praise the best team in the land:

• Where has Ryan Grant been hiding all year? Has it been the steady production of James Starks that hid Grant’s resurgence? I’m not sure but I have to say: Grant looked like Ahman Green back there catching passes, bursting through the holes, scoring TD’s. Gotta love having that in your hip pocket down the stretch.
• 
  
• Donald Driver, the venerable one in the Packer receiver corps, has his third straight big game. Never the guy with the most catches or the most yards, just biggest catches and the biggest yards. With the injury to Jennings looming, Double D will need to step up and fill a role. I can’t imagine a guy more able to do it.
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• Jermicheal Finley, loosing a battle for possession in the end zone, has officially fallen off my list of Packer weapons and moved into my dog house. And probably Aaron Rodgers’ too: after that fiasco, he wasn’t never thrown to again. In the final year of his contract, I cannot see Ted Thompson shelling out big bucks to retain a guy who has become inconsistent and edging into the area of a liability. 
• Can you do more than Mason Crosby? Damn that guy is good. After two weeks of iffy play, he went 4 for 4 including a long of 49. On a night when the Packers red-zone magic was suddenly absent, Crosby salvaged 16 points for his team. Gotta love that.
• For the second straight week, the Packer defense adds points to the scoreboard. You just can’t put a value on that kind of play. It not only short-circuits an offensive opportunity, it puts points on your side of the ledger and demoralizes the opponent. No one in the NFL is doing what the Packers are doing in that arena.
• I simply love he NFL Mobile ad that has Matthews making a tackle-for-loss and throwing the “Predator” move, repeated by fans watching including sportscaster Rich Eisen. Too much fun.
• The Raiders hang their hat on being able to run the ball and stopping the run. The Packers are just not the team you would expect to run the ball. How did that turn out? Grant and Kuhn ran for 131 and 2 TD’s, Bush found 78 yards and 1 TD. I’d say that’s a win a for the passing team, wouldn’t you?
• The opportunistic Packer defense should really have been able to post a shutout over the Raiders but for two poor series. The safety given up by the offense in slop time was troubling (who the hell was blocking on that play? Anyone? Buehler?). On a Sunday when they Packers won by 30, it really wasn’t that close.

Now we get down to the last three games of the season and 16-0 is within reach. Can any of the final three opponents beat the Packers? Chiefs: not even in the same league. Their only advantage is home field. Bears: they are missing their starting QB and franchise running back. And they lost to the Broncos. Their season is done. Lions: Did you watch them against the Vikings? Up by 21 in the first quarter, they barely hung on for the win. If the Queens were even the teensiest bit better, it’s a miracle come back and a Lions loss. No, I’m sorry: any team can beat any other team on any given Sunday, but I just can’t see the Packers losing to any of these stiffs. Unless, of course, Mike McCarthy sits his starters. I just don’t see that in his character, but the ultimate goal is a Super Bowl win. I will trust MM to do what needs to be done to meet that goal.