Photos from our Player Reception this past Saturday are up now! See a sample below or click through to see the whole gallery!
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Packers survive; Saints dive – Packers News @ PFT
Green Bay gets crucial victory as New Orleans fades away
GREEN BAY – A dozen games from now as the 12-4 Packers prepare for the playoffs, the week that was will stand as more than a footnote to this season. It will be the week that was many things, including …
** The week that reminded everyone why receiver James Jones is so valuable to the Packers. Jones had touchdown catches of 12 and 14 yards, as well as a crucial grab for a first down on the final drive. While Greg Jennings battles injuries, Jones has stepped up in a big way and was instrumental in Green Bay’s 28-27 victory over the Saints.
This week will be remembered as …
** The week that the Packers’ locker room was galvanized by an extraordinary shared experience. They were the victims of replacement referees – on Monday Night Football, no less – a circumstance that hasn’t happened to many NFL teams. The Packers are among the few, and it could have elicited many negative responses from the team.
Mostly, after a 24-hour cooling off period, the Packers followed head coach Mike McCarthy’s lead and handled themselves with dignity. They didn’t make excuses. They got their minds on New Orleans.
They did what good teams do after a tough loss. They learned from it and moved on. The mediocre teams simply move on, and the bad teams? Well, they point fingers and place blame.
The Packers did neither in the aftermath of the “Inaccurate Reception.”
The offense and Aaron Rodgers looked like its old explosive self. Rodgers threw for four touchdown passes despite being gouged in the right eye midway through the third quarter. Cedric Benson piled up 84 yards in 14 carries while giving a semblance of a running threat. Jordy Nelson grabbed eight passes, and Randall Cobb showed his quickness while being used creatively.
Defensively, the Packers did enough to outlast Drew Brees and the New Orleans offense. Brees brought the Saints back after the Packers’ backup quarterback, Graham Harrell, fumbled inside the New Orleans’ 5. Brees promply marched the Saints to a touchdown and a 24-21 lead. Kicker Garrett Hartley extended the lead to 27-21 early in the fourth quarter.
That’s when Rodgers capped a seven-play, 57-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Nelson, who bulled his way into the end zone.
Green Bay’s defense did enough from there to capture the win.
This week will be remembered as …
** The week that McCarthy proved willing to trust his special teams by calling a fake punt deep in his own territory and early in the game. Fullback John Kuhn lined up as the personal protector, received the direct snap, and rushed off left guard for a first down.
The call is gutsy, but more than that, it’s good football. McCarthy and special teams coach Shawn Slocum reacted to what they saw on film. When the situation presented itself in the game, they pounced on the opportunity. The Packers’ special teams have improved more than any of the units this season.
This week will be remembered as …
** The week that a sense of normalcy returns to the Packers as they gather themselves for a tough stretch featuring three straight road games.
The Packers are battle tested after a week that saw them overcome not one, but two really poor calls that could have cost them the Saints game. The catch given to Marques Colston was ridiculous, and Darren Sproles clearly fumbled while returning a kickoff in the fourth quarter.
Still, Green Bay persevered and prevailed.
They have the Indianapolis Colts and rookie quarterback Andrew Luck in their sights, and they have a difficult but important week behind them.
Last week’s prediction: Packers 35, Saints 24 (Packers, 28-27)
Season: 2-2
This week’s prediction: Packers 35, Colts 10
Chris Havel is a Packers News expert and national best-selling author. His latest book is Lombardi: An Illustrated Life. Havel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4-6 p.m. CDT on WDUZ FM 107.5 The Fan, or on AM-1400, as well as Fan Internet Radio (www.thefan1075.com). Havel also hosts Event USA’ Player Autograph Parties the evening before home games.
Packers Alumni Henderson to join fans at official PFT Tailgate Party this Sunday for the Saints!
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We will have a special Green Bay Packers alumni joining us for tailgate party this Sunday as Alumni William Henderson once again joins us to mingle with fans, sign autographs (for a fee), and rally Packer Nation!
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Purchase Tailgate Party
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Shanghaied in Seattle – Packers News @ PFT
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Green Bay loses game, NFL loses credibility amid replacement fiasco
GREEN BAY – The shield is tarnished; the brand is diluted.
The National Football League is a defective product so long as it allows unqualified officials to oversee its billion-dollar industry. The league’s “Buyer Beware” attitude toward its fans is beyond thankless.
It is heartless.
Sadly, the saddest chapter in this sorry affair is still to be written unless – and it’s a big unless – the NFL decides to do the right thing and bring back the regular referees. To do anything else is to guarantee that the Seahawks’ 14-12 victory over the Packers on Monday night is merely the latest step down the path of officiating ineptitude.
While Patriots’ fans undoubtedly wish the uprights could be raised, Packers’ fans have no doubt the crossbar has been lowered.
Football’s beauty is its sense of fair play. The better team (almost always) wins because football is the ultimate team game. It is intended to be a pretty simple deal. It’s 11-on-11; it’s 10 yards for a first down; it’s six points for a touchdown.
It isn’t supposed to be 3 yards and a cloud of disgust.
It is supposed to be fun.
There was nothing fun about the Packers’ alleged loss at Seattle, or the tragic comedy of replacement referee errors that occurred along the way.
Packers’ linebacker Erik Walden’s penalty for “roughing the passer” stood as the game’s poorest call, but only briefly, because it was quickly superseded by cornerback Sam Shield’s “pass interference” penalty.
A correct call in either case would have assured a Packers’ victory.
Instead, the Packers got “Strike one!” followed by “Strike two!” before being floored with “Strike three!”
Seahawks’ receiver Golden Tate didn’t catch the football for a game-clinching touchdown at the end. Tate caught the Packers’ M.D. Jennings, who had two hands on the football for a game-winning interception. This wasn’t dual possession. It was game over.
What should have happened is this: The officials involved should meet with the referee, discuss what they saw, and get together on the call. It would have resulted in a touchback, which would have been upheld.
Instead, one of the officials hastily signaled “touchdown” despite having the poorer of the two viewpoints. At that instant, the NFL’s credibility took a blow to the gut, the Packers lost a game they should have won, and more than $150 million changed hands in Las Vegas.
It is time for Green Bay Packers fans to take a stand.
In the name of Lombardi, the Packers’ owners/shareholders should call upon the NFL’s other owners to do the right thing. Last night’s game should be viewed as an opportunity to let the league know that its fans – especially its fans in Green Bay – aren’t going to take it lying down.
Why does Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones have a say in the league’s negotiations with the referees, but the Packers’ shareholders do not? If the Cowboys got jobbed the way the Packers did on Monday night – and it still could happen – do you think Jones would go quietly?
The Packers’ fans need to say, “Enough is enough.”
The shield needs to be polished; the brand needs to be strengthened.
It is time for the NFL to fairly and effectively negotiate with the regular referees and dispense with the lockout. The league can chalk it up to the cost of doing business, and then it can tell fans, “We did it for you.”
It’s the NFL’s story. It can spin it however it wants, so long as it spins it with the regular referees moving forward.
Last week’s prediction: Packers 27, Seahawks 24 (Seattle 14-12)
Season: 1-2
This week’s prediction: Packers 35, Saints 24 (replacement refs nothwithstanding)
Chris Havel is a Packers News expert and national best-selling author. His latest book is Lombardi: An Illustrated Life. Havel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4-6 p.m. CDT on WDUZ FM 107.5 The Fan, or on AM-1400, as well as Fan Internet Radio (www.thefan1075.com). Havel also hosts Event USA’ Player Autograph Parties the evening before home games.
Grantland: The Straw That Broke the NFL's Back
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‘] Bill Barnwell at Grantland has an excellent piece on not just the Packers loss last night, but the replacement referees in general:
It’s that aspect of replacement referee performance that’s really come to surprise me over the first three weeks of the season. To be honest, it’s not exactly unexpected that the officials would screw up on judgment calls like pass interference or, say, simultaneous possession on a catch. They’ve been worse there than I expected, but that was always going to be the aspect of their performance where their lack of experience would stand out.
Instead, the officials have shown an incredible propensity for getting simple facts wrong. They mis-spot balls on the wrong side of the field. They forget to keep accurate track of how many timeouts each team has. They call for fumbles on plays in which a guy’s entire body was down on the ground and then whistle plays dead on clean strips. They incorrectly award touchdowns and interpret pylon rules on plays that are directly in front of them. It’s a miracle that we don’t see more accidental “12 men on the field” penalties, because it seems generous to assume they can count all the way up to 12. And for all the exposition of an Ed Hochuli, who doesn’t long for the days of detailed minutiae when the replacement refs announce a mysterious penalty or review reversal, don’t explain what happened or who was involved, and then bounce back onto the field to renew the game? It’s telling that, at the end of the Patriots-Ravens game, a reasonably large portion of independent observers assumed that the referees standing directly underneath the goal post weren’t qualified to judge the one thing they were supposed to be judging.
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At this point, it’s become time for the league to put its tail between its legs, apologize profusely, and ask the locked-out referees to come back under a deal of the NFLRA’s choosing. There’s no reason the referees should accept the same terms they would have offered two weeks ago; after a weekend dominated by the replacements, the real referees have more leverage than they had even a week ago. In fact, the only reason the league might want to push an agreement back further is that they have no leverage whatsoever. It’s hard to imagine the replacements being quite as noticeably bad as they were this week.
The whole article can be found here and is well worth the read.
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Grab a Skybox for Jaguars at Pack – Bring Aaron Rodgers Home!
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‘] For a limited time only, when you purchase a Jaguars vs. Packers private suite, Event USA is going to hook you up with some awesome extras including!
- Super Bowl XLV Football autographed by Aaron Rodgers (#12)!
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Masthay gets rewarded for TD Pass
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Packers punter Tim Masthay has been named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in each of the last two seasons because of the way he kicks the ball.
The NFL announced that he’s being honored for the third time in as many years this week, but his kicking has nothing to do with it. Masthay’s most notable moment of Green Bay’s 23-10 win over the Bears last Thursday night came via his arm.
With the Packers leading 3-0, Green Bay faced a fourth-and-26 situation at the Chicago 27-yard line in the second quarter. The Packers lined up for a field goal but executed a fake. Masthay, who holds for kicker Mason Crosby, threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tom Crabtree, opening up a bigger lead for Green Bay and sending them on their way to their first victory of the season.
Masthay is the first Packers punter to throw a touchdown pass since 1972. He also punted five times with a net average of 42 yards and, most importantly when playing the Bears, no touchdowns for Devin Hester. He is the first punter in league history to be named his conference’s Special Teams Player of the Week in each of his first three seasons.
[Source] – by Josh Alper, ProFootBallTalk.com
Great Deals for Packers vs. Saints this September still available!
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Event USA has plenty of great deals still available to get you and your team to this huge NFC North battle to close out September at Lambeau Field! PFT has options for all budgets including:
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Just need to get into the game? We’ve got you covered!
Complete weekend packages including lodging and tickets to see the Packers take on the Saints!
We send you to the game with a ticket and a full tummy! Enjoy our all you can eat and drink tailgate before cheering the Packers on to victory!
Catch the game in ultimate comfort and luxury – by the seat or by the box! Indoor and outdoor club seating available as well!
Meet Jermichael Finley (#88) and Sam Shields (#37) the night before the game!
Point/Counterpoint: Should the Packers deal Greg Jennings?
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Trent Stutzman of Bleacher Report and Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel engage in a bit of debate as to what options the Packers have when it comes to free agent wide receiver Greg Jennings.
McGinn, in his piece at the Journal Sentinel, argues keeping Jennings would be a “quick fix” and hamstring the organization down the line:
If Jennings is 1-a on their depth chart, then Jordy Nelson is 1-b. Twelve months ago, Ball got Nelson signed to a three-year extension averaging $4.2 million. As unassuming as Nelson might be, no team can have one veteran of comparable value making three times another veteran at the same position.
If the Packers did re-sign Jennings for, say, $13 million per year, the end result probably would be the sacrificing of a good younger player in free agency.
Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji, both 26, will be up after the 2013 season. The Packers would like to extend them during the next off-season as well as Aaron Rodgers, whose deal expires in March 2015.
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Another reason the Packers can’t go all in on Jennings is their abundance at wide receiver.
Sure, they could place the franchise-player tag on Jennings in March, but the cap charge for that would be about $10 million and would do nothing to ease the logjam at the position and at the negotiating table.
Over at Bleacher Report, Stutzman, seems to think the Packers could get far less for Jennings than would make any deal worthwhile:
It’s going to be nearly impossible to keep all four of those core players and Jennings at their market values. If any of them should be left out, it would be Jennings, given the Packers’ depth at wide receiver.
But would a trade really be worth it? I say no.
Should Thompson trade Jennings this year, what would Green Bay get in return? Player-for-player trades are almost nonexistent in today’s NFL, so count out the return of a veteran player to immediately fix an area of weakness.
A much more likely scenario would involve a couple draft picks. McGinn points out that Brandon Marshall was traded for two third-rounders this offseason and for two second-rounders in 2010.
Jennings is a better receiver than Marshall, but not by a lot. So it looks as though the Packers would likely receive maybe two seconds and a third, or something in that ballpark. They may even pick up a first-rounder, but I wouldn’t count on it.
Should the Packers let Jennings walk, they would be rewarded with a compensatory pick the following year. The top compensatories are usually handed out at the end of the third round. The difference in compensation for Jennings is larger in a trade scenario, but not significantly.
Green Bay might as well stick it out for the rest of this year and hope Jennings can contribute to another Super Bowl-winning run.
So what does Packer Nation think? Check out both articles – then hit our Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, or Pinterest accounts with your thoughts!
Green Bay Gets Even – Packers News @ PFT
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Packers overwhelm Bears’ inept O-line as McCarthy shines
GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers’ 23-10 victory over Chicago last Thursday night at Lambeau Field should carry the warning label: Revisionist history can be dangerous to an NFL team’s health.
The Packers’ performance was gritty and timely, but it wasn’t the overpowering, start-to-finish dominance that some in the media have suggested in its aftermath.
The Packers did what good NFL teams do. They took advantage of the Bears’ weakest link – their offensive line – and backed it up with smart, hard-hitting football in all three phases.
To take Green Bay’s win and spin it into a “Packers’ defense is back” storyline is a fairy tale. Defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ unit displayed progress, and seven sacks and four interceptions can’t be taken lightly, but this isn’t Green Bay’s defense of 2010.
Not yet. Not by a long shot. Capers still is trying to find the right pieces to fill in the puzzle. Much work remains.
However, the outcome is an indication that Green Bay isn’t a one-trick pony. Victory is still attainable even when the offense is less than magical, and even when Aaron Rodgers is less than perfect.
That was the point Packers’ coach Mike McCarthy hammered home by trying a fake field goal. McCarthy wanted to jolt his team into the present by forcing it to stop waiting for the offense to carry the day. Specifically, he wanted his team to quit waiting for last year’s offense to gallop out of the tunnel and save the day.
The fact that McCarthy’s call resulted in an unlikely Tim Masthay-to-Tom Crabtree 27-yard touchdown pass was a bonus. The perfectly executed fake on fourth-and-26 with less than two minutes in the first half shook up the Bears.
More important, it woke up the Packers.
“I was trying to send our team a message when I did call it,” McCarthy said. “And, frankly, I would have been fine with the field position.”
To paraphrase the coach: Don’t ask what your offense can do for you. Ask what you can do for your offense.
McCarthy’s fake field goal wasn’t gutsy in and of itself. The risk was minimal thanks to the Bears’ inept offensive line. McCarthy suspected he had the luxury of “going for it” because the Bears’ offensive line showed no signs of slowing down Clay Matthews and the pass rush.
McCarthy’s decision was an example of his growth as a head coach.
Within the flow of a nationally televised game, and despite the pressure of being 0-1 coming in, he shrewdly seized upon a teaching moment.
Essentially, McCarthy traded three points for the chance to make a point.
Instead of being sidetracked and frustrated by his own offense’s ongoing struggles, and settling for a 44-yard field goal attempt, he disdained the “our offense will get ‘em next possession” mentality.
In a single play call, McCarthy displayed trust in his defense, belief in his special teams and patience with his offense.
The Packers must continue to profit from the lesson.
If the Packers feel any inclination to get fat and sassy after embarrassing the Bears, they should remember two things.
First, the Bears’ offensive line is a shambles. Matthews was unstoppable at times, to be sure, but Bears’ left tackle J’Marcus Webb and Co. was offering less resistance than a turnstile.
That fact, coupled with the Packers’ ability to know how to play with a lead, effectively doomed the Bears.
Second, the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive line isn’t to be confused with the Chicago Bears’ sieve. The Seahawks dismantled Dallas, 27-7, in Seattle on Sunday in a game that wasn’t that close.
Seahawks’ running back Marshawn Lynch tore up the Cowboys’ defense to the tune of 122 yards in 26 carries. Russell Wilson chimed in by completing a highly efficient 15 of 20 passes for 151 yards, one touchdown and a 112.7 quarterback rating.
At this stage of the season, the Seahawks aren’t nearly as explosive as Green Bay, but they are a more complete team. That makes them dangerous, especially at home.
Meantime, McCarthy is working to get the Packers pulling together in all three phases. It is necessary if the Packers are going to truly challenge for the NFC title.
If Green Bay goes to Seattle and wins Monday night it will be McCarthy – as much as anyone – who deserves the game ball. Not for what he might do in Seattle, but because of what he did against the Bears.
Last week’s prediction: Packers 24, Bears 21 (Packers 23-10)
Season: 1-1
This week’s prediction: Packers 27, Seahawks 23
Chris Havel is a Packers News expert and national best-selling author. His latest book is Lombardi: An Illustrated Life. Havel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4-6 p.m. CDT on WDUZ FM 107.5 The Fan, or on AM-1400, as well as Fan Internet Radio (www.thefan1075.com). Havel also hosts Event USA’ Player Autograph Parties the evening before home games.
