The Packer Pundit

Fake Punt Does The Trick
Mike McCarthy didn't wait too long to run the first trick play of his NFL coaching career. Trailing Chicago 16-0 with just over two minutes left in the first half Sunday, the Packers called for a fake punt on fourth-and-4 near midfield. Punter Jon Ryan surprised the Bears by throwing a pass in the right flat to Noah Herron, who made a fingertip grab and turned the play into a 16-yard gain for a first down at the Chicago 39-yard line.

So much for easing into it....
In his first NFL game, Ryan was a busy man. In addition to completing the pass on the fake punt, he also punted six times for a solid 45-yard average. The downside came in the fourth quarter when Bears rookie Devin Hester broke free for an 84-yard return for a touchdown. According to Ryan, whose net average dropped to just 24.3 because of that long return, the irony is that it was one of his better punts that Hester turned into a score.

Giving one up
Hester's 84-yard punt return for a touchdown for Chicago was the first punt return for a score against Green Bay in four years. Detroit's Az-Zahir Hakim had a 72-yard punt return for a score (with the help of a lateral from Eddie Drummond) on Sept. 22, 2002, in Detroit.

Just off stride
Favre's one completion on the day to a tight end was his longest of the day, but it was nearly a much bigger play. With the Bears leading 10-0 early in the second quarter, Favre found Donald Lee wide open over the middle. But his throw knocked Lee slightly off stride, and he stumbled to the ground as he made the catch. He got up and was eventually tackled for a 25-yard gain, but a chance to really gash the Bears' defense was lost.

Deep ball a 'miscommunication'
Rex Grossman's 49-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian on the opening series of Sunday's 26-0 loss to the Chicago Bears was indeed a killer. Cornerback Al Harris was willing to take the blame but didn't want to talk about specifics. Safety Marquand Manuel said it "was a miscommunication, that's it. It's nobody's fault." And defensive coordinator Bob Sanders claimed he didn't see what happened and has to "go back and see the tape." It appeared that Manuel bit on Grossman's play-action fake and came up too far, allowing Berrian to get behind him. Harris may have given Berrian too much space inside, but it looked as if he was clearly Manuel's responsibility.

Sneaky, Sneaky Quarterback
Brett Favre was stuffed for no gain on a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak, a play seldom used during previous coach Mike Sherman's tenure. Although offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski said Favre used to run the play "all the time," Favre said he couldn't remember the last time he did.

Woodson's workload
On a day when the Packers' special teams struggled, one highlight was Charles Woodson's punt return average of 14.7 yards on three returns - notably a 28-yard return in the fourth quarter, the longest punt return of his nine-year NFL career. "The returns felt good," Woodson said. "It just felt good to be able to have the ball in my hands and be in a position to make a play. You know, one more block, and who knows what would have happened? ... Those are the kinds of plays that you want early in the game. You want to be able to get off the field early in the game, so you can get a chance to maybe have a punt return and bring the crowd to their feet and get them involved in the game."

Ryan's father ill
Packers punter Jon Ryan acknowledged being nervous for his first of the regular season. He easily could have said it had to do with having a lot on his mind: His father, Bob, had a biopsy Sunday to determine whether he has cancer. But Ryan said he was able to block that out during Sunday's game. "Football has always been a great escape for stuff like that, you know?" he said. "When I'm here, I'm not thinking about cancer. Three-and-half hours on the field and it didn't cross my mind once." Ryan averaged 45 gross yards on six punts, but only had a net of 24.3 yards and Chicago's Devin Hester returned a punt 84 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Pack auditions Kicking Brothers
Move over Zendahas'es... Gogalacks... and Gramatica'es. Not happy with the performance of their kicking game, the Packer's brought in a group of 'Kicking Bother's'... "The Stooges"

Poppinga's return
Brady Poppinga started the regular-season opener at the sam linebacker, completing a recovery from a torn ACL suffered against Detroit Dec. 11. "I felt fine," said Poppinga, who had eight tackles but struggled in coverage against Bears tight end Desmond Clark (five catches for 77 yards). "At first it's a shock, it being my first game, your body really has to adjust to going as fast as it does for as long as it does. By the second quarter, I don't know if it's the second wind theory or your body is just now used to it, but I'm in good shape."

Extra points
**Asked if he considered putting backup quarterback Aaron Rodgers in at any point, McCarthy replied, "No, I didn't. I thought about it. Didn't consider it, though."
**McCarthy said there were "no injuries of consequence."
**The Packers lost their replay challenge on the fumble by Herron on a kickoff return.
**Although three of the four tight ends on the roster were active because fullback William Henderson (knee) was inactive, the lone completion to a tight end was a 25-yard catch by Donald Lee. "If you go into the season with four tight ends, you would expect that you're going to throw to them more," Favre admitted.

Packers add troubled WR Robinson
Pro Bowl player facing possible
one-year suspension
By Tom Silverstein / journalsentinel.com
Just a day after suffering their first shutout loss since 1991, the Green Bay Packers made a bold but risky move to improve their offense, agreeing to terms with troubled wide receiver Koren Robinson. The deal comes eight days after Robinson, a Pro Bowl kick returner last year, made a visit to Packers headquarters to meet with general manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy. Thompson and personnel analyst John Schneider were both in Seattle when the Seahawks drafted Robinson and have a strong, personal relationship with him. -- More

Related Links --

Green Bay takes a chance on Robinson
Robinson Will Try To Put Past Behind Him In Green Bay
Packers roll dice on Robinson





McCarthy Press Conference Transcript: Sept. 11 -- Link







Obituaries --


Packers' season
on brink already
By Andy Baggot / madison.com
First impressions... second thoughts and the third degree: Two single guys. Two first-time head football coaches with veteran QBs surrounded by many question marks. Two lightning rods in the middle of Wisconsin with bolts of public panic crackling around them after underwhelming efforts. That said, Mike McCarthy has a whole lot more to worry about right now than Bret Bielema. -- More


Rough Start Trips Up Packers
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com
Mike McCarthy had preached all week that the start of Sunday's game against the defending NFC North champion Chicago Bears might go a long way in determining how the game would play out. But that start was a rough one for the Green Bay Packers that never got any smoother in McCarthy's NFL head-coaching debut Sunday. The Bears scored on the game's opening possession, and the Packers' offense struggled mightily in early short-yardage situations, ultimately leading to a 26-0 defeat in front of a Lambeau Field record crowd of 70,918. -- More


Signs, signs, everywhere are signs;
And they're all bad
By Mike Woods / GBPressGazette.com
You came, you saw and you, well, either wept or used cursed words you never even knew or threw one of your penny loafers threw your new 60-inch flat screen. You weren't asking for much Sunday. Just a sign, any kind of sign, that things were going to be different. A sign that there was indeed reason for hope. A sign that replacing the old coach with a new one, adding some pricey free-agent help and turning over a good chunk of the roster were all moves that were going to mean something positive down the road. Instead, after the newest edition of the Green Bay Packers were issued a major-league beatdown courtesy of their most despised rivals from Chicago to the tune of 26-snot, the only sign you likely saw was the NFL logo, with new commish Roger Goodell standing in front of it, and announcing, "With the first pick of the 2007 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers select … '' -- More


Favre loses control in fourth quarter
By Tom Silverstein / journalsentinel.com
The longer the futility lasted, the more anyone who watched Brett Favre play through a 4-12 season last year knew he wasn't going to be able to restrain himself much longer. Playing in front of many of his former teammates from the 1996 Super Bowl champion Packers, Favre showed remarkable restraint in trying to run the offense the way it should be run, without the high-risk passes that undermined him during a miserable 2005 season. Through three quarters he had completed 11 of 16 passes for 143 yards, good for a 96.6 rating. Then the desire to make something happen hit him and he compounded a bad throw to rookie Greg Jennings that resulted in an interception with an off-balance, across-the-field throw to Jennings that had interception written all over it. Favre was lucky those two were the only interceptions he threw because there were at least three others that the Bears should have had. -- More


Special teams gaffes costly
By Jon Masson/madison.com
Special teams coordinator Mike Stock leaned against a wall in the corridor outside the Packers' locker room Sunday night. He assessed, with candor, how he felt after Chicago's 26-0 victory over Green Bay at Lambeau Field - a loss that included critical special teams miscues by the Packers. Disappointed? Discouraged? Angry? "How about ticked off?" he said. "I won't use the other vernacular, OK. I'm terribly upset. We lost the ballgame. Whatever happened, we lost the ballgame. Losing (stinks)." -- More


Green lone bright spot for offense
By Jason Wilde / madison.com
Maybe they were right. Maybe, had they just gotten something going early, gotten that one measly yard once or twice, maybe the outcome would have been different.Hey, at the very least, maybe the final score wouldn't have been quite so embarrassing. Maybe the Green Bay Packers actually would've scored. -- More






Chiefs' Green out indefinitely
Pats deal Branch to Seahawks
Falcons dealing with key injuries
Gruden: Bucs shutout loss humiliating
Foley still in fair after shooting


Meet Erin
Carolina Panthers Cheerleader

TopCat Season: 2nd
Hometown: Columbia, SC
Education: University of South Carolina
Occupation: Paralegal
Future Goal: Obtain master's degree in elementary education
Hobbies: Dancing, hiking, shopping, working out and spending time with family and friends
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Favorite TV Show: CSI and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
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Favorite Music: Country and hip-hop
Favorite Quote: Do unto others as you would have done unto you.
Most Important Thing In Life: Faith and family
Achievements: Graduate of and dean's list member at the University of South Carolina, University of South Carolina cheerleader, UCA cheer instructor, UCA all-star cheerleader, and making the TopCats