I had the great misfortune of being in attendance for this game. Yay me.


Rodgers continues his best Linus Impression

We mentioned it last week: Linus Van Pelt:Blanket::Aaron Rodgers:Football (haven't seen one of those since grade school, have you?). THROW THE DAMN BALL. As fans, we're ultimately left to speculate about what's the problem. Is McCarthy calling too many long routes? Is he giving lip service to the media about 3 step drops and quick passes, but then doing something else on game day? Are they not practicing short routes? Or is Rodgers just bucking against his coaches and doing whatever he wants out there? Or is it something a little less devious, and maybe he's just overthining out there and refusing to get rid of it? In the post-game chat at JSO, someone raised an interesting point - maybe Rodgers is overcoached. The kid could just be thinking too much out there. Not to mention, all these hits he's taking likely play a factor.

But something's gotta change. The coaches have to get through to him. If they're incapable of doing that or if he just won't listen and respond, then try something else. Here's a radical thought - how about benching him for a game? It may be the wakeup call he needs. The fact of the matter is, Rodgers is not helping this offense right now.

On the flip side, I'm inclined to think McCarthy is every bit as much of the problem, if not more. I know he says they want to do quick passes - so then why isn't he calling them? In the last two games (Vikings and Bucs), I don't think a single screen pass was ever called. I believe I saw maybe one slant during the Bucs game. If you don't want your QB holding the ball, then force him to throw it short. Call plays that don't have a long option.

But hey, if McCarthy is doing all the right things and Rodgers just isn't playing within the system, then yank the kid. There is a possibility that the NFC Offensive Player of the month thing went to his head. I don't know. There IS most definitely a fundamental problem right now. If it's McCarthy, then he needs to change his way, give someone else play calling duties or be fired. If it's Rodgers, he needs to be coached out of this problem pronto, and if he won't listen, then bench him.

By the way, that Rodgers threw early in the game was crushing. Not only did it lead to an easy 7 points for the Bucs, but it got the crowd into the game. Before that, there was almost no noise when the Pack was on offense. I remember thinking to myself "It's like I'm at a golf course." But after that, the crowd was pumped. That pick was huge - and it wasn't just because of the points it led to. It built momentum and energy for the Bucs and their fans.


Special (Ed) Teams Vol. 2

Wow, did they actually get worse since last week? What an abortion. Watching those coverage units was literally offensive. It's disgusting. I won't rehash everything I said last week, since I hit most of the salient points. Is it possibly time to fire Slocum?

Kapinos' punts continue to be below-average. He's not a huge liability, but he doesn't really help you out. He adequately fills out a roster spot for "punter" - that's about it.

On the upside, Crosby was absolutely booming those kick offs (I think he hit at least 2 or 3 clear out of the endzone, and the rest were all pretty deep, too). Not to mention, he didn't miss any field goals. Never mind that he didn't attempt any. It's progress, right?


McCarthy - Should I stay or should I go now?

This is the topic du jour around here and it's going to be discussed ad nauseum, so I won't get into it too much. Suffice to say, I feel like McCarthy is on the hot-seat in a way he's never been before in Green Bay. Bad is made worse by a pretty touch schedule down the stretch. If McCarthy can't salvage a winning record out of this season, then he's going to be in hot water. Thompson, I feel, is completely safe. I see no way he's fired this year, and I don't really think he should be. I still feel that Thompson has built a group of players that is good enough to get into the playoffs. That's not to say he's done all that he can - he needs to be better about acquiring veterans, period.


Jarius Wynn's Dad in Attendance

Before the game, my dad and I saw a couple guys walking our way with 94 jerseys on. We assumed a couple guys decided to break out the ol' KGB jerseys. But as they passed, the first guy had a Wynn jersey on. Wynn seems like a promising young guy, but it's safe to assume that the only people wearing Wynn jerseys right now are his family. Sure enough, the other guy's jersey said "Jarius Wynn's Dad" on the back. We headed over to chat for a minute. Some of the Wynn family was coming in to see their boy play. We asked him if his son was going to see some action today. Daddy Wynn said that Jarius was expected to play and they were looking forward to watching him. Unfortunately, Jarius ended up on the inactive list for the game. Bummer for the family. That was a bit of a downer.


Scott Wells old Coach

As my dad and I were sitting there waiting for the gates to open, this old man stops by and asks us "So, what do you guys think about Scott Wells?" We gave some generic responses - "Good player" "Glad we didn't trade him" "He's starting today" Etc. Fortunately, we only had nice things to say since it turns out we were being tested by Wells old college coach. We chatted very briefly. He mentioned that Wells was a real good guy, just had his third kid and was always impressed by how quick and strong he was back at Tennessee. Unfortunately, never got his name - I assumed he was the line coach at Tenn.


Chat with the Bucs/Packers Game Replay Official

So my dad and I are sitting at a Tampa airport bar drowning our post-game sorrows with another Packer fan headed to DC (we were headed back home to Atlanta). We're sitting there for a few minutes when a guy in a black sports coat sits down at the table next to us with his back slightly turned. We're chatting about the game for a while when the guy finally turns to us and jokingly asks "So, you guys wouldn't happen to be Packers fans would you?" We're all in Packer regalia, so we jokingly reply"Not right now we're not." So we get to chatting and he says to us "You know, I was involved in that game today. I was the play official."

Maybe I'm a nerd, but I found this to be pretty exciting. Refs are so often in the middle of controversy, that it seemed pretty cool to have a chance to chat one up. He says he originally was a ref in the Big 10 until he got a call a few years back asking him to be a replay guy for the NFL. He figured he'd about had enough of being down on the field, so he took the opportunity.

So...you just know we had to ask about the Safety-That-Wasn't. Turns out, the officials pretty much all thought it was a safety when they watched it again, but there wasn't any evidence on the replay. You couldn't see the ball, so you couldn't definitively say for sure whether the ball was in the end zone or not. His general quote was "In my heart of hearts, that looked like a safety. But there just wasn't an angle where we could see it for sure, so we had to let it stand. It was a situation where pretty much whatever they had called on the field is what it would have been, because there wasn't any replay evidence one way or another."

So yes Packer fans, we got a gift. That play was almost definitely a safety. Even the officials thought it was. But you couldn't prove it. And that's what you need in order to overturn a call - proof.

We asked him what calls got him chewed out the worst back in his Big 10 days. He said he was a back judge during a big Penn State and Michigan game, @ Penn State. Said it was a hellish day - a Nor'easter was coming through and it was snowing like mad. During the game, he tossed a flag for defensive pass interference. Apparently, it wasn't a very good call and the crowd didn't like it. Joe Paterno had to go over to the stands and ask the fans to stop throwing snowballs onto the field. And worse just got worse since, wouldn't you know it, the big ref boss was in attendance for that game. They got together after the game and reviewed the tape. By the way, the name of the guy was Jim. So his boss says to him "Jim, that DPI wasn't a very strong call." He just buried his hands in his face as he recounted the story. We had a good laugh - he was a good sport.

He shared another interesting caveat with us about how the announcers can effect things. Basically the gist of it was that if the announcers agree with your call, then you'll probably get off scot-free. But if you make a lousy call and the announcers imply as much, then you'll probably come under scrutiny for it. I thought that was interesting.

All in all, it was a pretty interesting coversation and served to slightly salvage what was otherwise an absolutely miserable day. On the upside, Packers fans are some of the best in the NFL. There were tons in attendance Sunday. The Bucs were giving away free Bucs shirts at the door, so there were tons of orange shirts in the stands. If it weren't for that, there probably would have been more Packers gear in the stands than Bucs gear. We also got a few nice "Go Pack Go" chants going in the stadium. Unfortunately, as we all started to file out of the stadium after that last Bucs touchdown, the Bucs fans started chanting "Go Pack Go" at us. Sad face.

That's what you get when you lose to an 0-7 team.


The NFL in London

So as we climbed up before the game to our seats in row V of section 336, we looked up and saw these two sorry suckers sitting in row X. Sucks to be them! What losers. Anyway, we start talking to them and it turns out they're from England. They flew in earlier in the week. The main point of the visit was to finally get to see his first live Packers game. The son is a big Packers fan (he was in a Jennings jersey) and they were doing a little father/son time. We asked how he got into the Packers. He replied "Well, they were in the first NFL game I saw, and they seemed like as good a team as any." He's been a Packer fan ever since. He also mentioned that they'd been to all three of the NFL games in London the last few years and had a great time.

" Thompson, I feel, is completely safe. I see no way he's fired this year, and I don't really think he should be. I still feel that Thompson has built a group of players that is good enough to get into the playoffs. That's not to say he's done all that he can - he needs to be better about acquiring veterans, period."

I don't think you get into the playoffs with the offensive line that Ted has put together.

Good stuff. Cool to know there are other, younger Pack fans over here in Europe — and I'm a bit envious, frankly, even if it was Row X.

Re: benching Rodgers. A whole game would be counter-productive — the Pack's chances of winning are not, at this point, increased with Matt Flynn under center. However, I think we could pull him for a series if he took another ridiculous sack. That has to be coached out of him if he is ever going to fulfil his all-pro potential.

Benching RODGERS!? Are you kidding me? It is only his second season starting! You don't see other teams benching their rookie, or hell, even their star QB's for say, throwing 3-4 INT's in a game? But, hey, if you want to bench the franchise QB who has a QB rating over 100 this year....

You missed the point entirely.

This isn't a reaction to having a bad game. This whole season, there's been a common theme with Rodgers holding the ball too long and taking unnecessary sacks. McCarthy has stated that he's not calling plays that require the ball to be held and that Rodgers needs to start getting rid of it sooner. He hasn't. In fact, he's holding it even longer it seems.

So if McCarthy is doing all the right things and telling Rodgers to get rid of the ball, but he's not listening, then you bench him so that it gets through his head. It's not that his performance is so bad that he needs to be benched. It's not. The point is he seemingly isn't learning a lesson that his coaches are trying to drill into him - so benching for a half or a game is an option.

Quite right.

People continue to blame Mike Sherman for (supposedly) allowing Favre to do as he pleased, while rejecting any attempt to oblige Rodgers to throw the ball away — presumably on the basis that incomplete passes would affect his gorgeous passer rating, while 37 sacks have not.

You missed my point entirely, then. My point was like with teams with Rookie QB's, you don't see them getting benched for throwing stupid passes when trying to make a play, just as you shouldn't bench Rodgers for trying to hold on to the ball to make a play. I mean, for all the times he has been sacked, how many times has he done the exact same thing and completes a pass down the sidelines for a first down? You let them play, learn from their mistakes, at let them grow. Benching could have just the opposite effect. What if Rodgers thinks, "OK, fine, I get it. Get rid of the ball," but instead gets rid of the ball too quickly? Then everyone on here is complaining that Rodgers throws the ball away too fast instead of letting a play develop. Rodgers is getting hit, a lot. One of these days, he'll just get tired of getting hit and learn to throw the ball away. It's all part of learning and growing at the position.

I don't agree with what you're saying at all. This isn't an issue of experience. It's an issue of a guy ignoring his coach, assuming McCarthy is to be believed. Experience is irrelevent here. This is a new habit he developed THIS year. And it needs to be broken ASAP. Of the player won't listen, then you bench him for a time.

I think there are other players more deserving than Rodgers of getting benched for a spell...problem is there is no quality backup to put in.

Maybe for just one play then.

There is nothing positive to be gained from benching Rodgers except massaging fan anger and calls for some form of strictness or "coaching." As the team leader, it could demoralize the team more at a time when "W's" (as improbable as they may seem) are critical.

LMG hit the nail in the head in stating that other players are more far more deserving (my edit....) but that suitable backup or improvement are lacking.

We're in a tough spot here....parking Rodgers isnt the answer.

He's not necessarily calling for the benching of Rodgers. He's saying if Rodgers is ignoring instruction he should be taught a lesson. If I'm a coach I don't care which player it is. He's not saying Rodgers' play is deserving of benching. It's a little different from saying something like, "College stinks, lets bench him so he gets a message."

By the way, fantastic post.