Tag: Green Bay Packers (Page 21 of 57)

      NFL Week 16 MVP power rankings

      January 1, 2011 /

      So Michael Vick slipped a little on Tuesday night, which makes us feel better about keeping Tommy Brady (as Charlie Weis calls him) in the top spot.

      1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—Amazingly, Brady has thrown for an NFL record 319 pass attempts without an interception, going back to Week 6. So let’s review—3701 yards, 34 TDs (NFL high) and just 4 picks, and his team is 13-2 and in the fast lane in the AFC. Damn.

      2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—Look, we can’t disregard what Vick has done this season, because it’s phenomenal. But he looked mortal against the Vikings, and also for 52 minutes against the Giants before that.

      3. Matt Cassel/Jamaal Charles/Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs—This trio has led the Chiefs to the AFC West crown. Cassel has 27 TDs to 5 picks/Jamaal has 1835 all-purpose yards and Bowe leads all NFL receivers with 15 TDs. The league won’t view this as one person, but that doesn’t mean we can’t.

      4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—What, did you think the Saints were just going to go away? Not with this guy leading the team. But the 21 picks may hurt him in the voting.

      5. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—This kid is just a beast week-in and week-out.

      6. Matt Ryan/Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—Sure, the Falcons are impressive, especially some of the late-game heroics, but losing at home to Saints hurt.

      7. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—Rodgers admitted that sitting out with a concussion allowed him to come back fresh in Week 16—to the tune of 404 yards and 4 TDs.

      8. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—Do you get the feeling you have to account for this dude as if he were Lawrence Taylor?

      9. Donte Whitner, Buffalo Bills—136 total tackles (92 solo) with a sack, an interception, a forced fumble and 7 passes defensed. I know the Bills suck, but Whitner is a one-man wrecking crew.

      10. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Look who’s back, and he even showed he can run—in slow motion, but he can run.

      External Sports, NFL

      Giants implode as Packers roll to convincing win

      December 26, 2010 /

      Here are five quick-hit observations from the Packers’ convincing 45-17 win over the Giants on Sunday.

      1. If they make the playoffs, the Packers will be a tough out.
      Green Bay still needs to beat the Bears next Sunday at Lambeau Field to make the playoffs, but if they do they’re going to be one of the tougher sixth seeds to have ever made the postseason. Pundits often remark how they can’t run the ball, but they won’t need to run the ball if Aaron Rodgers continues to play at a MVP level. I don’t want to downplay the need of a good rushing attack but Rodgers found Jordy Nelson on an 80-yard touchdown on their first possession on Sunday and the Packers were able to turn the game into a track meet. Then they kept throwing late in the second half even though they were up two touchdowns. With the weapons they have in the passing game, they can be aggressive – that can be their game. Granted, the opposing team won’t always turn the ball over six times but the Packers will be a dangerous matchup for any team in the postseason. People seem to forget how good this team is.

      2. Turnovers once again kill the Giants.
      It’s pretty simple: Turn the ball over six times against any team, regardless of whether or not they’re a quality opponent, and you’re going to lose. Turn the ball over six times against a good team and you’re going to get your face pounded in. Not all of the Giants’ turnovers mattered because one or two came in garbage time when the Packers already had the win wrapped up. But the majority of them hurt. When teams don’t iron out their issues throughout the season, they can come back to haunt them. The Giants started coughing the ball up in Week 1 and have never stopped.

      3. The Giants weren’t over last week’s collapse.
      The players said they were over their loss to the Eagles and maybe they thought they were. But it sure looked like the Giants needed a quarter to focus after what happened to them last Sunday. They spotted Green Bay a 14-0 lead in the first quarter when Jordy Nelson caught an 80-yard touchdown on the Packers’ first offensive possession when he got by Antrel Rolle at the line of scrimmage. Then Rodgers hit James Jones for a three-yard touchdown with 1:53 remaining in the quarter and all of a sudden it looked as if the rout was on. Credit Tom Coughlin’s squad for snapping out of their funk to tie the game at 14-14, but the Packers just kept coming. Once they took a two-touchdown lead late in the second half, you got the feeling New York was done. Last week was just too much for the G-Men to overcome.

      4. Tom Brady, Michael Vick…Aaron Rodgers.
      All week it seems as though the sports radio talk shows have discussed who should win the MVP this year: Tom Brady or Michael Vick. But even though the Packers have yet to clinch a playoff spot, Rodgers should at least be in the discussion – even if his name is only briefly mentioned. This was Rodgers’ 10th career game with at least three touchdown passes and no interceptions, which is the most in NFL history for quarterbacks within three years of their first start. Nothing against Matt Flynn (he played well last Sunday night in New England), but take Rodgers off this team and they don’t even sniff a winning record. He has no running game, he lost his tight end in the first half of the season and his offensive line can be very inconsistent. Yet, he continues to put up outstanding numbers. He’s unreal.

      5. What now?
      The Packers will host the Bears next Sunday in Green Bay and as previously mentioned, if they win they’ll clinch a playoff spot. The Eagles clinched the NFC East with the Giants’ loss and now they’ll fight for playoff seeding. The Giants will wrap up their season next week against the Redskins and they must win. If they win and Green Bay loses to Chicago, then New York is in. The G-Men better not overlook Washington, which has suddenly become pesky.

      External Sports, NFL

      Aaron Rodgers cleared to play on Sunday

      December 22, 2010 /

      The sound you hear off in the distance is coming from Green Bay; it’s the sound of utter jubilation as Packer fans celebrate quarterback Aaron Rodgers (concussion) being cleared to play against the Giants on Sunday. (Somebody may be running a blender, too.)

      ESPN Milwaukee reports that Rodgers has gained clearance from team physician Dr. John Gray, as well as an independent neurologist to play. Rodgers could still suffer a setback between now and kickoff, but for the time being it looks like he’ll suit up for the most important game of both Green Bay and New York’s seasons.

      If the playoffs were to start today, the Giants would own the sixth and final spot in the NFC. But the Packers control their own destiny from here on out so if they beat New York on Sunday and then Chicago in Week 17, they would go to the playoffs and the Giants would be left out. (The Bucs are also in the mix, but their fate was essentially sealed last week when they couldn’t beat the Lions at home. Sinners.)

      On Monday, Eli Manning apparently held his first players-only meeting since being drafted by the Giants in 2004. The team needed somebody to perform damage control after their fourth quarter collapse against the Eagles last Sunday, and Eli took it upon himself to step up. We’ll see if the little pow-wow pays off.

      External Sports, NFL

      2010 Year-End Sports Review: What We Learned

      December 21, 2010 /

      Years from now, when people look back on 2010, what will they remember as the defining sports moment? Uh, they can only pick one? We discovered that Tiger Woods likes to play the field and that Brett Favre doesn’t mind sending pictures of his anatomy to hot sideline reporters via text message. We found out that LeBron listens to his friends a little too much and that Ben Roethlisberger needed a serious lesson in humility. But we also learned that athletes such as Michael Vick and Josh Hamilton haven’t blown second chance opportunities (or third and fourth chances in the case of Hamilton). It was also nice to see a certain pitcher turn down bigger money so that he can play in a city that he loves.

      We’ve done our best to recap the year’s biggest sports stories, staying true to tradition by breaking our Year End Sports Review into three sections: What We Learned, What We Already Knew, and What We Think Might Happen. Up first are the things we learned in 2010, a list that’s littered with scandal, beasts, a Decision and yes, even a little Jenn Sterger.

      Contributors: Anthony Stalter, John Paulsen, Paul Costanzo, Drew Ellis and Mike Farley

      Tiger Woods gets around.

      We hesitate to put this under “golf” because the only clubs involved were his wife’s nine-iron hitting the window of his SUV and the various establishments where Tiger wined and dined all of his mistresses…over a dozen in all. This was the biggest story of the early part of the year, but it got to the point that whenever a new alleged mistress came forward, the general public was like, “Yeah, we get it. Tiger screwed around on his wife. A lot.” He has spent the rest of the year attempting to rebuild his once-squeaky clean image, but it’s safe to say, we’ll never look at Tiger the same way.

      LeBron wilts when his team needs him most.

      Say the words “LeBron” and “Game 5” in the same sentence and NBA fans everywhere know exactly what you’re talking about. In the biggest game of the season, LeBron looked disinterested, going 3-of-14 from the field en route to a 120-88 blowout at home at the hands of the Celtics. There were rumors swirling about a possible relationship between LeBron’s mom and his teammate, Delonte West, and there’s speculation that LeBron got that news before tipoff and that’s why he played so poorly. Regardless of the cause, LeBron played awful in that game, and it turned out to be his swan song in Cleveland as a member of the Cavaliers. Talk about leaving a bitter taste.

      You can auction off your talented son’s athletic abilities and get away with it.

      The NCAA set a strange precedent this season while dealing with the Newton family. The always inconsistent and completely morally uncorrupt NCAA decided in its infinite wisdom that despite discovering that Cecil Newton shopped his son Cam to Mississippi State for $180,000, and that is a violation of NCAA rules, that Cam would still be eligible because it couldn’t be proven that he knew about it. Conference commissioners and athletic directors around the country spoke out about the decision, while agent-wannabes and greedy fathers everywhere had a light bulb go off in their own heads: As long as we say the player doesn’t know about it, it could go off without a hitch. What was Cecil’s punishment in this whole thing? Limited access to Auburn for the last two games of the season. Easy with that hammer there, NCAA. Continue reading »

      College Basketball, College Football, External Sports, March Madness, Mixed Martial Arts, MLB, NBA, NBA Finals, News, NFL, Tennis, UFC

      Flynn nearly leads Packers to shocking win over Patriots

      December 20, 2010 /

      Here are five quick-hit observations on the Patriots’ narrow 31-27 win over the Packers on Sunday night.

      1. Flynn’s outstanding effort falls short.
      In the end, Matt Flynn’s inexperience cost him as he couldn’t get his offense lined up for the team’s final play. One of the broadcasters said it perfectly when they noted that Aaron Rodgers would have had the play, gotten his team lined up and not wasted nearly 20 seconds (or what-have-you) of the clock. And because of Flynn’s inexperience, he was sacked on the final play instead of heaving one towards the end zone to give the Packers a chance to win. That said, nobody can knock the youngster’s effort. He completed 21-of-33 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns and while the one interception he threw was costly (the Patriots returned it for a touchdown to take a 21-17 lead early in the third quarter), he never seemed rattled. His performance was a stark contrast from his effort last Sunday in Detroit, when he looked befuddled and lost. He showed tonight that with a full week of preparation, he can certainly give the Packers a quality start. He was impressive to say the least.

      2. Teams will be less scared of the Patriots after this.
      If the Packers can waltz into Foxboro with their backup quarterback and nearly beat the Patriots on their home turf, opponents will have more confidence against New England heading into the postseason. Everyone was ready to crown the Pats Super Bowl champions coming into this game but their play on Sunday night (particularly on defense) reminded everyone that they have weaknesses, too. ESPN will make this out to be another dazzling fourth quarter comeback by Tom Brady but the fact is that the Patriots were on their heels for most of the game. Credit the Pats’ offense for making plays when they had to but this team was largely on cruise control because they knew they were facing a backup quarterback who stunk the week before. From the opening kickoff (a successful onsides kick by the Packers) to the final whistle, the Packers were the more inspired team. The Patriots just made more big plays.

      3. The Patriots’ defense still needs some work.
      The Patriots’ offense is incredibly scary but their defensive effort was a joke. This was a Green Bay team that couldn’t gain two yards on the ground if you spotted them one and yet they managed to rush for 143 yards. Furthermore, you’re telling me that Bill Belichick couldn’t come up with a better game plan to stop the Packers’ underneath passing game? Flynn was impressive but it must have been easy for him to wait for his receivers to clear out the secondary and dump the ball off to one of his backs or tight ends for seven yards every time he needed it. Belichick won’t enjoy watching the film from this game because he’ll see plenty of poor tackling and shoddy execution from his defense.

      4. Putting Connolly’s return into perspective.
      I thoroughly enjoyed watching New England guard Dan Connolly truck down the field right before halftime, carrying the ball like a loaf of bread on his way to the end zone. I also thoroughly enjoyed the three replays they showed following the play and I’m going to enjoy watching the 52 highlights tomorrow of it on SportsCenter. But looking back, Connolly’s 71-yard kickoff was more than just an a knee-slapper that has surely already gone viral. It was a huge play in the landscape of the game, too. Green Bay had just taken a 17-7 lead and they had stolen the momentum. Maybe Brady runs the Pats’ two-minute drill to perfection and they score anyway, or maybe the Packers’ defense continues to stifle New England and Green Bay takes a 17-7 lead into halftime. But thanks to Connolly’s return, the Pats were set up at the Green Bay 4-yard line and wound up punching it in for an easy six. That made the score 17-14 at half and all of a sudden, New England was right back into the game. It was a great play by Connolly and a brutal one by Green Bay’s kickoff team, which somehow failed to lay a hand on the offensive lineman for nearly 60 yards.

      5. The Packers are still very much alive.
      This loss hurts but the Packers are still alive in the NFC playoff hunt thanks to Tampa Bay and New York’s losses earlier in the day. Green Bay hosts the Giants and Bears over the next two weeks and if they win out, they’re in regardless of what the Bucs do. The Pack are in control of their own destiny and after a season of severe ups and downs, that’s all they could ask for at the moment.

      External Sports, NFL

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