NO CAUSE FOR CONCERN IN LOSS - YET

The fans of the Green Bay Packers have become a quasi-entitled lot of late. It’s not hard to wonder why; after a Super Bowl in 2010 and almost running the table last year Packer fans have come to expect the magnificent as routine, so much so that a palpable sense of discomfort can be felt after exactly one game in the new NFL season. And so it goes when expectation runs high and meets an opponent that is every bit the worthy contender, and possibly even better than anticipated.

San Francisco came into Lambeau and blew out with an impressive 30 – 22 win opening the ’12 campaign and in the process established themselves as the lead dog. The Niners are a vastly improved team from the NFC Championship team from last year and will be in the mix till the end. Their defense is as good as it gets in the NFL and the lackluster offense now has some firepower across the board. QB Alex Smith was much more than a game manager as he looked coolly efficient in the pocket. While Aaron Rodgers had the better numbers the addition of Randy Moss and Mario Manningham make SF easily the class of the NFC. That SF won this game while never trailing it cannot be understated that last year Green Bay trailed at home for a total of just over 3 minutes and they never led in this game.

For the Packs part there is much that can be taken away after this loss. First off is to remind the panicked fan to calm down, breathe deep, get away from the window and put down the gun… all is not lost. Last year’s SF D gave up an average of 14 points, the 3^rd lowest total in history. Green Bay scored 22. The Packers are relying on a very young and very inexperienced defense. Clearly this is not the same D that will take the field at the end of the year and they are much better than last year’s stinko version.

SF has made its mark with its ability to relentlessly pound the ball and eat up yards with the run. Frank Gore is as good as billed. His 23 yard sprint around the right side on the first play after an Aaron Rodgers pick gave the Niners enough room to escape with the W just about the time ARod and crew were starting to find some room of their own. The biggest difference in this game was that single turnover, uncharacteristically tossed by Rodgers who did not see LB Navarro Bowman in the middle of the field. These two teams live on the turnover and were # 1 and 2 in turnovers on defense last year. The lone pick gave SF more than enough to ride out the Pack attack.

On the flip side the Packers defense is a work in progress. When a team makes wholesale changes as GB did in the offseason to its D it is not unrealistic to expect the first efforts to be less than glowing. And give SF Coach Jim Harbaugh and the Niners credit – it doesn’t help when opening against a team that is going to give many teams fits. But the Packers were able to generate a pass rush. Clay Matthews had 2 ½ sacks to open and the pressure was consistent. There is a still the inability to stop the run but Gore makes that a weekly problem for any D he lines up against.

SF opened with a 10 point lead, QB Alex Smith marching his team down twice finding newly acquired Randy Moss over the middle from 14 early in the 2^nd quarter.  Rodgers countered with his own drive and hit TE Jermichael Finley for a short TD to cut the lead to 10 -7. This was a drive that also saw Finley in a bizarre end zone confrontation with CB Perrish Cox.  After getting tangled up on a slant, Finley got up and appeared to shove the prone Cox with both knees and Cox responded by pulling Finley’s feet from under him and then stepping on his ankle with his cleats. While no flags were thrown one on field official threw his hat. His hat?

This was not the only time these brave men masquerading as NFL officials would leave their mark.

After another Alex Henery FG the Packers could not muster much in the way of offense and yet called a timeout as the 2^nd quarter wound down that gave SF the ball with little time and average field position and some life. Out goes QB Alex Smith and Harbaugh inserted backup QB Colin Capernick, a much better runner than Smith, who promptly gashed the middle of the field for a nice run that gave Henery (photo/ left) a shot at a 63 yard FG, one that after it bounced off the crossbar tied the NFL record that saw the entire Niners team react as if they had won a Super Bowl.

After the half SF then extended the lead to a blowout-type 23 – 7 after TE Vernon Davis hauled in a 4 yard strike from Smith. Just about the time the fannies in the seats were getting mighty uncomfortable 2^nd year man Randall Cobb swung some much needed momentum back towards GB. His dazzling 75 yard punt return was marked by a block in the back, a flag, another block in the back, a lengthy delay and Jim Harbaugh needing therapy when it was done. As Cobb broke right and swung wide LB Brad Jones caught a defender from the side drawing a flag. After further review it was clear Jones had hit his man in the front of the shoulder, so the replacements picked up the laundry.

But rolling the tape a few more seconds saw Packers rookie LB Terrell Manning clearly hitting his man in the back of the numbers. While Cobb, Mike McCarthy and everyone else on the Packers sideline whistled nonchalantly so as not be noticed the replacements promptly dropped the ball and picked up the flag. Touchdown, Green Bay. And Harbaugh’s blood pressure almost spiked at 300.
The NFL has been embroiled in a protracted and ugly strike with its regular game day officials. The refs want more money (who doesn’t), more insurance, more full time positions. The collective price tag for all this? It works out to $100 -200,000 per TEAM to settle this dispute. In a league that generates nearly 9 BILLION dollars in revenue it is inexcusable to quibble with such an insignificant figure and disgrace the shield and the game with the level of incompetence now on display.

We have no doubt that these are nice, well intentioned men. But Roger Goddell and the rest of the NFL power brokers are disingenuously and arrogantly kidding only themselves into believing you can take an attorney, an accountant, 2 salesmen, an ad ex, a plumber and a teacher from Division III school officiating backgrounds, cram 2 months with of NFL rules down their throats, dress them up in NFL clothes and call them NFL refs. Consider that Green bay was among the least penalized teams all of last year, and yet had 9 penalties called in the first half. Consider Clay Matthews chasing down Alex Smith and grabbing him just as Smith releases the ball taking him down as the ball fluttered harmlessly to the turf, only to get up and see he had been whacked for “roughing the quarterback.” That play extended the Niner drive that resulted in a TD.

The incompetence does not end with the calls. The glaring non calls, especially on pass interference shows that the size of the players and speed of the game is beyond the ability of an attorney, an accountant, 2 salesmen, an ad ex, a plumber and a teacher from Division III school officiating backgrounds. AT this point the only thing bigger than the players and the game is the ego and hubris of the NFL, Goddell, the negotiating committee in trying to gag the players and coaches while this laughable excuse of officiating wanders the gridiron.

Games that feature high octane offenses, like Green Bay and San Francisco, deserve a much better fate that the pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey approach taken by these replacements. It is not above speculation to wonder if someone from the NFL didn’t haul his ass right down to the ref’s room to tell these neophytes to put the damn hankies away after a shameful first half.

After Cobb’s return energized the entire Packer bench Rodgers set about doing what Rodgers does best. But Rodgers did something he almost never does. His ill-timed pick was the one that did in the Pack. In a game of “what ifs” Rodgers took the field after the Niners took the big lead and marshaled a drive that saw James Jones the feature target. The Niners did a terrific job of taking Greg Jennings out of the equation as he was persona non grata for this one. Jordy Nelson also saw a lot of in your face coverage. Finley had some more drops much to the dismay of the Packer coaching staff, and Cedric Benson found as much running room as everyone else who tries to run on

SF finds – little to nothing.

 

SF plays a stifling, choking physically intimidating game on D. They completely shut down the run and then took Jennings out of the game. Give credit where it is due and give credit to Harbaugh for putting together a team and a game plan capable of defeating the Pack. There was but one scant turnover in this one, and to a man the Pack knows they will get theirs eventually. Charles Woodson said afterwards that the Packers ability to create turnovers is still there. The Niners simply didn’t cough it up. SF needed to play perfectly, and they did. But it is early, and a game like this can serve to wake the Packers up and send a message of urgency to the troops.

Green Bay did not lose because of the officiating. They lost to a San Fran team that came in hungrier and better prepared to do battle with an NFL powerhouse. SF will be in the hunt and it is not too early to rank them among the league’s elite. Equally it is no time for the Pack to pull up stakes. The defense is improved, yet the efforts of the new players, players like Jerel Worthy and Philip Merling as well as Mike Daniels will have to elevate. The defense the Packers rolled out today has a high ceiling. Jarrett Bush started at CB and that is an experiment that may not have much of a shelf life. Bush is aggressive and a sound tackler but is lacking in man coverage. Randy Moss and the fear of his vertical game breaking ability were too much for Bush, so look for Sam Shields, injured CB Davon House and rookie Casey Hayward to be tossed in sooner than later. Shields did display some better tackling than last year in stopping RB Frank Gore short of a 1^st down.

There is no time to sit around feeling sorry for themselves. The Pack gets right back to work and they get to strap it on and get after the high flying Bears on Thursday night. The early part of the schedule was going to be a test for the Pack. The next one comes soon enough. It’s early yet, and there is still room to grow.