Strange Challenge

Packers fans have come to expect that when our coach threw the flag, there is a darn good chance the review would come out in the Packers favor. When opposing coaches threw the flag, you could sometimes chalk it up to wishful thinking. But not the Packers.

That's what made McCarthy's flag challenging that Adrian Peterson didn't cross the goal line bizarre. If the challenge had been won, the Vikings would have almost certainly scored and left the Packers with no time to come back. As it was, they got off a 52 yard FG try. What would you choose:

A. Defend first & goal at the one
B. Receive kickoff with 2:22 on the clock and 3 time outs

So I guess they just blew it in the booth. Seems this was not directly addressed in the Monday press conference. Just let's not have that happen again. We don't need that going wrong too.

From the New Hampshire Packer Backer

I saw only portions of the game in my hotel room in Dallas. Here are quick observations:

How long will the team tolerate inadequacies of OL, including excessive penalties? Play calling only exacerbates the inadequacies - OL cannot sustain blocks, so you run delays and slow developing running plays???? One feels for Rodgers, but he has taken on the "deer in the headlight" look of Drew Headslow

Ryan Grant - on the few times that he is able to run for a few yards - does not have finishing drive ala Peterson and other top running backs

McCarthy's challenge of the late TD was one of the more ill-advised challenges I have seen but even if successful would have resulted only in Packers having less time to try to score - to think his defense could have stopped Vikings from scoring from the half-yard line was monumentally stupid.

The hallmark of this team is late period drives by other teams that move the ball at will. There are few real players on this defense- injuries alone fail to account for its inadequacies in these crucial times. An interesting statistic would be the amount of yardage given up within the final 3-4 minutes of each half by the defense.

New Hampshire Packer Backer

Herb Adderley Takes It To The (court) House!

NFL Players Association to pay $28.1 million to retired players after finding the union failed to properly market their images. Packer Hall of Fame cornerback Herb Adderley filed the lawsuit on behalf of 2,056 retired players who claim the union failed to actively pursue marketing deals with video games, trading cards and others sports products.

"...a 2001 letter from an NFLPA executive telling Electronic Arts Inc. executives to scramble the images of retired players in the company’s popular “Madden NFL” video game, otherwise the company would have to pay them." Of course the NFLPA represents current AND former players.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nflretirees&prov=ap&type=lgns

http://www.gridirongreats.org/

Some guys never stop making great plays!

Dangerous Offense

The Packer offense is dangerous - to the health of its players. Rodgers looked like Kitna taking punishment. He's inflicting it on his receivers too by hitting them in stationary positions or in positions they will pay for. Of course this is because he often has little time to throw. There were times guys were closing on Rodgers DURING his drop.

That free-runner took the cake. Rodgers standing in and trying to deliver the ball down field to Driver was the icing. It is only a matter of time until Rodgers is splattered for good if this keeps up. McCarthy and his offensive coaching team can't continue to expose players in exchange for desperately needed yardage. When your offense can't stay on the field, the other team is going to run a lot of plays.

The result is 30 carries for Peterson and 10 for Taylor. The Packer defense did a good job keeping it close with a 2-1 time of possession in front of the Vikings. OL adds to its workload with penalties putting them in the hole. McCarthy can call it "unacceptable", yet is being accepted every game.

Vikings in the Dome

Two safeties in the first half. The Packers could still win this game, but like Wayne says, safeties are embarrassing. Probably not as embarrassing as getting two safeties and only being ahead by 4 points at the half.

Titans Tramp On

Not much to say about Packers vs. Titans game. Packers stayed even with a top team. That was encouraging. But their known weaknesses cause them to lose. As you can tell those weaknesses have me watching with a lot less passion than the last two years.

Thank You Kabeer!

Kabeer is a high effort guy and a good guy. He will be missed.