AllGreenBayPackers.Com

Current Standings:

Kris Burke, 5-3
“Jersey” Al Bracco, 8-0
Adam Czech, 6-2
Marques Eversoll, 5-3
Thomas Hobbes, 3-5
Jason Perone, 3-5
Chad Toporski, 6-2  Read more... (209 words, estimated 50 secs reading time)

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Chad Toporski, a Wisconsin native and current Pittsburgh resident, is a writer for AllGreenBayPackers.com. You can follow Chad on twitter at @ChadToporski  Read more... (185 words, estimated 44 secs reading time)

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Around the NFC North in week 9

Week 9 brings us to the start of the 2012 season’s second half.  Quick trivia:  Which is the NFL’s only division with three teams over .500?  You’re correct if you guessed the NFC North.  Let’s dive into the matchups around the division this week.

Chicago Bears (6-1) at Tennessee Titans (3-5)

The Bears are rolling, the Titans are not.  About the only thing in Tennessee’s favor this week is that it’s a home game.

The Bears narrowly escaped with a home win over Carolina while Tennessee came up just short against the Indianapolis Colts in overtime.  As the saying goes, good teams find a way to win and Chicago keeps doing it week after week.  They find themselves alone in 1st place atop the NFC North.

Tennessee has had solid play from backup QB Matt Hasselbeck in place of injured Jake Locker.  Hasselbeck will start Sunday against the Bears.  Unfortunately, Hasselbeck is the only Titans player who has played well consistently and the team has not been able to string consecutive wins together.

Titans RB Chris Johnson has flashed some of his vintage self lately, but not enough to put the team on his back.  The Bears are giving up a stingy 77 yards/game rushing and Johnson will be the focal point of their defensive game plan.  Read more... (1779 words + 3 images, estimated 7:07 mins reading time)

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RIP NFL: 1921-2012

My friends, we gather today to mourn the passing of a close friend.

It was a friend that many almost considered a big brother.  It was a close friend of millions of people in multiple countries around the world.   While it was a product of the United States, it transcended nationality.  It truly was a universal language.

Of course, it had its flaws.  Nothing and no one on this earth is perfect.  We accepted those flaws and figured that those in charge of its caretaking would always keep its best interests at heart when trying to fix those flaws as well as any other urgent need that would arise.

Sadly, around four weeks ago, many of us saw trouble ahead for our dear National Football League.  The regular officials were locked out by the league under the leadership of Commissioner Roger Goodell.  We were told a deal would be coming and that the replacement officials would not be used more than a couple of weeks.

So the games went on and we as fans continued to watch.   As the young season progressed, warning signs began to emerge. Players were taking blows to the head and defenders were not being flagged for it, despite the NFL allegedly cracking down on such hits.  Holding and blatant pass interference ignored, giving quarterbacks a kicking ball, forgetting which teams are playing (“Holding, number 93 red”), awarding extra yardage and timeouts….the list goes on.  Read more... (1095 words + 1 image, estimated 4:23 mins reading time)

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The Packers earned a victory and nothing less.

These last 24 hours have been so surreal, I don’t think my adrenaline has stopped pumping at full blast since before kickoff. Time seemed to slow down as I waited in intense anticipation for the Green Bay Packers to take on the Seattle Seahawks in what I figured to be a great football game.

Could I have been more wrong?

It started off with Aaron Rodgers and his offensive line giving up eight sacks in the first half. Eight! Then, the previously contained passing game of Russell Wilson fired off a long touchdown, with errors in the secondary. I was so livid, I could have screamed bloody murder. The game plan for the offense was all wrong, and the defense was briefly exposed by a rookie quarterback.

But I persevered and stayed to watch the second half. Fortunately, Mike McCarthy finally realized the error of his ways and made offensive adjustments that started to get the chains moving.  Things were looking up.

And then it all came crashing down with the officiating. I don’t need to go into the details, because I’m sure we’ve all read about as much as we’re capable of today.

Yet, even after the “Fail Mary,” things continued to get my blood boiling. Watching the Packers have to trot back out as slaughtered lambs to play the extra point. Hearing Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson talk about how well they performed at the end to get the win. Seeing the response by the NFL in support of the final touchdown call.  Read more... (1008 words + 1 image, estimated 4:02 mins reading time)

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Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks:

My unfitered game day recap and blog post of comments, observations and first impressions.

Inactive for Packers today:

11 WR Jarrett Boykin
28 S Sean Richardson
31 CB Davon House
44 RB James Starks
56 LB Terrell Manning
57 LB Jamari Lattimore
83 TE Tom Crabtree

Notes:

What was supposed to be a meeting of mentor (Aaron Rodgers) and student (Matt Flynn) got sidetracked by rookie Russell Wilson.

Seattle will try to pound Marshawn Lynch and give Wilson favorable down and distance situations.  How many yards does Marshawn Lynch get tonight? The Packers would be happy keeping him to 100 yards.

Crabtree out – there goes the special teams secret weapon…

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Mike McCarthy Pregame Show on 620 WTMJ:

Packers – Bears: It’s going

Long week: We had a very  good week of preparation, from the practices to the meetings today – we’re ready to go.

Self scouting: We made a big improvement from week 1 to week 2.  Special teams has been the best unit over the two games, offense stayed about the same. defensively we made the biggest improvement. 2 games is a small  sample size, so we can’t overreact.  We had an extra padded practice this week – that’s always beneficial.

Crowd noise: Ilook at it as a focus of our football team – it just tightens our focus. Whether it’s silent count, hand signals, whatever we’re doing, we practice it continually. We have a quarterback that won’t get rattled. We’ll handle it.  Read more... (1069 words + 2 images, estimated 4:17 mins reading time)

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Will this be a familiar scene for the Packers once again on Monday night?

The Green Bay Packers are back on track.

After the opening day letdown against the San Francisco 49ers, the Packers rebounded nicely last Thursday against the archrival Chicago Bears with an impressive 23-10 victory.  The Packers sacked Bears quarterback Jay Cutler seven times and intercepted him four times.  Clay Matthews continued his resurgence with 3.5 sacks, although he arguably could have had more.

Monday night, after a quasi-bye week with having 11 days between games, the Packers play their first road game of the 2012 regular season and make a trip out west to face the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field.

Last week, the Seahawks handily defeated the Dallas Cowboys 27-7.  Marshawn Lynch ran for 129 yards (with 100 yards coming in the second half) and rookie quarterback Russell Wilson was much better than he was in Week 1 finishing 15-20 for 151 yards and one touchdown.  More importantly, Wilson did not turn the ball over.

Let’s take a closer look at this week’s opponent

Scouting the Seahawks

When the 2012 regular season schedule was released, many members of Packer Nation had this game circled as a big one.  It was expected that former Packers backup Matt Flynn, who signed with Seattle in the offseason, would get to face off against mentor Aaron Rodgers in a classic student/teacher battle.  Read more... (1189 words + 1 image, estimated 4:45 mins reading time)

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