The Green Bay Packers vs. The Minnesota Vikings Recap

Let's start with the positive. Donald Driver set a franchise record today, catching a pass in his 104th straight game. His streak breaks that of former Packer great Sterling Sharpe. I'm not sure if even Packer fans truly appreciate what Donald Driver has been for this franchise the last decade. His work ethic is renowned. No one shows up in the spring in as good of shape as Driver. He goes for balls, over the middle, with reckless abandon, like the tipped ball he caught today on Green Bay's last possession, and no matter how hard he's hit after a reception, he comes up wiggling his shoulders and pointing downfield. He's got swagger, and because of that, he's never shaken, and neither are his teammates. Favre trusted him, and now Aaron Rodgers trusts him. I trust him too. The other day a kid at school had on a Ryan Grant jersey, and I told him, "I like the jersey," but I was really thinking something along the lines of, "if any Packer fan buys a jersey this season, it should probably be #80's." The problem is franchise records don't always help to win games. Today's game is a prime example.

Several things came to mind today watching Aaron Rodgers against the Purple People Eaters, and most of them had to do with 3-dimensional objects being made into 2-dimensional objects. Deer freeze in headlights. Aluminum cans collapse under boots. Pumpkins go to pieces when gravity pulls them into pavement. Poland surrenders to Germany. Kuwait has no chance against Iraq. Today, Aaron Rodgers gained a world view, while lying on his back in the Metrodome. Yes, he's got to get the ball out quicker, especially around his own team's end zone, but where was his aid from the UN?

I lost count of how many times Jared Allen, who had to wear a shoulder harness just to play, came into the backfield untouched. One would think that the offensive line's top priority might be to account for a guy who got fined $50,000 last week for hitting quarterbacks and led the league in sacks last year. Aaron Rodgers was forced to play quarterback like the Roadrunner today. The ACME anvils were dressed in purple. Today was a good day to be Wily Coyote, especially since prior to today the Vikings had lost five straight to the Cheeseheads.

I thought the last paragraph made the point about how rough Rodgers' day was, that is until I reread it. The previous paragraph made no mention of the play when, on third down, Rodgers dropped back to pass and threw it to Donald Driver along the sideline. I believe it was Kevin Williams who came threw the line untouched and annihilated Rodgers. Driver came down with the ball, but he was out of bounds. Green Bay settled for a field goal to make it 27-21, but I swear, Aaron Rodgers looked like he was about to cry every moment from the time he got up from the Williams hit to the time it took for him to reach the sideline.

The sequence reminded me of when you're a little kid and get the wind knocked out of you in front of all your friends, all your friends' parents, your parents, and the other team. You get off the ground slowly. You can't say what's wrong because there's no air in your stomach or your lungs. Everyone keeps asking if you're alright, and the only response you can muster is to look at them with eyes full of water, like aquariums. If you've ever experienced this, then you know there's only one thing to do and that's pace around the field or sideline until you can speak again, and in that time, the one thought rushing through your head is, "why am I so weak." Aaron Rodgers had this look in his eyes, but to his credit, the aquariums never overflowed; and he kept getting up and he kept slinging, despite the fact that Minnesota ate up Green Bay's blocks like Number Munchers:
Seriously, Mike McCarthy, teach these men to be troggles.

Speaking of eating things up, Green Bay's secondary leads the league in interceptions; however, the numbers opposing teams have put up against this unit on the ground are disturbing. This unit has held opposing teams under 100 yards on the ground only twice this year, and those two teams were the abysmal Detroit Lions and the struggling Indianapolis Colts. A few weeks ago, injuries might have excused these numbers, but the excuses are now getting healthy. The defensive line rotation is back to full strength, causing the franchise's career leader in sacks, KGB, to be cut two weeks ago, but the numbers for opposing running backs are still growing--Adrian Peterson sprinted for 192 yards and one touchdown in today's game.     

But while the front seven continues to give up huge numbers on the ground, the secondary continues to keep the team in games. Today, they intercepted Gus Frerotte three different times. Charles Woodson leads the NFL in picks, and his interception in the first quarter set up a touchdown drive. Tramon Williams' interception set up a field goal at the end of the first half, and when Nick Collins picked off Frerotte, he wound up taking the pick all the way to the house, cutting the Viking lead to 21-17. This secondary excites fans and makes big plays, and it's not just one or two guys. The whole crew plays physical and hawks the ball, but unless the team shores up against the run, then rooting for this team is kind of like rooting for the Hole in the Wall Gang.

Occasionally, they may jump off a cliff and get away, even if they can't swim. The only problem is this film ends in Bolivia, and at the bottom of the cliff, there is no river, just the Bolivian army and its guns.

A team can only depend on cliff jumping for so long. At some point, the law catches up with a team. The weather's getting colder, and the laws of football state that when the temperature drops teams will run the ball more; and that's when the Green Bay season risks being riddled with bullet holes. Still, it's a helluva ride watching Woodson, Harris, Bigby, Collins, and company--The Hole in the Wall Gang--play like they're robbing trains.

One last note, the team needs to cut down on penalties. According to Troy Aikman, Green Bay leads the league in penalty yards, that's not good. Mike McCarthy has to be feeling like Luke Wilson in Anchorman:

 

We lost one arm in OT against Tennesse, and we just lost our second arm with a missed 52 yard field goal. I think it's safe to say, "C'mon! This is gettin' to be regoddamndiculous!"