The Flavor of the Month…

Back when such a thing as ice cream parlors existed (and you didn’t need to spend $29 for a guy to mix your flavor on a stone slab) they used to have the “Flavor of the Day” or sometimes it was every week or every month. Regardless, it was a constantly changing treat, usually something you wouldn’t normally try, an attempt to get folks to expand outside vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. And so it has been with quarterbacks in the first two months of the NFL season! The 24/7/365 nature of sports news needs a new story approximately every four days and anointing quarterbacks as “THE ONE” has become something of a national pastime.

Attend me: After the lock-out ended, the Eagles went on spending spree, snapping up high-priced free agents, creating a “dream team” centered around Mike Vick, who, despite evidence to the contrary, was going to lead Philly to a dominating season. The result: a very poor start, led by Vick’s inconsistency. They played a great game against the Cowboys on Sunday but are mired in a 3-4 record, dead last in the NFC East. That dreamy flavor soured pretty quickly.

After only one game, the flavor changed: Now we have Cam Newton, a phenomenally talented rookie QB under center for the Panthers. Despite a losing effort in week one, he smashed all sorts of rookie passing records, prompting comparisons with everyone from Dan Marino to Tom Brady. After week two (in which the Panthers lost to Green Bay, despite more aerial heroics by Newton), the media was ready to anoint him as the second coming of Dan Fouts. But here we after eight weeks of play and Newton has all kinds of gaudy stats except for the one that really counts: wins. The Panthers sit at 2-6 and Newton, while certainly a forced to be reckoned with in the future, is suddenly not that appealing! Or at least not appealing enough.

To a much smaller extent, Christian Ponder got his moment in the sun in his first start, but could not parley two scoring drives to open the week seven tilt against the Packers into a win or even into a good day statistically. The media was ready to jump all over that bandwagon, given the slightest sign of life. Unhappily for Ponder and his fans, he plays for the Minnesota Vikings, the poster children for dysfunctional NFL franchises.

But the best hype of all was reserved for Tim Tebow. The Broncos, facing a losing season and huge amounts of pressure from fans and media alike to start the rookie human hype machine, threw Tebow into the game a week ago and he came up with a stunning come-from-behind victory. Good for him! He didn’t look particularly good in the win, but he offered a spark that his team responded to. So, as you would expect with a new, ripple-twist-choco-raspberry delight to behold, the NFL media went ga-ga over him, proclaiming him to be a player who “just wins”, despite having only one NFL start and win. Well, as you would expect, the flavor suddenly tasted like sawdust and the “Tebowing” craze (consisting of kneeling down, as if in prayer) devolved into a “face palm” craze (consisting of slapping your own face whenever Tebow played like a first-year rookie) in the Lions demolition of the Broncos on Sunday.

I’m not saying these players won’t have stellar seasons and huge impacts in the NFL. My point is that in the desperate search for “news” FOX, SI, CBS, NBC, ESPN and NFLN have spent thousands of words and hundreds of TV hours, telling us how great these players are, despite lack of any real evidence to back up those claims. So it’s all well and good to try that new flavor but you really need to realize that sometimes the hype of the flavor-of-the-month does not live up to reality.

Hate Wendesday: The St. Louis Rams

We all LOVE the Packers: “Hate Wednesday” is a continuing series wherein I expound upon my deep-seated hatred of other NFL football teams. I’m a Packer fan and Packer fans have long memories. Sometime it’s very simple and sometimes it’s complex. You may have other reasons to hate these teams. These are mine…

The Rams are one of the oldest franchises in the NFL. Be they residing in Cleveland, L.A. or St. Louis, the Rams and Packers have played each other 90 times, the first being in 1937. Indeed, from ’37 until 1971 the two teams squared off yearly with the exception of 1943. So that is an awful lot of water under the bridge and many, many opportunities for the two teams to develop a mutual loathing. Mine comes in a more recent contest: In 2001, the Packers and Rams would meet in the post-season for only the second time in their storied history. The 1967 contest would result in a Packer victory and propel them to that fateful championship game against the Cowboys: the famous “Ice Bowl.” But the 2001 contest would not end so gloriously. The Packers, powered by the passing of Brett Favre, had posted one of their best seasons ever but had ended up a Wild Card team behind the 13-3 Bears. Facing the so-called “Greatest Show on Turf” the Packers knew they would have to match the Kurt Warner-led Rams score-for-score and play flawless football. But the performance would not exactly be called “flawless”. The Packers committed eight turnovers and Favre would match a post-season record by throwing six interceptions, three of which would be returned for touchdowns. One bright spot for the Packers, a 95-yard kick return for a touchdown, would be nullified by a penalty. Despite these gifts, the Packers would actually play decent defense, holding the Rams to their fewest first down total in three years. But this self-inflicted beat down, the worst packer post-season loss ever, is more than enough for me to HATE the Rams!

Run!

On Sunday the Green Bay Packers handed the ball to James Starks on five consecutive plays, gaining 55 yards. Why is that so extraordinary? Well, first off, the pass-centric Packer offense never runs the ball that many plays in a row. But more importantly, those five plays occurred on the final Packer possession of the day, meaning they were actually able to run the ball, control the clock, force an opponent to burn all their time outs and ensure the win. There was no three-and-out, no last-gasp interception, no high drama. Mike McCarthy knew he wanted to grind out some first downs and keep the Viking offense sitting on the bench. And with a lead, he almost always tries to run the ball, but opponents stack eight or nine men in the box, stop the run, force the third-down throw and make a tackle, forcing a Packer punt. It’s a familiar storyline. But this week, Starks was the happy beneficiary of some exemplary blocking and took advantage.

We all know the Packers are not a running team: they are built to feast upon opposing defenses through the merciless attacks of Aaron Rodgers and his merry band of pass-catching assassins. But McCarthy has an overriding philosophy of making teams honor the rushing game. He doesn’t care how many yards he gets, he just wants to make sure opposing defenses can’t tee-off on Rodgers down after down. And it works, too. Play-action is a staple in this offense and the sight of Rodgers making the fake and rolling out should make any defensive back’s blood run cold.

But that series on Sunday was an eye-opener: The Vikings knew the run was coming, had the right personnel in place and were highly motivated to make the stop, get the ball back and try to win the game, trailing only by six points. But the combination of multiple TE sets, Kuhn leading the way and Starks running was simply too much for the Vikings to overcome.

I would be as happy as anybody to see the Packer running game start making some impact. The passing game would need to start scoring TD’s from the locker room to get any better. The special teams have been solid and in some areas (like Mason Crosby on field goals) has been spectacular. The defense is still struggling to get off the field on  third downs and needs to regain some of their 2010 pass-rushing mojo. But if anything could help ensure Packer dominance in 2011, it would be some explosive runs and some ground dominance. Take some pressure off of Rodgers and the defense, shorten up some games and finish off lesser opponents. I’m not saying we will ever win a game based solely on our running attack but all you fans out there dreaming of a perfect season should be pulling for Starks and Grant to kick it into high gear in the second half of the year.

MMQB: Vikings find a quarterback while the Packers find another NFL-leading victory.

The Green Bay Packers got a taste of what the rest of the 2011 season will be like: 9 more teams, throwing everything and anything at them, trying to break the mystique of the Super Bowl Champion, trying to be the team that breaks up the winning streak and the perfect season.

But the Minnesota Vikings may have had the best opportunity of anybody: a new, unknown QB, throwing caution to the wind, plus what may be the best running back in the NFL in Adrian Peterson. They threw their best shot and came up short and I’m not going to rag on them: They found their QB of the future this afternoon and Christian Ponder will be a force to be reckoned with before the 2011 season is all over.

Win or lose, I’ve got some thoughts on this game and you, my friend, are going to have to sit hear and read them:

Lose: The Green Bay Packers have a real problem in the defensive secondary -- they give up too many easy third down conversions and too many yards after the catch. Call it “missing Collins” or call it “our best safety is using a club instead of a hand” but it’s real. Someday, somewhere, some quarterback is going to be able to make them pay for that (Ponder almost did) and then we are all going to wring our hands and ask ourselves what is wrong with our defense.

Win: Aaron Rodgers appears to be the poster child for unflappable quarterbacks in the NFL. Knock him down and he comes right back. Blitz him and he makes you pay. Get up by multiple scores and it’s only an opportunity to pad his stats. In a critical North game, he goes 24-for-30, 331 yards and 3 TD’s and the best statistical start for a QB in NFL history. When he dropped to the Packers in the first round of the 2008 draft, the best move Ted Thompson ever made (or may ever make) was to jump all over that and pick A-Rodg. Yes, Brett Favre was still the starter but TT had his eye on the future and can any of us really fault him right now? If you can, you’re really not paying attention.

Lose: As I’m typing this I’m watching the NBC SNF game and I just have to mention the vast superiority of the Faith Hill intro versus the Monday Night Football Hank Williams intro. What? Hank got dumped due to his Neanderthal-like political comments? Oh, well: I liked Faith better anyway.

Win: The Packers gave up over 200 yards rushing but only 219 through the air. This is a major victory: You Know Peterson is going to get his yards! He is just that good. But you have to keep him from winning the game and the Packers did that. Credit the defensive front (and Ryan Pickett who could have very well been held out due to a concussion) and the linebackers for making that happen.

Lose: I have no clue why Dom Capers didn’t do the “Unleash Hell” speech from Gladiator on Ponder. Rookie QB, first NFL start versus the SB Champs...and we spend the first half very, very soft on D. 

Win: Despite that vanilla start, Clay Matthews played like a man on fire. He was in on tackles, he was in on pass defense and he was instrumental on run defense. For a guy who earns his money on the pass rush, he was doing an awfully good impression of a man on fire.

Lose: There is no lose in this segment. Or at least there wouldn’t have been had Randall Cobb done his job. He fumbled a punt that led to a ViQueen’s TD and he dropped a sure first down pass that probably would have led to a Packer TD or at least a FG. That’s a 10 to 14 point swing in a Division game. If you want to be the heir-apparent to Donald Driver, Randall, you have to make those plays.

Win: Lang tweeted that his junk is in stable condition and expected to recover fully. Good news. But let’s think about that: a player throws a punch and gets ejected but if he attempts to de-nut an opponent on a meaningless snap, he only incurs a 15-yard penalty on the ensuing kick. Time for the NFL to enforce something a little more nasty on that kind of personal foul. If Hawk gets $10K fine for flipping off his own sideline, what is that kind of play worth?

Hate Wednesday: The Arizona Cardinals

We all LOVE the Packers: “Hate Wednesday” is a continuing series wherein I expound upon my deep-seated hatred of other NFL football teams. I’m a Packer fan and Packer fans have long memories. Sometime it’s very simple and sometimes it’s complex. You may have other reasons to hate these teams. These are mine…

My reason to hate the Cards is a very simple one: Wild Card game, January 10^th 2010. The Packers had just finished beating Arizona the week before to get into that game. Yes, the Cardinals were playing very vanilla as they had already secured their own playoff spot but many in Packerland felt the emergence of a dominating Green Bay defense would more than contain anything Kurt Warner could throw at them. Boy, were we all wrong! Two turnovers on the first three Packer plays of the day were quickly translated into 14 Arizona points and the race was on! Warner completed what seemed like thousands of passes to anybody in a Cardinal jersey, building up a 31-10 lead. But this game was also the national coming-out party for one Mr. Aaron Rodgers who responded to all the Arizona offensive fireworks with some explosions of his own, scoring TD’s on five straight possessions in the second half to tie the game. But in overtime, things would go wrong quickly. On the first Packer play, Rodgers would overthrow a wide open Greg Jennings who had a step on the defense, a play that would have ended the game. Two plays later, facing a third-and-6 situation, Rodgers was sacked, fumbled the ball into the arms of Karlos Dansby, who raced it in for the winning score. What made this sudden, crushing defeat even more unbearable was that replays showed that Rodgers had been the victim of a facemask just prior to the sack. The NFL would later state that the contact was “incidental” and “had no effect on the outcome of the play”. This was a complete joke since all the replays showed Rodgers’ helmet pulled down over his eyes due to the infraction. Since even a fingernail laid anywhere near a QB’s head tends to draw a flag, this lame denial is the equivalent of the NFL admitting they goofed. The penalty would have given the Packers a first down, instead of a long plane ride home. We’ll never know what might have happened had the play been called correctly, but its reason enough to HATE the Cardinals!

Get DOWN!

How many times during the season last year did the Packers achieve that greatest of defensive plays, the game-clinching interception? It seems like every week at the end of the season and in the playoffs. Of those great plays, how many times did the defensive back attempt to return the ball for six? The answer is almost all of them. With a game in hand, the opposition stymied and the fans going nuts, all the heroic defensive back had to do was kneel down and hand the ball over to Aaron Rodgers (or even better, Matt Flynn) and convene the victory formation. But no, these guys want MORE! It doesn’t matter if there are 11 men waiting to pounce on you, they still try for the BIG PLAY. I’ve even seen replays of the sideline reactions and it’s always the same: Every coach and player gives one second to celebration and then to a man is yelling “GET DOWN!!” They even flap their arms in the universal gesture that means “FALL DOWN YOU IDIOT, WE’VE GOT THE GAME WON!” But it takes a while for that to sink in, I guess, and every one of those guys wants to get on SportsCenter. And the absolute worst of it happens when the pick occurs in the end zone. Kneel down, give your team the ball at the 20 and be a hero!

Look: There are a lot of outcomes, many of them bad. You can get tackled at the 1” line. You can fumble it back to the other team. You can get injured. If the game is on the line and you still need to score points, by all means, get out there and make a play! But you have to understand the game situation and giving up your shot at further personal glory for sealing a team victory is nothing but a win-win scenario.

I mention this because Sam Shields tried to run back an interception from deep in his own end zone on Sunday. Not happy with sealing a 24-3 victory and not happy with the number of Rams in his way, he decided to run the ball all the way over to the other side (still in his own end zone, mind you) and see if the way wasn’t clear for a 106-yard return. Unfortunately, a pissed-off Ram wide out was waiting there to clean his clock. The result could have been much worse: the ball could have come loose and been recovered by the Rams, giving them points and momentum. It’s bad enough, though! Shields suffered a concussion on the play and is even now being evaluated. So his quest for personal glory could end up costing his team in the long run. So THINK when you make that game-sealing pick and GET DOWN!

MMQB: Packers coast after putting up 24 to beat the Rams and claim only unblemished record in the NFL.

Random mental meanderings after watching the Packers soundly beat the Rams...

• Can anybody do a play-acton roll-out like Aaron Rodgers? His pass to James Jones for six was better than anything Brett Favre or Bart Starr ever put up. 35 yards out, he makes the masterful play fake, and rolls to his left, buying TONS of time, finding James Jones strolling through the end zone for six. Almost looked effortless, didn’t it?
• Again, the Packer defense starts off very vanilla, very soft. And again, they step up and snuff out an opponent. I seriously think Dom Capers has no interest whatsoever in stopping an opponent’s first few possessions. He just wants to see what their game plan is. He knows that the offense can put up points and his defense can shut folks down and pull off turnovers. 
• Al Harris came back to Lambeau for the first time and was spotlighted by FOX. Too bad on the very next play he bit on a play-fake and was burned by Rodgers on a toss to Jordy Nelson. To compound his failure, he was taken out by his own teammate, allowing Nelson to race 93 yards for the TD. I wish no ill-will to Harris (he was a star for Green Bay and left on good terms) but I can’t help but think the game has passed him by after watching that play. Happy it resulted in a Packer score but not happy for Harris’ plummet from one of the NFL’s premier cover corners to a last-gasp DB for the inept Rams.
• Clay Matthews records only his second sack of the year but his impact in pressures, hurries and QB hits is tops in the NFL. He also had two pass tips at the line. Can a guy have more impact without the big (sacks) stat that everybody looks at?
• When Aaron Rodgers went left on first and goal from the seven yard line in the second quarter, he had the full attention of the Rams secondary. As soon as he made a move towards the line of scrimmage as his receivers were blanketed, the St. Louis DB’s rightly reacted. Unfortunately, both of the guys who had coverage on the great Donald Driver left him all alone. All A-Rodg had to do was wait a beat and flip it to Double-D for the score. That is the benefit of being feared in the run and pass in the NFL. 
• Can anybody tell me why the Packers (yes, a pass-first team) could not make hay on the NFL-worst Rams on the ground? They ran for just under 100 yards, the best defensive performance of the year for the Rams. In two key short-yardage situations, the Packers could not gain the yards on hand-offs to Kuhn. But later, they eschewed the run in favor of the pass on short-yardage situations. I’m not whining about play-calling here, I’m whining about execution on running plays. If the Packers have half a clue on the ground, they chew up clock in the third and fourth quarter and this game is poke-me-with-a-fork-I’m-done by 2:30 in the afternoon.
• I’m not concerned with the lack of scoring in the second half. I’m sure the pundits, bloggers and talking heads will be all over that, ready to find a reason why the Vikings should win next week. I’m not buying that, though. While the Packers should have put up at least 50 over this team, the defense was one play away from pitching a shutout. If you can believe it, the Packer defense has actually been the weakness on this team. If a 21-point win is seen as a failure to some, I scoff. Yes, your MMQB, he who only wants perfection from his team, is defending a scoreless second half as a total victory.
• Next week we play the Vikings up in Minneapolis and you never know hat is going to happen in the Hump Dome. The Queens, in my estimation, are a better team than their record would suggest. But I think the Green Bay Packers are a better team than their record would indicate as well. What? The Packers are 6-0? I stand by my assessment: the Pack has yet to play up to their full potential. I think (if they can contain Jared Allen and Adrian Peterson) the Packers will prove their worthiness next week.