Same Old Jay

• Ahhhh, that was beautiful. Seeing Jay Cutler sacked 7 times is good for the soul. On top of that, the Packers intercepted Cutler 4 times. (Granted, the final one shouldn’t have counted but apparently the replacement refs couldn't be bothered to review the turnover. Oh well, we’ll take it.) The crazy thing is that 7 sacks doesn’t even tell the story of how much pressure Cutler was under. Even in the rare instances he was able to get the ball out in time, he was still taking hits.

•  Hmmm, which picture should I use?

Choices, choices.

• Clay Matthews was incredible. True, Chicago’s offensive line is a mess, but Clay could not be stopped! He has six sacks in two games!! That's twice as many as the next closest defender in the league.

And he can count like nobody's business.

• Since the game, the Bears have benched one of their offensive linemen … and it’s not J’Marcus Webb. If I were capable of feeling any sympathy for Bears’ fan, I would feel it now.

• WELCOME BACK, 2010 TRAMON! How I’ve missed you! The two picks were great, but I was in awe of how well Williams covered Brandon Marshall. The only time Marshall really got open (for the dropped pass in the endzone), Williams had fallen down on the play. Morgan Burnett and Charles Woodson were excellent over the top, allowing Tramon to be aggressive with Marshall.

Sweet, sexy, AND skilled!

• Hallelujah! Jarrett Bush not only did not start, he did not play any defensive snaps. No wonder the defense looked so good. See what can happen when you take him off the field?

• Anytime you’re feeling down, just Google “Jay Cutler career stats vs. Green Bay.”

"What's about to happen is everyone's fault but mine!"

• Mr. Charles Woodson says it better than I can: “Same old Jay.” (I’ve watched this video about 346 times since Thursday.)

• Cutler certainly didn’t get the help from the playcalling. No quarterback wants to be doing seven-step drops behind that offensive line. Losing Matt Forte just made matters worse.

• With all this gloating over our defense, let’s not lose sight of the fact that Aaron Rodgers got sacked 5 times. This is not okay! The offensive line looked good in preseason, but has given up eight sacks in the first two games. This needs to be taken care of ASAP. Unfortunately, the Packers cut most of their offensive line backups, so the answer has to be in the starters playing better.

• What a play call on that fake field goal! It was 4th-and-26!! Insanely gutsy. And awesome.

This picture should make it all clear.

• As cool as the fake field goal for a touchdown was, it is a bit disturbing that that’s what had to happen for the Packers to score. The offense is troubling in its inability to come up with big plays. I’m hoping they just need to get into a rhythm and will improve over the next couple of games. I need to see glimpses of last season’s offense before I can stop biting my nails.

• Jermichael Freakin’ Finley. His drops are so frustrating. What’s more frustrating to me, however, is his inability to block - he’s a tight end, for heaven’s sake! Weekly, he gets manhandled by defensive backs. Finley is 6’5”, 250 lbs; he should be able to run over these smaller safeties and cornerbacks, but he doesn’t. Because he’s soft. Did you see the play where James Jones got laid out after a catch? Yeah, JMike was supposed to be blocking that guy. Thanks, teammate.

• Finley needs to take some blocking tips from second-year Seattle receiver Golden Tate:

• Why is it not surprising that Jermichael Finley’s agent is also a total dumbbutt? The whole brouhaha over Cutler yelling at his lineman versus Aaron Rodgers yelling at James Jones (more on that later) led Finley’s agent, Blake Baratz, to take a shot at Aaron’s leadership on twitter: “ARod is a great QB he isn't a great leader. There's a major difference. Leaders take the blame & make every1 better. He doesn't.” *Eye roll.*

• The more I see of Randall Cobb, the more I like - and I’m not just talking about his mesmerizing eyes. I really like the way the Packers have been using him in the backfield, too, to add a little dimension to their running game. He's becoming the go-to playmaker!

You can't look at this and not smile back.

• I also like it when the Packers use screen passes in lieu of the run game. They did a little of that with Cedric Benson to get him started and I think it was effective.

• I was praying the whole second half of the Giants-Buccaneer that Tampa Bay would hold onto their lead because I have a whole slew of snarky things to say about Eli Manning that I can’t say now. I’ll say this for Eli: no one can overcome 3-interception first halves quite like him.

"Please stop saying mean things about my mother."

• What’s with New Orleans’ apathy? Their 0-2 record isn’t as disturbing as their seeming lack of effort. Maybe an entire offseason of whining has made them soft.

• Jacksonville Jaguars’ first half offense against Houston: -4 yards passing.

• Baltimore’s kicker Justin Tucker has been quite impressive, but he looks like he needs to have his parents’ sign a permission slip to allow him to play.

He's not allowed to play late games on school nights.

• Just because they’re the Washington Redskins and can’t have anything too good happen to them at once, the football gods have offset the excitement surrounding RGIII with striking down two of the Skins’ defensive starters for the whole season.

• One of the many things I like about Green Bay’s uniform is that their pants do not show butt sweat. I mean, how was this not addressed in design meetings? They are designed specifically for large men who are going to sweat a lot.

This is a whole 'nother problem. Maybe he should wear Spanx?

• My friend, who is a New England Patriots’ fan, sent me a text saying, “Whew! I thought we were going to lose! All Gostowski has to do is make this kick.” Her telecast was apparently about 30 seconds behind what I had already seen and I didn’t quite know how to tell her...

• Turnovers are one of the most consistent predictors of who will win a game, but Philadelphia is totally screwing up the stats! Nine turnovers in two wins. I don’t there’s a less happy 2-0 team. The coaching staff is in between a rock and a hard place with Michael Vick. Force him to stay in the pocket and have a lot of bad decisions and turnovers or let him play to his strength on the run and watch him take a beating?

Perhaps he's secretly a gambling man and is just trying to ruin the spread.

• The Giants looked to have sealed the game with a late interception and went into victory formation, but that didn’t stop Tampa Bay from having a go at Eli Manning. Tom Coughlin was a little less than happy. After the game, Tampa coach Greg Schiano was unrepentant, saying, “I don't know if that's not something that's done in the National Football League …” Well, Greg, I’ve never coached in the National Football League, but even I can tell you that no, that’s not something that’s done.

"You can't take a cheap shot like that against a quarterback that is that soft!"

• The Falcons have looked impressive in their first two starts, but I’m not falling for that again. Uh-uh. The past three seasons I’ve said how great they were only to watch them crumble at the first whiff of a do-or-die game. 

•  Michael Turner, congratulations on beating the Broncos; maybe this is not the best way to celebrate.

• Mark Sanchez does realize he has other teammates besides Santonio Holmes, right? I got sick of seeing incompletion after incompletion. Holmes was targeted 11 times and caught only 3 passes. Try somewhere else, Mark!

• The replacement refs continue to suck. As this article points out, it’s not just the blown calls - like the shady holding call that nullified New England’s touchdown or this head-scratcher of a pass interference call (seriously, watch it) - it’s the fact that they look completely lost out there. Whenever they huddle at midfield to discuss a call, their faces look like mine when someone asks me a question about cars (“What kind of car do you have?” “...Uhhh, blue?”). Add to that  the the embarrassment of having to pull one ref from a game due to his fandom and another accused of telling a player he needed him to play well for his fantasy team.

"Excuse me, sir, I think you may have spotted the ball incorrectly."

Now let’s get to Jay Cutler. As many have said before, the problem is not just his poor decision making and proneness to interceptions - it’s his attitude. He just doesn’t seem to get it. Everyone who watched the game saw Jay chewing out his left tackle, J’Marcus Webb, and give him a little bit of a bump. Aaron Rodgers also was seen yelling at James Jones after Jones ran the wrong route and gave up an interception.

As some have pointed out, one of the key differences is that the Bears’ offensive line was just getting beat by a better team, while Jones made a mental error that was not a matter of physical ability. Jones’ play was preventable. I don’t know that any amount of preparation would have helped the Bears stop Clay Matthews. James Jones, for his part, said he has no problem with Rodgers taking him to task for his mistake.

I get where Cutler is coming from - he was getting beaten up every play and was frustrated, but how does this help? Maybe he shouldn’t have done it, but I’d be willing to let it slide as heat-of-the-moment thing.

The problem is Cutler’s attitude after the game. He didn’t apologize, saying he’s passionate because he cares. Fine. That’s Jay for you.  But during his weekly radio show, Cutler said that he was “proud” of his game and that he kept his composure the whole game. He does realize we’re talking about the Week 2 game and not Week 1, right?

Asked if there was a throw he wished he could take back, Cutler named the pass that Brandon Marshall dropped in the endzone, saying he could have thrown a better ball. “The picks?” he said, “You can have those.” ALL FOUR OF THEM, JAY???? If he’s going to publicly go after his teammates for their mistakes, he should be the first to own up to his own, of which there were plenty. In fact, I can think of FOUR off the top of my head.

Cutler’s own teammate, cornerback D.J. Moore, criticized his quarterback, saying:

"I don't think you can act like that, though, to make it seem like it's just my fault or whatnot ... I think it's wrong, honestly. I would feel some kind of way if he were to do me like that and make it seem like 'well, the reason that I'm having a bad game is because what you're doing and not me taking accountability for myself because I'm throwing these types of passes or doing this type of read.'"

Moore went on to say that Cutler “is what he is” and “he's always been that way so I don't expect him to change.” This didn’t have to be a big deal. Teammates yell at each other all the time. All Cutler had to say was he was frustrated and let it get to him. Even if he doesn’t think that’s true, the fact that he doesn’t even know what to say as the quarterback - and thereby, essentially, team spokesman - is so much of the problem. In the words of Woodson, “Same old Jay.”

Week 2: Chicago at Green Bay

Blame in football is not fairly distributed. The quarterback, for example, often gets all the blame when a team loses. Thursday night will be another example of the fact that football is unfair - because the Chicago Bears are going to pay for our mistakes!!!! 

Well, now he's mad. And Jay Cutler will feel it.

Thursday Night Football still sucks, but since the Packers are playing, I’ll have to watch. The Bears better watch out, because if the Packers are half as pissed as I am about Sunday’s loss, it’ll be a long night for Chicago.

There’s no denying that Chicago’s offense has finally joined the big boys. Even if there are still issues at the offensive line, having receivers like Brandon Marshall, rookie Alshon Jeffrey, Earl Bennett, and Devin Hester, as well as a backfield of Matt Forte and Michael Bush, does a lot to cover any ills on the line. Defense like Packers played against San Fran won’t cut it.

The most upsetting part of the loss to the 49ers was the offensive struggles. The Packers were unable to break free for any of the explosive down-field plays that characterized their offense last season. They’ll be seeing the same Cover-2 defense from Chicago that gave them so much trouble against San Francisco. I think a heavy dose of Jordy is in order.

"Out of my way, Donald! I got places to be - the ENDZONE!"

 
Greg Jennings did not finish the game on Sunday due to a groin injury and has not practiced since. I hope they’re just being cautious. He's officially listed as "doubtful," which means about a 25% chance he'll play, and a source says he's "50-50." The Packers do have a long week of rest coming up, but, considering their depth at receiver, it might be wise to let Greg sit this one out.

We'll need you and your swagger for the rest of the season!

The Bears beat a team that went 2-14 last season, had a rookie quarterback making his NFL debut, lost their best player in Dwight Freeney in the first quarter, and lost their starting right tackle later in the game. Congratulations. Those caveats, however, are not enough to keep Jay from taunting the Packers. Bring it, Jay. Bring it.

I hope Jay Cutler spends more time on the ground than upright on Thursday. The record for the the most times a quarterback was sacked in a game is 12. I think we can beat that. I'll give you a step-by-step preview:

See ya Thursday!

Whatever. No Big Deal. It's Just One Stupid Game Anyway.

• Could someone please explain to me just how the officials were calling pass interference in this game??? Ridiculous calls and missed calls both ways, particularly on pass interference.

• Ugh. I was not naive enough to think that the Packers’ secondary would magically be fixed this offseason, but it was not very pretty, to say the least. If you’re going to be as bad as you were last season, you have to be as good as you were on takeaways. Charles Woodson was very emphatic after the game that the defense has improved a lot and it will show. I believe him, but sooner would be better than later.

This was almost the greatest interception in history.

• The most upsetting part was San Francisco’s secondary’s ability to throw the Packer’s offense out of sync. The receivers were having a lot of trouble getting open. Now, San Francisco’s secondary is talented, but when you have the best receiving corps in the league, you need to find ways to get open for your quarterback, no matter whom you are playing.

• Aaron Rodgers does not throw a lot of interceptions, but whenever he does, it’s always on the same play, with a linebacker dropping into coverage in the middle. Don’t worry, he won’t let that happen again - he’s Aaron Rodgers.

• Aaron made and lost a bet with a member of Boyz II Men (remember them??) and will apparently have to sport an Alex Smith jersey this week. The weirdest part of this story is that Rodgers is "a big fan of Boyz II Men." Hmm, as the coolest man in America, Rodgers can get away with a lot ... but that's pushing it a bit.

We shall dock him 5 coolness points.

• So not everything was terrible, right? Let’s try to salvage something good from the game: 

• This was probably the Packers’ toughest opponent in a pretty easy schedule. 

• There was a bit more pass rush, which was promising. There are some rookies and new starters that will need a little more time to get comfortable on the field, so I’m not ready to judge them on one game. I think they will improve as the season goes on. 

Clay Matthews drinks offensive linemen's blood to maintain his youthful energy.

•  At least Tim Masthay showed up to play.

• I really liked the prominence of Randall Cobb in the offense. The more I get to see of those beautiful eyes, the better.

Soooo pretty.

• Maybe this will light a fire under Green Bay. They have a quick turnaround for Chicago on Thursday.

• I refuse to believe there is not someone better on the Green Bay roster than Jarrett Bush. He is so bad. So, so bad.

• Also, he needs to shut up! Bush says that the Niners didn't beat the Packers, but the Packers beat themselves. I defended Clay Matthews when he said the same of the Giants' last season, but that's because he was right. In this case, maybe the fact that the 49ers have at least a top 3 defense in the league should count for something. Or the fact that most of their defensive line could reasonably be considered for DPOY. The 49ers did beat the Pack, though they sure had some help from one Mr. Jarrett Bush.

"Darn! I missed an opportunity to taunt an opponent after doing nothing!"

• C’mon, David Akers. Give me a freaking break! A 63-yard field goal that bounces in?! Akers’ kick tied an NFL record, but it should be noted that the two other 63-yard kicks happened in Denver’s Mile High Stadium, where the altitude provides a nice assist.

• Hey, Packers’ defense: maybe, just maybe, someone might want to cover Randy Moss in the endzone. You know, that guy who’s one of the greatest receivers to ever play the game? The one who has almost 1,000 receptions and almost 15,000 yards? The future Hall of Famer. Anyone? (You know who was responsible for that blown coverage? I'll give you one guess ... That's right! Jarrett Bush, come on down!)

• Hah! At least Vernon Davis got rejected by the goalpost during his TD celebration. That made me feel a little bit better … but not really.

• It took the Packers quite a bit of time, but at last they seemed to realize that their anemic run game isn’t going to happen against the best run defense in the league.

• I get that Jermichael is a fearsome match-up, but, until he starts playing better and using his physical strength against smaller DBs, I wouldn’t mind seeing a little less of him. This is an actual quote from Finley: "Every single guy I'm going against - if it's a linebacker, a safety - is probably thinking a little bit more than I am," he said. "I promise you."  And I promise you, JMike, that no one thought your problems last year stemmed from over-thinking. You don’t really have to sell us on the idea that the guy across from you is thinking more; we believe you.

"No more of that thinkin' stuff."

• I heard a radio announcer say of Finley, “If this were the Arab world, he’d have his hands cut off." Hmmm...

• Now, I do have faith in Morgan Burnett. I think he has a lot of potential, but that guy sure misses a lot of tackles. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to be a safety when you appear to be afraid of contact.

"Ahh! Don't hurt me!"

• Wow. Lots of bad calls from the replacement refs around the league. Among the many: Terrible pass interference on Chicago’s Tim Jennings; block in the back on Washington’s Ray Helu Jr., who didn’t actually touch anyone on the play; highly questionable pass interference on the Colts’ Vontae Davis; game-changing bad pass interference call on New Orleans' Roman Harper; mind-numbing forward progress call that undid a Jimmy Graham fumble that was recovered by Washington; the block in the back call on San Fran’s CJ Spillman (I think that’s who it was) to start the game, as well as the missed call on Green Bay’s Terrell Manning’s block in the back on Randall Cobb’s TD punt return. And let’s not forget giving Seattle a fourth timeout.

• Furthermore, everything was so slooooooooooooooooooow. Part of it is that every score and turnover is now reviewed, but a lot of it was the refs. Could they have thrown the flags any later?? It was out of control how late the flags were! It really screws up any momentum a team is trying to create.

 

• You may be aware of how much I hate that oily, smug, self-satisfied “officiating guru” Mike Pereira and his stupid glasses. He was right, however, to point out how crappy the replacement officials were when he tweeted, “Here's what I think of the officiating in Green Bay/San Francisco for first half: Not too strong... at this point. ” To which NFL spokesman Greg Aiello responded with this fourth-grade smackdown: “Kind of like when you were out there.” Oooooh SNAP! Aiello wanted to add, “You’re a booger-face!" but his mom said he had to get off of Twitter and do his homework.

He is, in fact, a booger-face.

• The Dallas Cowboys think they’re special because they won one game. Aww, how cute.

"Does this mean you guys will be nicer to me in December?"

• Ah, Jay, returning to his true self, started the game with an immediate pick-six. Unfortunately, against a rookie QB and last year’s worst defense, Jay managed to salvage a pretty decent game. He took a pause from his usual sullenness to thank God that he has a GM and an offensive coordinator who finally cared enough about him to get him some nice weapons like Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey. The Bears’ interior line, however, seemed to have problems with Colts’ running back Donald Brown, an area which has typically been their strength.

• Colts receiver Reggie Wayne is one bad dude. Just watching a few minutes of the Colts-Bears game, you can understand why coaches and commenters are forever drooling over him. He laid himself out for his rookie quarterback, making crazy catches and shrugging off big hits all day.

• Andrew Luck didn't have the greatest game, but Indianapolis fans should still be optimistic in the future. After all, anywhere after Dan Orlovsky is up.

• How 'bout that RGIII? He was so much fun to watch. I couldn’t help be struck by how in control of the game he looked. Long-suffering Redskins’ fans must be pinching themselves.

If he'd played the entire game lying down, it'd still have been a QB upgrade.

• I couldn’t quite tell if the Redskins’ defensive line was that good or the Saints’ offensive line was that bad, but Drew Brees felt the heat all day. I have to say, I didn’t mind seeing the Saints have a rough time of it. I’m a bit sick of them - even Drew Brees. It’s like some snot-nosed student who was caught cheating whining how he shouldn’t be punished at all because some other kids were cheating, too. [Also, sidenote: if you’re going to moan and groan all day long about how much power Roger Goodell has and how unfair it is, maybe you shouldn’t have signed that collective bargaining agreement last year allowing him all that power.]

"Waaah ... life's so unfair ... boo-hoo ... Roger is a meanie!"

 

• It’s true that Mark Sanchez and the Jets played well against the Bills, but, keep in mind, it was against a team that ranks no higher than 26th in any defensive category.

• Adrian Peterson doesn’t give a hoot that he tore up his ACL and MCL eight months ago. He’s still going to carry the ball 17 times, including two touchdowns. Granted, it was against Jacksonville, but still: Welcome Back AD!

"Yeah, I'm not really sure how I just did that, either."

• I seriously thought Matthew Stafford was going to blow people away this season (I thought he was underrated last season), but starting the year with a three-interception half probably isn’t the best way to establish oneself as an elite passer. Maybe he’s just trying to lull us into low expectations.

• Why is Mike Shanahan so red all the time?

That's just because he's screaming, you say.

But this is his calm face!

 

• I don’t know if you’ve ever wondered which NFL player you’d most like to hang out with, but I can say with 100% certainty which NFL player I’d least like to hang out with: Rob Gronkowski, hands down. If by some strange series of events, I would somehow have an opportunity to meet him, I would do everything in my power to get out of it.

Party on, brah.

•  You know whom Rob Gronkowski should hang with? This Mensa-candidate Vikings cheerleader, who says: “As part of our military performance tours, I’ve worked out with the Navy and Marines and those were all tough workouts but, no offense guys, I have to say that our cheerleading workouts are harder!” She says this in the same interview in which she decries cheerleaders’ unfair reputations as “bimbos.” Oy.

• Brandon Weeden had a rough start to his NFL career with 4 interceptions and no touchdowns. The most embarrassing part of the day, though, came before the start of the game, when he got caught by the American flag and had to hide under it. How do you come back from that??

• Miami’s rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill also had a tough time of it on Sunday, throwing 3 interceptions. But what can you expect from a player who doesn’t even know which teams are in his division?!?!?

• For the sake of clearing up confusion, the Saints shouldn’t let Rafael Bush wear the same jersey number Reggie Bush used to wear. I was wondering why on earth Reggie Bush was playing safety.

• So much for Buffalo’s revamped defense. Obviously, the worst thing to come out of a very bad day for the Bills was running back Fred Jackson going down for at least 3-4 weeks with a leg injury. Ruh-roh!

• Good for Kevin Kolb. He stunk it up so badly in the preseason, but when John Skelton got carted off the field, Kolb stepped up and drove the Cardinals down the field for what would end up being the winning touchdown (despite the refs’ best efforts).

"Dear God, no! I'm going to lose my job to Kevin Kolb!'

• Nice for Peyton Manning to a win in his first game in 20 months. I’m just glad that his head is still attached. I’m not a Peyton fan or anything, but I worry so much about his neck every time he’s on the field.

• I’m sad for Matt Flynn losing the starting job in Seattle, of course, but props to Russell Wilson coming in and wrestling that position away from a couple of veterans. He looks like he’ll be a fun player to watch in the future.

• I'm ready for Thursday!!!!

This is just too easy.