Brett Favre Proves He Still Has the 4th Quarter Magic

As I sat in the Edward Jones Dome Sunday afternoon and watched the Green Bay Packers beat the hapless St. Louis Rams, I couldn’t stop a wandering eye from glancing up at the far side of the building.

There on the ring of honor, beside Rams greats like Marshall Faulk and Merlin Olsen, and other St. Louis football icons like Dan Dierdorf, were digital displays providing scores and stats from around the league.

Packers fans delighted in seeing the Minnesota Vikings trailing San Francisco late at home. Former Packers quarterback Brett Favre was having a yeoman’s day, completing 50 percent of his passes for a pedestrian 221 yards.

At the same time inside the Edward Jones Dome, new Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was hitting big plays to Donald Driver and Greg Jennings, and leading the Packers to a 36-17 win.

Rodgers had a sparkling passer rating of 126.9 by virtue of his 13-for-23 day with 269 passing yards and touchdown tosses to Driver and fullback John Kuhn. Rodgers also ran for a score, and picked up another 38 yards with his legs.

What the thousands of Packers fans in St. Louis were unable to see was the switch in Favre’s head they had grown so accustomed to seeing for 16 seasons get flipped.

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Green Bay Packers Lose Again Thanks to a Lack of Leadership and Togetherness

Something happened in Green Bay that has seriously destroyed the unity among the Packers players. It was evident Sunday in Jacksonville when the Packers added to the string of disappointment that has been the 2008 season. It became more than evident in Sunday’s loss to Jacksonville when players could be seen screaming at each other when they managed to screw up coverages, routes, formations, and another fourth quarter.

The first implosion I witnessed on Sunday came when the Packers had the chance to put a stranglehold on the game with a third and goal at the Jags’ 5 late in the 2nd quarter. And yet somehow, during a Jags timeout, the offense failed to relay to their tight end what play they were about to run. The ensuing disaster led to a sideline meltdown involving Aaron Rodgers, Mike McCarthy and rookie Tight End Jermichael Finley and a chip shot field goal in lieu of a touchdown. It would prove to be a costly error in yet another close loss.

At the start of the second half, the wheels started to come off, this time on the defensive side of the ball. The Jags lined up on their second play from scrimmage, and the Packer defense left a wide open weak-side slot receiver. In the ensuing confusion, David Garrard managed to connect on a 35-yard completion, leaving the Green Bay defense only one option. Scream at each other.

Unfortunately, yelling at each other seemed to be the only answer the players could come up with on Sunday. The whole demeanor of the team seemed to say “This is not MY fault, this is YOUR fault.” It was such a heart wrenching sight to see, since the reality is, they should be saying “this is OUR fault.”

Forget the lousy defense, forget Aaron Rodgers, forget the lack of short yardage grit, and forget the inability to close out games. This team stinks because they are not a team. At least, they don’t play like one and they sure as hell do not act like one. Come on fellas, this is December! This is when teams that have as much talent as you do are supposed to come together and get wins. Or at the very least, come together after your losses, find ways to mend, and learn HOW to win. At least that’s what the good ones are supposed to, and the last four weeks have more than exemplified that this team has no business calling itself good because they seem to have no idea how to win games.

Some people might say the residual effect of the Brett Favre drama is rearing its ugly head, but I would hate to believe that summer drama would manifest itself in November and December. This team had time to shake that debacle off, and move on. What they face now seems like an inner turmoil that has managed to break the team from the inside like water frozen inside of a rock.

So what’s the cause and how can we fix it? Perhaps the close losses have begun to haunt the locker room and maybe all the finger pointing has reached its boiling point. Maybe the coaching staff isn’t doing it’s job or maybe injuries have stalled the team this year. While these are all contributing factors to the mediocrity, heck downright lousiness, of the 2008 season, the real cause of the Packers’ problems is a lack of leadership.

My only hope is that this was the high water mark for the Packers’ frustrations and what follows can be a turning point for the young Packers. As I recall, in 2006 the Packers started winning again after a 4-8 start led to a very similar spat of inner turmoil. We all knew who the leader was who pulled them out of that disaster but he can’t help us anymore. So, the only thing we can ask ourselves is who will it be now? Who can bring this talented young team together and get them back into the win column? I think we all know who it should be, but is #12 ready for it?

Green Bay Packers Lose to Jacksonville Jaguars; Playoff Hopes Dead

Well I guess that I was wrong, yet again. Green Bay lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars by 4 points on Sunday, their 6^th loss by 4 points or less this season, ending all hopes of a playoff appearance. Green Bay needed to win out, which means they had to win their last 3 games, and Minnesota had to lose out their last 3. We needed a lot of help for the playoffs, but ultimately we screwed ourselves over.

Jacksonville started strong. They scored on their opening drive with a 30 yard touchdown pass to Dennis Northcut. Maurice Jones-Drew ran well on the dive and David Garrard, the Jags’ quarterback, looked comfortable in the pocket and was virtually under no pressure from the Green Bay defense.

The Packers’ first possession got off to a dismal start. However, Ryan Grant ran the ball well and James Jones had a huge reception, the first of the game for the Packers. In spite of Green Bay’s impressive red zone statistics, they were stopped and had to settle for a field goal attempt by Mason Crosby, which was good from 22 yards out.

Mike McCarthy, a coach who doesn’t use the challenge flag all that often, challenged a completed pass made by Jacksonville in the second quarter. The call was overturned, which set up a Jacksonville field goal attempt. The ball was 51 yards out, but hit the left upright and bounced back into the center of the field. Jacksonville was still on top, 7-3.

Because of the missed field goal, Green Bay took over on downs. A personal foul (roughing the passer) against Clint Ingram of Jacksonville and good running by Grant put Green Bay in good field position. On this drive Ryan Grant had his first 1,000 yard rushing season. Aaron Rodgers connected with James Jones to put the Pack on top, 10-7.

Green Bay went into the locker room after the first half with a 13-7 lead.

The third quarter of the game was virtually defunct. Both teams handled the ball poorly and as a result, neither side scored. There was a positive for Green Bay, however. Their defensive line had not been doing so hot for most of the season, but during the third quarter, they were able to put pressure on Garrard.

The fourth quarter is where the Green Bay collapse finally happened. The Jags started out the quarter by stopping the Packers’ fourth down attempt. On Jacksonville’s subsequent drive, after taking over with good field position, Jones-Drew scored a touchdown, putting them on top of Green Bay, 14-13. The score was set up by a fourth down conversion by Garrard.

Green Bay answered by putting up 3 points late in the fourth. The Packers were unable march down the field with as much authority as they had earlier in the game. A few dropped passes and a sack of Rodgers made a try for 7 impossible for Green Bay. Crosby’s kick put the Packers up, 16-14.

Jones-Drew scored his third touchdown of the season just inside the two-minute warning. This fortuitous event was set up by a 40 yard pass to Northcut and aggressive running by Jones-Drew. The Jacksonville offense came alive in the fourth quarter and the Green Bay defense seemed to take a nap.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Aaron Rodgers has no two-minute drill poise. Sure, this loss was not entirely his fault, but he didn’t help. Driver and Jones both made good catches to keep the drive alive. However, Rodgers put a pass too high, and it was intercepted with only 40 seconds left in the game. The booth reviewed the call, but anyone with eyes could see that it was a spectacular interception of a poorly-thrown ball.

Jacksonville took their victory knee, sealing the Packers’ fate. There will be no appearance in the playoffs for the Packers. This game was as much of a disappointment as many others had been this season. However, some good things happened. It was the first time in a while that I had seen the entire team come together. The offense played with passion even though they could not translate that energy into points and the defense even found it in themselves to stop the run some of the time and put pressure on Garrard.

But I can’t help but die a little inside after watching so much promise vanish in the final 15 minutes. Even though Green Bay is first in the NFL in scoring fourth quarter points, past success could not inspire victory. Maybe I should ask Santa to give the Packers some fourth quarter courage. With the outcome of Sunday’s game, it really looks like they need it.

Brett Favre: The Suicide of a Legacy

by Ryan Russell

After watching the latest press conference with Green Bay Packers head coach, Mike McCarthy, I have concluded that Brett Farve is, in fact, a gigantic tool (as many of the more intelligent NFL analysts have suggested).

Perhaps it’s because I have always thought that Brett Favre was vastly overrated, but I agree with both the decisions made & positions taken by McCarthy, Murphy, and the Packers organization in light of the drama that has unfolded.

Figuring out who the “asshole” is in this situation depends solely on what you believe. Did Favre decide to retire only to change his mind a few months later, or did he plan this entire clusterf#$k from the beginning? If you believe the latter, that his “retirement” press conference was a tear-soaked hoax designed to either relieve him of any offseason duties or simply to gather as much as much attention as humanly possible, then you must agree that Brett is the asshole.

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