"No expense spared by team in Favre PR war" was posted on the J/S website Oct. 28, 2009. It is the most important piece of reporting since Ted Thompson traded Brett Favre to the Vikings. In it we learn that Ari Fleischer was not hired by Thompson but at the behest of a member(s) of the Packer Executive Committee. The buck stops with Mark Murphy, but the push to hire Fleischer came from elsewhere. And Fleisher was likely responsable for the anti-Favre slur that divided Packerdom.
Christl writes: "The theme offered by Favre's critics was almost always the same: That he had become a diva (a word that curiously kept popping up), and that he was a self-absorbed ingrate for being wishy-washy and dragging out his decision." Christl notes that Allen Barra of The Wall Street Journal, a publication that editorially was pro-Bush and one with which Fleischer might have had some influence disseminated those talking points in his reporting.
While embracing the ends - dumping Favre - Christl questions the means noting the historical inverse relationship between involvement in football operations by members of the Executive Committee and the Packers winning football games. That's going to be something to watch for in the future. Further down the page, Christl writes "some people on the board said they were becoming ever more wary of the growing influence of certain executive committee members - notably John Bergstrom and Carl Kuehne - at the expense of the administration".
Christl then uses the record of Packer precedence as a wrecking ball against the Fleischer / Barra premise that Favre's "diva" behavior was that of a "a self-absorbed ingrate" citing similar behavior by Don Hutson who retired and unretired a number of times. Want to excommunicate Favre? To be consistent, you also have call Don Hutson & Forrest Gregg divas.
As McGinn has reported, Favre's future with the Packers was decided in January & February when Thompson & McCarthy were silent on Favre's return. They punted and pinned Favre into a corner. Favre's 13-3 record and the NFC runner-up status were not going to stand in the way of Aaron Rodgers no matter how many "Favre 4-ever" signs appeared at Lambeau. It's an open question if a Super Bowl victory and an MVP award could have thwarted the Rodger's timetable. Playing with out Thompson's & McCarthy's support would have been the real "diva" move.
Note: More on this by Andrew Brandt in the National Football Post:
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/The-difficult-parting-of-Favre-and-the-Packers.html
That's way I'm wearing the Green & Gold #4 tomorrow. That is the most ambivalent statement I can make. If the Vikings win, there is less of a chance these teams will meet again in the playoffs. That would be fine with me. On the other hand, if the Packers win it will advance the inevitable demise of a good but not great Super Bowl pretender of a Vikings team. Sure they have a shot, but it's a long shot because one season with any QB probably isn't enough to develop playoff chemistry. The close the Vikings come, the more likely they are to want Favre back to try again.
In 2007 it was "Favre 4-ever"
In 2008, it was "Favre 4-get-her" (Trying to forget the look on Deanna' face at that press conference.)
In 2009, it's "Favre-whatever"
4-2010, we have to look at the Vikings free agent situation.
4-2011, we may well be saying "he's still going he really does love to play!"
On the upside, Favre playing the Packers while commentators wonder aloud if Rodgers is holding on to the ball too long, may yield a wider spread understand among Packer fans of what made Brett a great QB. It's not just a strong arm, awareness in the pocket, ability to throw accurately off his back foot and use the recoil to avoid tripping over and falling under blitzers. Favre will throw to a spot and trust his receiver to beat coverage and get the ball. Doing that means accepting interceptions and the resulting criticism.
"Game managers" don't make those throws. "Gunslingers" can only win making those throws selectively to talented receivers they know and trust. That's what we saw in 2007 and in 1996-97. Let's watch Brett play for the Vikings and make sure we know and we remember traits of a great QB. That will help us be good Packer fans and good team owners long after Brett and Aaron are done playing and the ESPN hype has long been forgotten.
I'm not inferring Aaron Rodgers is a game manager. Fortunately, he is way better than that. But I did joust with some Packer fans who want him to be just that in the Sportsbubbler chat rooms last year. That bad idea is certainly out there.
As Ron Wolf might put it, if we were a fart in the wind in 1997, we are a total gasser in 2009.
Those wondering what there is to do in Green Bay on a Friday night read this:
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Biggs-Police-nab-man-who-stole-Aaron-Rodgers-Dr-sign.html
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sackless! Packers Bury Browns 31-3
A sackless performance by the offensive line and overall good reviews give some hope for the Packers vs. Vikings next week. Personally, I'm not getting my hopes up for that game, but the OL putting up a goose egg put the breaks on the record setting pace of yielding sacks for the season.
Personally, I think this is the first season of Favre's revenge. There will probably be a sequel. That's bad enough, but I'd rather not remember it as the worst OL ever to boot so I will track that for the rest of the year.
Can they avoid the tag of worst OL since 1990? Maybe, but only if Sitton and/or Barbre improve this year, and go on to have successful careers with the Packers. I can remember Marco Rivera being shaky at times his first year starting, so we will wait and see.
Personally, I think this is the first season of Favre's revenge. There will probably be a sequel. That's bad enough, but I'd rather not remember it as the worst OL ever to boot so I will track that for the rest of the year.
Can they avoid the tag of worst OL since 1990? Maybe, but only if Sitton and/or Barbre improve this year, and go on to have successful careers with the Packers. I can remember Marco Rivera being shaky at times his first year starting, so we will wait and see.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Congratulations Donald Driver!!!
There is no better representation as to what a Packer should strive to be than Donald Driver. He's got a date with the ring of honor when he is done playing. Until then enjoy the 100% he gives us on and off the field.
Update: Welcome back Mark Tauscher & Ahman Green. What can it hurt? Like the Packers this season, these two guys have nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving it the old Mike Sherman try.
Update: Welcome back Mark Tauscher & Ahman Green. What can it hurt? Like the Packers this season, these two guys have nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving it the old Mike Sherman try.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Worst Offensive Line Since Before Lombardi?
Note: I updated this article on Sunday, October 11 to correct for the year Gale Gillingham was drafted. It was 1966 not in the early 1970s. I also added information about QB injuries in 1980 & 1991.
It turns out that NFL.com has what I figure are unofficial sacks going back to at least 1970. You can look at sacks per passing attempt. You can look at number of sacks surrendered in a season by team. You can also look at where a team ranked in sacks allowed vs. other teams.
The Packers led the NFL in sacks surrendered in 1990 with 62. They were in the top 6 from 1988-91. From 1979-82 they stayed in the top 8 with 1981 being the worst ranking #3. The best years were 1971 ranking 24th and 1972 ranking 22nd.
The most sacks allowed came in 1990 with 62. Next worst was 52 in 1981. The best years were 1972 & 1974 with 17. But everyone ran a lot more in those days. There is no reason to look at the Favre years because of how quickly he gets rid of the ball. Also not much point in looking at 1968-69
In 1990, the sack to attempt ratio was the highest since 1970 at 8.7. In sacks per passing attempt, the 1970 Packers gave up a sack every 8.2 attempts. In 1976 it was every 8.7 pass attempts and 8.3 in 1982. The best years where 1974 at 19.4 and 1986 at 15.3.
The worst of any team I saw by far was the 1986 Eagles who surrendered 106 sacks. I think the second worst was 69. So even if the Packers keep up their sieve like ways, they might only be the second worst offensive line in NFL history.
So 1970 seems to be a bad year, and if I recall the old guys were breaking down then and this led to the drafting of Gale Gillingham. It's probably not right to pick on them, so let's look at 1981 and 1990.
1981 Offensive Line - all played 16 games except Koncar who played 11 and Gofourth who miss one.
LT Mark Koncar
LG Derrel Gofourth
C Larry McCarren
RG Leotis Harris
RT Greg Koch
Tim Huffman G-T
Syd Kitson G-T
Karl Swanke G-T-C
1990 Offensive Linemen
LT Ken Ruettgers - 11 games started
LG Billy Ard - 15 games started
C James Campen - 16 games started
RG Keith Uecker - 13 games started
RT Tony Mandarich - 16 games started
Alan Veingrad
Ron Hallstrom
Rich Moran
The 1990 line just looks bad. Mandarich. Keith Uecker played for my high school in Florida, a dubious place if there ever was one. Campen is the current OL coach. I recall Ard wasn't much. It looks like a 62-sack line to me.
The 2009 OL has allowed 20 sacks in 4 games. Projected over 16 games and the 2009 Packer line will allow 80 sacks shattering this ignoble of 62. In order to avoid breaking this record, the Packers can only allow about 3 sacks per game which seems like a tall order at this point.
Of course allowing sacks is only part of what the offensive line does. They have to run block also. And there we can probably acquit the 1981 line as that was a Dickey / Coffman / Lofton / Gerry Ellis / Harlan Huckleby team. QB Lyn Dickey was notoriously immobile playing with a steel rod in one leg. Huckleby and Ellis combined for 1,241 yards rushing. The sacks per attempts ratio supports the notion that while this like gave up a ton of sacks, it protected Dickey too. They gave up a sack every 9.9 passing attempts which ranks only 9th worst in the 22 years I surveyed.
The 1990 team had Sterling Sharpe, Ed West, Perry Kemp, Keith Woodside, and Michael Haddix. They went 6-10 where as the 1981 team was 8-8. Woodside and Haddix combined for 493 yards rushing for the year which is about Ryan Grant's current pace. Lack of ground game and an one-dimensional Sterling Sharpe based offense make the 1990 line my candidate for the worst line ever.
It should also be noted that David Whitehurst started 3 games for Dickey in 1981. Majkowski started 8 games in 1990, Dilweg started 7, and Blair Kiel started 1. So the 1990 line was a bad line on a bad team with injuries at QB to boot.
So it is safe to say that through four games, the performance of the 2009 Packer offensive line has probably been worse than any other line since before the days of Vince Lombardi.
UPDATE: On October, 10th the GBPG's Mike Vandermause writes: "At this rate, the Packers will shatter the single-season record for sacks, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers will suffer a serious injury."
It turns out that NFL.com has what I figure are unofficial sacks going back to at least 1970. You can look at sacks per passing attempt. You can look at number of sacks surrendered in a season by team. You can also look at where a team ranked in sacks allowed vs. other teams.
The Packers led the NFL in sacks surrendered in 1990 with 62. They were in the top 6 from 1988-91. From 1979-82 they stayed in the top 8 with 1981 being the worst ranking #3. The best years were 1971 ranking 24th and 1972 ranking 22nd.
The most sacks allowed came in 1990 with 62. Next worst was 52 in 1981. The best years were 1972 & 1974 with 17. But everyone ran a lot more in those days. There is no reason to look at the Favre years because of how quickly he gets rid of the ball. Also not much point in looking at 1968-69
In 1990, the sack to attempt ratio was the highest since 1970 at 8.7. In sacks per passing attempt, the 1970 Packers gave up a sack every 8.2 attempts. In 1976 it was every 8.7 pass attempts and 8.3 in 1982. The best years where 1974 at 19.4 and 1986 at 15.3.
The worst of any team I saw by far was the 1986 Eagles who surrendered 106 sacks. I think the second worst was 69. So even if the Packers keep up their sieve like ways, they might only be the second worst offensive line in NFL history.
So 1970 seems to be a bad year, and if I recall the old guys were breaking down then and this led to the drafting of Gale Gillingham. It's probably not right to pick on them, so let's look at 1981 and 1990.
1981 Offensive Line - all played 16 games except Koncar who played 11 and Gofourth who miss one.
LT Mark Koncar
LG Derrel Gofourth
C Larry McCarren
RG Leotis Harris
RT Greg Koch
Tim Huffman G-T
Syd Kitson G-T
Karl Swanke G-T-C
1990 Offensive Linemen
LT Ken Ruettgers - 11 games started
LG Billy Ard - 15 games started
C James Campen - 16 games started
RG Keith Uecker - 13 games started
RT Tony Mandarich - 16 games started
Alan Veingrad
Ron Hallstrom
Rich Moran
The 1990 line just looks bad. Mandarich. Keith Uecker played for my high school in Florida, a dubious place if there ever was one. Campen is the current OL coach. I recall Ard wasn't much. It looks like a 62-sack line to me.
The 2009 OL has allowed 20 sacks in 4 games. Projected over 16 games and the 2009 Packer line will allow 80 sacks shattering this ignoble of 62. In order to avoid breaking this record, the Packers can only allow about 3 sacks per game which seems like a tall order at this point.
Of course allowing sacks is only part of what the offensive line does. They have to run block also. And there we can probably acquit the 1981 line as that was a Dickey / Coffman / Lofton / Gerry Ellis / Harlan Huckleby team. QB Lyn Dickey was notoriously immobile playing with a steel rod in one leg. Huckleby and Ellis combined for 1,241 yards rushing. The sacks per attempts ratio supports the notion that while this like gave up a ton of sacks, it protected Dickey too. They gave up a sack every 9.9 passing attempts which ranks only 9th worst in the 22 years I surveyed.
The 1990 team had Sterling Sharpe, Ed West, Perry Kemp, Keith Woodside, and Michael Haddix. They went 6-10 where as the 1981 team was 8-8. Woodside and Haddix combined for 493 yards rushing for the year which is about Ryan Grant's current pace. Lack of ground game and an one-dimensional Sterling Sharpe based offense make the 1990 line my candidate for the worst line ever.
It should also be noted that David Whitehurst started 3 games for Dickey in 1981. Majkowski started 8 games in 1990, Dilweg started 7, and Blair Kiel started 1. So the 1990 line was a bad line on a bad team with injuries at QB to boot.
So it is safe to say that through four games, the performance of the 2009 Packer offensive line has probably been worse than any other line since before the days of Vince Lombardi.
UPDATE: On October, 10th the GBPG's Mike Vandermause writes: "At this rate, the Packers will shatter the single-season record for sacks, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers will suffer a serious injury."
Monday, October 5, 2009
8 Sacks
55 seconds left in the Vikings game and it's a one possession game. What a waste of talent on the rest of the roster doomed by the OL.
Sitton on Failed Conversion
Larry McCarren says Josh Sitton was beaten in pass protection by a 3rd string defensive tackle on the failed conversion. Now what are we suppose to think? This is the guy that was suppose bring some beef to the line.
Later McCarren notes a few minutes late that Pat Williams split Sitton and TJ Lang to tackle Donald Lee for a 2 yard loss.
Later McCarren notes a few minutes late that Pat Williams split Sitton and TJ Lang to tackle Donald Lee for a 2 yard loss.
Can Rodgers Survive His Coffin?
I've been worried about Rodgers physically surviving this game. Even if he does, it will take a lot of great plays behind a whole new line for him to ever lead a team down the field like Favre.
lol... saftey. Want to say it with me? "Gonna get that cleaned up, Mike?"
lol... saftey. Want to say it with me? "Gonna get that cleaned up, Mike?"
4th & 1 @ the 1....
Empty backfield? Not even a threat of the handoff... failure. Is anyone surprised? At least Donald Lee has earned his "wedge of Swiss" to make sure we have 7. Five or six blocks of Swiss would fail to mirror the legendary seven blocks of granite that Vince Lombardi was part of at Fordham University.
I really believed that McCarthy had Barbre and Sitton ready to play. When they didn't sign anybody and didn't draft anybody, I thought "These guys are pros. They won't go into this year with the worst OL in the league. They have too many resources to get that completely wrong." But they did... and Colledge just went down. Bring on T.J. Lang... our secret ace in the hole?
At least we can look forward to Favre fadding down the strech, right Bob McGinn?
I really believed that McCarthy had Barbre and Sitton ready to play. When they didn't sign anybody and didn't draft anybody, I thought "These guys are pros. They won't go into this year with the worst OL in the league. They have too many resources to get that completely wrong." But they did... and Colledge just went down. Bring on T.J. Lang... our secret ace in the hole?
At least we can look forward to Favre fadding down the strech, right Bob McGinn?
Predictable Prediction @ 9:00 in 3Q
Down 2 TDs, McCarthy will hand the ball off less than 5 times in this second half.
Postscript: I was about right. I think it was 6 times.
Postscript: I was about right. I think it was 6 times.
Penalties
Just after the end of the half Vikings go up by 2 TDs.
Penalties:
Packers 6-47
Vikings 0-0
"Hey Mike, you gonna get that cleaned up?"
Penalties:
Packers 6-47
Vikings 0-0
"Hey Mike, you gonna get that cleaned up?"
Halftime: Packers 14 Vikings 21
Forget the score. Forget Farve. Will Aaron Rodgers survive the second half or will he join Will Blackmon on the injured reserve on Monday? You gonna get that cleaned up Mike?
The seven blocks of Swiss Cheese are horrible. It's worse than Favre in purple.
The seven blocks of Swiss Cheese are horrible. It's worse than Favre in purple.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Fuzzy & Jerry Lead The Way to Ambiguity!
Fuzzy & Jerry Lead The Way to Ambiguity!
I loved Greg Bedard's piece on how "It couldn't be worse". Look folks, that offensive line is a problem. Point the figure at who ever you like and the run defense has been bad. Maybe they will get better, but I don't see any reason to be a blood-drunk Packer partisan Monday night.
Ted Thompson pulled a Lombardi. He didn't get rid of the Hornung & Taylor. He got rid of the QB. And that old QB still has some life in him. Remember, those TD comebacks with no timeouts left? No offense to Aaron Rodgers. He's in there and hopefully for a long time. If he can beat the Vikings and Favre, he begins to build his own story. If not, I'm not going to hold it against him. Taking the punishment he has this season has resolved any question I had about his toughness.
My guess is that neither of these teams are going to the Super Bowl this year. They would both be underdogs and in the NFL teams like this make it sometimes, but they usually lose. They are both "good" teams with real weaknesses. Both are fun to watch this year.
Dante Culpepper and Randy Moss are gone and so is Darren Sharper and Mike Tice. Beavel and Childress are not exactly arch-enemy material. So I'm more than happy to let Brett Favre have his victory lap if he and his purple lutefish eating friends can earn it.
I'm going to underscore what I have been saying about the 2007 Packers and repeat the Aaron Rodgers corollary. Favre made that young offense play over-their-heads in 2007. Anyone, read Mike McCarthy, who found fault with Favre was simply looking too hard. The Rodgers Corollary is that he appears, barring injury, a worth successor to one of the greatest QBs of all-time. McCarthy and Thompson should get credit for that.
Even if you don't buy into this view, if the Packers win or lose, remember how lucky we are to have had this guy for 16 years. The Packer Hall of Fame & the Ring of Honor will be waiting. Why rush it? Go Brett and Go Pack!
I loved Greg Bedard's piece on how "It couldn't be worse". Look folks, that offensive line is a problem. Point the figure at who ever you like and the run defense has been bad. Maybe they will get better, but I don't see any reason to be a blood-drunk Packer partisan Monday night.
Ted Thompson pulled a Lombardi. He didn't get rid of the Hornung & Taylor. He got rid of the QB. And that old QB still has some life in him. Remember, those TD comebacks with no timeouts left? No offense to Aaron Rodgers. He's in there and hopefully for a long time. If he can beat the Vikings and Favre, he begins to build his own story. If not, I'm not going to hold it against him. Taking the punishment he has this season has resolved any question I had about his toughness.
My guess is that neither of these teams are going to the Super Bowl this year. They would both be underdogs and in the NFL teams like this make it sometimes, but they usually lose. They are both "good" teams with real weaknesses. Both are fun to watch this year.
Dante Culpepper and Randy Moss are gone and so is Darren Sharper and Mike Tice. Beavel and Childress are not exactly arch-enemy material. So I'm more than happy to let Brett Favre have his victory lap if he and his purple lutefish eating friends can earn it.
I'm going to underscore what I have been saying about the 2007 Packers and repeat the Aaron Rodgers corollary. Favre made that young offense play over-their-heads in 2007. Anyone, read Mike McCarthy, who found fault with Favre was simply looking too hard. The Rodgers Corollary is that he appears, barring injury, a worth successor to one of the greatest QBs of all-time. McCarthy and Thompson should get credit for that.
Even if you don't buy into this view, if the Packers win or lose, remember how lucky we are to have had this guy for 16 years. The Packer Hall of Fame & the Ring of Honor will be waiting. Why rush it? Go Brett and Go Pack!
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