LION IN WAIT

Packers get Healthy; Ready for Detroit

The battered and beaten up Green Bay Packers caught an early bye week this year and while most coaches eschew having to have their off week so early it may, in the long haul of the season, be just the tonic the doctor ordered.

Literally.

Take a look at the injured, ailing, and infirmed after the Pack’s loss to Cincinnati in week 3 – LB Clay Matthews (hamstring) missed the entire second half, a half that saw Andy Dalton rally the Bengals from a 16 point deficit, S Morgan Burnett (hamstring) who, along with emerging ball hawk CB Casey Hayward (hamstring) has yet to play a down in the regular season, FB John Kuhn (yet another hammy) who is sorely missed as Aaron Rodgers’ backfield protester, RB Eddie Lacy (concussion) who missed week 3 after a helmet to helmet hit from the ‘Skins Brandon Merriweather, TE Jermichael Finley (another concussion  after another cheap sot in Cincy), whose loss radically impacted the Pack’s game plan against the Bengal, RB Jonathon Franklin (foot) who had a heaven and hell debut by rushing for 103 yards but coughed up the ball on a 4^th quarter 4^th down that ended up being the TD that sunk the Pack against the Bengals and RB James Starks (knee), whose injury opened the door for Franklin in the first place.

Mike McCarthy made a questionable decision to go into the Cincinnati game with only 2 healthy

running backs. His worst fears were realized when both Starks and Franklin were out of service at the same time in the game. That put McCarthy in the unenviable position of having to stick WR Jeremy Ross in the backfield temporarily. Ross was merely the required 11^th body on the field as MM had seen enough after Ross botched the kickoff after the Bengals opened the game with a scoring drive, a flub that directly led to a 14- 0 hole that the Packers eventually crawled out from under only to see it evaporate in the end.

Ross’ days in Green Bay were numbered after his 3^rd major fumble in only 8 games. Bill Parcells, who can be as cuddly as a porcupine with PMS, once famously told a camp body “Son, I can get anybody off the street to fumble the ball for me and I can get him at a helluva lot less than I’m paying you!” When Ross was cut following the deflating loss it shocked no one.

Now the Packers have to prepare for the tied-for-the-division-lead Detroit Lions, fresh off a beating up of the previously unbeaten Chicago Bears. As strange as it sounds Packer fans became huge fans of the Motor City Kitties against the hated Bears. A Bear win would have out them at 4- 0 and the Packers under the microscope and behind the eight-ball.

Fortunately the Lions brought the Bears down and back to earth with their win last week.

That, along with those that will be able to re-take the field, is the best news for McCarthy and company.

The Lions come in at 3- 1, tied with the Bears for the NFC North lead. At 1- 2 the Packers have put themselves in a 2 game hole, and they can right the ship against the Lions. Green Bay has historically had much success against the Lions in recent years, but the tone and tenor of the games has become as nasty as the feuds with Da Bears and the Purple Gang in Minnesota.

Ndamukong Suh, the Lions defensive standout is up to his old tricks and has already drawn an NFL

record $100,000 fine for his low blow block at the Vikes John Sullivan’s knees. The fine doled out by the league is as much for Suh’s tiresome history of questionable on field exploits. Suh has had a long and protracted history of not just rough play but downright dirty play. The $100k hit to his wallet is less for his actions than his repeated and flagrant violations of the rules. Suh routinely crosses the line with his style of play. Injurious play. Dangerous, potential career ending play. Suh is an immature man-child who has yet to develop a professional’s approach to the game. Every year Roger Goodell has to convene a separate committee just to deal with Suh’s on field brazen antics. He simply is too dumb to get the message.

Suh’s hit list is long: a kick to Matt Schaub’s groin, a the face mask grabbing – neck wrenching takedown of the Browns’ Jake Delhomme, his overzealous late/ from behind hit/ punch/ shove (depending who is asked) of the Bears Jay Cutler, his beyond violent body slamming a defenseless and helmet-less Andy Dalton after Suh ripped off Dalton’s helmet and continued be driving the full measure of his weight on the unprotected Dalton’s shoulders and head, an unfined hit to the back of the Card’s Eric Winston’s head, and in the epitome of his soiled, checkered young career a stomp on the Pack’s Evan Dietrich-Smith’s arm, a stomp that earned Suh a 2 game suspension and loss of pay that cost him $165,000.

It’s a good things the Lions pay Suh well; his fines alone would represent a very tidy windfall in a lottery win. It also is an aid to Suh’s abhorrent cause that Lions employ a coach in Jim Schwartz who not only tolerates but many believe encourages Suh’s style of reckless, wanton play. Schwartz is a fiery sort, the type of guy who can rah-rah with the best of any college coach (are you listening Pete Carroll?) and can look as sullen as a schoolboy who just had the Twinkies stolen from his lunch pail. Watching Schwartz sulk and pout and become a detached, whipped individual with no chance to stem the tide against the Pack last year was a moment Schwartz is as known for as Suh’s indiscretions. Schwartz’s school yard spat with the Niners Jim Harbaugh is both hilarious and revealing on what makes Schwartz tick.

Schwartz is falling into the Wayne Fontes category of good – but not good enough. With Fontes the

Lions always seemed to be in the 7 – 9 to 10 – 6 record team that sometimes made the playoffs but never did well and sometimes not doing well enough and just falling short. Many thought the Lions were on the uptick after the 2011 season. The Lions were hungry, and had skill players in many key positions. QB Matthew Stafford and WR Calvin ‘Megatron’ Johnson are as deadly a duo as any in the NFL. The defensive line was among the league’s best. So why can’t Schwartz win?

The Lions glaring lack of discipline, ill-timed penalties and their inability to draft talent annually sinks them. Last year the Lions started out well enough but somehow managed to drop the entire second half of the season last year. The defensive that was so good became a shadow last year. Then Kyle Vanden Bosch and Cliff Avril departed.

Schwartz should be whistling “Somebody Up There Loves Me” on his daily drive to work. Keeping Schwartz on is akin to keeping draft genius Matt Millen on as long as he was as GM. The Lion ownership group must really hate change as the stand by their men, no matter how poorly they perform.

Penalties, poor play, a shaky secondary and an offense best described as ‘inconsistent’ have become the hallmark of Schwartz’s regime. The signing of Free Agent RB Reggie Bush has jump started a moribund Lion running game. After the Lions had signs of an improved running game after drafting Jahvid Best all hope for that was lost when Best unfortunately wrecked his knee and has never been the same runner since.

The Lions drafting can be summed up by the choice of Titus Young, the mercurial wide receiver who was supposed to open up space for Megatron while grabbing a few tosses of his own. Young’s episodic failure to deliver led to his outright release and not a soul in the NFL wanted any part of Young, whose demeanor was surly and his play shaky. He was worse when he had a bad day. And his bad days have finally landed him in hot water with law; his recent arrest is the nadir of a career that simply flamed out and Young became just another Lions wasted high draft tossed onto the  WR scrap heap.

Detroit has made almost a joke of their high draft picks – only the supremely talented Johnson has

managed to cobble a career together, and Johnson is quite simply the best WR in the game. At 6’4” he can run be a CB and out jump anyone in the end zone for a jump ball tossed up by Stafford. But for Stafford to be successful he has to do it behind a leaky offensive line that leads to turnovers or one of Stafford’s famous side armed wounded ducks that wobbles into the hands of an eager defender.

The Packers are a work in progress. The defense is very young. With the exception of Ryan Pickett, Johnny Jolly, Tramon Williams and even A.J. Hawk most of the Packers starting D has 4 years or less in the NFL. If the Packers are to have success the defense will have to begin to hold and protect a lead in the 4^th quarter. The addition of Burnett to this game cannot be underscored enough. Burnett is the glue and brains of the defensive backfield, calling the plays and coverages and is a thumper when he hits a ball carrier. Burnett’s desire to get his nose bloodied sometimes exposes him to a deep ball and he may not be left out in a position to attack the line yet as he returns from his hamstring injury. Matthews is still questionable for this week’s game.

Nick Perry has to begin to show something and soon. Perry was a 1^st round pick last year who missed all but the first 6 games last year. Perry was expected to bookend Matthews and be able to get to the passer as well as stuff the run and drop into coverage. Perry has the athletic tools but has been unable to find a way to deploy them yet. Perry has the sum total of 20 tackles/ assists and 2 sacks in his 9 games with no sacks or forced fumbles this year. This is hardly the return on investment the Packer were hoping for when they took him with their first round pick in the ’12 draft. By comparison Brad Jones has worked his way up from a late round pick to become a stellar defender for the Pack with a combined 26 tackles and assists with 1 forced fumble this year.

Getting Jermichael Finley back into the offense can only help Rodgers. Finley figured to factor largely against the Bengals and their shorter, slow of foot linebackers, but when he exited after being stunned after the Bengals George Iloka hit him flush ion the jaw with his helmet the Packer offense and continuity unraveled.

So out of sync were the Packers the lasting image is one of a very frustrated Aaron Rodgers getting

into a heated debate with McCarthy during the game. McCarthy’s moves were not his usual decisive and ahead of the other team moves Packer Nation and even Rodgers has come to expect.

McCarthy also decided he would go into the game with only 2 healthy backs. Now with Lacy and Franklin coming back from injuries and James Starks out for what team officials are only saying “…a few weeks…” MM will not make the same mistake twice. In the no-brainer move of the year that surprised no one Jeremy Ross was released immediately after the he bungled against the Bengals. Now the question becomes who will return the kicks. Will it be Randall Cobb? Or more likely will it be a combination of rookies Micah Hyde (kickoffs) and Jonathan Franklin (punts)? We’ll all know on Sunday.

The Packers imported some runners for a look see but have settled on promoting RB Michael Hill, a 5’10” 210 lb. rookie from the practice squad who was picked up after San Diego made him one of their final cuts. If Hill should see any time in this game it will be where he excels and that’s as a pass blocking back. For his size Hill can hold his ground well. Whether or not he will see any time or become another Ted Thompson diamond in the rough or just another lump of coal remains to be seen. The move indicates FB John Kuhn may not be ready yet to return. So far only Hayward has been ruled out for this game.

Rodgers was way off his game in Cincy. But Rodgers is just too talented to repeat the performance.

The Packers have given away 2 games after leading in the 4^th quarter. There is a sense of urgency now, the type of which puts the type of pressure on a player to step his game up. Expect Rodgers to do just that. Fat after knocking off Chicago the Lions may come in a little softer than usual. If Burnett can play look for the Packer defense to take their game up a notch.

After the bad taste the loss to Bengals left in everyone’s mouth this game could be the rallying point of the season and gets the Packers back on track… and they should do just that as Rodgers looks like the Aaron Rodgers everyone knows.

 

 

Detroit 17

GREEN BAY 34