Green Bay wins shootout in Chicago

Week 4
September 28, 2014 - 12 p.m. - FOX
Soldier Field
Chicago, Illinois

Packers 38 - Bears 17

Aaron Rodgers told Packer Nation to R-E-L-A-X during the week in reference to the sluggish start to the season for the Packers.  With his performance on Sunday against the Bears, we should listen to Aaron a little more.

Photo credit: Jonathan Daniel

The Packers and Bears participated in a good ol' fashion shootout at Soldier Field.  For the second time in NFL history, a football game did not include any punts.  In the first half of play, Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler were running their offenses at will.  Back and forth both quarterbacks went.  Jay Cutler took the Bears opening drive of the game and capped it off with a touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall.  Rodgers responded quickly with a drive of his own finished off by Eddie Lacy finding the end zone.  Cutler took the Bears second drive down the field again, however, the Packers defense was able to make a stand and deny the end zone.  Robbie Gould finished the drive with a 23-yard field goal to give the Bears a 10-7 lead.  Rodgers went back to work on the Packers second drive and connected with Jordy Nelson in the end zone to give the Packers a 14-10 lead.  The Bears and Cutler responded with another long drive with Alshon Jeffrey finding the end zone to give the Bears the lead once again, 17-14.  Rodgers did his thing again and this time found Randall Cobb in the end zone to recapture the lead 21-17.  With one minute remaining in the first half, the Bears tried to add some extra points before halftime.  With no timeouts, Cutler passed to tight end Martellus Bennett who was stopped by Ha Ha Clinton-Dix on the 1-yard line.  The Bears came away with zero points.  This play was a huge momentum changer for the second half.

The Bears self destructed in the second half.  Jay Cutler threw two interceptions, a deflected pass caught by Clay Matthews and a pick by Sam Shields.  The Bears scored zero points in the second half.  The Bears committed penalties to extend Packers possessions.  The Bears were a completely different team after halftime.

Photo credit: David Banks

Rodgers and the Packers offense added 17 points in the second half to beat the Bears 38-17.  The victory evens their season record at 2-2.  The win is also the 700th victory in Green Bay Packers history.  The Packers have become the second team in NFL history to reach 700 victories as a franchise (Chicago Bears).

Rodgers finished the day 22/28 for 302 passing yards and four touchdowns.  Eddie Lacy had another slow day at the office with 48 rushing yards on 17 carries, however, Lacy did find the end zone.  Randall Cobb had another big day in Chicago hauling in seven passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns.  Jordy Nelson continued his stellar year with ten catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

Although the Packers defense shut out the Bears along with forcing two interceptions in the second half, the defense allowed 496 total yards.  That is a massive amount of yards.  The Bears rushed for 235 yards.  On the outside, it appears the defense did a good job.  But in reality, the difference in this game was the destruction of the Bears on offense in the second half.

Nonetheless, a Packers victory.

#TheBearsStillSuck

#GoPackGo

Detroit Lions  3-1
Green Bay Packers  2-2
Chicago Bears  2-2
Minnesota Vikings  2-2

Packers shut down in Detroit

Week 3
September 21, 2014 - 12 p.m. - FOX
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan

Packers 7 - Lions 19

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense was stifled against the potent Lions defense.  The Packers scored only seven points against the Detroit Lions.  Seven points is the lowest amount of points scored in a Packers game that Rodgers has completed in the Rodgers era in Green Bay.

Photo credit: Paul Sancya

The defense came to play on Sunday.  Pressure was applied all day long on Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.  The defense forced Stafford into three turnovers including the first interception by first round draft pick Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.  Newcomer Julius Peppers also got involved in the turnover mix with a strip sack and fumble recovery.  Looking at the last three years, you would be hard pressed to find a Packers game where the defense out shined the offense.  Unfortunately, that very fete took place.

The second offensive snap for the Packers resulted in an Eddie Lacy fumble returned by Don Carey 40 yards for a Detroit touchdown.  Later in the half, the offense even gave up their second safety of the season.  The offense really did nothing until the defense stepped up with the Clinton-Dix interception.  The offense drove the field 59 yards and found the end zone with a Rodgers toss to Andrew Quarless.  That was it from the Packers offense.   The Packers had 223 yards of offense.  Rodgers finished the game 16/27 for 162 passing yards.  Lacy rushed for only 36 yards on 11 carries.  Jordy Nelson hauled in five balls for 59 yards.

The offense appears to be in a worry of trouble.  Aaron Rodgers has struggled through the first three games, other than the second half against the New York Jets, with inaccurate passes.  The rushing game has gone missing in action for all of the running backs for the Packers.  Other than Jordy Nelson, there hasn't been another playmaker on offense to show up this season.  The play calling from Mike McCarthy has been puzzling.  Just about everything that could be wrong with the Packers offense is indeed, wrong.

The Packers hit the road again next week in Chicago.  Hopefully we see some major adjustments on offense and some consistency from the defense.

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

Packers Season Tickets Update 2014

Received the postcard today in the mail with my updated position on the Packers season ticket waiting list.  I have moved up 742 spots from last year.  With some small calculations, I am currently on pace to earn Packers season tickets when I am 98 years old.  Counting down the years now.

#gopackgo

Packers comeback to beat Jets

Week 2
September 14, 2014 - 3:25 p.m. - CBS
Lambeau Field
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Packers 31 - Jets 24

The Packers had to rally to pull out a victory against the New York Jets in the 2014 home opener at Lambeau Field.

Photo credit: packers.com

Coming off an embarrassing performance against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1, the Packers continued their poor play into Week 2 against the Jets.  The Packers botched the opening snap of the game resulting in a fumble recovery for the Jets at the 16-yard line.  The defense was sleep walking in the first quarter as the Jets, that's correct, the New York Jets was clicking on all cylinders.  Jets quarterback Geno Smith cashed in the Packers turnover with a 1-yard touchdown scamper.  After a Packers punt, the Jets went right down the field again and found the end zone with a 29-yard Eric Decker touchdown reception.  The Packers found themselves losing 14-0 to the Jets. That's right, the JETS.

To temporarily stop the bleeding, Aaron Rodgers drove the Packers down the field, however, they managed to only get a Mason Crosby field goal.  The Jets drove the field again.  And again, they found pay dirt.  Chris Ivory punched it in from four yards out and the New York Jets led the Packers 21-3 in the second quarter.  A absolute embarrassing display from the defense.  And the Packers offense wasn't much better.

Trailing 21-3, the Packers finally woke up.  Rodgers drove the offense down the field for another Crosby field goal.  After a New York punt, the Packers moved the ball and got a third Crosby field goal, this one from 55 yards out.  The defense needed a big play from someone as they looked lifeless.  Tramon Williams stepped up when his teammates needed him most.  With the Jets driving yet again, Williams intercepted Geno Smith with just under two minutes left in the first half.  Rodgers then ran the two-minute offense and found Randall Cobb in the end zone with eight seconds remaining in the first half.  Somehow, the Packers went into halftime trailing 21-16.

The Packers came to play in the second half.  Rodgers connected with Cobb for the second time to take the lead for the first time 24-21.  After a Jets game tying field goal, Rodgers exploded with an 80-yard touchdown on the next play from scrimmage with Jordy Nelson to give the Packers a 31-24 lead.

The Packers would win 31-24, however, there was some drama late.  Geno Smith threw a touchdown on a fourth down play to tie the game, however, someone called a timeout on the Jets sideline prior to the snap.  The timeout negated the touchdown and the Packers defense was able to hold on for the victory.

The Packers certainly played a sloppy football game.  But a win is a win.

Aaron Rodgers passed Bart Starr for second place on the Packers all-time passing yards list in franchise history.

#gopackgo

Green Bay Packers  1-1
Chicago Bears  1-1
Detroit Lions  1-1
Minnesota Vikings  1-1

Seahawks pound Packers in NFL opener

Week 1
September 4, 2014 - 7:30 p.m. - NBC
CenturyLink Field
Seattle, Washington

Packers 16 - Seahawks 36

The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks looked like the world champions as they crushed the Packers to kickoff the 2014-2015 NFL season.

Photo credit: packers.com

The Packers returned to the gridiron seven months after being eliminated in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.  First opponent: the Seattle Seahawks.  This game was all about the Seahawks as they celebrated their Super Bowl championship.  Prior to kickoff, the Seahawks unveiled their Super Bowl championship banner.  The football game was also all about the Seahawks as they outplayed, outmatched, and outmanned the Green Bay Packers.

In the first quarter with the Seahawks leading 3-0, Tim Masthay sent a punt to the Seahawks punt returner Earl Thomas who muffed the punt leading to a Packers recovery.  Green Bay took the turnover and stuffed it into the end zone with a 2-yard run by John Kuhn.  This was the only point in this game that the Packers were winning.  Seattle responded quickly with a Russell Wilson touchdown pass to Ricardo Lockette.  Mason Crosby tied the game at 10-10 with a 23-yard field goal, however, Marshawn Lynch marched his way into the end zone prior to halftime to give the Seahawks a 17-10 lead.

The Packers may have trailed by seven at halftime, but the Seahawks had this game under control from the get-go.  The Seahawks dominated with their running game.  Marshawn Lynch rushed for 110 yards on twenty carries and two touchdowns.  The Seahawks recorded a total of 207 yards on the ground for the game.  The Packers made mistake after mistake.  The Packers made many fundamental errors.  The Packers were also flagged eight times.  The Packers had to play a perfect game against the defending Super Bowl champions to have a chance in Seattle in front of the 12th man.  Far from perfect is the best way to describe the Packers performance in Week 1.

Although he faced the taunting defense of the Seahawks, Aaron Rodgers played a statistically poor game.  Rodgers completed 23 of 33 passes for 189 yards with a touchdown and one interception.  Rodgers averaged just 5.7 yards per pass attempt.  Eddie Lacy was held in check with 37 rushing yards on just seven carries.  Jordy Nelson caught nine balls for 83 yards and Randall Cobb caught six passes for 58 yards and a touchdown.

The defense looked the same as last year (which is bad news).  The Packers appear to be very weak up the middle and at the inside linebacker position.  Brad Jones had a horrible game.  Twice Jones had a costly holding/illegal contact penalty on a third down play.  First round draft pick Ha Ha Clinton-Dix had a poor tackling game.  Clinton-Dix has a lot to learn and experience will help, but he did show glimpses of safety play that we have been lacking the past couple years.  Clay Matthews looked great.  Newcomer Julius Peppers was okay.  Overall, the Packers defense was subpar again.

It wouldn't be the Packers if there wasn't some injuries to report.  According to Mike McCarthy, Eddie Lacy suffered a concussion in the 4th quarter after a crushing blow to his head by Seahawks defender.  This is Lacy's second concussion in the last twelve months and certainly is a cause for concern going forward.  Right tackle Bryan Bulaga suffered a knee injury to the same surgically repaired knee from a season ago.  If either player misses any significant time, the result will be devastating on the offensive side of the ball.

Detroit Lions  1-0
Minnesota Vikings  1-0
Green Bay Packers  0-1
Chicago Bears  0-1