Super Bowl LII sees Eagles stun Patriots

| 02/05/2018

By Chris Havel
Special to Event USA
GREEN BAY, Wis. –  Philadelphia football fans embraced the Eagles’ first championship since 1960 by celebrating with a rousing chorus of “Fly Eagles Fly!”

Philadelphia’s Pederson out-coaches Belichick en route to 41-33 victory

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The underdog Eagles’ 41-33 victory over New England came in a wildly entertaining Super Bowl LII on a frigid Sunday night at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
It featured a record-setting 1,151 yards in total offense, a slew of tremendous catches (especially by Eagles’ receivers), and even a quarterback (Nike Foles) catching a touchdown pass.
It stood in stark contrast to the Eagles’ 1960 NFL Championship victory over the Green Bay Packers, a 17-13 slugfest at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field. That game is notable to Packers’ fans because it was THE ONLY championship game loss of legendary head coach Vince Lombardi’s illustrious career.
For the NFL’s modern-day Lombardi – Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick – it had to be equally devastating.
The difference is that Lombardi’s loss came at the beginning of his career and led him to declare that he would never lose another title game. Belichick’s third Super Bowl loss, compared with a record five wins in the big game, has the feel of finality.
Will the Patriots and the great Tom Brady ever get back to the Super Bowl? I doubt it.
Frankly, I believe the end is in sight.
Building a Super Bowl-caliber team is an incredibly difficult challenge. Sustaining it for as long as the Patriots, Belichick and Brady have is quite another.
It was previously unheard of.
Now, it appears, it’s the Eagles’ turn to rule the roost.
The bad news for the Packers is that Philadelphia is in the NFC.
The good news is the Eagles proved a team coming off a 7-9 season can win it all. They also proved that all is not lost if a team’s starting quarterback goes down, especially if you’ve got a capable backup, play-makers and a strong defense.
Furthermore, the Eagles reminded everyone that the NFL’s best teams – the elite, upper-echelon outfits – have true balance.
That’s balance as in an offense that can run as well as pass. That’s balance as in an exceptional offense backed by a sensational defense, all led by a gutsy, even-keel coach.
Pederson’s staff did an excellent job getting the most out of their players while putting them in positions to succeed. The Eagles’ use of center Jason Kelce and right tackle Lane Johnson as the driving forces in the running game was brilliant. Their speed, strength and football IQ gave the Patriots’ defense fits.
Foles, the Eagles’ quarterback, was voted the game’s MVP. He played wonderfully while executing the game plan.
However, if the media could vote for a head coach as the MVP, I’ve got to believe Philadelphia’s Doug Pederson would’ve received a boatload of support.
I can’t imagine him coaching a better game.
Pederson, the former backup quarterback to Brett Favre, displayed an unrelenting aggressiveness in his play-calling blended in with a calm, cool disposition.
His intelligence, communication skills and temperament are exactly what the job description of “NFL head coach” requires.
I covered Pederson during his seven seasons in Green Bay.
He never shied away from answering difficult questions – we had a great level of trust – but he always had the team’s and the quarterback’s best interest in mind.
If I asked about Favre or the offense, Pederson might say, “Well, that’s one way to look at what’s happening. But how about looking at it this way? Have you considered X, Y or Z?”
Pederson was thoughtful way back then.
On Sunday night, on the NFL’s grandest stage, Pederson’s performance under pressure was nothing short of amazing.
He made two gutsy decisions to go for it on fourth down.
The first came late in the first half.
Faced with fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line, Pederson drew up a direct snap to running back Corey Clement, who pitched it to tight end Trey Burton (a former Florida quarterback), who then threw an easy toss to a wide-open Foles in the end zone.
It made it 22-12 Eagles at the half.
The second extended a fourth-quarter drive with about five minutes to play and the Eagles trailing 33-32. That led to the go-ahead touchdown to make it 38-33 with five minutes to play.
Then the Eagles’ defense rose up to strip-sack Brady to set up a late field goal and make it an eight-point lead.
To those who worked with Pederson in Green Bay, I suspect most of what happened didn’t come as a surprise.
In 2006, Sherman Lewis and Gilbert Brown talked about Pederson’s role as backup QB on the Super Bowl XXXI winner. Those comments were made in the book, “A Year of Champions: The 1996 Green Bay Packers.”
Lewis described Pederson as extremely confident and a natural born leader, great attributes to have as a head coach.
“Doug showed he has outstanding leadership qualities,” Lewis said. “He showed the staff he can move the team and win. He’s got a nice presence about him in the huddle. In addition, he has a good strong arm with the ability to throw on the run.”
Brown appreciated Pederson’s professionalism.
“A pro’s pro,” Brown said. “Doug understood the game as well as anybody, and he used that knowledge to help Brett and the offense in every way possible. He didn’t get much attention, but he didn’t need any. He was great in the locker room.”
In his quiet, understated way, Pederson was a vital resource to Packers’ head coach Mike Holmgren, Favre and the offense.
Clearly, Pederson was paying attention to everything.
On Sunday night, he out-coached one legend to capture the prize named after another: The Lombardi Trophy.
 

XFL has chance to improve upon NFL

| 01/29/2018

By Chris Havel
Special to Event USA
GREEN BAY, Wis. –  The Pro Bowl is terrific because it affords one time to eat, doze and think.

Here are 10 ways the XFL could show NFL how to solve some key problems

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Somewhere among Sunday’s half-hearted tackles and insipid play-calls I got to thinking about the NFL’s problems, the XFL’s 2020 return and how one might benefit the other.
Then, I got to thinking about how when I hear the surname “McMahon” these three come to mind: Ed, Jim and Vince.
Interestingly, there is a tie-in.
Ed, the longtime “Tonight Show” sidekick to Johnny Carson, had a sassy, cutting-edge humor that played well off Carson’s clever, sarcastic, rapid-fire wit.
Ed was like the in-your-facemask AFL: A wild, pass-happy, life-on-the-edge existence that had a certain maverick flair to it. Johnny was like the old NFL – always funny, incredibly dependable and (within certain boundaries) tastefully done. Carson’s appeal – like the NFL’s – relied on longevity, reliability and first rate, state-of-the-art quality.
There was that, of course, and the TV networks to promote it.
Jim McMahon, the former Chicago Bear and Green Bay Packer, was an outspoken lightning rod. He never failed to express his views on life, liberty and the pursuit of a good time.
The quarterback also won Super Bowls with the Bears and Packers, but in vastly different roles. In Chicago, he was the man. In Green Bay, he was a shadow of the man. In Chicago, they loved him when he played for the Bears and despised him when he played for the Packers. In Green Bay, they pretty much despised him both home and away.
Then there is Vince, the pro wrestling entrepreneur, who is bringing back the XFL for a return visit.
Vince’s rerun league is planned to open in 2020.
There will be eight teams, 10 games and no cheerleaders. There also will be no sitting or kneeling during the National Anthem. That is according to the XFL’s news release last week.
While some choose to ignore the XFL (and I can’t say I blame the NFL), and others choose to make fun of it, I prefer to view a new league as an opportunity to fix the current one.
Here is what the XFL needs to do to sell tickets, secure a crazy TV contract and remind the NFL what it should be.
If I’m the XFL, I take the best that Ed McMahon and Johnny Carson had to offer: In other words, the best of the old and new. I’d take the best of what the NFL could be and I’d combine it with the best that it used to be.
The rules, rosters and games would be immediately recognizable as the best of what the game of football should be.
Forget all the mega-substituting, sub-packages and trickery because at its best, at its core, it is a controlled series of collisions. Ultimately, it is a brutish primal battle of 11-on-11, a test of wills against each other and the elements.
Therefore, the XFL should be a basic game of 11-on-11, just like our fathers and grandfathers once watched. There are two receivers, a tight end, a quarterback, a fullback, a running back and the line on offense. That’s it.
On defense, it’s two ends, two tackles, a middle linebacker, two outside linebackers, two corners and a pair of safeties.
The only in-series substitutions are for injuries. If a player leaves due to an injury he can’t return until the next series.
It’s a man vs. man game of wills. The quarterbacks call the plays in the huddle. The headsets are gone. Look, a coach and quarterback spend the entire week together preparing, installing and practicing the game plan. After all of that the quarterback ought to be able to call the game based on what’s happening during plays and what his teammates are saying in the huddle.
Excluding timeouts, breaks and halftime, the players should execute the game plan on game day. The coaches already had their say.
Replays would be eliminated. I would also get rid of in-stadium replays, too. It’s not fair to the officials. Let the refs do their best and allow all of us to get on with the rest of our lives.
That’s about it.
The NFL has become too specialized, too replay-delayed and too arbitrary: “What’s a catch? What’s a penalty?”
Sometimes, it’s tempting to say, “What’s the use?”
Frankly, I believe the XFL will soon be the EX-FL. I just hope it has some fresh ideas – revolutionized (face-mask-less?) helmets, all natural grass fields, officials’ quicker whistles for safety – that the NFL might be wise enough to consider adopting.
Thank goodness for the Pro Bowl. It only comes once a year, and it forces one to consider what “fake” football looks like, and how perilously close we might be to actually becoming it.
 

Eagles destroy Vikings’ dream

| 01/22/2018

By Chris Havel
Special to Event USA
GREEN BAY, Wis. –  It was supposed to Minnesota vs. New England in Super Bowl LII.

Ex-Packers QB Doug Pederson leads Philadelphia to SB 52 battle with Pats

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The NFL’s premature and incorrect release said so.
The Philadelphia Eagles had other ideas.
Once the toast of the NFC, if not the NFL, Philadelphia relied on a rugged defense, strong running attack and Carson Wentz to soar to the conference’s No. 1 seed.
Then Wentz was lost for the season to a knee injury in a Week 15 win at Los Angeles and most everyone discarded the Eagles. They quickly became afterthoughts on the NFL landscape.
Sure, head coach Doug Pederson was having a tremendous season and the Eagles’ balance plus veteran backup QB Nick Foles might carry them, but few truly believed it.
Perhaps the Packers’ example was on the league’s mind.
When Aaron Rodgers was injured Oct. 15 at Minnesota, the Packers’ Super Bowl LII odds plummeted and the season with it.
Green Bay lacked the offensive balance, defensive strength and overall confidence to move forward despite Rodgers’ absence. In some ways, the injury did the Packers a favor. It left little doubt as to where the team’s 53-man roster was at, and where it needed to go if Green Bay was going to reclaim its place among the NFC’s elite.
Then 7-9 and an ensuing housecleaning happened.
In Philadelphia, the Eagles’ critical injury to Wentz came much later than Rodgers’, and allowed them time to rebound.
They showed it in a matter-of-fact hammering of Atlanta, 15-10, in the NFC Divisional Playoffs.
Again, an underdog, the Eagles shrugged it off and proceeded to toss aside the Vikings in similar fashion.
Philadelphia’s dominant 38-7 victory over Minnesota – which included scoring 38 unanswered points – was as severe a dismantling as any in recent memory.
The Vikings, for all the talk about them being a “team of destiny,” the reality is Philadelphia was that much better.
Nick Foles was that much better than Case Keenum in this battle of backup QBs.
Vikings defensive end Brian Robison was asked if the NFC Championship game’s outcome was “surprising.”
“Surprising? Well, obviously, it was very surprising,” he told ESPN. “I didn’t expect to come in here and the s— kicked out of us. So yeah, it was surprising.”
Keenum opened with a workmanlike touchdown drive.
The Vikings’ 7-0 lead was as good as it got.
The undaunted Eagles answered with a 3 ½-quarter beat-down.
It was made possible by Foles’ ability to correctly and effectively run the Eagles’ offense, which features run-pass options (RPOs) and a lot of them.
The Vikings’ defense couldn’t solve the riddle. It was either a half-step slow attacking the would-be ball carrier, or it was a half-step behind defending the receiver on a shallow slant.
It had to be maddening to Minnesota’s brain trust.
The Eagles were doing exactly what they predicted and their powerful defense still couldn’t stop it.
There is a lot to be said for simplicity and great execution. The Eagles’ offense featured both. It was interesting to watch the backup QB run the same offense as the starter.
Pederson didn’t appear to make major philosophical changes to accommodate Foles. Indeed, he found it all the way to the Twin Cities and Super Bowl 52.
The lesson for Green Bay is clear: Make sure you’ve got a truly balanced team and a reliable backup QB just in case.
In the AFC, the upstart Jaguars pushed the Patriots to the limit before succumbing to Tom Brady’s greatness in the fourth quarter. For most of the game, Jacksonville played out its game plan to a ‘T’.
It grabbed an early 20-10 lead, pounded away with the running game and played field-position football throughout.
The trouble was Brady.
When the Patriots needed him the most he stepped up to find Danny Amendola for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown in a 24-20 thriller.
Frankly, I would’ve expected the AFC title game to be 38-7 Patriots, and the NFC game to be 24-20 Eagles. It played out just the opposite.
Clearly, the Vikings and their fans have to be crushed. Minnesota was so close to making Super Bowl history even before the opening kickoff.
Instead, they are forced to be the polite hosts to the perennial awesome and unlikable Patriots, and those damnable Eagles that flew up to KO the Vikings.
The Patriots opened up as 6 ½-point favorites – the biggest favorite since 2009 – which reflects the NFL betting public’s respect for New England coach Bill Belichick and Brady, as well as its continued underrating of the Eagles.
It’s too early for predictions, but I wouldn’t count out the Eagles.
 

Packers bring in Pettine to shape ‘D’

| 01/15/2018

By Chris Havel
Special to Event USA
GREEN BAY, Wis. –  Mike Pettine was hired to fix the defense.

Former Browns’ head coach brings impressive track record to Green Bay

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That means closing the sizable gap between Green Bay’s defense and the fast and furious playoff-caliber units on display thus far throughout the post-season.
It also means closing the gap between the Packers’ veterans and the less experienced players.
In a league where injuries are the cost of doing business young players are going to be forced into key roles sooner than later.
It’s inevitable.
What matters is how they react when pressed into duty. Frankly, they weren’t nearly good enough in 2017.
Pettine, who joins the Packers with an impressive resume, faces a significant challenge in terms of overhauling the defense.
The Packers’ new defensive coordinator inherits a unit that was ravaged by injuries and opponents alike.
The Packers ranked 22nd in total defense and pass defense in 2017, not nearly good enough for head coach Mike McCarthy. So after nine seasons with Dom Capers, including a Super Bowl win in 2010, McCarthy pulled the plug.
Neither the move nor the new defensive coordinator was a surprise.
McCarthy’s hire of Pettine appears to be a major step in the right direction. Pettine, who has head coach experience, brings a track record of success to Green Bay.
In five seasons as a coordinator, Pettine’s units all ranked among the NFL’s top 10. In four seasons with the Jets, head coach Rex Ryan and Pettine combined to lead a defense that ranked first, third, fifth and eighth. Pettine left the Jets to become Buffalo’s defensive coordinator in 2013 and led a unit that ranked 10th.
Ryan, now an ESPN analyst, spoke glowingly about Pettine during an interview last week.
“He’ll be the best coordinator in the league; that’s how good he is,” Ryan told ESPN. “I think the big thing is – the fan base ought to be super excited about him because this is a good get. There (are) other names out there or whatever, but this is the best coach out there that they could’ve got.”
Two key questions will be answered this season.
The first is what does Pettine bring to the position?
The second is what does he inherit?
Pettine’s experience as a head coach is invaluable. It should allow McCarthy to focus on the offense – in particular play calling – while his new defensive coordinator runs the show.
The Packers’ defense has some talented players, but it never hit its groove as a unit working together. There were too many missed assignments, too many miscommunications and way too many missed tackles.
Pettine, who brings a no-nonsense approach, isn’t going to tolerate anything less than his players’ best.
Clearly, the Packers’ defenders know they have to play better in 2018 if Green Bay is going to be a factor in the post-season.
That means jobs will be up for grabs with few players “locked” into starting roles.
Kenny Clark, Dean Lowry and Mike Daniels represent a strong starting point. Whether the Packers play a 3-4 or a 4-3 is almost irrelevant to Pettine. He believes in being versatile and having the ability to play multiple fronts within an attacking style.
It’s similar to what the Philadelphia Eagles do under coordinator Jim Schwartz, except the Packers don’t have the personnel, at least not yet.
Blake Martinez blossomed in his second season and is another player to build around. Vince Biegel and Kyler Fackrell need to step up and contribute.
The future seems uncertain for Clay Matthews, although I would be mildly surprised if the Packers ask him to take a pay cut. If he declines the Packers might move on.
Nick Perry is a talented pass rusher, but his availability seems constantly in question. He has had to endure one injury after another and 2018 is a pivotal season. Will he be the 11-sack player from two years ago? Or is he merely a guy?
The secondary also possesses talent, but its lack of cohesiveness proved to be a detriment. Too many players were out of position to make plays, forcing Capers to scale back his defense.
That left the Packers’ defense as helpless as a vanilla ice cream cone on a 90-degree day. More often than not, the Packers’ defense melted in the clutch.
Pettine, who certainly looks the part, must decide which players are the core guys and who isn’t going to be back.
Ryan told ESPN that Pettine’s scheme isn’t too complicated and in fact will be user friendly to the young players.
“He’s not one of those guys who is going to play one or two fronts and three coverages,” Ryan said. “This guy is going to give you the gamut. We have a philosophy, and Mike has it, it’s a ‘KILL’ philosophy – keep it likeable and learnable – and that’s what we do, and that team is going to play fast and physical, and I can’t wait to watch them.”
The Packers’ fans are right there with Ryan.
 It was impossible to watch the Vikings, Eagles and Jaguars play defense without feeling envious. Those teams get after the opposing offense on every down, and they come in waves.
They play fast sideline-to-sideline, they get after the quarterback and they tackle as a group with a vengeance.
Perhaps the Packers’ defense will play like that this season.
One can only hope.
 

Packers Name GM & Make Front Office Changes

| 01/09/2018

By Chris Havel
Special to Event USA
GREEN BAY, Wis. – When asked if I liked the Packers’ decision to promote director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst to general manager, I replied, “Do you trust Packers president Mark Murphy to make the right call?”

Long-time Packers’ personnel man to replace reassigned Ted Thompson; Murphy exerts greater control

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If you trust, then you must.
Frankly, this hire is as much about Murphy as it is Gutekunst.
From now on they are inexorably tied at the hip, the Packers’ president hiring his first GM, and the 19-year scout/director of player personnel taking on a momentous challenge.
“We could not be more excited to elevate Brian to the position of general manager,” Murphy said in a statement today. “He has earned this opportunity throughout his 19 years with the Packers, proving to not only be a skilled talent evaluator, but a trusted and collaborative leader.”
Clearly, the collaboration includes working closely with the head coach, which is something Mike McCarthy said he appreciated about his relationship with Thompson.
Gutekunst and McCarthy reportedly have a really healthy working relationship already. That is going to be key going forward for the Packers.
Murphy’s predecessor, Bob Harlan, went 2-for-3 in GM hires. He hit home runs with Ron Wolf and Thompson, both of whom built Super Bowl champions and maintained excellence. Harlan’s promotion of Mike Sherman from head coach to the dual role of head coach/GM was a mistake, proving even the best of team presidents isn’t perfect.  Although, Harlan relied on the recommendation of Ron Wolf, the outgoing GM, when he tagged Sherman.  So, Wolf wasn’t perfect either.
Now it was Murphy’s at-bat.
Entering his 11th year at the Packers’ helm, Murphy has presided over the franchise success on and off the field, but more so off.
The Packers are 109-66-1 with eight straight playoff appearances before 2017 during Murphy’s tenure, but he inherited Thompson and McCarthy, who have guided the team to that record. Off the field, the Packers are financially strong and remain one of the NFL’s treasures.
Going forward, Murphy’s reign as Packers’ president will be largely defined by the team’s success under its new GM, the only significant football decision he has had to make.  Add to that, Murphy has restructured the front office so the head coach and GM now answer directly to him.  And Murphy has assumed the authority to hire and fire, something for over 25 years in Green Bay has been up to the GM, since Ron Wolf was hired and Bob Harlan, in his wisdom, adopted a “football hands off” as President.
Murphy said: “(Gutekunst’s) time under the direction of former Packers general managers Ron Wolf and Ted Thompson will undoubtedly serve him well as we work toward our next Super Bowl championship. I am confident that he is the man that will help get us there.”
Gutekunst, 44, seems like the right call for the right reasons.
Gutekunst (pronounced GOO-tuh-kunst) is a football guy. He knows the Packers’ personnel inside and out. He also reportedly has the full support of McCarthy, who made it clear at last week’s season-ending news conference that he needed a good “fit” with the new GM.
This would appear to be that.
The low-key Gutekunst’s bio occupies a whole five paragraphs on page 28 of the Packers’ 2017 media guide. Still, it would be impossible for him to be as inconspicuous as Thompson.
Gutekunst’s personality will come through at the forefront of the football operation. There won’t be any gnashing of the teeth regarding media availability, or a lack thereof.
Most of all, Gutekunst is a football man at heart.
His father, John, coached the University of Minnesota from 1985-1991. He comes from a football background and is focused on one thing: Trying to make the Packers a championship team.
Gutekunst was hired as a college scout in 1998 by Wolf. He was named director of player personnel in 2016. He is respected at 1265 Lombardi Avenue for his ability as a talent evaluator.
Although he learned at Thompson’s hand, he likely will have his own ideas about being more aggressive in terms of signing veteran free agents.
That has to be appealing to McCarthy, his staff and his quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.
Gutekunst sounded eager to get to work.
“I look forward to getting to work with the rest of our talented personnel department and using every avenue available to build the Packers into a championship team again,” he said.
There were other strong candidates both in-house and out.
Eliot Wolf, the director of football operations, was highly regarded. The 35-year-old son of Pro Football Hall of Fame GM Ron Wolf has had five promotions within the organization.
It will be interesting to see Wolf remains in Green Bay, but all signs point toward him leaving.  You have to think that whichever of the two personnel-oriented candidates Murphy selected for GM, the other was going out the door, either as a GM elsewhere, or in a lateral move to another team. The Packers will not stand in the way of such a move.
Russ Ball, the team’s VP of football administration/player finance, also was interviewed by Murphy. While Ball was considered the early favorite, mostly due to his close relationship with Murphy, there is speculation that McCarthy was not keen on that, perhaps influencing the decision not to head in that direction.
The perception inside the organization had been that Murphy might break with tradition and hire a “non-scout” as GM.
While Wolf’s future in Green Bay are in question – there are reports that Browns GM John Dorsey will seek to hire Wolf – it appears Ball will be inclined to stay.
That’s good news because Ball has been masterful in terms of negotiating contracts and managing the salary cap.
The Packers also sought to interview two former employees. They contacted the Seahawks for permission to interview John Schneider, but were rebuked. They asked the Raiders’ Reggie McKenzie to interview but McKenzie declined.
They also interviewed former Buffalo GM Doug Whaley.
Murphy settled on Gutekunst, who was scheduled to interview with the Houston Texans Sunday night for their vacant GM job. Gutekunst is expected to sign a five-year deal with Green Bay at an approximate salary of $2.5 Million.
For my part, these moves require a “wait-and-see” approach, as usual, but if Murphy was going to stay in-house for his new GM, I think he made the right call. Word is that Gutekunst signaled to Murphy that he had his own fresh ideas about the GM job.
Whether or not what some have characterized as a power grab by Murphy to exert control by the President over football operations will play out that way, and hurt the franchise. Visions of the 1970’s – 1980’s with a meddling Executive branch in Green Bay arise concern.  Perhaps the Harlan-Ron Wolf formula that has worked so well is preferred.  As I said, time will tell.
Whether an outside GM candidate such as John Schneider or Reggie McKenzie would have come to Green Bay without the power to select their own head coach is debatable.
Next, the Packers need to hire a defensive coordinator and fill out the many openings on the coaching staff.  Kudos to McCarthy for bringing back Joe Philbin, as either OC or Assistant Head Coach, as Philbin piloted the Packers offense to consistently great success during his tenure here.
Then it’s time to get to work building the roster for hopefully resurgent 2018 season.
 

Packers looking forward to 2018 season

| 01/09/2018

With the 2017 season now in the books, the Packers are looking forward to a successful 2018 campaign, with their sights once again set on the Super Bowl, and here at Event USA, the largest supplier of Green Bay Packers tickets and game packages in the world, we are already at work planning new and exciting features for you to enjoy Packers football both in Green Bay and on the road. Details will be announced in April, to coincide with the release of the NFL schedule when orders will commence. We will see you at all the games in 2018!

Packers’ 35-11 loss caps disappointing season

| 01/02/2018

By Chris Havel
Special to Event USA
GREEN BAY, Wis. – A season plagued by injuries, inconsistency and ineffectiveness came to its inevitable conclusion in the Packers’ 35-11 loss Sunday at Detroit.

Green Bay’s weak defense overhauled with coordinator Dom Capers’ firing loss

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Green Bay’s 7-9 finish kept the Packers out of the post-season for the first time in nine seasons. It also led to major changes in the coaching staff, beginning with the defense.
As first reported here, the Packers did indeed fire defensive coordinator Dom Capers and at least two of his assistants as of Monday afternoon.
Capers could only watch as his defense was overrun by a Lions’ attack led by quarterback Matthew Stafford’s three touchdown passes. Three first-half turnovers by the Packers’ offense also helped Detroit grab a commanding 20-3 halftime lead.
The Lions (9-7) didn’t celebrate the victory.
Instead, Detroit fired head coach Jim Caldwell a day after he led them to their first back-to-back winning seasons since 1993-95.
Chicago also fired head coach John Fox to complete a purge of half of the NFC North’s head coaches.
In Green Bay, major work needs to be done on both sides of the football.
Offensively, the Packers wisely signed center Corey Linsley and receiver Davante Adams to well-deserved, although pricy,  contract extensions. That still leaves the offense with question marks at receiver, where Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb had subpar seasons, and at tight end, where Martellus Bennett imploaded and Lance Kendricks offered next to nothing.
Furthermore, the Packers have decisions to make with right tackle Bryan Bulaga, who is an exceptional talent when healthy. The problem is he’s been injured so frequently it seems as if he’s either going on or coming off an injury list.
The Packers cannot rely on Brett Hundley as their backup QB.  They were shut out twice this season at home with him at the helm.
And at Detroit, after the benefit of seven starts, Hundley still looked like a deer in the headlights far too often.
He had two red-zone turnovers, which are inexcusable, and failed to threaten the Lions’ defense with either his throwing or running ability.
For my part, Hundley proved he is at best a so-so backup, but certainly nobody who could consistently lead a team to the a successful season, if called upon.
The Packers’ problems are more pervasive on defense.
General manager Ted Thompson has presided over 13 NFL drafts in Green Bay. Recently, he has loaded up on the defensive side with mixed trending toward poor results.
Kenny Clark, the first-round pick out of UCLA, came into his own in his second season. He is a legit stud and should be an anchor to build around in the defensive line. Defensive end Dean Lowry also has been an excellent draft pick. Clark and Lowry, along with inside linebacker Blake Martinez, have been the defensive stalwarts.
Beyond that it’s been sketchy.
Mike Daniels and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix were up and down all season. Morgan Burnett was OK when he played, but most of the season he was either out or ineffective due to injuries.  And age is going to take its toll.
Rookie cornerback Kevin King showed he can play in the NFL and clearly has terrific potential. But his season also was derailed by a shoulder injury.
So what are the Packers to do?
Firing Capers – as harsh as it sounds – was the correct call.
His defenses have gradually slid ever since the Super Bowl season of 2010, the last time they ranked in the top 10.  And there has been a troubling lack of cohesion of late.
Clay Matthews still gives great effort when he’s healthy, but he is no longer the dynamic impact pass rusher he once was.
Nick Perry also was injured often – which has been his career history – and under performed after signing a hefty contract extension.  
It left the Packers without enough play-makers, especially with Aaron Rodgers’ absence leaving the heavy lifting to a defense that wasn’t up to the task.
The Packers’ season-ending loss was regrettably typical for the season.
Stafford hit the Packers for two big touchdowns: a 71-yard strike to Golden Tate and a 54-yarder to Kenny Galladay.
The Lions mauled the Packers’ defense even though it ranked dead last in the NFL in rushing and was one-dimensional.
Now, head coach Mike McCarthy will busy himself with the task of selecting Capers’ replacement, while Thompson and the scouts devise an off-season game plan for talent acquisition.
To those who believe the Packers are in for a long, cold winter I say this: You’re wrong. It’s going to be an extremely busy off-season that’s just beginning to heat up.  Let’s say consider this – it should be exciting.  And next year we have AR back.
 

Vikings put depleted Packers on ice, 16-0

| 12/26/2017

By Chris Havel
Special to Event USA
GREEN BAY, Wis. – There was nothing surprising about this.

Green Bay’s offense, Hundley can’t move against Minnesota’s ‘D’ in shutout loss

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Not the depleted Packers’ offense’s total lack of any semblance of success against the Vikings’ top-ranked defense.
Not their fans’ boos – clearly and understandably born of frustration – that cascaded around frigid Lambeau Field on Saturday night.
Not the final score: Vikings 16, Packers 0.
Minnesota (12-3) celebrated its second NFC North Division title in three seasons by mauling the erstwhile champs in their house.
The depleted Packers put up little fight.
This was the start of a long winter’s nap in Green Bay.
Some fans may have wanted them to treat this like a preseason game and a chance to move up in the 2018 NFL Draft.
I wanted them to make a battle of it. I wanted them to KO the cockiness out of the Vikings. I wanted them to remind the nationally televised audience that Green Bay isn’t anyone’s underdog, with or without the great Aaron Rodgers.
Oh, well, so much for my Packers-related wishes.
At any rate, the Packers’ offense got pushed around like a top-notch high school varsity team might beat up on the JV’s.
Brett Hundley’s eighth NFL start didn’t look much better than his first. He struggled to find any rhythm and consistency. To make it worse, he made a terrible decision that led to a red zone-interception, the worst kind.
Hundley completed 17 of 40 passes for 130 yards and two interceptions. Why in the world was Hundley asked to throw it 40 times in such unbearable conditions with so many of his weapons out?
Frankly, I have no idea.
How much of the ineptitude was Hundley? How much was it the Vikings’ dominant defense? How much of it was Green Bay’s depleted offensive weaponry?
Clearly, it was all of the above.
The Packers, at 7-8, are what their win-loss record suggests. They are a sub-.500 team with zero, count ‘em, zero Pro Bowl players in this year’s NFL all-star game.
The Packers played without Rodgers, who they placed on season-ending IR earlier in the week, plus receivers Davante Adams (concussion) and Jordy Nelson (early in the first half with a left hand/wrist injury). Tight end Richard Rodgers also exited with a shoulder injury.
It left Jamaal Williams, Aaron Jones and tight end Lance Kendricks to provide whatever points the offense could muster. The answer was a resounding zip.
Williams rushed 15 times for 58 yards with Jones managing only 13 yards in three attempts before exiting with a knee injury. Kendricks had four catches for 36 yards.
It was the fourth time in six games that Minnesota’s defense allowed fewer than 10 points. It also was the Packers’ second shutout loss at home this season.
The Ravens blanked the Packers 23-0 on Nov. 19.
“Injuries are unfortunate,” Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said. “We had a lot of opportunities tonight. We didn’t make the plays.”
The Vikings notched their first shutout since 1993 and could clinch home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs by winning next week and having the Eagles lose out.
It was Minnesota’s first shutout of Green Bay since Nov. 14, 1971, back in the days of the “Purple People Eaters.”
“(The defense) has played pretty good all year long,” Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said. “Proof will be in the pudding here in a couple of weeks.”
The Packers wrap it up at Detroit next week.
In the loss to Minnesota, I was reminded of several things:
** McCarthy doesn’t commit to the running game the way he should or needs to.
** Justin McCray is a very valuable, versatile offensive lineman.
** Green Bay needs a top-notch receiver to twin with Davante Adams, or to step up if Adams’ concussion history becomes a serious health issue.
** The Packers’ defense needs a new direction.
I won’t be surprised if defensive coordinator Dom Capers and most or all of his staff is let go after the season.
** Finally, I’ll be disappointed if the Packers don’t step up and defeat the Lions at Detroit this week. For whatever reason, Hundley has been decent on the road. This is his final chance to show the Packers, and other NFL teams, what he’s made of.
It’s also a chance to cut loose the defense and the running game.
Let’s see if McCarthy makes it so.
 

Rodgers can’t extend Packers’ playoff hopes

| 12/18/2017

By Chris Havel
Special to Event USA
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Two of the NFL’s premier quarterbacks, albeit under highly different circumstances, led their teams into “do-or-die” games Sunday at Carolina.

Panthers’ Cam Newton fires four TD passes in a 31-24 victory Sunday

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In the end, Aaron Rodgers’ return was overshadowed by Cam Newton’s resurgence in the Panthers’ 31-24 victory over Green Bay at Charlotte.
This game turned on two players and one hit.
The players were Rodgers, who threw for three touchdowns and three interceptions, and Newton, who fired four touchdown passes to lead the Panthers to victory.
The hit was Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis, Jr.’s helmet-to-helmet cheapshot on the Packers’ Davante Adams. The 15-yard personal foul penalty was inconsequential compared with the Packers’ loss of Adams early in the third quarter.
To that point, Adams had five catches for 57 yards and a touchdown. He was replaced by Geronimo Allison, who caught Rodgers’ last-minute pass before fumbling away Green Bay’s chance to pull out what would’ve been an incredible win.
Allison also had two other miscues while replacing Adams.
FOX analyst Troy Aikman – late in the game – said something like, “It’s difficult to put into words what it means for the Packers not to have Adams.”
Clearly it must’ve been because Aikman BARELY MENTIONED IT throughout the second half.
In fact, Davis’ hit on Adams altered the course of the game. While Adams stumbled off to the locker room to begin the concussion protocol, a distraught Davis held his head in his hands on the sidelines. Then, an apparently refocused Davis proceeded to hit Rodgers and raise havoc while Adams sat.
The NFL needs to do something about this rule, or lack thereof.
If a player takes out another team’s player, he should have to sit until the injured player is cleared to return.
At any rate, Rodgers was returning after breaking his right collarbone on Oct. 15 at Minnesota. The injury required the insertion of two metal plates and 13 screws in order to hasten healing. Rodgers reached the 80-percent “good to go” threshold and was cleared to return for Sunday’s game at Carolina.
Meantime, Newton was coming in to continue Carolina’s strong pursuit of the hot contested NFC South’s title.
It hurt to see Newton’s four-touchdown performance overshadow Rodgers’ return for two reasons:
** Newton gloats with the best of them and I’m weary of his act.
** The Packers were “that close” to pulling this game out and reminding everyone from TV tandem Joe Buck and Aikman to the Panthers that it’s never over until Rodgers is finished.
This one might stop hurting in time for the spring thaw, but I doubt it. That’s because the Packers’ 2017 season died an understandable but no less painful death.
The end came abruptly, suddenly and unexpectedly.
Never mind that Green Bay’s successful onside kick extended what appeared to be a surefire defeat. The end was still too fast.
If I have to find fault it’s with Packers head coach Mike McCarthy’s – and perhaps Rodgers’ – apparent unwillingness to stick with the running game.
Jamaal Williams and Aaron Jones looked to be wearing down the Panthers’ defense, if not at least hitting it for considerable gains on a regular basis – if by “regular” one means once every blue moon.
McCarthy could’ve and should’ve kept pounding away with Williams and especially Jones, who repeatedly was within a whisker of breaking a long run.
It would’ve protected Rodgers and allowed for the possibility of some play-action passes, and perhaps Jordy Nelson’s participation.
Instead, McCarthy decided to have Rodgers throw it 45 times against a tough-as-nails Panthers defense. It makes no sense.
The best thing to come out of Rodgers’ injury was the ascension of the running back position. Yet, when the Packers could’ve ridden it to great effect, McCarthy goes pass happy.
It’s not a shocker. It is disappointing.
Rodgers was 26 of 45 for three touchdowns, three interceptions and 290 yards. No, I wouldn’t start him this week against the Minnesota Vikings. In fact, I wouldn’t play him.
There is no sensible argument in favor of it.
That said, McCarthy kept Rodgers in harm’s way throughout the afternoon by continually passing. It seemed he believed less in his defense than his running game, but for the life of me I have no idea why.
Green Bay (7-7) led 14-10 at halftime and seemed on pace to pull a significant upset.
Then, the Panthers quickly went up 24-14 thanks to a pair of Newton touchdown passes in the third quarter, and that was it.
McCarthy baled on the running game.
It left Rodgers to do what he always must: Make plays to pull off miracles. He didn’t do enough of the former to accomplish the latter.
It could be argued Panthers’ tight end Greg Olsen, who caught nine passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, was the game’s true comeback player. Olsen was returning from a broken foot.
Christian McCaffrey also made me a believer.
He had 136 yards from scrimmage and I’m pretty sure the Packers’ defense couldn’t identify him out of a lineup today.
They never got close enough.
Now, the reality is clear: Sit Rodgers, start Brett Hundley and KO the Minnesota Vikings in Saturday night’s rematch. Finish with a strong victory at Detroit and get ready for the off-season.
The Packers aren’t that far away from being a serious Super Bowl contender, and anyone who believes otherwise is merely peddling the sexy and salacious.
That’s why Sunday’s loss at Carolina hurt.
The Panthers, one year removed from a 15-1 record, a league-record 500 points, and a Super Bowl berth, the Packers had them on the ropes near the end.
That they did so with a rusty quarterback, a pair of rookie running backs and a generous defense says a lot.
It says the Packers better plan to win it all in 2018.