The Packer Pundit

Another record
With his two touchdown passes on Sunday, quarterback Brett Favre has now thrown 198 career TD passes on the road, setting a new NFL record, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Longtime Miami quarterback Dan Marino held the previous record of 197. Marino still holds the overall career touchdown pass record with 420. Favre is now at 409 and needs 12 to break that mark.

On the mend
Fullback Brandon Miree (elbow) and running back Vernand Morency (back), who have missed the last two games due to injury, will be put through an extensive workout on Tuesday with the hopes they can be upgraded from doubtful to questionable this week, McCarthy said.

Victory Monday
The players were given Monday off after the victory, meaning the time normally spent on film study will be made up either on their own or as part of Wednesday's meetings. The players are off on Tuesday as well, their regular day off. Jagodzinski said one of the benefits to 'Victory Monday,' as they call it, from the coaches' perspective, is it gives them a chance to begin preparing for the next opponent. Most of the game-planning occurs on Tuesdays, but with the players off on Monday the coaching staff is getting a head start on New England.

In the hunt
Despite a sub-.500 record at 4-5, the Packers are just one game out of what would be a wildcard playoff spot in the NFC. If the regular season ended today, both of the NFC wildcard teams would have 5-4 records. That puts an added premium on Sunday's game with New England, Green Bay's only home game in the month of November. The difference between being 5-5 versus 4-6 with six games to play could be significant. "This is a big game, this is a huge game," McCarthy said. "It's at home. We have to get back to 5-5 and we'll be right in the middle of it." Having won three of their last four games, the Packers are playing their best football right now. The loss at Buffalo was a step back to the mistake-filled defeats earlier in the season, but aside from that the Packers have been playing solid football since their bye week and hope to continue that to stay in the playoff picture. "If you look at the way we started the season and the number of things we did to hurt ourselves, I don't think you're seeing that as much," McCarthy said. "I think we're playing at a very high level emotionally, physically. The style of football play is what I want this football team to look like, and if we continue to do that, a lot more positive things are going to happen."

Making amends
It was a rough day for nickel back Patrick Dendy until he intercepted a fourth-quarter heave by Brad Johnson to help preserve the victory. Dendy gave up a pair of long receptions to Bethel Johnson, one a 35-yarder that came on a long touchdown drive that gave the Vikings a 14-10 lead and another 30-yarder that ultimately didn't cause any damage. "I knew they were going to come at me again," Dendy said. "I saw the ball and made the play."

Not to his liking
Offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski was shaking his head over a couple of plays he doesn't want to see made again. One was Jennings' lateral to Driver after a 12-yard reception. Driver gained another 30 yards after the lateral, but Jagodzinski would prefer his rookie hang on to the ball. "He must have worked on that at Western Michigan," Jagodzinski quipped. The other play came after receiver Ruvell Martin got up after taking a big hit from linebacker E.J. Henderson and spiked the ball so hard it bounced 20 feet in the air. "I don't like him spiking the ball right there," Jagodzinski said. "I don't know, what is that, Saginaw Valley (State)? Western Michigan and Saginaw Valley, we got to get that addressed."

Closing the door
McCarthy backpedaled faster than any of his cornerbacks when national reports about his thoughts on quarterback Brett Favre's future came up Monday. Both Jay Glazer from Fox and Peter King from Sports Illustrated and NBC reported Sunday that McCarthy told them he hopes Favre plays another year and that he could play two more years. McCarthy said he didn't intend to re-start the Favre-future talk with his comments. "If I opened the door for that type of scenario, I need to close it. That wasn't the intent of my conversation(s)," McCarthy said. "We talked about Brett Favre as far as the way he's playing this year, we're excited about the way he's playing. (I) referred to (the fact that) he has plenty of gas in his tank and can play another couple of years if he wants to, but those are postseason topics. I know he doesn't want the distraction, our football team doesn't need it and if I opened the door I need to close it. There's no need to go there anymore." (See Story Below)

Instant replay?
Wide open Billy McMullen's 40-yard touchdown for the Vikings looked eerily familiar to Lee Evans' 43-yard touchdown for Buffalo the week before, but McCarthy and defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said after watching film the coverage busts were caused by two different problems. While cornerback Al Harris was correctly playing a cover-2 zone in each instance, Evans' TD resulted from a communication error that had cornerback-turned-safety Charles Woodson in the wrong coverage. McMullen's happened when safety Nick Collins came up to cover a tight end that a linebacker had failed to take short. "Sometimes mistakes happen in the most simplistic aspects of the game," McCarthy said. "It's a play we needed to make." Said Sanders: "We just didn't play the coverage very well. (Collins) should have had (McMullen) on that side, but it was just a total defensive breakdown on that side."





Tauscher Doubtful, Moll Ready At RT
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com
Posted 11/13/2006
Mark Tauscher's groin injury will likely keep him out of this week's game against New England, and rookie Tony Moll is expected to get his first NFL start at right tackle. Tauscher injured his groin late in the third quarter at Minnesota on Sunday, and Head Coach Mike McCarthy said he'll be doubtful on this week's injury report. Moll filled in for Tauscher for the remainder of Sunday's game and held up well despite having played only guard in games so far this season. "I thought he played OK," McCarthy said of Moll. "He had the one look on the defensive front that he didn't adjust very well to. But I thought he was solid. We threw the ball a bunch down the stretch there, and that's never easy just to jump right into that, but I thought he was OK." Moll, a tight end who converted to tackle in his final year in college at Nevada, started the first four games of the season at right guard before losing his starting job when fellow rookie Jason Spitz returned from injury. He started at right guard again at Miami when the offensive line shuffled around due to Chad Clifton's illness but otherwise has been working as the backup right guard and right tackle. McCarthy and offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski believe tackle is a more natural position for Moll, and he'll get his most extensive work there this week. McCarthy said it should help him to get a break from moving between the two positions at least for a while because, while it was a necessary evil during training camp as positions were getting sorted out, McCarthy feels moving around young linemen is not best for their development.

"We've moved Tony all over the place because once you're not the starter, that's kind of the role you fall into," McCarthy said. "But his natural position is right tackle, and I think it will be in his best interests if he is probably going to play this week that he takes all the reps there. Because for young guys to move around that much, that's difficult. "I think you'll see him settle down and play better when he gets to stay in one place for a while." McCarthy didn't rule Tauscher completely out for Sunday's game, however. He's going to let him rest until Thursday and then have the injury re-evaluated. If Tauscher isn't able to play, it will break his streak of 57 consecutive starts that dates back to the start of the 2003 season. "I expect Mark to do everything he can to get on the field, just from my short time with him this year," McCarthy said. "It's a pretty good groin injury, and we'll see how a couple days of rest do for him. We'll have more information by the end of the week." -- Story






Victories at Metrodome always sweet
Favre leads total team effort in 23-17 victory over Vikings
By Jeremy Reeves
Special to The Capital Times
Green Bay Packers fullback William Henderson has been coming to this huge white bubble they call the Metrodome every year since 1995. And for most of those 12 trips here, his team has enjoyed about as much success as Republicans in the recent elections. From T.J. Rubley's infamous audible to Randy Moss running rampant in the secondary to the irritating giant horn-blowing guy dressed like Leif Ericson - nobody's sure if he missed the boat back to Greenland or the audition for the Ricola commercial - this place has often been a house of Horrors for Green Bay coaches and players. That's why Henderson couldn't contain the grin on his face after the Packers rebounded from last week's blowup in Buffalo with a gutsy 23-17 Sunday victory over the hated Vikings. "C'mon, this is Minnesota. This is divisional. Happy is probably an understatement simply because we know how difficult it's been to win over here," said Henderson, who caught six passes for 26 yards. "This is a fantastic win," he added. "A young team coming into a more adverse situation than we had last week on the road, holding their poise against a very respected and talented defensive line, a talented secondary, and we were able to make plays. "It's almost like a double victory since it was a divisional win. We still know that there's a lot of room for work. But the fact that we got black and blue, we went out there with a blue-collar mentality and went out there and just physically fought the battle, you've got to feel good about the team." -- More






Sneak peek
Current stretch will determine Green Bay's fate
By TOM SILVERSTEIN / journalsentinel.com
Posted: Nov. 13, 2006

"I'll say this, we're playing our best football. If that's good enough, time will tell. You always like to come out of the gate playing fast because you look at the best way to get into the playoffs (and it) is to get on a roll early and get some wins under your belt. This is the most important part of the year, and are we where we want to be? Hell, I want to be undefeated, but that's not the case. But I'm happy with the progress we've made." -- Mike McCarthy

If you asked Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy if he thought his team's record would be better than 4-5 at this juncture of the season, he would probably say yes. If you asked him whether he's afraid of what will happen as the Packers hit the meat of their schedule - a four-game stretch that started Sunday with a game at Minnesota and continues with games against New England (6-3), Seattle (6-3) and the New York Jets (5-4) - he would say no. Winners of three of their last four games, including an inspired 23-17 victory over the Vikings on Sunday at the Metrodome, the Packers are in the midst of self-discovery. Over the next two weeks they'll be playing a pair of teams that have been in the Super Bowl as recently as two years ago and remain in the hunt for another trip this season. If there's a good time to face two teams like the Patriots and Seahawks, this is probably it. -- More






Packers coach mum on Favre's future
Associated Press
All the signs are there. Brett Favre is limiting mistakes, having fun on the field and winning on the road. It's only natural for Packers fans to begin their annual winter rite of speculating about Favre's future. But Packers coach Mike McCarthy dismissed a report Sunday night that he said Favre should return for 2007 and 2008. McCarthy said any talk of Favre's return should wait until after the season. "If I opened that door for that type of scenario, I need to close it," McCarthy said Monday. "As far as the way he's playing this year, we're excited about the way he's playing. I referred to I think he has plenty of gas in his tank, he could play a number, a couple of years if he wants to, but those are postseason topics. I know he doesn't want the distraction, our football team doesn't need it and if I opened a door, I need to close it." Players had the day off Monday, but with the Packers at 4-5 McCarthy was much more willing to talk about another postseason topic - the playoffs. "If you're able to stay the course and stay true to who you are and have a good plan and execute the plan, you definitely have a chance," he said. "To get back to 5-5, we'll be right in the middle of it. So yes, I think we have an excellent chance." -- More



Favre? He's as good as ever
McCarthy's pleased, but won't look ahead to 2007
By Pete Dougherty
greenbaypressgazette.com
With the way the young and improving Green Bay Packers are playing, it wouldn't be a surprise if quarterback Brett Favre returns next year for his 16th season with the Packers. Two national reports on Sunday broached the subject of Favre's possible return, and both said coach Mike McCarthy wants Favre to play at least one more season. Jay Glazer, a reporter for Fox Sports' TV coverage of the Packers-Vikings game, said McCarthy told him over the weekend he's lobbying Favre to come back for at least one more year. Peter King of NBC and Sports Illustrated said Sunday night that McCarthy told him he thinks the 37-year-old Favre could play at least two more years if he wanted. But on Monday, McCarthy immediately put the kibosh on potentially distracting talk of Favre's future, saying would not discuss the issue. Regardless, Favre appears to be enjoying himself tremendously on and off the field in his first season under McCarthy. He's given the Packers every reason to think that as long as the young team continues to show progress, he's more than open to returning next season. He's scheduled to make $11 million in 2007. McCarthy, in turn, seems thrilled with Favre's play and gave no reason to doubt the reports he wants Favre back. "I think he's a top quarterback in our league, no doubt about it," McCarthy said Monday at his press conference. "I think the way he runs our offense, there are so many things he does that don't show up on the stat sheet as far as the management of play selection, the run and pass checks, keeping us out of bad looks, bad angles. He still throws the ball as good as anybody. He's very accurate, and his decision-making has been solid. I think he's a top-flight quarterback. If we get in the playoffs, I'll take him against anybody."
-- More






Here's an interesting video I found on YouTube of the Magic Man (Don Majkowski) trying to play "Cat Scratch Fever". Like I said... 'trying to play'. Hey Don... stick to your day job! Hey... what is his day job???
(video play time 1 minute)