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Aaron Rodgers and the first team offense had a rough day in limited action against the Chargers

First things first: the sky is NOT falling.

Despite losing 21-13 last night to the San Diego Chargers in their exhibition opener, the Green Bay Packers are not doomed.  Some fans have a tendency to put way too much stock in the first preseason game.

Still there was some good, some not-so-good and some downright awful things to take from the defeat.

Here’s a look at some of the good and the bad.

Game Balls

Nick Perry

A nonsense excessive celebration penalty notwithstanding, Perry made a great first impression right out of the blocks with a sack on Philip Rivers.  As the game went on, Perry showed flashes of ability in the pass rush that the Packers hoped he had when they selected him the first round of the draft.

In the words of Mike McCarthy, it’s definitely an experience Perry can grow from. While it’s silly to draw conclusions from one preseason game, Perry has gotten off to a solid start in his rookie season.

Davon House

What else is there to say? The man made plays.  House showed hustle and playmaking ability in breaking up multiple passes.  Wherever the ball was, #31 seemed to be close by.  He definitely outperformed Jarrett Bush, who basically was named the starter for the game by default.  Read more... (1204 words + 1 image, estimated 4:49 mins reading time)

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Despite a lockout that made fans sweat bullets, the calendar has turned to August and football is indeed back. Even though it seems Packer Nation didn’t really get to celebrate the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl XLV title due to the work stoppage, we must put last season behind us and focus on the new season that has just begun

For Cheeseheads, the start of football season means players on bicycles and practices at Ray Nitschke Field behind the Don Hutson Center.  While it may feel different this year due to free agency occurring at the same time training camp opened, there are many other things that remain timeless at Packers training camp.

The aforementioned bicycles are one.  Players ride kids’ bikes to and from practice each day.  It’s a tradition like no other in the National Football League.

A couple thousand fans turn out in the stands for each practice with hundreds more lining the fence waiting to get a glimpse of how their team is shaping up for the upcoming season.

That said, enough about the experience.  Today we take a look at the practice of Thursday August 4th as “Game Balls and Lame Calls” makes its return for the 2011 season.  Yes, I know it is practice and game balls aren’t given out, but for the sake of consistency let’s just go with it.

Game Balls:

WR corps—mainly Donald Driver, Randall Cobb and Shaky Smithson.  Read more... (1107 words + 1 image, estimated 4:26 mins reading time)

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World Champion Green Bay Packers. The Vince Lombardi Trophy is back home.

Here we are, nearly a few days after the Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 to win Super Bowl XLV and my feet are still nowhere near to touching the ground.

What a ride. After the 31-27 defeat at Foxboro to the New England Patriots that dropped the Packers to 8-6, things looked bleak. Aaron Rodgers was coming off his second concussion of the season and the defense, depleted by injuries, got burned in a shootout by one of the NFL’s best in Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Some fans had doubt as to whether the team could win its last two regular season games to just make the postseason, let alone win 3 road playoff games to make it to Dallas for Super Bowl XLV. It seemed like the Packers, while they fought gallantly all year, would finally succumb to the ridiculous amount of injuries and start preparing for 2011.

After that game however, something magical happened.

Rodgers returned and rode a hot hand all the way to the MVP of the Super Bowl. The defense buckled down and different players rose to make plays on different occasions. Mike McCarthy fell into a zone with his playcalling and suddenly could do no wrong.

I thought this season was special with the Packers just making the playoffs. Now that they’ve won the Lombardi Trophy, the season qualifies as legendary and epic.  Read more... (1566 words + 1 image, estimated 6:16 mins reading time)

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First of all let me get one thing out of the way:

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, with that out of my system let’s move on.

Green Bay Packers 21, Chicago Bears 14. The Packers are headed to Super Bowl XLV in Dallas to face the Pittsburgh Steelers on February 6.

As thrilling as the spoils of victory have been, the game turned out to be a near 60 minute heart attack for Packers. The game wasn’t over until a Sam Shields interception with under a minute to play after the Packers let the Bears back into the game after getting out in front 14-0.

So who gets a Game Ball and who gets a Lame Call for the NFC Championship?

Let’s take a gander.

Game Balls

RB James Starks

Starks didn’t break the century mark, but his ability to break some big runs opened up a lot of playaction opportunities for the passing game.
As the sudden “star” of these 2010 playoffs, “Neo” (as Starks is called) has given much needed life to what was a lifeless Packers rushing attack and finally helped bring the Packers” offense into balance at the most critical time of the year.

His touchdown run put the Packers up 14-0 and the Packers were able to remain aggressive on defense the rest of the game, allowing Dom Capers the chance to work his magic to ensure the Bears had no chance.

CB Sam Shields  Read more... (1162 words + 1 image, estimated 4:39 mins reading time)

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I’m sure glad Packers general manager Ted Thompson listened to some fans last week and fired coach Mike McCarthy after that loss to the Patriots.

Ahem.

Moving on, the Green Bay Packers walloped the New York Giants 45-17 Sunday to keep their playoff hopes very much alive. A win next week at home over the NFC North champion Chicago Bears and the Packers are in the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

There were a lot of highs and even a few lows in this game for Green Bay so let’s get to it.

Game Balls

QB Aaron Rodgers

Did that new helmet Rodgers was wearing come from the Bill Belichick line? Did he have the defensive signals of the Giants literally in his head?

All kidding aside, what a comeback for Rodgers. Any potential for rust was quickly done away on an 80 yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson and Rodgers rolled from there. Finishing the day with a career regular season high 404 yards and a career high tying 4 TD passes, Rodgers showed there were no lingering cobwebs from his two concussions this season.

Even more impressive was his ability to evade the Giants’ all-star pass rush. Even with rookie tackle Bryan Bulaga getting beat by Pro Bowler Justin Tuck on just about every pass play, Rodgers was able to make enough plays with his feet and his arm to make this game a blowout.

Coach Mike McCarthy  Read more... (842 words, estimated 3:22 mins reading time)

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