Surviving Sunday: Packers News, Notes and Links for the Football Deprived

Packers couch Surviving Sunday without Packers Football

Welcome to the “all-too-soon” edition of Surviving Sunday without Green Bay Packers football. The plan was to start this series off on February 8th, a week after the Packers triumphant Super Bowl win in Arizona. And then the last minutes of the NFC Championship game happened.

So here we are. Personally, I still haven’t watched the game again, a rarity for me. I did go back and watch the last five minutes, mostly to verify that my feelings about the Packers meek offensive play-calling during that time were reasonable. Yes, they were, I wasn’t crazy.

The Packers stopped playing against the Seahawks defense and started playing solely against the clock. It didn’t matter that on first down of both those two series, there were anywhere from 8-10 Seahawks in the box. And one of those not in the box was the one-armed Richard Sherman, which somehow the Packers didn’t even notice.

But don’t get me started… Ok, So I got me started. Regardless.

A lot of really smart writing was done this last week analyzing what happened in Seattle seven days ago. I’ve linked you up to the best of the best below. Take some time to read them and then turn the metaphorical page and let’s all move on.

(BTW, I’m filling in here for the usual writer of this column, Adam Czech, as long time ALLGBP.com readers will know. No worries, Adam should be back next week to help make your future Sundays a bit more palatable.)

 

Packers News, Notes and Links

  • Robert Klemko of Sports Illustrated’s MMQB.com, a fine writer and one I had the pleasure to meet in Green Bay during last year’s playoffs, tells the behind-the-scenes story of the Seattle fake field goal TD play. Lest you think it was just luck or good timing, Klemko details how the Seahawks had put in that play during the week, based on something they had seen Brad Jones do  on tape. The whole key was Brad Jones – in fact, if for some reason Jones wasn’t on the field, Punter Jon Ryan had been instructed to let the clock run out, take the five yard penalty and then they would kick the field goal. Incredible…
  • So many things went the wrong way for the Packers, any one of which probably changes the game outcome with a different result. Zach Kruse of CheeseheadTV.com lists 21 such things. It’s a great read, but ironically, I think there were another 3-4 he chose not to list. Check out his post he called “Anatomy of a Collapse; How 21 Missed Opportunities cost the Packers a Trip to the Super Bowl….
  • One guy that has been mostly given a pass (because of everything that happened before then) is Tramon Williams. Williams allowed the winning touchdown in overtime, the result of some incredibly poor technique for a veteran like Williams. Take a look at Jay Hodgson’s Xs and Os film session.
  • If you’ve already put the loss behind you and are ready to take a look at the Packers’ free agents and what Ted Thompson is likely to do, check out Kelly Hodgson’s Moneyball post over at PackersTalk.com. (While you at PackersTalk.com, explore the myriad of Packers podcasts there and listen in if you have some time.
  • Did you hear the Packers’ special teams led the famous Dallas-Morning News Special teams rankings? Unfortunately, they led the list for WORST special teams in the league. yes. Dead last. Good discussion of this topic by Jason Wilde over at ESPNWisconsin.com

Non Packers links and other Nonsense

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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.

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9 thoughts on “Surviving Sunday: Packers News, Notes and Links for the Football Deprived

  1. Watched the four parts of Turning Point on Packers.com. Ouch, that was hard to see again. Seattle never stopped thinking they could win. If MM had not hamstringed the offense, and GB put 30 on the board, they would have been singing a different tune. Also, saw on Packer Nation different views of Morgan Burnett’s INT and how he may have scored if he did not do a Fosbury Flop. Again, very hard to watch again. Oh well just took down the TV until next fall.

    Thanks Everyone,

    Dave

  2. I didn’t want to, but I watched the whole game again so that I could get a better feel for what happened. When I watched the game live, I had to much emotion, and there was to much Packer fan yelling, to absorb everything. Things I noticed that made me understand what the coaches were thinking. I was mad live when capers rushed 3 on 3rd and 19. But he rushed 3 on a 3rd down before that and there was pressure on Wilson. So he tried it again. However, the 3 rushers just stood there and didn’t seem like they were trying. One was more of a spy, but still? I hate 3 man rushes. Barrington was completely picked on the long pass to lynch on the TD drive before the onside kick (and Hyde let lynch run past him for no reason when the ball was in the air). The play calling in the 3rd was better than I thought. To bad the screen pass was incomplete because of Rodgers ankle. I can see whyMM got cconservative and try to burn clock in the 4th. The D had only let Seattle in FG range once all game (the fake field goal drive) and held them scoreless. He was banking on the D to continue playing like this. How ever, our D showed it’s true colors and Seattle never quit. It didn’t help that CM3 sat out 2 of the last TD drives in regulation. Then when he came back in in OT, he looked completely healthy, running hard.WTF? No safety deep on the last TD pass in OT? Why not a single safety. Lynch really was in capers head

    1. Jay Hodgson answered the question of why there was no single high safety on the field in the comments to his Xs and Os article linked above. Essentially he said Capers elected to rush 5 to get pressure, used one person to spy, but Seattle had 5 receivers on the field, so the remaining Packers were in 0 man coverage. But look back to his comment to my question so I am not putting words in his mouth.

  3. Last in STs. Why hasn’t the ST coach been fired yet?????!!!!!! They sucked all year and lost the chance to go to the SB!

  4. MM will have had to learn from this game that when you play the Seahawks, or other quality teams, you can never let up., The Seahawks NEVER quit. They fight to the end. And MMs defense is unreliable. Also, teams have 4downs to complete a first down when they are behind in crunch time. So please MM, play every 4th quarter like you are behind by 21pts.

    Hayward sucked so bad on a huge 3rd down conversation in crunch time . Playing man in the slot, he let his guy wizz right past him on a go route. HaHa had 2 picks, but then let another go right through his hands and then looked mentally ill on the 2pt hail mary.

    Hey Peppers, if you really want a SB ring, don’t tell your DB to hit the ground on a int when nobody is around him

  5. Read the moneyball article you mentioned above. I did not agree with parts of it or think it was totally thought out. GB’s top 51 contracts total $122 million (per overthecap), so with a new cap limit of $141
    million (TBD though), that would give GB $19 million in cap room, plus abut $9.75 million rolled over from prior years, for a total of about $28.5 million, minus the $2-3 mill to sign draft picks and some more to
    sign players during the year. Net is maybe $22-24 million. GB can free up $7.25 million in Cap space by cutting Jones and Hawk, and maybe some more by re-negotiating Peppers’ contract.

    Cobb played slot 86% of the time and averaged 14.1 yards per reception. His yds./catch when he played outside WR was only 8 yds/reception. He can’t play Nelson’s position. He is a slot only, but a very good one. His market value is maybe btw $8.5 & $9.25 million/yr. But that isn’t his cap #. If he got 4yrs, $36 million, with 40% signing bonus ($14.4 million) his cap
    number for 2015 likely would be $5 million or so, depending on the structure, then it would go up. Same thing for Bulaga. His market is something like $6.5 to $8 million per year. With his injury history,
    his guaranteed money might be only 30% or less. 4yrs at (gulp) $30 million with $9 mill signing bonus, his cap # for 2015 might be only $4-5 million. In any event, if TT signs Cobb & Bulaga, the 2015 cap
    hit might be $10 million or so.

    Peppers’ CAP number is $12 million. That is elite money. He will take home $9.5 million, including $500K in roster and $500k in work out bonuses. If TT cuts him (which would make more sense to do prior to his earning the roster and work out bonuses), it is $5 million in cap space/dead money (but I don’t like the idea of only Neal, Perry, Elliott and a part time CMIII at OLB). Peppers if cut could probably get $6-8 million from another team. Maybe Peppers would take a pay cut from taking home $9.5 to $7 million, reducing his cap hit to $9.5 million.

    IDK what the market is for Williams or for House. But GB needs a starting outside CB, since the only CBs on the roster are Shields, Hyde, Goodson and Hayward. Choices are bringing back both, choosing one, letting both walk and thus probably having to go buy a high-priced FA (likely losing a compensatory
    draft pick). TT might be able to bring back both and have a cap hit of less than $9 million for 2015, but IDK, there might be a CB needy team that drives up the price.

    GB needs a NT. Reportedly they are negotiating with Guion and may want Raji too. Some think 3 years @ $3 million/year for Guion and a one year deal for Raji at perhaps $2-3 million. Perhaps GB could get both back for a roughly $5 million cap hit for 2015. Other CAP vulnerable players I see might be Quarless
    ($1.575 cap savings) and less likely, Neal ($3 mill savings).

    So, for 2015 only, $10 million cap hit to re-sign Cobb & Bulaga and $5 million for Guion and Raji ($15 million so far, which I would do). $5 million (?) for UFAs Bush, Tolzien (or Flynn), Kuhn, Lattimore, RFAs
    Barclay and Richardson, ERFAs Banjo and Harris, ($20+ million so far), and GB still needs a CB. Not sure if TT even tenders Barclay (6th Rd.) and Richardson (UDFA) given the cost – $1.4 million. There might be enough cap space to re-sign all the players TT might want back if he cuts Hawk, Jones, and squeezes Peppers, though he might have to leave less Cap space to roll over than usual.

    After next year, GB’s FAs include Daniels (big cap increase coming), Neal, Perry (Perry has an option, but I don’t see big increases coming for them unless earned on the field), Starks, Quarless, and Hayward (Hayward will have earn most of any raise on the field).

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