Greenville Packer Backers: 2018 Week 10

Packers 31 Dull-fins 12

For me, this is kind of a strange review. Linda & I spent the day with some friends we haven’t seen for a while. Our plans were to hang out together at their place and watch the Packer game. When we found out the game would not be on local TV, we still hung out, just had to go to a local restaurant/bar near them to watch the game.
This place had about a half a dozen TV’s around a small bar, with no sound for any of the games, a couple of high tops near that; but most of the place was dedicated to a sit down family restaurant. We got there about 10 minutes late so we had a 7-0 lead before we even sat down. It was fun catching up on each other’s lives while watching the game out of the corner of my eye but it felt strange to me not having to watch the game for every first down, punt and score. The few times I did get excited, it felt like the whole restaurant area looked at me like I just sat on a nail. Made me realize how special our group really is.

The game itself went as I thought it would; us finally playing like the team I knew we were and the “Dull-fins” living up to that name.  It has now been 2 weeks their offense has failed to score a TD and yet, according to their website, still believe they can make the playoffs.  Strange thing is, at 5-5 they are a half a game out of the wild card race in the AFC.

As I said before, I didn’t see much of the game, but did observe a couple of things.  First off, Mike FINALLY let the other Aaron (Jones that is) handle the ball more than a couple of times; the results, 15 carries, 145 yards and 2 TD’s, including a 67 yard rumble.  On top of that, he also had 3 catches for 27 yards.  We will see this week if Mike will let Jones play two weeks in a row.

Next item is special teams may or may not be special.  They did allow one punt to be blocked and a fake punt faked them out, but did manage to run the same fake punt back at them.  Williams did have a nice punt return, but once again, we gave it back to them with a fumble.

The defense, I think, did a pretty good job overall.  Several time they had to deal with a short field and never allowed the dull-fins to cross the endzone.  Along the way, they collected six sack by six different players, got an Int. by one of our new guys, Brashaud Breeland, but most importantly, we kept Gore under 100 yards rushing and gave Osweiler a 66.6 passer rating.

Three things that surprised me. First, we have a guy named Raven Greene (#36) who has been on the team all year. With the injury to Kentrell Brice, Packers were force to play him. The results, 1 pass defended, 1 sack and 26 yards rushing on the fake punt. Second, we have a guy named Tony Brown on or team, also on the team the entire year.  Although not as impressive as Greene’s numbers, he did have two tackles and a defended pass.  Lastly, I don’t know for sure if it happened at the Packer game, but I did see that at the Monday Night game, we saw the National Anthem on TV.  Perhaps it was only because it was Veterans Day and the NFL and networks didn’t have much choice, but it was good to see it again.

There was one thing that didn’t surprise me. Near the beginning of the third quarter, EQ had one of those good old fashion “de-cleater” hits; where a players is knocked off feet and ends up looking at the clouds. But wait for it… wait for it… penalty. I didn’t realize there was a penalty for hitting a defenseless tackler (or illegal blindside block as they called it). Can’t believe hitting a guy in the chest is his blind side, unless he has eyes in the back of his head. Just one more example of how football is changing.

More positives than negatives this week. A short week with a visit on Thursday to the toilet bowl in Seattle will be a much better indicator as to where this team is and what we can expect from them the rest of the season.   I hear Ken did a great job on the mic Sunday and even had a good time doing it. I hope more of you are willing to give it a try, really, it’s not that hard. By next year I would like to see a 4 or 5 person rotation. See you all on Thursday night to once again, collectively,

Bleed Green My Friends.

(Packer John)

Just Sayin’

I am pretty sure that most of us will agree that the game last Sunday was probably the most complete game the Packers have played in quite some time. Six sacks, a fake punt (wonder who called that play), a bruising ground game and a load off Rodgers’ shoulders. That worked out pretty good. Does anyone have a clue as to how Marcedes Lewis wound up on the field for an offensive play . . . and an actual pass thrown in his direction? Do you think maybe McCarthy has seen some of the articles all over the internet about him being on the hotseat? I think maybe he is starting to feel the heat a little at this point. I for one hope he feels more and more heat. Maybe that fire being lit under his ass will wake him up even more.

I know we had several guys that went out due to injury. Let’s hope that they are nothing serious so that those fellas can be ready by Thursday. But so far, it appears that Mike Pettine is going to be earning his money this week with having a patchwork secondary. OK, without looking it up, who has the most sacks for the defense so far this season? If you thought Matthews, Perry or Gilbert, you would be wrong. Kenny Clark and Kyler Fackrell each have 5 sacks. Who’d a thunk it? Well, it’s going to be short this week. No, not me, the article. I’ll try to have something a little more interesting next time since we have the mini-bye...

Just Sayin’

(Jimmy Smith)

GPB Hall Of Fame Report

Over 50 Packer Backers met at Hall of Fame Sports Grill. While we missed Packer John and Linda, we were able to cheer and high five through the whole game.

All that excitement meant lots of door prizes were awarded. 458 Susan Sabin chose earrings, 455 Brenda Davenport chose the warm fuzzy socks, and 503 Steve Sabin chose a stocking cap. 519 Wink Cochaine and 120 Neil Petersen both chose wallets. 520 Angela Blaser chose dominoes. 123 Kraig Pringle will store all his Packer memorabilia in his Packer tote bag, and 474 Jim Comensoli will carry his “stuff” in his backpack. 423 Melody Cox will stay dry under her umbrella and 431 Jan Zlebek will enjoy his new lighter. Steak knives will grace 328 Marge Bramlett’s kitchen and 221 Barbara Gambrell has a new nightlight. 469 Erek Staliga will proclaim his allegiance with his shiny Green Bay license plate.

The winner of the trivia contest and a $15 gift certificate from Hall of Fame Sports Grill was 528 Devin Staack. The dollar football pool was won by 120 Neil Petersen, 328 Marge Bramlett, 520 Angela Blaser, and 221 Barbara Gambrell.

Our next game is coming up quickly. I hope to see many of my Packer Backer buddies at the Hall of Fame Sports Grill on Thursday night for our game against the Sea-Hags. Let’s cheer together and support our team.

Always courageous,

(Marge 328)

Packers vs. Seahags

John asked me to do this article back before the season. I was supposed to be working in Idaho Falls, ID. Under the very noses of the Seattle Seahags. If any of you were at the game this past Sunday, you know that was not the case, I was rockin’ the mic as the young MC. He also knows the disdain I have for the team from Seattle. Is it the way Russell Wilson sits and stares vacantly ahead with his tongue hanging out? No. Is it the way Pete Carroll bends over and chews his gum like it’s made out of steel and he’s got the world’s strongest jaws? No! It’s one thing:

The Fail Mary.

This is a play so monumentally stupid that they have a name for it.

Final play of Seattle vs. Green Bay during a referee lockout. The refs wanted more money, the league didn’t want to pay them. I wasn’t overly concerned, other than some sketchy field goal calls from replacement referees, it wasn’t too bad.

Then came that Monday night game. The Packers played decent but not well, Russell Wilson the rookie quarterback did play well, far beyond his experience. The Seahawks had the Legion of Boom, so new that they didn’t have a nickname yet.

Final play of the game: Hail Mary pass to Golden Tate. MD “Doc” Jennings (How did that NOT become his nickname? I mean, c’mon!) goes up in front and instead of knocking it away decides to leave nothing to chance and catches the ball in the endzone with Tate’s hand in the middle. Not holding the ball, just in there. Touchdown Seattle. It was reviewed, wasn’t overturned. Game Over.

I was angry about the call. What I was LIVID about was Seattle’s reaction. Wilson was like, “I threw the ball it was caught.” Tate: “I just went up and competed.” Carroll: “Our guys fought hard, it was a victory.” That’s what had me steaming. No one OWNED it. 4 hours later Marshawn Lynch’s family watched the game at a Seattle restaurant. At the end of the game, there was silence, and someone said, “We didn’t win the game.” I would have still been mad about the call, but I wouldn’t have been mad at Seattle if Pete or Russell or Tate had kinda smiled wryly and said, “Yeah, we mighta stole one from the Packers tonight!” That’s all, just a simple admission that it was a bad call. I was up until 2 in the morning, and had to be at work at 6!

I wasn’t the only one, by 10 a.m. the next day, the NFL was so overwhelmed with angry calls, emails, and tweets, a very contrite Rodger Goodell was calling Ed Hochuli to see what could be done to get the real refs back on the field.

So we turn our eyes to this Thursday. Russell Wilson is still there, the Legion of Boom is gone, retired or scattered to the four winds of the NFL, and Tate is on his 3^rd of 4^th team now. They just lost to the Rams who beat us by 2.

We are winless away from Lambeau field and are 7^th in the NFC. If the playoffs were held today, we’d be looking in. Duh Bears would be NFC North Champs and the Viqueens would be a wildcard team.

We are coming off a phenomenal win against the Dolphins. Despite them keeping it close in the first half, Mike and the boys managed a game plan that featured Aarons. Rodgers and Jones (sounds like a Country & Western duo). Rodgers got hurried from the Dolphins defense, but Jones carried the rock and busted off some good runs. It was a lot of fun saying, “That’s another Green Bay…FIRST DOWN!”

ESPN has a term for it, I can’t remember what the exact phrasing is but it has to do with, “If we beat this guy and they lost to these guys then we should be able to beat them, right?” They say that doesn’t work, it’s a fallacy I learned in speech. Its call Post Hoc Ergo Proctor Hoc, Latin Majors I apologize if I misspelled it.

We lost by 2 to the Rams, the Seahags lost by 5. So we should beat them by a Field Goal, right? As long as we can keep the ball out of Russell Wilson’s hands during the last 2 minutes, I like our chances. He’s just wayyy too lucky against us in the 2 minute drill. Oh and in case of an onside kick, do your damn job, don’t freelance! Packers win, despite the 13^th man. We all know that Kyle field, Texas A&M is the REAL home of the 12^th man! Gig ‘Em!

GO PACK!! GO!!!

(Ken Hill)