BACK IN THE HUNT

Packers Bring Down Lions; Race Tightens in NFC North

After witnessing the Green Bay Packers send the paper tiger Detroit Lions two indelible facts are incredibly obvious. Fact 1 – the Packers are a much different team when S Morgan Burnett plays and Fact 2 – the Lions are a much different team when WR Calvin Johnson does not.

The game time decision to not play Megatron due to a knee injury had to be a huge relief for Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dom Capers. Johnson is the heart and soul of the Lions high flying offense and without him QB Matthew Stafford has some decidedly unappealing options as targets in the Lions attack. Just how important is Johnson to Detroit? If a parallel needs to be drawn take Aaron Rodgers out of the Packer offense and see how far it gets.

Megatron is that important.

While it’s a stretch to make a wideout that important to a teams’ offense Johnson is the rare bird that is just that

important to the Lions. With the Lions already missing Nate Burleson the loss of Johnson crippled Stafford from the get go. Megatron routinely goes up like a 6’4” ballerina to snag a Stafford offering and he usually delivers. Not only was Johnson’s loss felt on the field the entire Lions team played the game as somnambulists as they looked tired and asleep at the wheel.

Even the resurgence of RB Reggie Bush couldn’t offset Megatron’s loss. Bush has found new life in Detroit but the Packers have stepped up their run defense this year significantly. But the Packer D held Bush to but 44 yards rushing on 13 attempts and 25 yards on 4 receptions. Stafford was continually hurried and harried; for the day the Pack recorded 5 sacks and OLB Nick Perry was among those who had an early feast on the Lions.

Perry had a pair of sacks and played like the first rounder he was hoped to be. There was an uneasy moment when All World LB Clay Matthews exited with an injury to his thumb but this time Perry was able to nicely fill the void. The Packer ‘backers took quite hit in yesterday’s game as Brad Jones, Robert Francois, Matthews and Jamari Lattimore all exited at one point or another with ailments. Brad Jones was helped off after he joined the legion of gloom with another maddening hamstring injury.

Whatever offense that was going to be generated for the Lions was going to come off the right arm of Stafford. Without Burnett the Packers have played abysmally against the pass all year. The safeties in particular have come under heat for their uninspired play. S Jerron MacMillian has been singled out for his inconsistent play and neither he nor Chris Banjo have been the answer. The Packers did not draft or sign any help for the Safety slot and without having Burnett the back end of the D has been exploited. Bengal QB Andy Dalton took advantage of the absence of Matthews and Burnett in leading the Bengals to a 16 point comeback win just before the bye.

Burnett’s loss has been felt from the beginning of the year. Burnett has settled into becoming a standout S and

is responsible for the defensive calls from the defensive backfield. While M.D. Jennings has performed admirably the loss of Sean Richardson to injury has left the safety position uncharacteristically thin. McCarthy has yanked MacMillian on several occasions and the sophomore slump has a grip on MacMillian as he has been in a funk all year. Burnett’s return and steadying presence was just what Capers needed and while Stafford had a good day, without Johnson he was kept from having a great day.

While the D did not come away with a pick nonetheless they shut down the high flying high scoring Lions. The Denver Broncos are playing and scoring at such a ridiculous clip that finding a way of shutting them down short of not letting their plane get off the ground is a task that no team as of yet has been able to meet. Entering the contest the Broncos Pinball Wizard offense was averaging over 44 points/ game. But in a measure of just how far the NFC North has come the next 4 teams average scoring were all from the NFC North led by the Packers in point scoring average.

QB Aaron Rodgers returned back to the level of play most have grown accustomed to seeing. He was coolly efficient in going 20 for 30 with 1 TD and tossing for 274 yards. One key stat is Arod was sacked only once and it came when Rodgers held the ball to long looking for someone to break open. By contrast the 5 sacks of Stafford showed the direction of the new Packer defense. Rodgers could have easily had another TD to James Jones but Jones’ foot caught the edge of the out of bounds stripe negating what would have been Jones’ 2^nd TD of the game. Jones found himself wide open as he blew past CB Chris Houston. Jones will never be mistaken for being fleet of foot but when he had a step and Rodgers hit him in stride Jones was off to the races. 83 long yards later Jones finally found the end zone.

Jones took a 45 degree angle to cut his jaunt to the end zone inside and finally shook his cover by breaking

back outside. In a truly forgettable moment of hilarity Jones then went into a dance after scoring that looked much like a river dancer having a seizure. And in what is destined to be played over repeatedly Jones failed miserably at his Lambeau Leap. They say timing is everything. Next time Jones will scan the stands a little closer. In addition to not being able to make the leap into the stands even after he got a boost up their he landed in the lap of a Lions fan who promptly shoved him back drawing laughs and the chiding of his teammates.

Also returning for the Pack was RB Eddie Lacy who just missed a 100 yard game. For the record Lacy put up 99 yards on 23 carries in a strong return. The fact the Packers want to run the ball more was never more evident. As the Packers offense shifts from being a pass happy point scoring lot the balance of the offense has been imposed as Lacy has posted some good numbers. James Starks and Jonathon Franklin have already had 100 yard games; the thought of having 3 consecutive 100+ yard games was a thought almost inconceivable before the season started. Franklin also saw limited reps but after he fumbled again after holding the ball loosely it was back to the bench. The words “ball security” may be ringing in young Mr. Franklin’s ears this week as Franklin still has the college style bad habit of running in traffic with the ball away from his body and not secured up close.

After his untimely week 3 fumble that the Bengals pounced upon to wrest the lead back away from the Packers Franklin must work on securing the ball. If he can’t MM will look elsewhere until he either learns to cover the ball or he may find himself joining Jeremy Ross on the unemployment line. While Franklin is a 4^th round pick and has a huge upside his fumbling continues to plague him like whiskers on the chin of a pageant queen.

The ball control offense led the way to a time-of-possession win after GB held the ball over 32 minutes, exactly

what McCarthy is looking for. While the pass was not abandoned the run is now doing what McCarthy has hoped it would do all along – force the opponent to commit to playing against it. Jordy Nelson had 2 spectacular catches and finished the day with 5 grabs for 82 yards.

Randall Cobb almost became the 3^rd consecutive Packer to post 100 yards rushing as he had 72 yards on 2 carries and one sweet run of 67 yards when – shades of the old Packer power sweep – he took the ball outside, found some daylight and ran the ball in the alley and was off to the races. The creative deployment of Cobb gives the Packers more tools and defensive coordinators more sleepless nights.

Lost in the complete control the Packers held in this game were some very important facts. Mason Crosby went 5 – 5 on his kicks and not only has been perfect all year he has been kicking so well the ball is being driven right down the middle and with authority on his kicks. Packer fans can be a funny and fickle lot. While Crosby has been perfect all year and has worked mightily on his games since last year’s underwhelming performance many fans still have that “uh oh” moment whenever Crosby takes the field. But with every passing week and every successful kick not only is Crosby gaining confidence McCarthy is gaining even more confidence back in Crosby and is now being rewarded for his patience n sticking by his guy.

The Packers used to be a thrill show that scored points by the bunches offense. But this steady, slow grinding and pounding of an outmatched opponent is beginning to pay dividends. This game could easily be looked at as a ‘must win’ type of game in that Detroit came in at 3 – 1 with a win in the division already over the Bears and the Bears sat at 3 -1. Losing this game would have put the Pack a full 3 games behind in the loss columns and down 1 game in the division. With the Bears being manhandled by suddenly strong New Orleans the Packers now find themselves right back in the thick of things and none too soon. Going into Baltimore to face last year’s Super Bowl champs will be a daunting task and a game such as this was sorely needed.

And of course one of the most hated players in Green Bay was at it again. Ndamukong Suh reared his ugly

head yet again. Early on as Rodgers slipped away from the Lion pass rush as Suh was being occupied by his man Rodgers began to run past Suh. Suh then kicked his leg into Rodgers’ shin and drew a 15 yard penalty for tripping. The same act was committed later by DE Israel Idonije cementing the Lions rep as filthy. Suh’s act is not merely an instinctive reaction. It is a dangerous play that could break someone’s leg. No doubt the league will review the kick. Suh has become a tiresome repetitive joke. For as vaunted as the Lions pass rush is supposed to be Suh and Co. were held in check by a Packer offensive line that has 1 rookie in David Bahktiari and 2^nd year man Don Barclay. Suh lost most of his battles against Josh Sitton who is also returning to his Pro Bowl form. And the frustration of his inability to shed a block leads to yet another Suh-like moment of stupidity.

Lions head coach Jim Schwartz routinely watches his team fizzle and sputter with the some lack of focus lack

of discipline types of plays. The Lions are good enough to make some noise but somehow have the ability to come crashing back to earth with a thud. Several years back a young coach Mike McCarthy watched game after game as his Packers were among the league’s leaders in penalties. But as the Pack improved McCarthy’s tolerance for his team shooting itself in the foot became as thin as tissue paper. The Lions are not contenders.

Far from it. Call the Lions paper tigers and heir to the emperor’s throne – the emperor who wore no clothes. The last time the Lions won in Lambeau a certain savior-to-be was toiling as a hotheaded rookie in Atlanta. Brett Favre had yet to become a Packer and the Lions had a win in Wisconsin. We said earlier the Lions will find a way to shoot themselves in the foot. Without Calvin Johnson the Lions were already on only one leg. Suh and his disappearing act in big games sealed the fate for the Lions.