We'll Take It!

 

• That was a stressful and not pretty win, but the Packers will take what they can get. 2-2 sounds a lot better than 1-3, no matter how they get it.

• The regular refs were back which, I have to admit, made the games go so, so much more fluidly. It didn’t take five minutes after each flag for the refs to bumble a call. No, these refs were able to bumble the calls at a much faster pace! Let’s see:

• The clear offensive pass interference on Marques Colston on New Orleans’ first touchdown. (What? Is there some sort of “versus Green Bay” exception on offensive pass interference in the rule book?)

• Upholding Jimmy Graham’s “reception” on a third down.

• David Thomas pile-driving Charles Woodson after the whistle without a flag.  

• The shockingly-easy-to-see-with-the-naked-eye-in-real-time fumble by Darren Sproles on a 4th quarter kick return that was ruled “down by contact.”

• At least the fans were able to get a vocal, in sync “The refs still suck” chant going. Green Bay is generally a nice town full of nice people, but if the Packers had lost that game with those calls, they might have had to break out the riot gear.

• The Packers scored in the first quarter for the first time this season. How is this possible? It’s absolutely inexplicable to me. Look at their roster!

• So I thought the Packers’ fake field goal on a fourth-and-26 in Week 3 was gutsy, but the fake punt this week was from THEIR OWN 17! That takes guts. If you give Drew Brees the ball on the 17, that’s an automatic 7. I couldn’t believe it.

The John Kuhn legend grows.

• On the downside, Greg Jennings got injured again! The Packers are considering holding him out next week to try to help his groin injury fully recover. C’mon, Greg! Put the team on your back!

• M.D. Jennings also suffered a shoulder injury, which sounds like it probably isn’t too serious, yet it cause big problems for the defense. Apparently, with Jennings out, the Packers didn’t have the seven defensive backs needed to run the particular package they had prepared for the Saints, and this further led to communications problems.

• That excuse aside, so much for all my “Our pass defense is faaan-tastic!” I guess playing well against Alex Smith, Jay Cutler, and Russell Wilson can mislead excitable young women into thinking the defense is better than it is. I’m not giving up on the defense - I still think they’re pretty good - but they’re going to have to get a lot better if they’re going to play against elite quarterbacks like Brees. It seemed like New Orleans was able to convert on every single third down - no matter how long! And no turnovers! Come on, defense!

Where are my turnovers, boys?

• It wasn’t all bad for the defense. The bright spot was the defense holding the Saints to a field goal after B.J. Raji idiotically gifted New Orleans with a first-and-goal by kicking a Saints player. Thank goodness for Tramon Williams. Said Raji, “I had to run and hug Tramon because he really saved me ... I kind of put us in a bad position there getting that personal foul.“

I also would like to hug Tramon.

• I was frustrated by how much zone defense the Packers played. I understand that they don’t trust their cornerbacks against Drew Brees, but it gets old fast seeing the opposing receivers getting uncontested catch after uncontested catch. Wasn’t that the point of moving Woodson to safety? So that the Packers’ corners could be more aggressive knowing that Woodson was behind them? Like I said, I understand playing that way against Brees, but I hope to see significantly less zone against non-elite QBs. I happen to like our corners (as long as we’re not counting Jarrett Bush).

• I can’t help but be a bit disappointed by the Packers’ offense, as well. Yeah, they played much better and I steadfastly believe they will continue to improve, but this game was against the New Orleans Saints!! Their defense is SO bad! This was a prime stat-padding game. But the offensive line didn't allow any sacks (don't get too excited. Not to beat a dead horse, but New Orleans defense = not good.) At least Jordy got his first TD (yay!) and James Jones had a really good game. Besides his two touchdowns, Jones had some nice blocking plays that helped his teammates gain some yards (take note, Jermichael). Oh, and he had this insane last catch to seal the game:

• Jones on the catch: “Sometimes, you get lucky in football and that’s what that was.” 

• Poor Graham Harrell's first NFL snap probably wasn't all that he had hoped it would be.

We still love you, Graham! ... Just don't do that again.

• I think Malcolm Jenkins tried to gouge Aaron Rodgers' eye out in a fit of jealous rage because Aaron has such beautiful, soul-searching eyes.

Even one-eyed, he's still the best QB.

• Good thing Jenkins didn't see Randall Cobb's eyes.

DON'T even think about it, Malcolm.

• I don’t mean to rub salt in New Orleans’ 0-4 wound, but I was surprised that they didn’t play with more … I don't know, intensity? They certainly played well, but I thought this game was going to be insane from the kickoff. They were facing 0-4!!!! I’m sure they were preaching “don’t panic” in the locker room and all, but where was the urgency?? I thought this week’s game was going to look like last year’s opener between the two teams (which was probably the most entertaining game ever).

• By the way, what on earth has happened to Billy Cundiff? Last year he cost the Ravens in the playoffs by missing an easy field goal. Then, on Sunday, with the Redskins, Cundiff missed his first three field goals before mercifully making the game-winning kick. He was so bad that somebody preemptively (wishfully?) updated his Wikipedia page to say, “he was released on October 2nd, 2012 following three consecutive missed field goal attempts at Tampa Bay.” Though it wouldn't be a surprise to see a team cut a kicker after three misses in a game, Mike Shanahan denies that the Redskins are working out other kickers. 

• J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets Jets! Maybe if they had let Tim Tebow start, God would have spared them that 34-0 whupping at the hands of the 49ers.

Maybe he should stick to smoldering as a model, since he's ice cold on the field.

• Am I the only one who thinks the Santonio Holmes fumble wasn't a fumble? Isn't there some rule that a player can "declare himself down" by going to the ground and not making a move to try to advance the ball? I think it's pretty clear that Santonio is not going to get up. You could tell right away that he was injured:

• Um, are we going to acknowledge that the Vikings are 3-1? No? Good.

• Philly sure seems to have the Giants’ number. They’ve won 8 of the last 9 games between the two teams.

• What the heck were the Seattle Seahawks wearing? Their normal uniforms are ugly, but I’m pretty sure they were wearing sweatpants on Sunday. They looked like they overslept and rolled out of bed and made it to the stadium just in time for kickoff.

I am not one of those girls who thinks it's acceptable to leave the house in sweats.

 

• The Carolina-Atlanta game was super exciting! The Falcons' final drive was cold-blooded. Matt Ryan threw a 60-yard pass from his own endzone to start the drive and couldn't be slowed! Though, I’m not sure that Carolina’s defense understood that, in a situation like that, you’re supposed to defend the sidelines! Atlanta didn’t have to worry about running out of time because they were able to keep throwing passes to the sidelines to stop the clock.

• I’m glad Michael Vick said something about how stupid icing the kicker is. Games should be more about talent and ability than mind games.

• Two Redskins players ran into each other during warm-ups, which would be funny except that they actually were really hurt and both were ruled out of the game as a result. Poor Washington.

• Monday Night Football was interesting for the other competition besides the game: which talented-but-mistake-prone quarterback will melt down faster? Tony absolutely ran away with that crown: 1 TD, 5 INTs. Monday nights have not always been kind to Romo; this is the second time in his career that he’s thrown 5 interceptions, and the other time was also on Monday Night Football. 

Tell me why I don't like Mondays.

• I hate to be fair to Romo, but all five weren't (completely) on him. The first two interceptions were his receivers’ fault, the third was when he was hit from behind, and the last two were in the fourth quarter when, down by three scores, he was trying to make something happen. Still.

Now, let’s get to Jay Cutler. Jay played well, but we had another sideline incident. His offensive coordinator, Mike Tice, was trying to talk to him after a bad series and Cutler twice walked away from his coach.That’s so disrespectful. If you want to get into it with your coach, fine. But you don’t walk away from your coach. The quarterback and offensive coordinator need to talk to try to fix any mistakes that happened and avoid them in the future. The quarterback needs to be interested in doing whatever he can to make the team better.

This isn’t that big a deal by itself, just like Cutler getting into his offensive lineman’s face wasn’t a big deal by itself. It’s Cutler’s attitude over and over again. It’s the way he handles it after the game. When asked about his walking away from Tice, Cutler said, “I don’t have to sit by him the whole game, do I?” 

The problem with Jay Cutler is that he is so scornful and disdainful of perception. He wants to make clear to the media that he doesn’t care what they think about him. Along the way, however, he gives that impression to his teammates and fans, and I don’t know that fans and teammates are wrong to infer that from his behavior. He does this to himself. His perpetual teenager attitude is the reason that people are talking about a minute on the sideline instead of Cutler’s strong game on Monday. It’s his own fault that people want to jump all over every little mistake he makes. I mean, the title of this article written last year is "Jay Cutler is not a likable player." (Huh, no kidding?) Whenever people do try to defend him, it’s always the same line, “That’s just Jay.” And that’s the problem. Cutler doesn’t have any interest in changing his personality for his teammates or for his fans. It is so simple: smile, put up with the media’s often inane questions, say all the cliches that quarterbacks are supposed to say. But Cutler needs you to know that he doesn’t care what you think. 

Here’s the thing, Jay: you don’t get paid millions and millions of dollars just because you can throw a ball. Part of those millions is because you are in the entertainment industry; you are an entertainer. That’s why you are contractually obligated to talk to the media. It’s part of your job! Recognize that you have the coolest job in the whole wide world; be happy about it. You don’t have to court the media like other players do, you don’t have to share your personal life with the country, but show enough respect to your teammates, your coaches, your organization, and your fans by taking your job seriously - even the parts of it you don’t like.

"It's so hard being me."