Monday, September 25, 2017

Overtime Overdrive




  • Whew! That was a little close. Luckily when you have Aaron Rodgers as your quarterback, being down 14 points at halftime is NBD.
relax green bay packers packers aaron rodgers GIF



  • It was a rocky start. The Cincinnati Bengals were the subject of much talk, having been unable to score a single touchdown in their first two games. Playing the Green Packers defense (when they’re down Mike Daniels, Nick Perry, et al.)  is often a cure for whatever ails your offense, however, and the Bengals scored on their opening drive.
  • And then there was a total statistical unicorn when Aaron Rodgers threw a pick-six, which he’s only ever done one other time in his entire career.
wow omg shocked surprise will smith GIF


  • But after halftime, Green Bay buckled down. The first play of the third quarter was a 51-yard pass to Lance Kendricks on a drive that ended in a Jordy Nelson touchdown.
  • Then there were a bunch of punts and field goals and missed field goals. And THEN, the Packers defense managed to hold on a third-and-one and forced Cincy to kick a field goal that extended the Bengals' lead to 24-17 with three-and-a-half minutes left in regulation. Green Bay marched up the field and wound up with a first-and-goal at the three, and then this gorgeous touchdown to Nelson tied it up! That pass is incredible. One inch off or one-tenth of a second late, and the DB is able to knock it down.


  • He’s a blurry still from the above video that shows how teeny tiny the window was for Rodgers to get the ball to Jordy before the defender could get there.
I wish I were like those quirky tech nerds on crime shows who can take any raw footage,
no matter the source, and "enhance" it to perfect clarity with a few loud keystrokes

  • OVERTIME! Green Bay’s defense did not play particularly well, but they came out with a vengeance in overtime and made a statement, forcing a quick three-and-out to put the ball back where it belongs: in Aaron Rodgers’ hands. 


  • After two incomplete passes, things were a little worrisome, and Green Bay faced third-and-10 from their own 21. And then the Bengals’ Michael Johnson jumped offsides, and we all knew the game was over right there.

  • A Geronimo Allison’s 72-yard catch and a Mason Crosby field goal later and the game was over. Crosby celebrated by catching a reverse Lambeau Leap from his son. 


  • Nice game for Packers rookie safety Josh Jones -- two sacks and 12 tackles -- but he needs to work a little more on situational awareness. For example, wait until your team is not trailing by 14 points to go stomping around and flexing your muscles after making a tackle. Just a thought.

  • You know what would be nice? If Martellus Bennett stopped dropping passes. Also, gaining more than 64 yards rushing as a team.


  • Praising Tony Romo’s skills as a commenter is as “in” as criticizing his fourth-quarter play was a couple of years ago. He is good, but he needs to talk lower and slower. Romo has so much knowledge to share that he tries to fit everything he sees into his commentary on every play, which means he has to talk fast and say, “Look!” a lot. His speedy commentary makes stresses me out. (But you’re doing great at a very tough job, Tony!)

  • I am biased against Romo, though. Not because he played for Cowboys or anything like that, but because he bumped Phil Simms out of the booth. And with no Phil Simms, there’s no @philsimmsquotes. And for that, I cannot forgive Romo.

  • When Bengals LB Carl Lawson is inducted into the Hall of Fame, he should have Kyle Murphy give his introduction. The linebacker effortlessly blew by Murphy to land 2.5 sacks and three quarterback hits on Rodgers. 
Murphy is not their starter and that's not his natural position and
he was trying and it's a tough job and I should be nicer to him. 
But still.

  • Andy Dalton tried to get the cool kid haircut, but he’s still a spritely-looking redhead with impish freckles, so it doesn’t really work. No matter his haircut, he’ll always look like a five-year-old hero of a kids’ book.
He probably has a trouble-making yet adorable dog named Skip or something,
too. And they get into all sorts of scrapes and misadventures together.
  • Ha Ha Clinton-Dix signed this kid’s jersey, “Be respectful 2 teachers & family.” 
  • Oh boy! I can’t wait for Thursday night when we get to watch two teams who played overtime games in record heat try to compete on 3.5 days of rest! Especially great for the Packers, who barely have enough healthy bodies to field a team. And a big shout-out to the NFL for shortening overtime from 15 minutes to 10 minutes out of concern for “player safety.” I mean, sure, it didn’t help either the Packers or the Bears in overtime, but it lets us fans know that the league really cares about its players. *UPDATE: Kyle Murphy was injured in Sunday’s game, apparently. So that’s the Packers top five offensive tackles who are injured. Wonderful. Should be a great game.

  • I keep on forgetting to cheer against the Miami Dolphins! Good news: Jay Cutler lost to the New York Jets 20-6, threw as many touchdowns as interceptions (one), and was sacked three times.

  • I fear losing Jay to retirement after this season, so I don't want to waste any opportunities. Here’s another.


  • Ugh the Houston Texans had the New England Patriots beat before screwing it up! With under a minute left, New England faced a 3rd-and-18 from midfield. Then Houston gave up back-to-back receptions of 27 and 25 yards that allowed New England to score and take a three-point lead. With 0:23 left on the clock, Houston tried to mount a last-minute drive. On the first play, they gained 21 yards. Great job! And then … then … they took 10 seconds to call a timeout before stopping the clock with three seconds left, meaning they only had enough time for a Hail Mary, instead of being able to gain some yardage and maybe try for a field goal to force overtime. WHY did coach Bill O’Brien not call a timeout??? In a situation like that, the timeout should come from the sideline, not from the field, and not from your rookie quarterback who’s trying to communicate the plan to his teammates. O’Brien gallantly fell on the sword, saying, “Anything that happened negative in that game is on me. I’m the coach.” Well, yeah, that and the fact that it was your actual fault. Man, do you know how amazing it would be for the Patriots to be 1-2 right now? YOU RUINED EVERYTHING, BILL!

  • HAHAHA even when the Bears do something right, they screw it up.  After blocking a field goal, Chicago recovered the ball and returned it the other way. The genius Bears player thought it was a good idea to stop running at the 10-yard line and walk into the endzone. Except he didn't quite make it. A Steeler caught up and stripped the ball at the one-inch line. HA! Chicago actually still got points out of it because the Steelers knocked the ball out of the endzone. The half can’t end on a defensive penalty, so Chicago was given an untimed down at the one-yard line, which they also screwed up by false-starting (lol). They ended up kicking a field goal. 



  • Former Green Bay running back Eddie Lacy opened up about the abuse he takes on social media for his weight. Eddie is sweet and I like him and people should stop being mean!
  • The trendy Oakland Raiders could not surpass 100 yards either rushing or passing against the Washington Redskins, who outgained Oakland 472-128 in total yards. Eww.

  • I gotta feel a little bad for Von Miller. The Denver defensive linebacker spent much of Sunday's game engaged in jovial trash talking with Bills’ quarterback Tyrod Taylor. In the fourth quarter, the Broncos stopped the Bills on third down. Miller scored a hit on Taylor and then held out his hand to help him off the ground, but at the last second pulled his hand away. Unfortunately for him, the ref flagged him for taunting, and the Bills got a new set of downs. (Actually kind of a big deal since the Bills went on to milk the clock and score a field goal to extend their lead to 10, the final margin of victory.) Taylor clearly didn’t take Miller’s “taunt” personally. When asked if he was laughing because of Miller’s joke or because Miller got flagged for it, Taylor said, “Both. Both, for sure.”



  • Colts running back Frank Gore passed the 3,000 carries mark on Sunday. You gotta be pretty darn tough to survive 3,000 rushes and still be playing. 

  • The Minnesota Vikings beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even without starting quarterback Sam Bradford. Backup Case Keenum was more than adequate, completing 25 of 33 passes for 369 yards and three touchdowns. After the game, Vikes receiver Stefon Diggs said of Keenum, “I’ve got  100% faith in Case, or anybody they put  back there … No matter who's back there, we've got faith in them and we're going to make it work. We have no choice.” Yeah, that very specifically not a declaration of support for the guy who got you two touchdowns.


  • Case Keenum had more passing yards on Sunday than Joe Flacco has had this season. Flacco somehow, somehow managed to throw only 28 yards in this week's game. Granted, he was pulled in the fourth quarter of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 44-7 beatdown of the Ravens in London, but 28 yards in three quarters is still putrid.

  • Also, Baltimore did not cross midfield until the third quarter.

  • The Philadelphia Eagles won in dramatic last-second fashion, with their rookie kicker booting a 61-yarder (!) as time expired to keep the New York Giants winless.
Aww and they carried him off on their shoulders like at the ending of a movie. 



  • Indy won a game! Indy won a game! (It was against Cleveland.) But they still won a game!

  • To put Indianapolis’ victory in perspective, here’s a quote from Browns’ left tackle Joe Thomas.

  • I’m not in the habit of feeling sympathy for Golden Tate nor any Detroit Lion, but I can understand why the Lions might have been a little upset over the ending of their game against the Atlanta Falcons. Down four points with under 20 seconds to go, Tate caught a short pass just on the goal line with about eight seconds left. The refs signaled for a touchdown. Scoring plays, of course, are automatically reviewed, which stopped the clock. After review, the refs came out and were like, ‘Oops, we made the wrong call. Overturned. Also, because we miscalled the play, there’s no time left, and the game is over. Good night and drive safe.’ Turns out Tate did not score a touchdown, but was actually shy by a few inches. And because the clock should not have been stopped, that meant a 10-second runoff. The Lions were miffed because 10 seconds is enough time to spike the ball, and it wasn’t their fault the clock stopped. But it was already third down, so the Lions couldn’t have spiked the ball without ending the game, even if they had the opportunity to do so. Soooo the refs were actually right, but they would have done the same thing if it had been first down, so the rules deserve to be protested, even if the application in this instance resulted in the correct outcome. #sorrynotsorry Detroit.
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  • Even Matt Ryan of the now 3-0 Atlanta Falcons was couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.


  • Why don’t they open Sunday Night Football with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth together in the booth? Why do they always have just Michaels before Collinsworth comes careering in from the side? It always makes me think of when I was a kid and my siblings and I would rocket each other around the room in a wheelie office chair. 

  • Richard Sherman got called for three penalties on the same play!!!! The loudmouth cornerback committed pass interference which led to an interception, held an opponent during his teammate's return of the interception, and was unsportsmanlike when he screamed at the ref and chased him down after he was flagged. He later leveled a blatant late hit on Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota -- because he is a dirty, dirty player -- and should have been ejected (two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties = ejection). But Richard Sherman, of course, doesn’t think he should have been called for any of the penalties.



  • The San Francisco 49ers did not score any touchdowns in the first two weeks, but managed to score five on Thursday night. Great job, guys! Unfortunately, their kicker missed an extra point and they lost to the Los Angeles Rams.


  • Don’t actually feel too bad for the Niners, though. They allowed the Rams to score in the first 15 seconds of the game … and the Rams didn’t even start the game with the ball.

  • Even though the Arizona Cardinals failed to beat the hated Dallas Cowboys, there were some nice highlights for the Birds. Carson Palmer, who has had a shaky start to the season, had some absolute gorgeous throws. Also, Larry Fitzgerald. My favorite Fitz play was when he went up, grabbed what was going to be an interception from the defender, somehow hung on, pleaded his case to a ref who had already called it a catch, then helped the defender up.
  • Looking forward to rooting on my depleted, exhausted Packers in the middle of the work week!












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