The Packer Pundit

All-out blitz:
3 things to watch in tonight's game
By Pete Dougherty / greenbaypressgazette.com

1. Double Threat
Philadelphia leads the NFL in total yards after three games. Much of its offense revolves around halfback Brian Westbrook, a premier running-receiving threat. He's much like New Orleans' Reggie Bush and will put exceptional pressure on safety Nick Collins and linebackers A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett in particular because of his ability to regularly line up at receiver along with his running skills. Collins played a key role in the Packers' containment of Bush two weeks ago — Bush had only 73 yards in total offense, though just the threat of him on the field occupied the defense. Collins led the Packers with eight tackles that day and likely will have a big role in defending Westbrook, who abused former Packers safety Mark Roman two years ago on his way to catching 11 passes for 156 yards and three touchdowns in a 47-17 win over the Packers. Hawk, Barnett and Collins will play key roles in trying to keep Westbrook from turning the corner on run plays — Westbrook had a 71-yard run for a touchdown last week against San Francisco — and covering him in the flat and on other routes in the passing game. Whether the Packers can limit Westbrook as they limited Bush will go a long way in determining whether they stay in this game.

2. Contain the QB
Westbrook has an edge Bush lacks because the Eagles' quarterback, Donovan McNabb, poses a major threat with his running ability. That puts a premium on two areas of the Packers' defense, starting with the defensive line. Though sacking McNabb remains a goal, it's more important to get some pressure on him while keeping him in the pocket. When McNabb escapes the pocket, he either can pick up key yardage with the run or give his receivers extra time to get open. With Ryan Pickett probably not playing because of an ankle injury, the Packers won't have their best defensive tackle. Cullen Jenkins, their best inside rusher, Colin Cole and the rest of the defensive tackles must stay in their lanes so McNabb can't break key scrambles up the middle. Same for Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and Aaron Kampman at defensive end, who must keep McNabb from getting outside the pocket. Barnett will pull double duty, because many teams occasionally mirror McNabb with their middle linebacker to keep him from scrambling. The Packers might follow suit.

3. Protect Favre
The Packers catch a break because Jevon Kearse, the Eagles' best outside pass rusher, is out for the season with a knee injury. Even so, the Eagles still have an accomplished outside rusher in Darren Howard, a new threat in defensive end Trent Cole (five sacks) and respected defensive coordinator Jimmy Johnson's blitz scheme, which has 16 sacks in three games. The Packers need quarterback Brett Favre to play with the same game-management mentality he showed last week in his superb performance at Detroit. Favre must bite the bullet even if the Packers fall behind. More importantly, the offensive line needs to protect him. With two rookies starting at guard, that probably means coach Mike McCarthy frequently will have to provide maximum protection with running backs and tight ends, as he did against the Lions, to give Favre a chance. Then it will be up to Favre to find an open receiver, hit a checkdown or throw it away and live for another day. It sounds simple, but against the Eagles' active and aggressive defense, it will be the Packers' biggest challenge. -- Story




Eagles, Packers have things to prove
By ROB MAADDI / AP Sports Writer
The Packers and Eagles both have something to prove when they meet in Philadelphia on Monday night. When Brett Favre last played before a Monday night audience, Green Bay suffered the most lopsided loss in the history of ABC's "Monday Night Football." It was nearly that ugly for Philadelphia in its last Monday night appearance. "I don't remember what our last Monday night game was, to be honest with you," Eagles coach Andy Reid said, conveniently forgetting a 42-0 loss to Seattle in Philly last Dec. 5. "I hope the guys feel the same way. I couldn't tell you which one was our last one." Two weeks after the Seahawks embarrassed the Eagles, the Ravens routed the Packers 48-3 in Baltimore. Favre, who has enjoyed many memorable moments on Monday night, threw two interceptions in Green Bay's worst loss since a 61-7 defeat at Chicago in 1980. Packers coach Mike McCarthy has a legitimate reason for not remembering the game, though, because he was the offensive coordinator in San Francisco last year. He'd certainly like to make his first Monday night game a memorable one. -- More




The Linc too familiar for Packers
By Tom Oates / madison.com

"It still sticks (in my craw)," said linebacker Nick Barnett, among those responsible for the Donovan McNabb-to- Freddie Mitchell pass that kept the Eagles alive. "But every year is a new team and a new season. We would have liked to have made that play, but we've got to move on now and make this year our year."

It's not that the Green Bay Packers don't like Philadelphia. They have nothing against cheesesteaks, Rocky Balboa or the Liberty Bell. They don't even dislike Philadelphia's Santa Claus-booing, obscenity-spewing, battery-throwing fans. It's just that the Packers are sick and tired of having to play the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. "It seems like every year we play them, we've got to go there," tight end Bubba Franks said last week in Green Bay. "They don't come here no more." That last part was dripping with sarcasm, but can you blame the Packers for wondering what they did to anger the NFL scheduling gods? Tonight's game against the Eagles will make it four trips to Philadelphia in four seasons for them, starting with the infamous fourth-and-26 playoff game following the 2003 season. In fact, after tonight, four of Green Bay's last 18 road games will have been at The Linc. The first three were losses, which is why, for the Packers, Philadelphia has become the new Dallas. -- More




Pressure presents problem
By Jason Wilde / madison.com
Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid admits he's a little biased when he says Jim Johnson is the best defensive coordinator in the NFL. "I think he's the best, but that's coming from a guy that's worked with him for eight years," said Reid, the former Green Bay Packers tight ends and quarterbacks coach who took over the Eagles in 1999 and brought Johnson on board as one of his first hires. "He's done a great job for me." Johnson has also done an especially great job for Reid against the Packers, particularly quarterback Brett Favre. In five Packers-Eagles games since Reid and Johnson arrived in Philadelphia, Favre is 1-4, and the Packers have never scored more than 17 points in a game entering tonight's game between the teams at Lincoln Financial Field. In fact, Green Bay's lone victory was a 6-3 win in 2000, Mike Sherman's first as Packers coach. In those five games - including the infamous fourth-and-26 game in the 2003 playoffs, when Favre threw a backbreaking overtime interception on one of Johnson's patented blitzes - Favre has a passer rating of 51.5 - 35 points below his overall career mark. He's completed just 52.4 percent of his passes for 780 yards (an average of only 156 yards per game) with four touchdowns, nine interceptions and 14 sacks. No wonder Packers coach Mike McCarthy called the Eagles "the best defense we'll play to this point in the season." -- More







Yet another: 'William Henderson losing his starting Fullback position'... story

Backfield in motion
By By Steve Lawrence / PackerReport.com
Veteran fullback William Henderson has lost the starting job he's held for more than a decade, and running back Ahman Green is questionable with two bum hamstrings. Also, Daryn Colledge and Tony Moll will start at guard. The Green Bay Packers’ longtime starting backfield of Ahman Green and William Henderson won’t be in the starting lineup on Monday night in Philadelphia. They definitely won’t start together. They might not start separately, either. Packers coach Mike McCarthy made it official on Saturday: Newcomer Brandon Miree has beaten out Henderson and will start at fullback at Philadelphia. Meantime, Green has been downgraded to questionable for the game. -- More







Green’s heavy burden
Injured running back remains huge part of Packers’ offense
By Tom Silverstein
journalsentinel.com
Throughout Ahman Green's recovery from a ruptured thigh tendon, his abbreviated training camp and his early season attempt to shake off the rust and be the running back he once was, the Green Bay Packers have stood behind the ninth-year veteran 100%. They were so sure of his return that they released backup Najeh Davenport, traded young Samkon Gado, put promising rookie Arliss Beach on injured reserve and kept Noah Herron, whose National Football League experience consisted of seven games and 48 carries. In three games, their devotion to Green couldn't be more apparent. He has 58 of the running backs' 66 carries (87.8%), 17 of their 23 receptions (73.9%) and 15 of their 21 first downs (71.4%). He plays on both running downs and third downs and comes out of the game only when he needs a breather. -- More




You should see the fan mail the Packers get
Fans are passionate,
sometimes a bit too passionate,
when writing to their favorites
By Dylan B. Tomlinson
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
When Brett Favre's father, Irvin, died in December 2003, fans found many different ways to express their sympathy to the Green Bay Packers' quarterback. Some sent cards. Others sent money. One sent a sledgehammer.

"There was this package that was really big and it was so heavy and we opened it and it was a huge sledgehammer," said Sue Madden, who handles Favre's fan mail. "Inside was a letter from a man who said that when his father passed away years ago he was very angry and he used the sledgehammer to bang it on anything he could to make him feel better. He thought this would help Brett. He spent $35 in postage to send it to him." For NFL players, reading fan mail is seldom a boring task. Some of the letters are fairly routine, either kids who want autographs or well-wishes about an upcoming game. -- More




Favre gets more mail than he can handle
So much, in fact,
that a Waunakee couple answers it for him
By Dylan B. Tomlinson
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
At Jim and Sue Madden's house in Waunakee, hundreds of letters addressed to Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre are strewn across the coffee table. In the corner of the living room are several boxes of mail that need to be opened, sorted and responded to. If someone sends fan mail to Favre, Sue Madden likely is the first to read it.

While most of Favre's fan mail is sent to Lambeau Field, that mail is forwarded to the Maddens, who sort through it and bring it back to Green Bay so fans will see a Green Bay postmark on anything they receive. "It's an interesting process," Jim Madden said. "I doubt too many people realize how involved it is." -- More

How to write to the Packers

Sending fan mail to Green Bay Packers players is simple.
Fan mail should be addressed to:

Player's name
c/o Green Bay Packers
1265 Lombardi Ave., Green Bay, WI 54304
or P.O. Box 10628, Green Bay, WI 54307-0628

Sue Madden, who handles quarterback Brett Favre's mail, said many letters arrive despite missing parts of the address. "It's funny, because there's mail all the time where on the envelope it just says 'Brett Favre, Lambeau Field' and if there's postage on it, it gets there," she said. "There's no city, no zip code. I guess it works like that for Santa Claus and Brett Favre."

Give Packers time to rebuild
By Mike Vandermause
How did it come to this? The Green Bay Packers are 11½-point underdogs heading into tonight's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. You'd have to go back almost 17 years to find the last time they were expected to lose by such a large point spread. In sifting through reasons why the Packers have fallen so far in the eyes of the experts, it would be easy to look at short-term problems. We've heard a litany of theories this season, from the inexperience of coach Mike McCarthy, to the free-agent miscalculations of General Manager Ted Thompson, to the inability of assistants to properly teach their players, to the decline of aging veterans, to the rookie mistakes. When the losses mount, fingers are pointed in every direction and few are immune from criticism. Fair or not, almost everyone gets caught in the crossfire. The blame game will intensify with every defeat this season. That's why it would be instructive to step back and look at the big picture. There's no quick fix for the Packers' predicament. Thompson has undertaken a massive rebuilding job, and it likely will take years to turn things around. It's too early to know whether Thompson is the man for the job, but he needs time to prove himself. -- More







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Titans' Haynesworth stomps on foe, ejected







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