2021 Week 06

Packers 25 Bagels 22


Fourth time’s the charm?!?  I didn’t know that was a thing until Crosby finally, finally, finally, finally made the game winning field goal in overtime on Sunday.  My wife Ella and I attended the game in Cincinnati, and I still have not decided if I got my money’s worth, or if I will be paying long-term mental consequences and lost years from my life due to this emotional roller coaster.  The situation was exacerbated since I thought some of the missed field goals from either team went through from my seat angle.  And since half the crowd around me were Packer fans I did not immediately know if the cheering or groaning was good or bad.

But I definitely saw the last field goal go right through the middle of the uprights.  And then we all (half of us anyway) started jumping up and down and high-fiving each other in the stands.  We were shouting how much we love our hero Crosby, praising his mental toughness and resilience, declaring how he deserves a statue in Green Bay, and ordering our #2 Packer jerseys on Amazon.  OK, none of that last sentence is true.  The general consensus amongst Packer fans in the stands was that we should go for it on 4th and inches instead of giving Crosby another chance to stab our hearts.   In fact, the Bengal fans were cheering and laughing when Crosby trotted out on the field to take that last kick.


Then they stopped laughing and it was Crosby giggling like a schoolgirl after he made the game-winner.  A few more things about Crosby before I get to the rest of the game review: 1) None of these missed field goals at the end of the game would have been so critical (or even necessary) if he simply made the extra point on our first touchdown.  2) Was it the pressure of being team captain this game that pushed Crosby over the brink?  He missed called both coin flips, so he didn’t even get that right.  By the way, did anyone else see the smirk on the ref’s face at the coin flip to start overtime when he stared straight at Crosby and said “Great job so far gentlemen.”?  3)  Why can’t Crosby just kick-off into the end zone all the time and stop risking that big play against our “special” team?  The Bengals returned 4 kicks for 120 yards, included a 44-yarder.  4) Is this our clutch kicker who will bring us to another Lombardi trophy down the stretch?


The Packer defense played solid on Sunday.  After Rodgers’ interception in the first quarter, they stepped up with a tipped pass, a sack, and a screen pass stop to force a 3 and out.  And after the Bengals 44-yard kickoff return, they also replied with a sack and forced another 3 and out.  They had two great interceptions.  It was just too bad De’Vondre Campbell couldn’t carry his overtime-starting interception all the way to the end zone and save us some unnecessary extra period anguish.  But let us not forget the 70-yard TD pass the defense gave up after giving Burrow 5 minutes in the pocket right before half.  Hopefully breakdowns like that get less frequent as the season progresses.

Offensively, we had stellar play as usual from Aaron Jones (103 rushing yards) and Davante Adams (206 receiving yards).  We also got big plays from Dillon (rushing and receiving), Mercedes Lewis, and of course Randall Cobb.  But why can’t we push more drives into the end zone?  Why do we have to have Crosby attempt 7 field goals?  I would rather have him go 4 for 7 on extra points next game.


But before I start ranting about Crosby again, let me give you the TOP TEN Positive Highlights of Attending the Packer Game in Cincinnati:  10) Fist bumping tons of green and gold clan fans walking throughout downtown Cincinnati Saturday night.  9) Beautiful day in the mid-80’s on Sunday with lots of Packer fans in the stadium overlooking the Ohio River.  8) Packer fans being loud enough with DE-FENSE! chants to cause trouble for the home team offense.  7) Although I was initially irritated that my wife poked me during a close game to show me something on her phone, I was quite impressed with the Greenville Packer Backers playing “Jump Around” on Facebook Live!  6) Crosby finally made the damn kick!  5) No repeat of the heartbreaking 2013 loss in Cincinnati, and the resulting long, sad 7-hour drive home that night to get my two sons to middle school the next day.  4) Crosby finally made the damn kick!  3) Bengal fans were courteous throughout the game, even with their tough loss in overtime (quite unlike experiences in Detroit and Atlanta).  2) GO-PACK-GO chants echoing throughout the pedestrian ramps leaving the stadium.  And the number 1) Positive Highlight of Attending the Packer Game in Cincinnati: Walking back to the hotel knowing the Packers are 4-1 and play “Duh Bears still suck!” next week!

GO-PACK-GO!  
(Bill Demuth)

 Just Sayin’

I suppose if we wanted to have an MVP for the Packers/Bengals game, it would have to be Davante Adams. It seems like that guy can get open no matter what the defense puts on him. The downside of that is that AR12 looks his way entirely too much, IMO. Maybe that was part of Brian Gutekunst’s mindset last year (2020) during the draft. I know the 2020 NFL draft was probably the deepest WR class ever. Maybe he thought “If I draft a WR in the 1st round, he will only get 2-5 targets per game. So he drafted a QB. Now, to the reality vs. what I just speculated about. What is the most number of catches by a WR who is NOT named Adams, against the Bengals? 2. 2 by Cobb and 2 by Lazard. And that was for a total of 36 yards. But it is what it is. So, we will have to roll with the Rodgers and Adams train till the wheels come off or they pull into the station for their final stop.


Meanwhile, back to the game. How about an award for the MCC of the game? That would be the Most Consistent Choker of the game. That would have to be none other than Mason Crosby. How many times did Crosby have us to the point of jubilation on Sunday, only to let us down? I know there are football fans that have little use for kickers. But as long as kicking is going to be part of the NFL, we might as well hope to have a good one. And Mason Crosby is just that. Yes, we ran the gamut of emotions on Sunday, several times. But with all said and done, he is one of the more reliable kickers in the league. Every person on this planet has a bad day from time to time. 90% of people asked will admit that. The other 10% will lie. The last time Crosby had a really bad day was against the Lions when McCarthy was the coach. Meanwhile, the Bears and Vikings have been known to go through 2 or 3 kickers in one season. So, while Crosby had a bad day at the office, let’s be glad the kicker from the other sideline had a bad day as well. And let’s also be glad that Crosby finally got that one at the end and the team sits at 4-1.

Also, after the game, Aaron Rodgers was purported to say “There’s nothing like winning. I’m proud of these guys. That was a fun one. You’re hugging guys that you may not know their first and last name sometimes.” OK, so you play with these guys on gameday, and are on the practice field with them most every day . . . . and you don’t know their names??? 

Just Sayin' 
(Biker Jimmy)

 GPB In Our SPARE TIME

95, no that’s not the number of field goals missed on Sunday; it’s the number of Packer Fans at Spare-Time.  Oh yeah, I forgot about Lucy, that make 96 and Baby Jack, that make 96½.

More numbers to pass along.  First 4, that’s the number of new members.  Let’s give a great Packer welcome to: 630 Larry Rutzinski, 631 Teresa Rutzinski, 632 Baby Jack Martins & daddy 633 Rando Martins.  The number 2 was Joe & Callie Reiser (Day members) and 2 was also the number of $10 Spare-Time Video cards, won by 241 Tiffany Bailey & 626 John Jr. McKinnie-Evans.

9 was the number of door prizes handed out.  463 Wayne Hansen won a Packer Plaque, 323 Celie Schliz got Chuck Carlson’s book Where Have You Gone”, 629 Chad Teasley  won a fashionable clear tote (for his wife, wink, wink).  438 Karmell Smith will stay warm with her Packer Blanket and 221 Barb Gambrell will be on time with her new watch.  413 Megan Afshar-Martins won some little Packer Magnets for 632 Baby Jack, 607 Nancy Nelson won floor mats for her car, 624 Big John McKinnie-Evans won flip flops in honor of one of the Mason’s missed field goals and 453 Leon Stenzel won a raffle ticket.

12 was the number of pool winners this week.  Winners of $25 were 113 Russ Larson, 101 Jamie Ware, 241 Tiffany Bailey, 275 John Ellinger, 453 Leon Stenzel, 204 Christy Papala, 242 Christine Harrison & 106 Packer John.  While 263  Patricia Zumbach, 289 Kerri Ellinger, 110 Bill Bunke & 537    Wayne Boyd were the lucky winners of $50.

2 was the number of WRONG entries drawn before Christy Papala pulled the 1 winner of the Trivia question… 117 Nik Papala.  What are the odds of that happening???  Nik won a $25 gift card from our fiends at Spare-Time.

Numbers, numbers everywhere, this job calls for a Math Teacher.  Linda & I found out it takes a village to do Marge 328’s job.  We will gladly hand the reins and this article back to her while Linda & I will tackle Kathy’s job in her absence this Sunday.

Speaking of this Sunday, we have our second 1:00 game of the season.  Let’s hope there is a little less drama but the same outcome as last weeks marathon game. 

Remember raffle tickets will be sold at Half-time; $5 for 1 or $20 for 5 for members.  Look for another prize being added to the raffle table.  Hint: it’s Cliff Christl’s soon to be released book The Greatest Story in Sports (see below).  We also have our club T-shirts available for $25 each (see page 3). Proceeds from the raffle & t-shirts go towards more prizes and club activities.

Sunday is 2 Brats and a Tot for $10 special.  Sunday is also duh bears.  Bring a friend, bring a bears fan so we can convert them from the dark (Orange & Black) side so they too can proudly… 

Bleed Green My Friends! 
(Packer John)

 Packer’s   vs.   Duh bear’s

 We are on a streak 4-1 let’s make it 5-1 this week.  

The matchup between our Packers and the nasty Bears is one of my favorite games that we have. Unfortunately, my best friend of 40 years is a Bears fan. I am not sure if it is when she fell off her bike and hit her head that she went wrong. It is a fun rivalry that her and I make a lot of bets on during this game. No matter the outcome of the game, or the bets the Bears Still Suck. Average ticket prices for the game at Soldier Field are $240 a ticket. I would never pay $240 to sit at Soldier Field not even to watch my beloved Packers. The weather is forecasted with a high of 61 and a low of 47 but that wind chill factor is going to make it feel like 43 degrees.  


Just like the football rivalry with my friend Kendra, the rivalry between the Packers and the Bears goes back a long time. They are the oldest two teams in the NFL. Spanning 201 games including two playoff matchups. Packers have won 101 times. This game will make it 102 winning games.

The first game ever played at Lambeau Field was on September 29th, 1957 where we defeated the Bears 21-17.  I bet it was an amazing game to be in the stands for that first game!

The long history between the two teams and how close the stadiums are in proximity has helped to fan the flames of the hatred between the two teams and the fans. Never in a million years can I understand how someone would love the Bears. Yuck is an understatement.

Rodgers is 20-5 in his career against the Bears. One of the games we lost to the bears was back in 2013 when Rodgers suffered a broken collar bone in the opening series. One of my favorite Packers v/s Bears games was the NFC Championship game at Soldier Field in 2011. We beat them 21-14 and went on to win the Super Bowl.

I believe the Packers will dominate the Bears, we just need to make sure that we are protecting Aaron and that we do not leave to many points for Crosby to have to pick up. The Bears did pull out a win over the Raiders last week, but their offense is struggling.  They have the fewest yards of offense per game than any other team. Our defense should be able to dominate. So far this season, Rodgers has 1,241 passing yards, while Fields only has 458 passing yards.  That’s a huge difference, one more reason why the Bears Suck.

My prediction of the score: 27-17. 

GO-PACK-GO!
(Kerri Ellinger)

 Nik’s Negativity

 Those of you that know me probably think I’m just going to rant about Mason Crosby. Those that believe that would be absolutely correct. However, my column is not to point out the obvious things. Everyone knows he blew 4 kicks that could have ended that game much quicker. 4 kicks. I have often said it…he makes a 57 yarder in the first quarter when there is no pressure but misses a 38 yarder when it counts. The reality is accurate kickers with the clutch gene do not grow on trees. He’s our kicker, like him or not. (Not is the correct answer here). AND THAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE…BECAUSE 117 SAYS SO!  I do not think I could deal with it emotionally if he did that crap in a playoff game.


Red zone has been the place of nightmares for the ’21 Packers. That 20 yds on both ends of the field is normally where we excel. We always had a “bend but don’t break” attitude on defense and would suddenly play better in the red zone after letting a team run up and down the field on us. Last year we led the league in red zone offense, scoring a TD on 76.8% of our trips. Those days are dead…may they REST IN PEACE! This year? 55%. If this doesn’t change we will be going home early. Is it the play calling? Is it execution? Is it both? IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT IT IS!….just fix it. Want to hear something really funny? Our defense has yet to stop a team from scoring a TD when they take a snap in our nightmare zone. Teams are 11 for 11. Read that again…I’ll wait. Teams are scoring a TD at a 100% rate. Does anyone else see a problem? OOOOOH YEAH!!! We have a problem. We don’t continue to win unless that changes quickly. Its true, that TO BE THE MAN, YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE MAN. That’s going to be easy if our defense continues its crappy red zone play.


Look, we have 12. He’s THE BEST THERE IS, THE BEST THERE WAS, AND THE BEST THERE EVER WILL BE! However, our offense is better when we run the ball.  Am I right? GIVE ME A HELL YEAH! Jones and Dillon are a perfect “thunder and lightning” combination. We need to rely more on them and less on 12. We have backups all over the O-line, missing our WR2, and yet we are not making teams wonder WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO WHEN THE PACKERS RUN WILD ON YOU?! Lafleur is not the playcalling wiz kid they made him out to be. He’s falling back into the McCarthy offense and relying on 12 to close out games and eat clock. We have the Bears on Sunday. We all want to look them in the eyes and tell them to SUCK IT….but we could be in for a surprise if we continue to stumble on offense, especially near the end of the game.

This is our year. Next year is going to be a challenge to sign players with our cap situation. EVERYBODY HAS A PRICE, and we may not be able to pay it (Adams, ZSmith, Tonyan, MVS, and Jaire will cost a fortune) Rodgers needs to KNOW HIS ROLE AND SHUT HIS MOUTH! Embrace the season, use the running game, drop the ego, and….WOOOOOOOOO!.....win us number 14!!

The punter sucked this week. HAVE A NICE DAY.

(Nik ~ One-Seventeen!)

From the Top!

Oh boy I sure would not want to be those keys on Negative Niks keyboard today!

YBSORC NOSAM.  Anyway, I'll take an ugly 4 and 1 record anytime.  We now have Music!! (Thank you John Ellinger)!  JUMP AROUND Is here to stay!  We're working on broadcasting the WTMJ pregame feed.

Here's a Raffle update. 175 tickets are in the box.  Thank you everyone who has entered.  We have two more 1:00 kickoffs and I would like to give some more fans an opportunity to enter at Half-Time at each game.  Mean-while our Raffle Prize selection continues to grow!  Kraig has ordered an additional item for the raffle drawing that is a must have for any Packer fan; Cliff Christl’s new book The Greatest Story in Sports.  Okay everyone on to week sux 
(Clark Petersen)

From Even Higher Up!

Look for the 2 Brats and a Tot for $10 Special on Sunday! I blame Mason also! Great Facebook posts by Christy, that is Awesome to see!  GPB is the Best fan club in the country!  Go Pack and F*^k Da Bears!  That’s all I have to Add :) 
Steve Klotz (Spare-Time)