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1) Introduction: When the Packers took James Starks in the sixth round of the 2010 draft, there was probably only a handful of fans who knew who he was. Yet after probing into the history of Starks, many fans became enamored with his untapped talent at running back. However, Starks’ inability to stay healthy was also a concern, and he missed his entire senior season at Buffalo with a shoulder injury.

Those injury worries were confirmed when Starks injured his hamstring before the season. He would spend the first six weeks on the PUP list and didn’t see any game action until Week 13.

2) Profile:

James Darell ‘Buck’ Starks

Position: RB
Height: 6-1   Weight: 203 lbs

Born: February 25, 1986 in Niagara Falls, NY
College: Buffalo (school history)
Drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 6th round (193rd overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft.

3) Expectations coming into the season for that player: Low, but also optimistic. With Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson ahead of him on the depth chart, Starks didn’t figure to see the field much in year one. Those expectations were further lowered when Starks hurt his hamstring in OTA’s and missed nearly all of training camp and the preseason. Before the injury however, many thought Starks could add a home run threat to the running back position and possibly contribute on kickoff returns.  Read more... (697 words + 1 image, estimated 2:47 mins reading time)

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Weekly Green Bay Packers News from Twitter and other Sources by Al Bracco and Jayme Joers. (As heard on Cheesehead Radio 1/27/11 )

Al: Well, what can I say. After 13 long years, the Packers are back in the Super Bowl. Having survived a season racked with injuries and in jeopardy of not making the playoffs at all, the Packers found themselves winning 5 straight elimination games to propel themselves into the big game. The sweetest part, of course, was beating the Bears in their home for the NFC Championship.

Jayme: And the week that followed could easily be called controversy gate. We had Cutler-gate, Concussion-gate and Photo-gate. The Bears Jay Cutler was criticized by some former and current NFL players for supposedly tanking on his team. Bears fans vilified him, with some taking to burning his jersey. Never mind that this was a huge rush to judgement and Cutler really did have a serious injury.

Al: Yes Jayme, but I think Cutler brought this on himself. His dispassionate attitude on the sidelines would surely infuriate me if I was a Bears fan. Fortunately, I’m not and my quarterback is Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers, by the way, did a classy thing by coming out and saying he was very disappointed by the way Cutler was treated. Rodgers then mentioned the airport incident and noted that he has come to realize that you can never make everyone happy and as long as you know you’re a good person, that’s all that matters.  Read more... (837 words + 3 images, estimated 3:21 mins reading time)

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Weekly Green Bay Packers News from Twitter and other Sources by Al Bracco and Jayme Joers. (As heard on Cheesehead Radio 1/13/11 )

Packer News 1/7/11 – 1/13/11

Al: Well it’s certainly good to be in week 2 of the playoffs and still talking about the Packers next opponent. After a typical “keep the other team in it” performance by the Packers (a special thank you to James Jones for that), the Packers defense came up with a game ending interception for the second week in a row.

Jayme: This time it was Tramon Williams with the game’s dagger, as he smothered an ill-advised Michael Vick pass in the end zone and fell to the ground. Tramon sprang up and ran on the field, skipping and jumping like a schoolboy at recess. Williams, however,  didn’t realize he hadn’t been downed and the play was still live. Luckily, Nick Collins and Charlie Peprah corralled him to and got him on the ground before something really bad happened.

Al: Well nothing really bad happened in the injury department against Philly, a rarity for the Packers this season. Cullen Jenkins was used carefully and came out of the game feeling no worse. Donald Driver suffered a bruised knee but is expected to be fine for Atlanta. With the short week coming up, the lack of new injuries is a big plus.  Read more... (1036 words + 3 images, estimated 4:09 mins reading time)

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Watching the Packers – Eagles video again, three Packers players made plays that  stood out for me in terms of greatly affecting the outcome of the game.

The phrase “game changer” can have many meanings. It can be a play that sends a message, changes momentum, affects the score, cripples another team, etc. To me, I always include an incredible individual effort into the equation.

I look for individual players chasing perfection and catching excellence during the game. Players and plays that would make Vince Lombardi proud.

Of course, this is very subjective. I’m sure many of you will have different opinions, and I want to hear them. But for me, here are my three plays, in order of importance:

PLAY #3: Sam Shields Sends a Message:

The speed and talent that the Philadelphia Eagles have at wide receiver is no secret. They have won many  a game with big plays down the field to DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. Eight minutes into the first half, the Eagles decided to take their first shot.

As could be expected, they went after undrafted rookie Sam Shields. Seeing Shields with single coverage on Maclin, the Eagles tried to setup Shields and catch him looking in the backfield. As Vick give a half roll to his left and pump fakes, Maclin takes a few jog steps like he’s not involved and then suddenly turns on the burners.  Read more... (1065 words + 3 images, estimated 4:16 mins reading time)

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The Green Bay Packers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 21-16 in a nail-biting NFC Wild Card game Sunday afternoon. The Packers now move on to face the Atlanta Falcons Saturday night in the divisional round for the right to play in the NFC championship game.

After jumping out to a 14-0 lead, the Packers let the explosive Michael Vick and the Eagles offense back into the game, but the defense made enough plays at crucial moments to extend the Packers’ season another week.

There were plenty of highlights and even some lowlights to look at, so let’s jump right into Game Balls and Lame Calls: Playoff Edition.

Game Ball

QB Aaron Rodgers

While he didn’t eat up the Eagles defense for big chunks of yardage, Rodgers did throw three touchdown passes and had pinpoint accuracy throughout the game.

He spread the ball around to multiple receivers and served notice to the rest of the playoff field that the Packers have multiple weapons and you cannot shut them all down. Throw in Rodgers’ scrambling ability and you have an incredibly dangerous quarterback and offense.
More importantly and more significantly, he became the first Packers quarterback not named Brett Favre to win a playoff game since Lynn Dickey on January 8, 1983. That’s eight months almost to the day before I was born folks. That would be a long time.

Oh yeah, and he did something Favre couldn’t: he won a tight playoff game in Philadelphia.  Read more... (1285 words + 1 image, estimated 5:08 mins reading time)

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There would be no “flying’ for the Philadelphia Eagles today. Instead, they were sent sulking back to their nests to wonder what went wrong.

The Green Bay Packers saw to that, stifling Michael Vick for most of the game and running a balanced offense with their secret weapon for the day, running back James Starks.

Yet it still came down to  the last 40 seconds, Eagles with the ball in Packers territory. And this one ends just like the Bears game. Interception by the Packers (Tramon Williams this time) and Green Bay advances.

My game day impressions:

PREGAME:

I’m predicting two Michael Vick strip fumbles today…

LeSean McCoy has caught 78 passes this season.

Bradley inactive for the Eagles.

MY KEY TO THE GAME: If I had to pick JUST ONE thing, it would be this: Don’t over-scheme for Michael Vick. Don’t try to spy him. Just work on some basic team contain principles and make him beat you as a quarterback, not a running back.

My 1A key to the game: Use the running game today. Please. Make the Eagles secondary think run first. Unleash James Starks.

Inactive for Green Bay on Sunday:

Green Bay inactives: QB Harrell, S Bigby, FB Hall, CB Gordy, LB Zombo, OL Dietrich-Smith, OL McDonald and DL Green.

Jenkins finally returns to the active list and boy am I happy to see him in there against Vick. Huge Howard Green is out, which makes the most sense. packers want their most athletic defensive linemen in there.  Read more... (1175 words + 3 images, estimated 4:42 mins reading time)

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Normally, when I put on my miner’s hat and go digging deep into the mind of Packers Coach Mike McCarthy, it’s after a game. I look back at certain situations in the game and try to figure out what in the world he was thinking at that moment. Usually, I’m searching for an answer to the question WHY did you do that, Mike?

Frankly, I just haven’t been that successful. Sometimes, I can come up with a rational approximation of his thought process, but most of the time, I remain flummoxed.

So I decided to try a different approach. This time I’m going to try to figure out what he’s thinking BEFORE the fact. We ll know McCarthy likes to do the unpredictable, like throw deep to the end zone with your weak-armed backup QB on fourth and one with a minute left in a game you’re losing by 4 pts. Can you say, “threw the game away?” But I digress.

I’m going to attempt to take his element of surprise (NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition) along with a little reverse psychology and tell you what McCarthy’s sometime unorthodox decisions have been leading up to.

Basically, my theory is that McCarthy has been setting everyone up. You, me, other teams, maybe even his own players. This game, he will unleash the lion and shock everyone. I’ve managed to dig deep into his brain, and here’s what he has planned:  Read more... (750 words + 3 images, estimated 3:00 mins reading time)

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