Cheesehead Central

Whew

and

Woo!


(Nice game last night.)

Sucks that we're missing so many good players (B.J. Raji!! Ack!) but that was promising.

The Packers really don't seem to deal well with having more than one game in seven days. Smart of them to get that out of the way at the beginning of the season I think. Just plain Sundays for the rest of the season, no Thursdays or Mondays or crap like that.

Plus I think the replacement refs really had a negative impact. Not just the obvious (blown call that basically ended the strike) but in how they affected the pacing of the games, how it was harder to get into a groove, how defenses were able to get away with subtle stuff, etc.

Thank God the Pack is back.

The injuries suck but if only Raji and Jennings are back next week that's a huge step forward.

Finally have a chance to watch and it's NOT ON TV! Stupid Columbus. (Steelers in idiotic prison uniforms and generally idiotic Browns on. That's it.)

Catching up on the game, looks like it was an ugly win but a win is a win (is a win).

Without Jordy Nelson in addition to everyone else (I typed "on top of everyone else" first, that didn't look quite right). I hope people will get healthy -- actually healthy, not rush-back-into-things-and-get-even-more-hurt -- soon.

In other news, the Steelers' uniforms were really, really stupid.



The tan pants? What?

So who saw yesterday's game?

I didn't, and I am bitter. (There are Packers fans in Columbus, gods of scheduling! I see them all the time, wearing their Packers paraphernalia!)

But not seeing a great game is better than not seeing a lousy game, because hey it was a great game.

Really important win I think in terms of injuries and where they are in the season. Hopefully will get stronger as people come back from injuries.

Love that Randall Cobb.

And seeing a lousy game is no fun 'tall.

This is the problem with having no running game. Aaron Rodgers is great but he can't do everything, and 37 degrees is just not prime quarterbacking weather.

Cedric Benson looked so good for a while there, but then got hurt. (Not in this game, a while ago.) Not clear if he will be able to come back at all this season.

Hopefully various other hurt guys (Clay Matthews, argh!) will come back and revitalize things later.

The Packers game was on here yesterday, but I had to turn it off for a while in the middle. The O-line was so porous and the Vikings were really taking advantage. I turned it off after that horrible hit on Aaron Rodgers (he seems to have come through it OK). It wasn't just sacks/ QB hits though, everyone was getting really roughed up.

Only missed a field goal, came back late in the third quarter and watched the rest, which was more encouraging but still rough.

I have a question. I haven't followed the NFL in general for a while, I really only watch the Packers anymore. My questions (OK more than one) are:

- Do the Packers get injured a lot more than other teams?
- If so, why? Frozen tundra? Conditioning? Pure coincidence?

It's bad throughout the league.
This year seems worse than most.

It may seem so to me because my fantasy-team players have been
dropping like flies.

I'm not watching or really even following. (damn dolphins)

but it amazes me how many players have been held out for concussions now that a protocol is in place.

how many guys previously were playing when they should not have been?

Yeah, the CTE stuff is really scary.

Most of the Packers injuries are non-concussions though. Lots of leg stuff. (Hamstrings, ankles, I think a torn ACL in there -- I've lost track.)

George, thanks for that info. The Packer's list of injured players looks like a Pro Bowl ballot. Sucks.

Edit, just looked it up:

Driver, Donald WR Thumb DNP DNP DNP Questionable
Jennings, M.D. S Rib LP FP FP Probable
Jennings, Greg WR Groin / Abdomen FP FP FP Probable
Manning, Terrell LB Shoulder LP LP LP Doubtful
Matthews, Clay LB Hamstring DNP DNP DNP Out
Newhouse, Marshall T Wrist LP LP FP Probable
Pickett, Ryan DT Quadricep DNP LP FP Probable
Quarless, Andrew TE Knee LP DNP DNP Out
Richardson, Sean S Back - LP LP Questionable
Shields, Sam CB Ankle Out Out Out Out
White, Johnny RB Concussion DNP DNP DNP Out
Wilson, C.J. DE Knee DNP DNP DNP Out
Woodson, Charles DB Collarbone Out Out Out Out

Bolded the most important guys (not Greg Jennings because he ended up playing).

Meanwhile others are not even on the list, just done, like Cedric Benson (really promising running back).

Ryan Grant is back!

Interesting.

I like him, but he can be frustrating, too.

http://www.packers.com/news-and-events/article-1/Ryan-Grant-gets-standing-ovation-from-Packers-teammates/ef38de08-c164-4faa-b30c-e8ecc4c80d99

(He's back because James Starks is hurt. Add that to the list. Good grief!)

Nice win for the Packers tonight...And Grant had a nice run of about 12 yards or so...

Yeah! Great to see.

And HARRIS! Wow!

We might have a running game again.

I finally got a decent TV. (Old one -- circa 1997, a cube, ~17 inches. Impossible to watch football on it. New one -- Samsung, 40 inches, HD.) I got it about a month ago but haven't been able to watch a Packers game yet in HD. (No HD cable yet, long story, but upshot is that some broadcast channels -- not including Fox -- have an HD version.)

So yesterday was my first chance to watch the Packers in HD. At Lambeau. In a snowstorm!

I was so happy.

I only got to watch the first half just time-wise (stupid late game), so I only saw Ryan Grant's run + other second-half awesomeness in highlights this morning.

I DID see the stupendously awesome fumble recovery and Lambeau Leap from rookie linebacker Mike Daniels, though. And Sam Shields' fantastic interception.

And this is maybe the best news of all:

I am very happy for you mate! And I have to say...you make me interested in watching more football...Or take special humility for the fact I have been able to watch the games...Where others can not...

I am a Jets fan myself, and while I think they can make it in...I do think they are pretenders...

Why thanks!

I really only follow the Packers but since I get the New York Times daily, the Jets and the Giants are on my radar and I've been following the whole quarterback controversy with some interest. The Tim Tebow thing really doesn't seem to be working out (for him or for them).

tebow went from being a starting QB to clipboard-holder in one year's time.

back-ups despise holding the clipboard...

They should have just let him go...If they were gonna do what they did...If was just wrong...

Sanchez stunk up the joint...and they don't even have confidence in him to play? And go third string?

Then that whole a play here, a play there...It was nonsense mate...nonsense...

Not sure how many had watched their games...But did anyone notice how when they went a play here or a play there how many times they had to burn timeouts because of confusion?

Tebow got coddled more than any underperforming rookie ever has...If you will....Cause he won...But he can't throw....

Then he got treated like a dog...

Mathews comes back this week! But no Woodson to shut down, or limit Marshall...

But I guess the good thing is he will be there next week...

And Mathews is gonna cause all kinds of problems to that O-line...

The game wasn't on here (Browns were on instead) but Matthews evidently did really well! Sacked Cutler a few times.

And now the Packers are sitting on top of the NFC North, woo!