WOW! The Green Bay Packers are World Champions. Who would have thought that they would lose 3 starters and have half a dozen drops and still win. I guess that is the that is how this entire season went for everyone. Anyway, wanted to put up a note because I am excited as HECK! Green [...]
Packershow Season 5 Episode 20 Show 92
Preview of Superbowl 45 with Ross, Wes, Patrick and special guests Mark Jordan from DC and Brady and Jr Augustine from Green Bay Packer Nation. We talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers offense, defense and game plans to win the game.
Call-in Show, Sunday, 1/30/11 7:45 pm
Hey, everyone! We will doing this week’s podcast tonight at 7:45 pm. The number to call in to is 1-815-402-3439. We will begin recording around 7:45 and discussing the Packers in the Superbowl and talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Packershow Season 5 Episode 19 Show 91
Superbowl 45 BABY!! This week the guys review the NFC Championship victory over the Chicago Bears. Making fun of Peppers and Cutler and the great play of Woodson, Matthews, Raji, Rodgers, Starks, Masthay and Bush.
Packershow Season 5 Episode 18 Show 90
The guys review the Falcons – Packers game including the plays that changed the game, players of the game and the dismantling of the Number 1 Seed, Falcons. The NFC Championship game approaches against the vile Bears and they discuss the keys to winning another trip to the Super Bowl.
Posted by Patrick Castleberg on October 21st, 2010
As has been quite apparent over the past couple of Packershows Wes and Ross are in favor of making a move at the coaching position. They are not alone in Packernation. Calls for the coaches head are coming from far and wide and can be seen on fan message boards, around the water cooler and from living rooms across the nation.
Yes the masses are tweeting and many think McCarthy has to go. Most of course don’t say who should replace him but some do. There are several common names that are thrown around for who should replace him and when I hear them I have to chuckle to myself because fans often don’t really know what their asking for.
Posted by Patrick Castleberg on October 19th, 2010
Brandon Jackson breaks for big yardage down the sideline. Credit: Rick Wood
Over the past month since Grant went down I have seen many discussions and thoughts put forth about the Packers running game and RB situation.
I’ve seen it said that Thompson was “Derelict” in his duties for not getting Marshawn Lynch, many said he should trade as much as AJ Hawk and a 2nd or 3rd rounder for Lynch.
I’ve also seen calls for Deangelo Williams and Marion Barber was the most recent RB of choice that many were clamoring for.
Posted by Ross - a.k.a. The Fat Man on October 19th, 2010
Big show today with special guest Patrick Castleberg. Audio email from Chris in the UK, lots of email, a fair amount about officiating and a discussion on the Packers offense.
Posted by Ross - a.k.a. The Fat Man on September 22nd, 2010
Rousing discussion on the rushing game. Ran a bit long due to the 2 trips to Green Bay by all of us. Additional content — the extra 20 minutes of discussion about Ryan Grant and our rushing game which pits Ross against Wes.
Posted by Ross - a.k.a. The Fat Man on September 15th, 2010
This week we talk about the Philadelphia victory, answer a lot of email, preview the Bills game and, of course, our real American Hero, Real Man of Genius, Challenge Flag and a special surprise!
Posted by Patrick Castleberg on September 14th, 2010
Since it was announced earlier today that Ryan Grant was being placed on the season ending Injured Reserve list there have been many reactions and as usual many of them are a bit extreme.
I’ve seen people saying “we’re doomed”, “we’re screwed”, “so much for the superbowl” and many others of similar ilk. I’ve also seen such statements as “Packers will be fine”, “We won’t miss Grant at all”, and “Bring on Brandon Jackson”.
I think both positions are equally ridiculous. If you think the Packers can no longer make the Superbowl I think your wrong. If you think the Packers won’t miss Grant at all I also think your wrong…possibly very wrong.
To truly understand what the Packers lost first you have to appreciate what Grant has done since he became the Packers starter. Since that time only one RB in the league has rushed for more yards. Last year alone Grant rushed for over 1200 yards and had the same yards per carry average as Adrian Peterson. Grant only scored 11 TDs to Petersons 17 but Grant also didn’t fumble while Peterson demonstrated some serious fumble-itis. Would anyone here say the Vikings wouldn’t miss a beat if they lost Adrian Peterson? I didn’t think so. No don’t get me wrong because I am not trying to argue that Grant is on the same level as Adrian Peterson but to argue that we won’t miss him is I think crazy.
So what does his loss mean? Well it means that Brandon Jackson is going to have to carry the load with a little help from John Kuhn and recently aquired Dimitri Nance. Jackson has not shown that he can be as good of a rusher as Grant but he certainly has show he can be adequate if not better. Grant is more of a straightline runner and appears to have more burst but Jackson is a little shiftier even if not quite as explosive. Jackson also is much better at catching the ball out of the backfield and is also far more adept at picking up blitzes in pass protection.
Ultimately the loss of Grant means that teams won’t fear the Packers running game as much so it means there is going to be more pressure on Aaron Rodgers and the passing attack. However it also means that Rodgers is going to have a better player to help protect him while he is passing more. Jackson also does have the skill to make teams pay if they completely ignore the run.
The other thing that I have not seen mentioned is that this likely means the Packers will, at least for a couple of weeks until Nance is up to speed, elevate Quinn Johnson to the active roster and as we all saw in the preseason that guy is a bulldozer.
So it means more pressure on the passing game and Aaron Rodgers but it means that Rodgers will have a player better equipped for the passing game. It means that we won’t have as good of a runner but it means we may have a better pure blocker available to help in the running game.
The Packers will still be able to function as an offense and they are still going to score points. I doubt Nance will provide much but as long as Jackson and Kuhn stay healthy he won’t have to. Which brings me to the reason I think the Packers are going to miss Grant the most. Grant has been very accountable and available as Mike McCarthy likes to say, while Jackson on the other hand, with a limited work load, has missed games every season since he was drafted. Suddenly he’s expected to carry the full load. I think he can…for a while but I have grave concerns about his ability to stay healthy long term.
So in summary the Packers can survive and be successful without Grant but if Jackson gets hurt the Packers could really be in trouble. I hope Jackson takes full advantage of his opportunity and can stay healthy.
Posted by Patrick Castleberg on September 14th, 2010
Ryan Grant was injured on this play Sunday against the Eagles. credit Tom Lynn
I mentioned in the Good, Bad, Ugly audio segment for the podcast this week that I didn’t like McCarthy using the words “significant injury” in conjunction with Ryan Grant’s ankle injury. Now multiple sources on the web including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal are reporting that Ryan Grant will require Ankle surgery and is done for the season. Per the JSO:
A source tells MJS beat writer Tom Silverstein that Packers running back Ryan Grant has a torn ligament that holds two bones in his ankle. The injury will need surgery to repair the tear.
Rob Demovski of the Green Bay Press Gazette said Ted Thompson is looking to sign Dimitri Nance from the Falcon’s PS. Nance seems like a typical Thompson pickup so it would not surprise me.
According to Demovski
One source said the Falcons made an effort to keep Nance in Atlanta but that Nance has decided to join the Packers. The paperwork has not yet been completed but should be done this afternoon or this evening.
The folks over at Cheesehead TV have more on the story and some video of Nance.
Looks like Brandon Jackson will get finally get his chance. Here’s hoping the guy can take advantage.
The Green Bay Packers have signed RB Dimitri Nance and DE Jarius Wynn and placed RB Ryan Grant and DE Justin Harrell on injured reserve. The transactions were announced Tuesday by Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations Ted Thompson.
Posted by Patrick Castleberg on September 13th, 2010
Mason Crosby kicks a 56-yard field goal at the end of the first half. Credit: Mark Hoffman
For Packers fans clamoring for a tougher, more disciplined and fundamentally sound team all signs are positive after one week.
Over the past several seasons McCarthy’s Packer teams have proven anything but outstanding when it came to penalties, quality special teams and playing smart, tough football when all the chips were down.
Sunday may prove to be a fluke but the Packers thoroughly outplayed the Eagles from a standpoint of penalties and on Special Teams, not to mention the performance of the team down the stretch in a critical stage of the game.
In the area of penalties during McCarthy’s tenure the Packers have had the following rankings:
2009 rank: 32nd with 118 Penalties (48 more than the 1st place Jaguars)
2008 rank: 31st with 110 Penalties (53 more than the 1st place Pats)
2007 rank: 28th with 113 Penalties (54 more than the 1st place Seahawks)
2006 Rank: 10th with 90 Penalties (23 more than 1st place Broncos)
In those for years the Packers ranked an average of 28th in the league in penalties with an average of 108 penalties per year compared with the 1st ranked Jets who committed 75 per year on average. That’s an average of 33 MORE penalties per season for the Packers…more than 2 per game.
In terms of yards its even worse for the Packers who rank 32nd in the league during McCarthy’s tenure with 934 penalty yards per season average. This is a whopping 361 more penalty yards per season than the 1st ranked Jets. That’s 23 yards more penalty yards per game.
This offseason there was a much greater emphasis on penalties in training camp and McCarthy could be seen pulling players out of the rotation and chewing them out when penalties were committed.
If this week is to an indication then McCarthy should be happy with the results and Packers fans should be asking why he didn’t pay more attention sooner. With the two Monday night games still to be played (leaving 4 teams unranked) the Packers rank 1st(T) in Penalties with 2 and 2nd (T) in Penalty Yards with 15 after week one. In comparison the Cowboys had 12 penalties for 81 yards and the Bears had 9 penalties for 100 yards in week one.
Jordy Nelson had some nice returns on special teams. Credit: Tom Lynn
In terms of returns the Packers again are off to a good start. I think we can all remember games last season where the Packers would make a big score only to surrender a huge return on the ensuing kick off. It was just the opposite yesterday as the efficient (if unexplosive) Jordy Nelson had 5 kick returns for 156 yards with a long of 51 yards. That’s good enough to rank the Packers 4th in the league in kick return yardage and Nelson 2nd. Tramon Williams one punt return for 10 yards is good enough to place the Packers in the 6th spot for punt returns.
In comparison on coverage, while the Packers units weren’t perfect, they held the Eagles explosive duo of Ellis Hobbs and Desean Jackson under wraps. Hobbs career avg for Kick off returns is 27 yards per return the the Packers held him to a 23 yard avg on 4 returns with a long of 33 yards. The ever dangerous Jackson was held to an average of 7 yards per return on 2 attempts and force one fumble. Last season Jackson averaged 15 yards per return and had 2 touchdowns and had one fumble all season.
This game compares very closely to the road loss last season when the Packers lost to the vastly inferior Buccaneers. The Packers led that game 28 to 17 in the 3rd quarter only to lose by 10.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) chases Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Elbert Mack after Mack intercepted Rodgers' first-half pass during an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Seve Nesius)
In that game the Packers committed 5 penalties for 35 yards, gave up a kick return for 83 yards, and a punt return of 19 yards, all while Rodgers threw 3 interceptions and the defense surrendered 21 4th quarter points to a Buccs team that hadn’t scored 21 points in a game all season.
Unlike last season the Packers won the special teams battle, won the penalty battle (the Eagles committed 10), made big kicks (Crosby 2 for 2 with kicks of 49 and a team record 56 yards) and made the plays they needed too down the stretch on defense.
It was a very pleasant overall performance against a team that was in the playoffs last season and features an efficient offense and a big play blitzing defense.
Lets hope it’s the start of a trend for the Packers in the special teams and penalty departments.
The Hot Seat
As has been quite apparent over the past couple of Packershows Wes and Ross are in favor of making a move at the coaching position. They are not alone in Packernation. Calls for the coaches head are coming from far and wide and can be seen on fan message boards, around the water cooler and from living rooms across the nation.
Yes the masses are tweeting and many think McCarthy has to go. Most of course don’t say who should replace him but some do. There are several common names that are thrown around for who should replace him and when I hear them I have to chuckle to myself because fans often don’t really know what their asking for.