Lions embarrass Pack on Turkey Day

Week 13
November 28, 2013 - 11:30 a.m. - FOX
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan

Packers 10 - Lions 40

The Packers suffered a drubbing at Ford Field by the hands of the Detroit Lions in front of a national audience on Thanksgiving Day.  In a game the Packers needed badly to keep up in the NFC North playoff race, they dropped the turkey leg.

The defense was absolutely dreadful.  And the offense was missing in action.  The Packers defense gave up a total of 561 yards of offense to the Lions.  The Lions had 320 passing yards and added 241 rushing yards.  The defense couldn't stop anyone. Another scary stat, the Lions possessed the football for forty minutes.  The Lions possessed the football for nearly three total quarters of the football game.  One of the worst performances I've seen from this defense in a long time.  No heart. No effort.

Photo credit: detroitlions.com

Because they are the Detroit Lions, Matthew Stafford and company did their best to keep the Packers in the game in the first half.  Despite dominating the Packers defense, the Lions could not capitalize on long drives in the first half and committed several turnovers to give the Packers some type of hope.  On the opening possession of the game, the Lions were driving, but Reggie Bush fumbled inside the Green Bay 10-yard line.  In the second quarter, Nick Perry sacked Stafford and forced a fumble which was recovered by Morgan Burnett and returned for a touchdown.  On the very next possession, Tramon Williams intercepted Stafford in Green Bay territory.  Of these three turnovers, the Packers scored seven points, which happen to come from the defense (Burnett touchdown).  The Lions scored two touchdowns to finish the half leading 17-10.  And the Packers only trailing by seven at halftime was a miracle.

The Packers would have been better off staying in the locker room eating turkey than returning to play the second half.  The team was blasted as they were outscored 23-0 in the second half.  Detroit just took it to Green Bay as the Lions won on Thanksgiving for the first time in ten years.  Matt Flynn was horrible.  Flynn finished the day with 139 passing yards, one interception, and two fumbles.  Flynn was also sacked seven times, including one for a safety.  Eddie Lacy was shut down with only 16 rushing yards on the day.

The playmakers for Detroit got the job done.  Matthew Stafford threw for 330 passing yards and two touchdowns.  Reggie Bush rushed for 117 yards and one touchdown.  And Calvin Johnson hauled in six balls for 101 yards and a touchdown.

The season is truly on ice from this point forward.  There is still a slim chance, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting dimmer.

#LifeWithoutAaronRodgers

Detroit Lions  7-5
Chicago Bears  6-6
Green Bay Packers  5-6-1
Minnesota Vikings  3-8-1

Packers, Vikings battle ends in tie

Week 12
November 24, 2013 - 12:00 p.m. - FOX
Lambeau Field
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Packers 26 - Vikings 26

The Packers and the division rival Minnesota Vikings played for 75 minutes resulting in a rare tie for a football game.

Scott Tolzien made his second consecutive start for the Packers and it was a dud.  Tolzien struggled against the lowly Vikings finishing with a stat line of 7/17 for 98 passing yards before being replaced by Matt Flynn mid-way through the third quarter.

The Packers struck first in this football game on a Tolzien 6-yard run that included a video game spin move for the ages.  From that point forward, the Packers offense hit a wall and trailed the Vikings going into halftime 13-7.  Tolzien continued to struggle in the third quarter and after a Vikings touchdown to extend their lead to 20-7, head coach Mike McCarthy made the switch at quarterback.

Matt Flynn gave this football team a spark of energy.  With less than a minute into the fourth quarter, the Vikings added a field goal to give the Vikings a sixteen point lead at 23-7.  And at that point, Flynn began to work his magic to mount a comeback.  Flynn led the Packers on a eight play 80-yard drive with heavy doses of Eddie Lacy into the end zone.  After a failed two-point conversion, the Packers trailed the Vikings 23-13 with eleven minutes to play.  After a defensive stop, Flynn led the Packers on a twelve play 77-yard drive ending with a touchdown pass to Jarrett Boykin.  The Packers trailed the Vikings with three and half minutes to play.  The Packers defense stepped up again holding the Vikings to a three and out and giving Matt Flynn a chance to tie or win the game.  A ten play drive including a fourth down conversion resulted in a Mason Crosby field goal sending the game to overtime.

The Packers won the toss and elected to receive in the overtime period.  Flynn and the Packers drove the field all the way to the Minnesota 2-yard line.  But the Packers could not punch it into the end zone.  Mason Crosby hit a 20-yard field goal to give the Packers the 26-23 lead.  However, due to the new overtime rules, the Vikings would receive an opportunity to tie the game or win it with a touchdown.  The Vikings drove the field as well all the way to the Green Bay 17-yard line.  The Vikings tied the game again with a Blair Walsh field goal sending the game into sudden death for the remainder of the overtime period.

Photo credit: packers.com

The Packers and Vikings both possessed the football twice after the tie in overtime, but neither could move the ball.  The clock slowly ticked down to triple zeros ending the game in a rare tie.  Head coach Mike McCarthy said the ending of the game left an "empty feeling," as neither team won, nor lost.

This was the first game in NFL history to end in a tie despite scoring taking place during the overtime period (due to the new overtime rules).

This tie was the Packers fifth game all-time ending in a tie.  That mark is the most by a team in NFL history.

After replacing the ineffective Scott Tolzien, Matt Flynn finished the day 21/36 for 218 yards and a touchdown.  Eddie Lacy ran all over the Vikings for 110 yards and a touchdown.

The Vikings Christian Ponder finished the day 21/30 for 233 yards and a touchdown.  Adrian Peterson continued his success against the Packers rushing for 146 yards on the ground and had one touchdown.  Former Packer Greg Jennings had an unproductive two receptions for 29 yards in his return to Lambeau Field.  Jennings was booed heavily by the Lambeau faithful.

#LifeWithoutAaronRodgers

Detroit Lions  6-5
Chicago Bears  6-5
Green Bay Packers  5-5-1
Minnesota Vikings  2-8-1

Losing streak continues in New York

Week 11
November 17, 2013 - 3:25 p.m. - FOX
MetLife Stadium
East Rutherford, New Jersey

Packers 13 - Giants 27

The Packers dropped their third-straight game as they suffered their second-straight loss 27-13.

Scott Tolzien earned his first career NFL start for the Packers and was impressive again, however, still showed effects of an inexperienced quarterback.  Just like last week, the Packers offense racked up yards, but failed to put points on the board.  Tolzien threw for 339 yards on 24/34 passing.  The quarterback, however, was picked off three times by the Giants defense.  Tolzien has many similarities to Brett Favre.  He is a gun-slinger who has a big arm and takes chances with his throws.  His inexperience at the quarterback position at the NFL level clearly is something that plagues him.  Unfortunately for the Packers, there aren't many extra options other than recently signed Matt Flynn.

Jordy Nelson had a big day for the Packers catching eight balls for 117 yards.  Jarrett Boykin continues his great play replacing Randall Cobb with six receptions for 91 yards.  The Giants defense bottled up Eddie Lacy who only rushed for 27 yards on fourteen carries and a touchdown.

The New York Giants extended their winning streak to four games led by Eli Manning who threw for 279 yards, a touchdown, and one interception.  Victor Cruz had a nice day hauling in eight passes for 110 yards.

Photo credit: giants.com

The dagger in this football came in the fourth quarter.  After an Eddie Lacy 4-yard touchdown run to cut the Giants lead to 20-13, and a defensive stop, the Packers had a chance to tie the game.  Jason Pierre-Paul intercepted Tolzien on a leaping screen play and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown and collapsed any hope the Packers had in winning this football game.  The amazing part about this interception was the comment made by Justin Tuck after the game:  "I have never seen anything like it before in my life.  We were literally in a TV timeout and he said, 'I'm going to pick this.'"  This would be a sign of predictable play calling.

The Packers season is really in jeopardy going forward.

#LifeWithoutAaronRodgers

Detroit Lions  6-4
Chicago Bears  6-4
Green Bay Packers  5-5
Minnesota Vikings  2-8

Eagles fly over Rodgers-less Packers

Week 10
November 10, 2013 - 12:00 p.m. - FOX
Lambeau Field
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Packers 13 - Eagles 27

Life without Aaron Rodgers has begun in Green Bay.  And things did not look pretty in Titletown, U.S.A.

Seneca Wallace got the start for the Packers and became the fourth starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers since 1992 (Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, and Matt Flynn).  Wallace, a 10-year veteran, was signed by the Packers a week before the season started to be the backup to Aaron Rodgers.

Photo credit: packers.com

Seneca's day did not last long.  Wallace injured his groin on the Packers opening possession, which resulted in a missed 53-yard field goal by Mason Crosby.  With basically the entire game remaining, the Packers were left with only one quarterback remaining on the roster.  Scott Tolzien, a third-string quarterback from the University of Wisconsin signed off the practice squad a week ago, was now the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.

Despite Tolzien just joining the active roster, he played very exceptional for a guy getting his first NFL quarterbacking experience.  Tolzien finished the day 24/39 for 280 yards and a touchdown.  Tolzien, however, also threw two poor interceptions; but what can you expect out of a kid who has never played at the NFL level.  Tolzien is a gun-slinger.  He has a big arm, which could allow Mike McCarthy to open up his playbook more should Tolzien be the quarterback going forward.

The offense racked up the yards (396 yards), but struggled to put points on the board.  The Packers could not find a rhythm with Scott Tolzien at the helm.  And they couldn't find the answer in the red zone.

The defense continued to plague this team.  The defense could not stop Nick Foles, LeSean McCoy, or the big-play ability of the Philadelphia Eagles.  The Eagles had three touchdowns on the day and they were all heartbreakers.  Foles connected with DeSean Jackson for a 55-yard touchdown in the first quarter that was deflected by both Morgan Burnett and Tramon Williams.  Foles connected with Riley Cooper for a 45-yard touchdown and a 32-yard touchdown in the third quarter.  LeSean McCoy ran all over the defense for 155 yards on 25 carries.  This defense had several opportunities to stop the Eagles on third down, but failed time and time again to get off the field.  But they got dashed several times by Foles and McCoy in this football game.  And without Aaron Rodgers, the Packers didn't have a chance.

#LifeWithoutAaronRodgers

Detroit Lions  6-3
Chicago Bears  5-4
Green Bay Packers  5-4
Minnesota Vikings  2-7

Rodgers hurt, Packers fall to Bears

Week 9
November 4, 2013 - 7:30 p.m. - ESPN
Lambeau Field
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Packers 20 - Bears 27

Disaster struck the Green Bay Packers in a Monday Night matchup against the division rival Chicago Bears when Aaron Rodgers was tackled by Chicago's Shea McClellin and came up in tremendous pain.

Photo credit: chicagobears.com

On the opening possession, Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone on his left shoulder (non-throwing).  Rodgers did not return to the game.  Rodgers did return to the sideline late in the second half and received a huge ovation from the Lambeau faithful.  Rodgers is projected to miss 6-8 weeks.  With Rodgers in the lineup, the Packers can beat anyone.  We are about to find out how this team responds to losing its Super Bowl MVP quarterback.

Seneca Wallace, signed by the Packers a week prior to the season starting, replaced Rodgers and was effective.  The Packers relied heavily on the strength of their running game of Eddie Lacy and James Starks against the struggling defense of the Chicago Bears.  Just before the end of the first quarter, Starks busted a 32-yard dash to the end zone to give the Packers a 10-7 lead.  However, the Bears owned the second quarter adding a Matt Forte rushing touchdown and a Robbie Gould field goal giving the Bears a 17-10 lead at halftime.

The Packers opened the second half with a bang.  Eddie Lacy reeled off a 56-yard run to the Bears 1-yard line.  And Lacy punched the ball into the end zone on the next play.  The Packers then attempted a surprise onside kick and recovered to steal a possession from the Bears.  The Packers capitalized with a Mason Crosby field goal giving the Packers the lead 20-17.  After the Bears added an Alshon Jeffrey touchdown in the third quarter to take the lead 24-20, the Packers offense could not find its rhythm the rest of the game.  In the fourth quarter, the Bears reeled off a nine minute eighteen-play drive ending with a field goal finishing off the Packers 27-20.  The Packers had :50 seconds remaining, but without any timeouts, Wallace was sacked twice to end the game.

Seneca Wallace in relief finished the day 11/19 for 114 yards and an interceptions.  Eddie Lacy rushed for 150 yards and scored once.  James Starks also scored a touchdown and added 40 yards on the ground.  Jordy Nelson led the team in receiving with four receptions for 67 yards.

Photo credit: packers.com

Josh McCown started for the Bears for the injured Jay Cutler and performed well.  McCown threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns.  Matt Forte had an impressive night with 125 yards rushing and added a touchdown.  Brandon Marshall caught seven balls for 107 yards and touchdown for the Bears.

Entering the game, the Packers were sitting pretty at the top of the NFC North at 5-2.  Without Aaron Rodgers for the foreseeable future, the division is now wide open.  The Packers will need to be reliant on their running game to carry them.  And the defense will need to set up big time.  More than ever.  Life without Aaron Rodgers has begun in Green Bay.

#gopackgo

Chicago Bears  5-3
Green Bay Packers  5-3
Detroit Lions  5-3
Minnesota Vikings  1-7