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.
GIF

  • 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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Tuesday, September 19, 2017

At Least Aaron Rodgers Survived




  • When it was announced shortly before kickoff that neither the Green Bay Packers starting left tackle nor their starting right tackle would be playing against the Atlanta Falcons, the goal of the game shifted to just hoping Aaron Rodgers survived. He did. He’s been sacked seven times in the last two weeks, but he’s alive. So there’s that. 


  • The same cannot be said for the rest of the team. Already down two starting tackles, the Packers almost immediately lost star defensive lineman Mike Daniels (hamstring). Then Jordy Nelson (quad). Then safety Kentrell Brice (groin). Then Randall Cobb (shoulder). Then cornerback Davon House (quad).
sad upset ben affleck depressed batman v superman GIF


  • Given that the line was a patchwork quilt, I’m trying to be nice, but 10 penalties really didn’t help the cause.

  • One play wouldn’t have changed how badly the Falcons were beating the Packers, but the alleged “pick” on Martellus Bennett really screwed the Packers over. The call negated a 36-yard gain by Cobb and backed the Packers up against their own goal line. Two plays later, Rodgers was intercepted and Atlanta scored almost immediately. Bennett claimed that it wasn’t a pick play and the defender ran into him, but regardless, the play happened within one yard of the line of scrimmage, where picks are legal. I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t understand the pick play rules, though.



  • Look! A Green Bay highlight! Enjoy the beautiful touchdown to Davante Adams because that’s just about all the happy there was to be had.



  • Sunday night witnessed the 300th touchdown pass of Aaron Rodgers’ career. Rodgers is just the 11th player to reach the milestone and did it in fewer games (144) than anyone. Congrats, A-A-Ron!
  • As we touched on last week, Rodgers has only thrown one pick-six in his career. Brett Favre threw three pick-sixes … in a game. And a playoff game no less! (He actually threw six interceptions that game.)
  • Sunday’s game wasn’t great, it’s true, but I’m coming around to a brighter outlook. As Rodgers said in his post-game press conference, the Falcons got 14 points off of Green Bay’s uncharacteristic turnovers and they ended up winning by 11 points.  Taking into consideration the injuries, the game wasn’t as terrible as it felt.



  • Obviously not football, but the Miami Marlins were forced to play their home games against the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee because of the hurricane. The Brewers did their best to make Miller Park feel like home for the Marlins by adding “Florida decorations” of palm trees, fish, and flamingos.
Aww, good ol' Milwaukee.

  • Green Bay wide receiver Trevor Davis’ twins are the CUTEST!
And they have little jerseys that say "Double" and Trouble"!


  • As we touched on last week, Rodgers has only thrown one pick-six in his career. Brett Favre threw three pick-sixes … in one game. And a playoff game no less! (He actually threw six interceptions that game.)

  • Though it was a sad Sunday, there were some redeeming factors: the Chicago Bears got stomped, the Minnesota Vikings got stomped, and the Dallas Cowboys really got stomped. That did cheer me up a little.



  • Jay Cutler won his debut with the Miami Dolphins, unfortunately, but we still got to see him make this dismal throw to end the first half. Same ol’ Jay.



  • And who needs Cutler in the Windy City when they’ve got Mike Glennon? Glennon threw for one touchdown and two interceptions, and fumbled the ball away, too, in Chicago’s 29-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
  • It almost seems unfair to rejoice over each and every Eli Manning sack when his offensive line is as bad as it is. Oh well!

  • Miami's victory came on the San Diego Los Angeles Chargers’ missed last-minute field goal. Someone on the Chargers’ stadium crew, however, didn’t realize that the kick was no good and set off the celebratory fireworks in a situation that sadly seemed very fitting to the San Diego Los Angeles team in general.
"Los Angeles Chargers" sounds stupid, so I'll probably
just keep calling them San Diego.




  • A nice heads-up play by Philadelphia’s Zach Ertz, not missing a beat on this deflected pass.



  • Dak Prescott threw two interceptions in the Dallas Cowboys' 42-17 loss to the Denver Broncos, one of which was returned 103 yards for a touchdown.


  • Ezekiel Elliott had a pretty rough game, too. Eight total yards on nine carries.


  • Oh, and this great highlight of him doing nothing while a defender near him intercepts the ball and runs it back. 


  • Said Denver defender Derek Wolfe, “The idea was to make Prescott beat us because we knew he couldn’t.” Daaaaaaaaang!

  • Todd Gurley is quite athletic. 

  • Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas played his 10,000 consecutive snap on Sunday. I can’t get over that! Consecutive game streaks are cool and all, but consecutive snaps are crazy. He never, ever needed even a single play off!
  • Speaking of streaks, an interesting one was snapped out in LA. Miami Dolphins linebacker Lawrence Timmons, who just joined the team after a decade with the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to not show up to the game, apparently because something had “angered” him, though it’s not clear that the issue was football-related. Since Miami didn’t play last week due to the hurricane, this was Miami’s first game of the season, and would have been Timmons’ 102nd consecutive game.



  • Last week everyone was cheersing the Jacksonville Jaguars for their resounding victory over the Houston Texans. This week, the Texans managed a win over the Cincinnati Bengals and the Jaguars lost to the Tennessee Titans 37-16. Houston’s victory came on newly-appointed starting quarterback Deshaun Watson’s 22nd birthday, and I’ll give him props for knowing how to dress to impress for your first NFL start.


  • So Eddie Lacy was a healthy scratch in Seattle. He had a unimpressive debut last week, but that’s on his miserable o-line, not him. It sounds like the Seahawks just had a lot of running backs available, but that makes you wonder why they went out and signed a running back in free agency then.

  • I’m not criticizing Antonio Brown, but I find this video hilarious. I’ve watched it a dozen times at least. Brown walks up to the kid who’s holding out a football, ignores the football, grabs the unprepared kid and pulls him in for an unexpected hug, knocks his cap off, gives a thumbs up to the cameras, and walks away all in about three seconds. 
  • Helpful, Coach Zimmer.

  • The Cincinnati Bengals haven’t scored a touchdown yet this season. Let’s hope they don’t start next week against Green Bay. They look really bad, but I’m also always wary of playing down-and-out teams.



  • It sounds like most of the Packers injuries are not too serious. I’m just going to stare at this picture of Green Eyes for a little while and hope his shoulder (and Jordy’s quad and Daniels’ hammy and House’s quad and Brice’s groin and Bryan Bulaga’s ankle and David Bakhtiari’s hammy) all heal up sooner rather than later.
*Adoring heart-eyes emoji*


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Monday, September 11, 2017

Double Win for Green Bay!


  • Not only did the Green Bay Packers win, but the Seattle Seahawks lost. That’s what we call a win-win, folks.
  • Mike Daniels caught a lot of attention last season for his play, and he showed why Sunday. Seven tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for a loss, a forced fumble, and a loooong afternoon for Russell Wilson. 

  • Great game by the Green Bay defense as a whole. They didn’t allow any touchdowns, and until the last 30 seconds of the second quarter, the Seahawks managed only one first down. 
I feel like this photo totally captures each defender's personality.
  • Even when Aaron Rodgers throws a pick-six, he doesn’t. That’s how good he is. A penalty brought back what would have only been the second pick-six of his career. The Packers defense held after the interception and didn’t allow Seattle any points off the turnover.

  • Jordy Nelson joined James Lofton, Sterling Sharpe, and Donald Driver as the only Green Bay Packers with 500 career receptions. Woo hoo!! 
Picking up right where he left off.


  • I don’t want to wish ill on anyone, but part of me hopes Michael Bennett suffers a shoulder injury for wearing those idiotic shoulder pads.


  • Green Bay really needs Bryan Bulaga back. Kyle Murphy started at right tackle in Bulaga’s stead. It’s a tough matchup to face the Seattle defense in your first start, and Murphy wasn’t disastrous, but he struggled with the pressure. Rodgers and the offense couldn’t get into a rhythm facing near-constant pressure, and Mike McCarthy refuses to help his struggling linemen, so it’ll be this way until Bulaga gets back. 
  • What’s the point of signing two tight ends in the offseason if you don’t make use of them? Keeping back either Martellus Bennett or Lance Kendricks to help block would be a fantastic and super useful employment of those players.

  • Speaking of tight ends, it’s terribly exciting to have a real one! (All offense intended to Richard Rodgers.) Here’s how a tight end is supposed to block, Richard: (Bennett is #80):

  • And how sick is this pass from Rodgers to Bennett? Talk about threading the needle. 

  • Ty Montgomery has more false alarms than anyone in terms of injuries. He’ll get up limping and look like he might need to be carted off, and then he’ll reappear in the game two minutes later, completely fine. No judgment, though. I literally Google, “how can you tell if your toe is broken” every time I stub my toe.

  • White Lightning with a throwback touchdown! Ahh no matter how many times I see the exact same play, it never gets old. 


  • Check out how speedily the Packers go from the huddle to formation to snap when they see Seattle trying to substitute on the play that led to Nelson’s touchdown. Machine-like efficiency!

  • I thought Randall Cobb had a nice, solid first game, leading the team with nine receptions for 85 yards. Green Eyes has struggled with injuries the last couple of seasons, so I hope he stays healthy this year! 

  • Look! Old friend and recently retired James Jones surprised his former teammates before the game!


  • Yes, I agree that Jeremy Lane should not have been ejected. Yes, I agree that the block in the back that negated the touchdown off of Rodgers’ interception was a bad call. And yes, I agree that pass interference should have been called against the Packers defending Jimmy Graham in the endzone. But that’s not what happened, so. 

  • Bad news is the offense struggled. Their two touchdowns came on a turnover that gave them the ball near the goal line and on a free play. Good news is that they won’t face many defenses as tough as Seattle.

  • Good news is that the Packers defense played really well -- no touchdowns allowed! Bad news is that the Seahawks offensive line might be really bad.  
Generally not a good sign when your offensive line is in hot pursuit of their men.

  • Good news is that the Packers controlled the ball for twice as long as the Seahawks did. Bad news is if you have the ball for 40 minutes, you should probably score more than 17 points. 


  • Andy Dalton had four touchdowns, five sacks, no touchdowns and a 0.7 QBR.

  • Since the Cleveland Browns returned to the league in 1999 (apparently they were “deactivated” for a few years?), the quarterback with the most wins in Cleveland is … Ben Roethlisberger.


  • In 2015, the Chicago Bears took wide receiver Kevin White as the #7 draft pick. By the start of his fourth season in 2018, he will likely have played in five games total. He missed his entire rookie season with a shin injury, played only four games his sophomore season before breaking his fibula, and now he broke his collarbone in the very first game of the 2017 season. There’s injury-prone, and then there’s Kevin White. 

  • We’ve covered how much I love the Andrew Luck Book Club, but I can’t help myself. Did you know the quarterback picks all the books himself??

  • If you’re a rookie running back who fumbles the first time your team gives you the ball, you best do something to make up for it pretty quick. Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt did just that, recovering from his oopsie to have 148 yards running, 133 yards receiving, and three touchdowns in the opener over the New England Patriots. 

  • Much maligned (by me) Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith became the first passer to throw for 300 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions against the Bill Belichick-led Patriots. (Still doesn’t change my mind about him.) The 42 points the Chiefs scored were also the most points allowed under Belichick.
Green Bay fans wondering what it's like to have only given up 42 points once.

  • Remember how I said people always overreact after the first few games? ESPN said the Kansas City Chiefs were the frontrunner to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl literally six hours into the season. Now, God willing, the New England Patriots will never win another game again, but why don’t we give the team that has won 7 Super Bowls in the last 5 years more than one game before we leave them for dead?


  • Goodness gracious look at this stiff arm Jamie White lays on the defender! The poor Chief’s feet even make a little swoop in the turf.


  • Here you go again, Houston Texans fans. Starting quarterback Tom Savage (who?) was benched for rookie QB Deshaun Watson in the first game, despite the “Tom Savage is our quarterback” mantra of the preseason. It took all of one half of one football game for the quarterback carousel to start spinning. It’s a bad sign when you long for the stability of Brock Osweiler. 
  • TJ Watt looks ready to continue the family tradition. JJ’s little brother had an outstanding debut for the Pittsburgh Steelers with two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, and an interception. Some nice highlights for his first NFL game.
Image result for tj watt
I'm officially at an age where it is inappropriate to comment on a
22-year-old's looks. (But he's cute like his brother.)

  • The luster of Chicago Bears losses is certainly dulled by the absence of Jay Cutler, but I still really, really enjoyed watching their last-minute drive against the Atlanta Falcons fail. Chicago was down 23-17 with 21 seconds left when they got a first down at the Atlanta 5-yard line and stopped the clock. They had four chances to gain 5 yards. 
    • First down: dropped in the endzone (with an itty bitty hold on the defense).
    • Second down: running back Jordan Howard DROPS a pass at the 1-inch line that would have won the game for the Bears. 
    • Third down: incomplete pass to the tight end. 
    • Fourth down: Mike Glennon (who?) takes the snap, looks right … looks left … scrambles left … SACK! Hahahaha! Falcons win!



  • My poor Scott Tolzien! Starting in the place of the still-injured Andrew Luck, Tolzien’s very first pass of the game was a pick-six. And later in the 46-9 loss, he threw another pick-six, thereby doubling in a single game the number of pick-sixes Aaron Rodgers has in his career. #DeactivateTolzien :(
Sunday was even sadder than the time none of his college
teammates would give him a high five.

  • The league should create a mercy rule for teams like the Colts. They didn’t even manage a single third-down conversion. They only had one drive of more than five plays (and it resulted in a punt)!
  • Really rough call on the Washington Redskins’ fumble late in the fourth that cost them the game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Replays showed pretty clearly that Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins’ arm was moving forward when the pass was stuffed by an Eagles defender and the Eagles recovered the “fumble” and ran it in for a touchdown. 
  • A football game that starts at 10:15pm EST? On a Monday? Are you insane, NFL? We’re not all 19-year-old college students! I have nothing to say about this game because I was obviously and sensibly in bed.

  • The Cowboys-Giants game was a snoozer, but at least we got a good helping of Manning Face. Considering the way the Giants played, I think we can look forward to much more of this during the season.
  • It’s unfortunate that he plays for the Dallas Cowboys, but I am so happy for Jaylon Smith, who made his NFL debut on Sunday night. He was a huge star at Notre Dame before annihilating his knee in a useless bowl game his senior year. The Cowboys drafted him last season, knowing he would not be ready to play until 2017 and not know if/when he would be ready. On Sunday, he started and made seven tackles and forced a fumble.


  • For those of you upset with Roger Goodell and the league for the Ezekiel Elliott trial and more, spare me your bellyaching. The players’ union should have read the fine print in the CBA where it says Roger can do pretty much whatever wants for pretty much any reason he wants. They were too busy celebrating the end of two-a-days to pay attention to the things that mattered.
  • It was only one game against a very bad team, but the Jacksonville Jaguars had some darn impressive stats in their 29-7 win over the Houston Texans. They sacked Houston quarterbacks 10 times while allowing no sacks on Blake Bortles against a tough defensive line; they shut out Houston in the first half; and they forced four turnovers while committing none themselves. I hope this is finally the year where things start looking up for Jacksonville. They’ve been patiently building the team for the last few years, and it’d be nice for them not to be terrible.

  • Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs lit up the Saints in the Vikings 29-19 win. Diggs finished with seven catches, 93 yards, and two touchdowns. Perhaps he got a little magic from his custom cleats, which celebrated Randy Moss' induction into the Vikings' Ring of Honor and memorialized Moss' "disgusting act" of pretending to moon Green Bay Packers fans once upon a time. 
  • The Miami-Tampa Bay game got cancelled because of a hurricane. How strange and super convenient that Miami and Tampa Bay have the same bye, at which point they’ll play their rescheduled game. Also, it really sucks for them that they both have to play 16 straight weeks without a bye -- and one of Miami’s games is in London! Obviously neither of them are making the playoffs, so they should play their meaningless makeup game during the Wild Card weekend. MMQB broke down the crazy challenging schedule that Miami faces.

    Good luck with that. 


  • Next week, the Packers play the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football. Maybe we can get back a little of the pride we left on their field in the NFC championship.
Image result for green bay packers







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