2017 Week 04

Packers 27 Bungles 24

At the end of the game at Chief’s I said there was no such thing as an ugly win, but I may have been mistaken (I don’t know how to spell wrrong).  The Packer win was certainly not pretty, but the failcons win I got to say was ugly.  Not that I wanted the Lyins to win mind you, I just like to see the failcons win less. 
To have a 5 minute review to not only overturn a Lyins game winning TD but then to take away the last 8 seconds of the game and “Pfft” game over.  Oh well, such is sports.
Whatever Mike & Dom said to the boys in the locker room at halftime should go down in history right along with the “Win one for the Gipper” speech.  If we would have continued to play like we did in the first half, even duh bears would have stepped all over us, thank God we have a couple of days to prevent that. The bungle’s held us to a total of 78 yards of offense, take away the first drive of 60 yards and the rest of the half created 18 yards and 4 first downs; two 3 and outs, the aft mentioned pick six and a 6 play drive that netted 9 yards.
A couple of things came off Air-ron’s bucket list, one planned (to beat all 31 teams), one unexpected (to win an overtime game) and one unwanted (never throw another pick six).  The bright spot in the game had to be the appearance of Geronimo Allison.  He finished the day with 6 catches for 122 yards, including a 72 yard catch and run in overtime, setting up the game winning field goal.  Another bright spot was Lance Kendrick’s 51 yard catch and jog (can’t really call it a run).  Ty had a so so type day running the ball but is starting to become more involved in the passing game, that’s got to be a Linebackers Nightmare.  A big concern is our Tackle situation, with Barclay, Murphy & Spriggs on the IR list, Bakhtiari not suited up and Bulaga still on limited playing time, it left the task of keeping Air-ron upright to Justin McCray and Adam Pankey with some help from Lucas Patrick.  In the first half they allowed 4 sacks but only allowed 2 in the second half.  I see that the Pack have acquired tackle Ulrick John from Arizona.  Some say we should give Cleveland a 2nd round pick for veteran Joe Thomas, which might not be a bad idea but a lot depends on how fast Bakhtiari and Bulaga return to full strength.

The defense was a different team in the second half allowing 28 yards rushing, 96 yards passing, only 3 points and sacked Dalton2 times. The missed field goal by the bungles was a bonus and turned out to be the deciding factor. Tackling also improved in half number two; and none better that Josh Jones tackle near the end of the 4th quarter which stopped their drive and allow Air-ron that last chance to score a TD.

Still too many players on our injury list but the good news is they are practicing this week so our cupboard may not be as bear (no pun intended) as we think.  As I predicted, the Dalton gang went home empty handed and the same should happen this Thursday with duh bears.  It is a conference game so winning is never easy.  Want proof, look at these stats:  the Packer/bears overall season record is 93-93-6, playoff record is 1-1 and Thursday night matchups is 2-2.  This game will be one day short of the 60th anniversary of the first regular season game at  Lambeau Field (then Green Bay City Stadium) which ironically was against duh bears.  I can’t guarantee a victory but I will be cheering my Packers on down at Chief’s.  Above all, once again taking the lead in the series would be a good anniversary present for all of us who
BLEED GREEN MY FRIENDS!
( Packer John)

Just Sayin’


When mankind was created, he/she was endowed with these things called emotions. And we all know that they can sometimes be a blessing and sometimes be a curse. And sometimes they just go crazy. Something else about us that changes throughout the years is our patience. When we are young, we don’t have much patience. We have tempers. Then we grow a little older, often get married and have kids. Our patience gets stronger. We have patience with our kids. Then we get a little older and the patience morphs again. We have patience with our grandkids, but not with other things, like waiting in line somewhere, traffic snarls, or when our favorite team is playing like crap ! ! That was the case in the first half of the Bengals game. I’ll tell ya, at halftime, this entire column was going to be “Our offense sucks!! Our defense sucks!! Mason Crosby needs a raise!! He is the only one earning his money!!” Just Sayin’ . That was it. I had no patience for the crappy play and getting frustrated like they could hear me through the TV. Personally, I was so aggravated with the entire team during the first half, I thought this weeks’ column was going to be that very short & sour 4 sentence piece of text that you just read. Fortunately, the second half was played. And apparently, before the half, someone snuck into the locker room and left a printed out definition of the word adjustments, in relation to sports game planning. And it was left in an area where McCarthy & Capers BOTH saw it. So, MM made some adjustments, and the offense kept plugging away and got better as the game progressed. Martellus Bennett sure could use some catching lessons, but Lance Kendricks seems to be playing well.
Anyway, Dom Capers saw that adjustments were working for McCarthy, and remembering what he read at halftime, he made some adjustments too. We saw our top 2 draft choices making plays, especially Josh Jones. A.J. Green had a pretty good day overall, but most of his numbers came in the first half. Kevin King played him pretty good as the game wore on. These 2 guys have definitely earned more playing time. The front seven started getting some pressure on Dalton, so that helped. The Bengals were the only team in the NFL that Rodgers had not defeated. He also had never won an OT game, going 0-7 in his previous attempts. OK, so there are 2 more things to check off his list.

I think we are in for a rough ride for a while until some of the injured players return. 2 OTs and Mike Daniels in particular, will be an improvement. Nick Perry will be good to have back, but Ahmad Brooks came on in the second half when the rest of the defense started playing better.
It’s not going to get much easier, at least in the short term. A rough game with the Bengals, then there is only 3 days rest to get ready for the Bears. Then there are the Cowboys, in Dallas. But, we have 10 days after the Bears. So the “mini-bye” is coming at a good time… 
Just Sayin’ 
(Jimmy Smith)

The Chief’s / GPB Report

Surprisingly, only 35 Packer Fans at Chief’s to watch the game, most stayed for the 5th quarter to help celebrate a hard fought win.
16 door prizes were awarded, so one had a 50-50 chance of winning a door prize, here are some of the winners:  186 Karn Bender a license plate frame, 120 Neil Petersen a Hitch cover, 127 Kent Sargent  a car flag, 324 Larry Schilz & 455 Brenda Davenport both wanted a new caps, 493 Jon Pierce was happy to get a new wallet, and 219 Dan Blechl  liked the salt & pepper shakers while 448 Diane Clapper liked the pepper grinder.
After a answer correction, the winner of this weeks Trivia Contest and $25 from our friends at Chief’s was: (120 Neil  Petersen was the first name pulled but it was way past his bedtime for the old guy so..) 369 Don Dandelske was the winner. 
We had both a $1 & 50¢ pools this week. Winners on the dollar board were: 221 Barb Gambrell (twice, again), 328 Marge Bramlett & 481 Jeff Peschel.  The 50¢ pool winners were: 127 Kent Sargent, 369 Don Dandelske & 106 John Wieloch (twice).
Yet another “Prime Time” Packer game this Thursday night.  Because of Trivia night at Chief’s we will be meeting where the Bill’s usually meet so , turn left when you walk in the door.  Other news is Chief’s has a new owner.  I’ve been told this means better menu and TV are coming just for us (LOL) so we can all  
BLEED GREEN MY FRIENDS!

Packer’s      vs.   duh bear’s

Hello my friends, this is Bill Swerski, of the Superfans from Shicawgo, IL!  I first want to thank everyone for those cards for my brother Bob, who had another heart attack, and applaud a team so adorable they took some extra time to beat Pittsburgh, a team know as Duh Bears!  I’m here with all the Superfans here at Ditka’s Restaurant celebrating the win by Duh Bears!
For the last time, Bill, you ARE NOT a writer for the newsletter, this is the Greenville Packer Backers Newsletter and we all know that “Upon Further Review…Duh Bears still Suck!!”  This is the time when a really talented writer would write all in rhymes to the beat of a Polka song, but you only get me! 
But yes, as my friend Bill said, Duh Stillers ruined Duh Bears perfect season chances and allowed them to win.  Mike Glennon, Duh Bears QB continued to underwhelm opponents going 15 of 22 for a whopping 101 yards, threw 1 TD, had 1 pick and a stellar 74.2 passer rating.  Aaron on the other hand was harried, hit, sacked, and made miserable by a Ben-gals defense that took advantage of no Bakhtiari, and a hobbled Brian Bulaga who finally left the game after re-aggravating his ankle injury.  Aaron’s numbers were 28 of 42 for 313 yards, 3 TDs, 1 int (a pick 6, his 2nd of his ENTIRE 13 years in the NFL, his last was in 2009), for a rating of 102.6.  That’s what you call a fearless performance. 
The Bears relied mostly on their running attack to generate their meager offense against a Steelers defense that was very lackluster compared to how they normally performed.  Of course, RB Le’Veon Bell continued to use the regular season for training camp, even though he showed streaks of what he can be.  RB Jordan Howard torched Pittsburgh for 138 yards on 23 carries.  We have got to do a better job of stopping the run.  Hopefully Mike will be back and can add to the push on the line.  I would rather have a speedy outside linebacker to bookend Clay this weekend too, even though Ahmad Brooks finally made his presence known!   
Roethlisberger was his usual self, but he is starting to show his age as he was hit often and sacked 3 times, once losing a fumble.  Now I use this for a reason, Ben is often called Big Ben because he will stand in the pocket while defensive guys come at him and he will shrug it off while standing in the pocket and won’t go down.  He can’t do that anymore.  Neither can Aaron, but then Aaron Rodgers doesn’t need to.  Aaron Rodgers is one of the most mobile QBs in the league.  He may be chased but he won’t be stuck in the pocket.
Don’t get me wrong, I still see us winning this game.  Pittsburgh had a lot of miscues and mistakes in their game, and the Bears were stupid on a blocked kick and should have never gone into overtime, but past performance predicts future efforts.  It’s what Coach Mike calls “stacking success”.
Also for those of you who say, “McCarthy and Capers don’t adjust.  They just keep banging their heads against the wall.”  I would say a 20-3 second half point margin shows that we can adjust. 
I look to see the Bears try to keep their success in the run against us, and I look to see Dom try to come up with a scheme to shut it down and let Josh Jones and Kevin King team up with Morgan, Ha-Ha, and Damarious Randall shut down the passing game.
On the offense, I saw Brian Bulaga warming up and looking like he could go in the 4th quarter but with us sort of on a roll, I would say Mike told him to shut it down.  I thought I’d never say this, but I hope Bakhtiari is back this Thursday to solidify the O-line and let Rodgers carve up the Bears secondary and please blow some holes in the line so Ty can be a real running back.  I haven’t looked too much into Randall Cobb’s injuries but it’s always nice to have Mr. Everything out on the field.  It opens up coverage on Jordy and DaVante so they have a better day too.  We’ll throw in Geronimo when we want a big one.
So in conclusion my friends, Duh Bears will continue to suffer until the McCaskey family realizes the error of their ways and rehires one coach who goes by the name of Ditka!
Bill… Billllll, give me back my laptop!! 
(Ken Hill)