Category: Green Bay Packers

Time to Acknowledge the One Basic Fact about the Packers

Mark Potash at the Chicago Sun-Times explains why the Packers winning the Super Bowl is really bad news for the Bears:

“Why are the Packers able to plug in rookie Bryan Bulaga — the 24th pick of the 2010 draft — at offensive tackle and win the Super Bowl, while the Bears’ Chris Williams — the 14th pick of the 2008 draft — is running out of o-line positions to find a home?

“Why was Packers linebacker Erik Walden — picked up off the street on Oct. 27 — an unstoppable force in Week 17?

“Why was Cullen Jenkins — who missed the last month of the regular-season with a calf injury — a bigger factor in the NFC Championship Game than Peppers?

“How did Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn nearly beat the New England Patriots on the road a week after the Patriots dominated the Bears when Todd Collins threw four interceptions and had a 6.2 rating against the Carolina Panthers?

“The Packers have two basic advantages over the Bears right now: they do more with more and they do more with less.”

In other words, they’re a better organization top to bottom than the Bears.  It makes me sick to write it but its basically true.

“they do more with less”?  Why not just say they’re better coached?

“they do more with more”?  Why not just say they have better young talent because they’ve got a better general manager who knows how to draft?  One who didn’t have to spend a fortune in free agency or give away two years worth of top draft picks to make up for his own failures.

Potash only needed two words to write this article:  “They’re better.”  Its totally disgusting but its the simple truth.

The Sad Story of William “The Refrigerator” Perry and Other Points of View

Bears

  • In what has to be the saddest story I’ve read all year, Tom Friend at ESPN details the struggles of William Perry against his both his physical and mental disabilities.  Here is the accompanying video:

Elsewhere

  • The Super Bowl ads can be found here at the Chicago Tribune.  Here’s what was probably my favorite one:

  • Former Baltimore head coach Brian Billick talks to Joe Reedy at the Cincinnati Enquirer about new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden and the “West Coast offense”:

“’There’s no such thing as a West Coast offense anymore. It doesn’t exist,’ Billick said. ‘Everyone has taken different bits and pieces of it and its morphed into a number of different things. He may use some of the West Coast verbage but even the most ardent of west coast guys who came directly from the [Bill] Walsh lineage whether its be via [Mike] Holmgren to Andy Reid to Jon Gruden, they’ve all evolved it and it’s morphed into different forms almost like the Dungy 2 or Tampa 2, everyone uses a form of it. To identify a team like that, it’s kind of a misnomer because everyone is doing it.”

One Final Thought

Like Mayne’s vidoe above, “Vince Lombadi’s” final speech to players in both locker rooms is also no less moving for being posted late.  This was a nice series of video’s put together by the league.  I hope they do it again next year.

Super Bowl XLV Still Hasn’t Happened Yet and Other Points of View

Bears

“If you want to criticize something, let’s talk about the offensive line, let’s ask the decision-makers up in the front office in Chicago, and I know they’re going to hate me for this, but why is Jay Cutler and Matt Forte playing behind that? I’m not going to get on those guys, because you can’t even move outside until you fix inside.”

Elsewhere

“The key for the Steelers is their pre-snap disguise. Free safety Ryan Clark will show a single high safety look (Cover 1 to the offense) while strong safety Troy Polamalu will move to his blitz alignment and time the snap of the ball. What the Steelers create is a two-on-one blitz versus the running back in protection (strong safety and nickel back) with the outside linebacker “scooping” to attack the left tackle. This blitz will test the protection schemes of the Packers’ offensive line and could get a free runner at [Green Bay quarterback Aaron] Rodgers‘ blind side.”

“The Packers need to attack Ben Roethlisberger from his right side to push him left. That means the Steelers quarterback will have to throw across his body when he scrambles loose, rather than setting up in a more natural stance and finding his receivers.”

“Hines Ward recalled how Tomlin initially instituted dress codes and included more contact than an MMA fight during his first training camp.

“‘He was very militant,’ Ward said. ‘Some veteran guys challenged his authority, and they’re no longer here. The guys that he kept, we bought into his belief and his system.'”

“When you walk in our building and you have pictures of Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi, Mike Holmgren — our history is among us all the time,” he said. “It creates a standard and expectation that fits right along with our visions.”

“Roethlisberger will be without Maurkice Pouncey, the outstanding rookie center who suffered a high ankle sprain early in the AFC championship game against the Jets. The Steelers switched to backup center Doug Legursky, a second-year player who finished the game.

“‘The NFL is made up of lots of players like him — guys who somehow got an opportunity and seized it,’ Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. ‘We’re completely confident (in him). That’s why we’re not changing what we do.'”

“The Packers and Steelers are two reasons you shouldn’t get too enamored with free agents. Neither team usually is a player in the free agent market, and both are better because of it.”

“Matt Cassel has Drew Brees to thank for his success last season. Cassel’s coach Todd Haley made Cassel watch a lot of tape on Brees’ footwork and his pass drops, and rode Cassel hard about trying to do it the way Brees does it. Brees is known for having the best footwork in the league, and Haley wants Cassel as close to that as possible. Haley asks some of the same things of Cassel that Sean Payton asks of Brees. Haley and Payton were co-workers in Dallas.”

“Even based solely on the regular season, I thought McCarthy should have been runner up [to Bill Belichick].”

I think McCarthy should have won.

“You don’t hire an offensive or defensive guy. You hire a leader.  That’s the No. 1 thing to look for is a leader, someone to stand in front of the room, command the respect of the organization and obviously the players, and somebody the owner feels good about.

“Because wherever their expertise is, they have to be able to hire around it. So No. 1 is leadership, the second thing is the ability to communicate, and the third for me is to hire and delegate.”

“ARLINGTON, TX—Despite the overwhelming media hype, countless interviews with players and coaches, and considerable speculation about the big game since the conference champions earned Super Bowl berths nearly two weeks ago, Super Bowl XLV still hasn’t happened yet. “It feels like it should have happened last Sunday, but it didn’t,” Ohio-area football fan Jared Britton told reporters Friday, adding that instead of the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl happened.”

One Final Thought

Football con man Michael Vick won the AP Comeback Player of the Year award despite having attended a party just last June at which a man was shot in cold blood.  I’m wondering if he still gets this award if it had been a dog.

Fantuz Flakes Commercial and Other Points of View

Bears

  • But you know when you’ve really made it?  When you have your own dandruff shampoo (the video was made by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats).
  • Biggs continued his excellent positional analysis series with the running backs.  I thought this was an interesting choice of words:

“Harvey Unga faced an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster as an addition in the supplemental draft and the Bears found a convenient way to redshirt him with a hamstring pull in training camp.”

“Kevin Colbert, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ director of football operations, noted that nearly three-quarters of Pro Bowl players were selected in the first three rounds.

‘‘’So it’s very important that you get those players right,’ Colbert said, ‘and we really emphasize making sure we don’t make mistakes on the 1’s, 2’s and 3’s. If you get lucky on the later rounds, great. But the 1’s, 2’s and 3’s, if you miss on them, they can set you back for some years.’’’


Elsewhere

  • Pittsburgh defensive end Brett Keisel has been growing his beard for seven months.  He thinks it gives the Steelers’ “Super Bowl powers”.  From Sam Farmer at the Los Angeles Times.
  • NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addresses the negotiations with the Player’s Union in this video as he answers a queston from Chad Ochocinco:

One Final Thought

I am not going to pick the Super Bowl game, especially against the spread, because I think its too close to call.  But in what I consider to be a good sign for the Steelers, most of the money in Vegas is coming in on the Packers.

Most of the bets aren’t in yet.  But MGM Resorts International, which operates 10 sports books on the Las Vegas Strip, said about 70 percent of the money bet so far in its casinos is for a Packers victory.  Bookies aren’t in the business of losing money.

Roethlisberger Gets “Punched in the Nose” and Other Points of View

Bears

“‘Bring him back,’ Goodwin said Thursday. ‘The biggest thing about Olin is his leadership. I’ve been watching film on him the last few games because we didn’t know who we were going to face in the Super Bowl. Let me tell you, he can still play. All the things I saw him do when I was with the Bears, he can still do now. It’s a no-brainer to re-sign him, No. 1 as a player, but No. 2 as a leader.'”

Elsewhere

“What has gotten the Packers to this point is good drafting, but not just that. It’s also solid player development. The Packers’ coaching staff prepares young players well, and then gives them opportunities.”

“When you see the Packers’ defense jog onto the field Sunday, rest assured they will be guided neither by statistical tendencies nor computer “readouts.” Their game plan will be the work of a man who literally wrote the book on this system, a man who sat at a desk last week with a pen and an bag of multicolored highlighters and wrote down his plan to help win a Super Bowl championship. Based solely on his own knowledge, instincts and a file of reports from every game he has coached, Capers will almost certainly make a call or two that the NFL has never seen.”

  • ESPN’s Sal Palatonio interviews B. J. Raji.  Sounds like the Packers are depending on Raji to dominate as the Steelers are hurting at center:

  • Jake Locker isn’t one of Mel Kiper‘s top 25 NFL prospects:

Nate Solder 6-9 315
Gabe Carimi 6-7 327
Tyron Smith 6-5 280
Anthony Castonzo 6-7 287
Derek Sherrod 6-6 305

One Final Thought

Sam Farmer at the Los Angeles Times quotes Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians on the troubles quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has faced:

“That happens to a lot of these guys, the young kids who come in and have success.  There’s a sense of entitlement. … It happens to all of us. Whether it’s someone who writes a bestseller, you look at yourself different. You feel pretty good about yourself.

“It’s the same thing as a coach. You win some ballgames, you feel pretty good about yourself. It’s different when that success kind of becomes who you are, and you stray away from your family and you roots and everything.

“It takes a punch in the nose to get you back.”

Aaron Roger’s Extensive Comments on Brett Favre and Other Points of View

Bears

“It was interesting to hear the Green Bay Packers praise the play of nose tackle Anthony Adams prior to the NFC Championship Game. It was also very telling. By nature, the position doesn’t produce much in the way of statistics, but he proved long ago to be a shrewd free-agent signing. Adams is a dependable and durable two-down performer and quietly he’s one of the real leaders in the locker room, making him a priority to re-sign as he’s an unrestricted free agent.”

“The 23rd overall pick of the Packers, Bulaga has mostly played at right tackle, and his performance has been inconsistent. One NFC scout told me that Bears seventh-round pick J’Marcus Webb has more upside than Bulaga.”

Elsewhere

“I bet two dozen [Steeler] players … Not one, not a single player, went to his defense. It wasn’t personal in a sense, but all kinds of stories like, ‘He won’t sign my jersey.’ ”

The original quote was reported by SI.com’s Peter King. King has admitted that he put the “Steeler” in brackets and that the commissioner never implicitly stated that this was the case. But it not exactly a denial by Goodell, either.

“I asked Ochocinco how [quarterback Carson] Palmer’s situation compares to when the receiver tried to get traded a few years ago.
“’The difference is I would be scrutinized,’ he said. ‘In Carson’s case, they would do everything they can to fix the situation.’”

Ochocinco thinks the Bengals fired offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski to make Palmer happy.

  • I know that football players are a superstitious lot.  But this is ridiculous.  Via Jim Litke at the Associated Press.
  • This expert is obviously better than most as he makes his Super Bowl pick:

  • Hmmm.  He makes a good point.  But I’m not so sure I trust that guy.  Let’s see what this expert has to say:

Yep.  That pretty much finalizes it.

“No.”

  • Steeler’s center Maurkice Pouncey speaks to Chris Berman at ESPN.  He really seems to think he can play.  We’ll see.


One Final Thought

Florio collected some interesting quotes from Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. This was among them“

“’That’s what makes you enjoy this week so much: All those times getting your ass kicked,’ Arians said in reference to the times he was actually fired as a college coach.”

Thinking of Betting on the Super Bowl? Maybe Better Think Again. And Other Points of View

Bears

  • Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune does another positional analysis, this time of the offensive line. He concludes that the Bears need two linemen, probably one veteran and one draftee, probably one for the interior who can play center and probably one for the tackle position. I generally agree. Perhaps the most interesting point was his bottom line:

[General manager Jerry] Angelo has his work cut out for him. The Bears assign one person to be a crosschecker for each position in the draft, an overseer if you will. Angelo has been that man for the offensive line. The draft is his baby and the line has been his position. It’s time to produce.

  • David Haugh, also at the Tribune, talks to backup quarterback Caleb Hanie.  The Bears are in a bit of a bind with Hanie because they’ll probably have to pay $1.759 million next year to keep him.  I found this quote to be interesting:

“‘You think about fourth-and-4, if I had just pumped that ball into Earl (Bennett),’ Hanie said. ‘Or on (B.J.) Raji‘s (interception return for a touchdown) if I would have taken just three steps instead of five steps, would he have just missed it. Or if I had gotten reps on that play, I would have maybe progressed over to Devin (Hester). But that’s how it goes sometimes.”’

This is the classic “loser’s lament”, worthy more of a Lions player who is still learning how to finish a game..  Hanie should know than to make these kinds of statements.


Elsewhere

Tom Brady and Drew Brees averaged 44 attempts against the Steelers this year. They picked Pittsburgh apart with short precision passing for 655 yards, five scores, and one pick.

I doubt this fact has been lost on the Packer coaching staff.

In any case, hope that the Packers coaching staff will still be raided is not lost (yet).  Let’s not forget that Dom Capers would certainly still look good on that Titan sideline as head coach. Assuming Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy doesn’t decide to refuse to give him permission to interview, of course. After all, he might find his way from there to the Bears one day.

“Rush four—and drop seven. That’s it. Whenever you send the corner cat (Sam Shields in this situation, “C” in the white square), you are playing coverage in the backend and looking to steal a play.”

Raji is the defensive tackle that drops into coverage as Shields rushes.

“Dom has done more as far as moving people around,” Fox analyst Jimmy Johnson said. “LeBeau has done a fantastic job, but they are pretty standard with their zone blitzes. They let their players’ abilities be better than the guy across from them. Dom really moves his people around a lot. They can be coming from anyplace. He’s probably a little more diverse than LeBeau.”

  • Chris Erskine at the Chicago Tribune gathers hair advice for Troy Polamalu and Clay Matthews.  Sunday, for heaven’s sake, please come quickly.
  • Sam Farmer at the Los Angeles Times does a pretty good job of bottom lining this game for me:

“Tell me how the Packers do at stopping Rashard Mendenhall, and I think I can tell you who wins this game.”

Mustain was rated ahead of Tim Tebow and behind only Matthew Stafford among prep quarterbacks in 2006.

But don’t let that spoil the rest of National Signing Day.

  • Some of the Super Bowl ads are starting to hit the Internet.  This Doritos commercial looks promising.

One Final Thought

Via BenMaller.com we have this little nugget for those thinking of investing in the Super Bowl.  R.J. Bell at pregame.com says that Vegas has won money on 18 of the last 20 Super Bowls – the exceptions being 2008 (Giants vs. Pats) and 1995 (49ers vs. Chargers).  What’s the estimated net amount that gamblers have lost over that time period?  Over $11 BILLION dollars.

Don’t go betting the house on this one, folks.  Or barn if you live in Green Bay.

Big Game Causes Stripper Shortage and Other Points of View

Bears

  • Dan Pompei at the Chicago Tribune reviews his four most pressing needs for the Bears.  He emphasizes the largely under appreciated need for a good hard look at back up quarterback.
  • Bryan Dietzler at the Bleacher Report runs thorough five potential draftees for the Bears in the first round.  Not surprisingly three are offensive linemen.  He also mentions Justin Houston, a prospect we’re starting to hear a lot about.  Many think he’d be a good defensive end in a cover two type defense.
  • Drew Sharp at the Detroit Free Press makes the interesting point that those players criticizing Jay Cutler have no right to complain about the proposed 18 game seasaon.
  • Who says the Bears don’t have cheerleaders?   This video is wonderful.

Elsewhere

What?  There’s something else going on?

Via Michael David Smith at profootballtalk.com.

“Late in the third quarter against Green Bay, he watched from his private box as the Packers scored their scored fifth consecutive touchdown to take a 42-14 lead. Fans began to stream out of the Georgia Dome.

“’People said to me, ‘You must be upset about that,’’ Blank said. ‘I said no. I wasn’t upset that they were leaving, I was upset about the way we were playing. The fans were incredibly supportive all year. After that third quarter, it would’ve taken a miracle just to come back and make the game competitive. It was like the fans were getting hit on the head with a hammer, and it wouldn’t stop. The only way they could make it stop was by leaving. So they left.’”

“In that division, you have to build a team that can play in the elements and play outside.  I didn’t realize that right away. My first year there, we took Terrell Buckley in the first round. After seeing what it’s like in November and December in Green Bay, I figured out you need to get a bigger person. So we eliminated the smaller stature guys. It helps to get people from the Big Ten and that area that it doesn’t affect. You need bigger people.”

Anyone else wondering if Bears general manager Jerry Angelo still hasn’t learned this lesson?

“One of the reasons four teams have yet to name their defensive coordinator is the Packers still are playing.”

Too bad its only the assistants that look to be raided.  Let’s all hope the Tennessee Titans have their eye on Dom Capers.  He’s certainly deserving and he’d be out of the division.

  • Its Dan Pompei Day here on a slow time for NFL news.  Pompei’s long column at The National Football Post is well worth reading in its entirety and the good news is that we’ve got the time to do it.  Here he elaborates upon opinions that Jake Locker had a bad Senior Bowl week:

“The reason for so many different opinions on Jake Locker’s performance is the quarterback was very inconsistent. You could make a highlight reel of Locker’s best plays that would have been very impressive. And you could have made a lowlight reel of Locker’s worst plays that probably would result in him being undrafted. If a team is looking for a player with great athleticism and ability and the potential to wow you, they will be able to overlook some of Locker’s deficiencies. If a team is looking for a polished performer who gets the job done, it probably won’t be interested in the Washington QB.”

“What’s your favorite thing about Super Bowl week?

A) Hearing about all the times the Packers and Steelers have won.
B) Seeing what Joe Montana is promoting this year.
C) Stories about Jerry Jones and his big ol’ stadium.
D) The game’s on Fox, one of the few football networks that doesn’t employ Matt Millen.”

“Don’t dwell on the dead hooker incident at the team party

“Remember even though they’re mostly all mediocre alternates replacing good players who thought of excuses not to come, they still don’t completely suck.”

One Final Thought

One more Pompei item:

“Whether the meatball in us likes it or not, the game we love is changing, as this story eloquently points out.  We don’t like change—that’s in our DNA. And we like violence in football—that’s in our DNA too. But once we accept we can’t change what’s going to happen, we’ll all probably agree this is a good thing. With Super Bowl week kicking off Sunday, we can expect a lot more stories about head injuries.”

Aaron Rogers Creates an Unnecessary Distraction, Needs to Watch Comments

One of the things about the Bears that you have to like is that they stick together as a unit.  For instance, you know there are guys on that team who don’t 100% approve of Jay Cutler and the way he choses to conduct himself.  But they’d never dream of commenting on it publicly because nothing good can come from it.  We therefore hear about nothing but the good things from Cutler’s teammates.

Contrast with Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rogers.  Last week, Nick Barnett and Jermichael Finley expressed some hurt feelings over the plan to leave them out of the team’s Super Bowl photo.  The team re-scheduled the date of the photo – partly at Rogers’ request – and we all thought the issue was over.

But apparently not.  Rogers couldn’t help himself as he commented further yesterday via Pete Dougherty at the Green Bay Press Gazette:

“Rodgers suggested that players shouldn’t complain about not being in the photo if they conducted most of their rehabilitation away from the team.

“’I’ll say this, I was on IR back in 2006, and I chose to stick around and finish out the season with my guys and be here every game,’ Rodgers said. ‘Some of those guys didn’t.

“’So we love ’em, we care about ’em, we don’t wish injury on anybody. But this is a group of guys that’s really come together, and it’s been great to work with the guys we brought in, midseason some of them, and the young guys. Some of the guys who were injured, they’re still a part of this team, but some of them didn’t choose to stick around.’”

Not surprisingly, Barnett and Finley took exception via Twitter.  Barnett started the ball rolling by this amongst other things:

“Doubt you get the full attention needed.. It’s easy to speak about others when you are not in their position.. Talk about ‘union’ ha.”

Finely responded to Barnett:

“TRUE FACTS RIGHT THERE.”

Before Barnett deleted his comments, he finally tweeted this:

“Before I delete this page just wanted to say I was never trying to be a distration”

Too late.

Once the genie is out of the bottle, you can’t put it back in.  It’s lesson that the veteran Rogers needs to learn fast as he enters the spotlight on the big stage.

Key Obama Aid Betrays Country and Other Points of View

Bears

  • Neil Hayes at the Chicago Sun-Times answers your questions.  This dead on response came to a fan who wanted offensive coordinator Mike Martz to be fired.   Here’s part of it:

“The other key is continuity. I can’t stress this enough. Talk to quarterbacks who have had multiple offensive coordinators and they will tell you how much of a disadvantage it is. At this point of his career, Cutler needs to continue to learn and mature in one offense rather than switching to another.”

“Hell no I’m not rooting for the Packers in the Super Bowl. I have a ton of respect for that organization and the head coach, but I don’t want them to win the Super Bowl. They’re in our division, I want them to lose.”

Couldn’t agree more.

Summary: The Bears nailed one of the top sleepers in the whole draft, when seventh-round pick J’Marcus Webb was thrown into action and performed pretty well. Suddenly, a draft that didn’t see any picks until No. 75 overall (Major Wright) found some decent value. Corey Wootton also looks like a keeper as a defensive end out of Northwestern. The Bears saw value in him as a local guy who wasn’t at 100 percent during his final season in Evanston, and it should pan out for them. There wasn’t major impact, but given where they were forced to pick, Chicago did well.

Draft grade: B | Current Grade: B

  • Don Banks at SI.com has released the first of many mock drafts he will put together in the coming weeks.  He has the Bears taking Derek Sherrod, an offensive tackle out of Mississippi State:

“The Bears have decent options when their turn comes around. They can get help for the offensive line that caused them so many headaches, particularly early in the season, or address their needs at either defensive tackle, receiver or cornerback. Sherrod is the highest-rated remaining tackle, but Texas cornerback Aaron Williams and LSU defensive tackle Drake Nevis would also make sense.”

  • NFL Live’s Trey Wingo, Tom Jackson, and Trent Dilfer at ESPN give the Bears their season report card:

  • This fan has obviously recovered from the loss:

  • Barak Obama‘s special assistant and personal aide Reggie Love has betrayed his country:


Elsewhere

  • James Walsh at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports the facts behind former Bear and current Vikings wide receiver Bernard Berrian‘s law suit against a California couple who found his Blackberry.  The couple say they were “negotiating a reward”.  Berrian’s lawyers and apparently the FBI have called it “extortion”.  I would simply call it “unethical” regardless of what the law says.
  • Guard Logan Mankins told Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald that its highly unlikely that he will be back with the Patriots unless they use the franchise tag on him.  He will be the best guard available to the Bears in free agency.
  • Ray Lewis comments upon the honor of playing in the Pro Bowl as players around the league, including the Bears’ Brian Urlacher, back out due to “injury”:

“When you look at a guy like Peyton [Manning], when you look at a guy like Tony Gonzales, they appreciate it.  When you get over, there’s a certain brotherhood. The guys you went to war against, now you come here and it’s all about family and sharing and understanding.”

  • The NFL players union says the average number of injuries has risen during the 2010 season.
  • ESPN‘s Outside the Lines reveals the results of a scientific study, that for the first time reveals the level of prescription painkiller use and misuse by retired NFL players.

  • Scouts Inc. ranks every single player on both Super Bowl rosters for ESPN.
  • It seems that green Bay nose tackle B.J. Raji has taught the world a new dance.  This new step was inspired by his now famous belly dance in the end zone:

One Final Thought

Rachel Cohen writes about the NFL’s soaring television ratings for the Associated Press.  Fox Sports chairman David Hill had this to say about a work stoppage:

“With the sport reaching heights that Pete Rozelle would never dreamed of, we want to keep it that way.  We know what happens to sports after a strike or a lockout; people turn away and it takes a while for them to come back.  It would be a great tragedy if both sides weren’t able to reach an agreement.”

In the case of baseball, some of us never went back.  And the game has never been the same.

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