Packers Make History in Ugly Win

The Green Bay Packers are the best team in football. They have broken from the gates at 11 - 0, and have set a franchise record for wins to open a season. They got there by defeating a rising team in Detroit 27 - 15. But that is not the story in this game. With all the Packers have accomplished, the record is secondary after the season's first meeting with the Lions as the play of the Lions and in particular Ndamukong Suh are the ugly headlines.

 

After the Thanksgiving Day extravaganza against the Lions in Detroit, there are two very obvious truths about Detroit.

The first is they are a very good team.

The second is they are a very dirty team.

There is no need to mince words here. The Lions have gained much in the way of talent but seriously lack in the maturity neccessary to  be a good team yet. That lack of maturity eminates from the top down, and Head Coach Jim Schwartz has as many whining moments as the backstage dressing rooms of the cast of Glee. The immaturity leads to an overzealousness that culminates in penalties, and when the penalties spiral out of control so does the Lions discipline and they become, in a word, dirty.

The number of penalties taken by the Lions is staggering. They simply do not know they are good enough to just play hard. The hands to the face, late hits and leading with the helmet calls drive Schwartz nuts, but the refs are correct by the rulebook. Ndamukong Suh is the embodiment of the thug mentality permeating Detroit. His helemt ripping, hands to the face number against Josh Sitton is the encapsulation of how the Lions approach the game and why they are earning frequent flyer miles to the principal's office.

 

Detroit played a good enough first half, even if going to the locker room behind can be considered 'good'. Matthew Stafford is nursing an injured finger and was missing his receivers badly at the outset. The Lions were piling up yards but came up woefully empty in points scored when K Jason Hansen had a "Noonan" moment and uncharacteristically shanked a filed goal at the end of the half.

The Packers offensive line had their hands full and the Pack had a much harder time than they have all year in moving the ball. The injuries for both sides of the ball began to mount, another indicator of the level of physicality of the game. In a game this close it comes down to ball security and not making mistakes, and Stafford made the biggest mistake of the first half. Ryan Pickett, who is as big as a moving van, somehow escaped Stafford's line of sight and Pickett deflected a pass that popped up and Clay Matthews grabbed, giving the Packers terrific field position. After a few more penalties Rodgers drilled one to Greg Jennings and GB broke the tie and took a 7 - 0 lead that they would hold on to at the break.

But the maturity level of the Lions, or stunning lack thereof, had already begun to emerge. Greg Jennings was grabbed at the 3 yard line and Schwartz continued arguing the call 3 plays later. When a coach is more focused on what happened he is no longer planning ahead, and Schwartz took himself and his team out of any shot of scoring in the first half. A mix up in personnel led to the Lions burning a valuable time out late and how did Schwartz react?

How else?

By over reacting. Loudly. it seems that Schwartz likes to yell an awful lot, but whatever effect he is shooting for is missing its mark. It neither leads nor inspires and instead becomes a self indulgent "We're always gettin' screwed here" tantrum, one that  trickles down to the players on the field. Football is a game played with emotion. When it is played with over emotion and the inability to adjust to the funny things that happen it blows up in ones face. It is worth pointing out that since Shcwartz' encounter with the 49ers Jim Harbaugh the Lions have gone 2 - 4 while the 49ers have gone undefeated. Coincidence?

When Kyle Vanden Bosch was flagged for a late hit, by the way the rules are written is was the right call. He led with the crown of his helemt and hit Rodgers in the helmet drawing the flag. Earlier Clay Matthews had completed his rush and hit Stafford just after the Lions QB had released the ball but drew no flag but a raft of complaints from the Detroit bench. The difference? Matthews finished with a  perfect form tackle in the process of a rush without his helemt making contact.

That is not how Schwartz and the Lions saw it. As long as Schwartz beats the drum of how he and his team are getting the short end of the stick it justifies the the Lions belief that they are entitled to play as dirty as they want.

We said it - dirty.

The mentality becomes "What the hell... we're gonna get flagged for it anyhow so we might as well get our nickel's worth." It suckers an opponent into playing the fool. As a result Pat Lee responds with his own boneheaded moment by throwing punches after being roughed up on a routine punt coverage and gets thrown from the game for his action. The Lions baited him. amd Lee took the bait. This would become the perfect opportunity for Mike McCarthy to remind his team at the half they would need more than their reputation and record to beat back the challenge of the Lions. Disclipline is a requisite to be a champion. Since we previously referenced hockey in this article we'll go back. There's an old adage in hockey that goes "If you can't take a punch in the mouth and skate away, you'll never win the Stanley Cup."

 

Touche. Restraint, disclipine, keeping cool under fire - McCarthy has mastered this aspect while Schwartz still struggles with the concept. The difference between these two teams could not be more obvious. As Lee made his way to the bench his head was down as the senior members of the team let the young CB know loudly that kind of nonsense does not win games, while the Lions bench was whooping it up as if they had just won a playoff game.

 

The epitome of the stunning lack of restraint was Suh's stomp on the arm of the Packers Evan Dietrich-Smith that earned Suh an early trip to the showers. Suh's stomp came right on the heels of them Lions stuffing the Packers attempt to break the game open on 3rd down and it not only got Suh the boot but it gave the Packers another shot in the red zone on the Pack's opening drive of the 3rd quarter. And if no one knows what happens when Rodgers and Co. are given a second shot then they haven't seen the NFL this season. Of course, the Packers scored.

 

On the ensuing drive Stafford threw up another balloon that was picked off by Robert Francois, and when Rodgers took the field it was one strike to a wide open James Jones on a simple crossing route over the middle that ended with Jones scampering 65 yards for the back breaker.

 

The lack of maturity on the Lions could literally be seen on the face of Schwartz who was reduced from screaming and hollering to sulking and pouting.  Stafford follows up Rodgers precision with his third ill advised toss, one that ended up in the hands of Charles Woodson. Stafford doesn't deserve all the blame; Woodson made a Woodson play by ripping the ball away from his man to come away with the pick. It can't be said that the Lions took their best shot. They tried to challenge the king of the hill, and got summarily knocked on their duff at every turn. No longer able to get  by on bluster, trash talk and uncontrolled aggression the Lions became more toothless on every possesion. What remains so troubling about Suh is how unneccesary his antics are. After flying in to league offices to meet privately with Roger Goddell earlier this season - at his own request, no less - Suh will not only be facing a hefty fine this time but in all liklihood a significant suspension. It is one thing to rip off a players helmet during the heat of the moment; it is another thing altogether to stomp on a defenseless opponent. Credit the Packers on the field for doing the smart thing as Suh was booted and not retaliating. The Lions are less intimidating when Suh isn't on the field.

 

Suh's incredulously disingenuous post game explanation of his actions during this game underscores the fact that he isn't getting any message the league is sending. During his post game explanation Suh said he was "...trying to regain (my) balance. I know what the intent of my actions were, and so does the Man upstairs." It can be assumed that the "Man upstairs" to whom Suh referred was not Goddell, who will undoubtedly oversee a lengthy suspension of the less than contrite Suh. Albert Haynesworth earned a 5 game ban when he stomped an opponent and he doesn't have the body of work Suh has accumulated at this early point of his career. The video speaks for itself; Suh's words are an affrontage to anyone with a brain larger than a Lesuer pea. Suh's continued blatant disregard for his opponents and rationalization of his dirty play are nothing but the denial of a dirty player who refuses to acknowlegdge his play has crossed the line from "hard" and "aggressive" into dirty. Whatever suspension the league doles out is not enough. Schwartz has established an atmosphere of tolerance that allows Suh's play to flourish, and Detroit as a team needs to address this issue as well as the Lions are now targeted as the dirtiest team in the league. The league needs to step in and call Scwartz, Suh and Lions GM Martin Mayhew onto the carpet for a pointed meeting and deliver an unmistakable message. Suh and his cohorts have to be dealt with in such a manner that even they finally get the message that this type of play has no room in the NFL.

The thug culture being cultured in Detroit is counter to positive results on the field. Even when the Lions forced a fumble from the hand of Rodgers the ball bounced the way of then Packers, and Rodgers responded by setting up the Pack for an easy chip shot for Mason Crosby, who gave the Pack an impressive lead of 24 -0. While it seemed that there was pushing and shoving at the end of evey play as the Packers salted away the lead the Lions became less ferocious. The whipped look of a defeated team took over, and the Packers reinforced the notion that something staggeringly monumental will be needed to knock the reignging Super Bowl champs from their lofty perch.

The Lions posted a couple of scores when it was too late to mount a counter offensive. They did lay out a blue print for how some team could dent the Packers now record streak. The Lions played a tough first half. And the Packers were still better. A 30 minute effort will not get the job done. For the Packers this is the greatest start in their history. Playing smarter and not dirtier is another element. Out-adjusting to the Packers at the half is going to be even harder.

 

Mike McCarthy has so greatly improved at adjusting at halftime it may be an area at which he now shines. The Packers can make changes large and small to turn a game around. When the Lions make the transition from immature, noisy thugs to a football team they will be taken more seriously.

 

The Lions were trying to earn a seat at the big people's table. The seat they were seeking at the big people's table on Thanksgiving Day was, in fact, a stool in the corner with a dunce cap on it.