DISASTER PLAN

Pack Flounders Against Philly; Injuries Continue to Mount

In the immortal words of Vince Lombardi “What the hell’s goin’ on out here?”

The nightmare doomsday scenario of the apocalypse has set upon the quaint hamlet of Green Bay and has taken up full time residency at Lambeau Field. Aaron Rodgers is showing his value to the Packers with every game he misses. After jettisoning all of last year’s unproven backups Seneca Wallace was grabbed up after an undistinguished career as a starter for emergency backup.

It is a pretty safe bet that no one saw Scott Tolzien, an undrafted free agent QB from Wisconsin, taking the field 5 days after being elevated from the practice squad. That would include Tolzien. While Tolzien was far from horrible he was even further from Aaron Rodgers… or even Seneca Wallace.

Wallace and the Packer brass felt confident in him after a week prepping with the #1 unit. There was an air of expectation at Lambeau.

The air went completely out of the balloon in the first period when Wallace exited with a

groin pull. At the rate the Packer QB’s are falling a recycling project may well have already begun. Unconfirmed reports have Lynn Dickey and Bart Starr auditioning and in an unrelated move puffs of white smoke were seen rising from the spires at a certain mansion in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

It will be no surprise to see Matt Flynn back in Green Bay this week. If Wallace is unable to go Flynn is almost a perfect candidate to step in. The onetime designated clipboard carrier for Aaron Rodgers cashed in his team record setting appearance into several million dollars while earning frequent flyer miles around the NFL. Flynn was a highly sought commodity only 2 years ago but was unable to beat out rookie Russell Wilson for the job in Seattle. After being shipped to Oakland Terrell Pryor bumped Flynn again and eyebrows were raised after Flynn failed to catch on in Buffalo. Flynn was once viewed as the best QB not starting in the NFL. While there are whispers that Flynn has a lingering unspecified arm injury his knowledge of the system and the playbook make his signing not merely logical but necessary.

Rodgers is languishing on the sidelines with a fractured collarbone and no one in a potion to do so is saying for how long. Is it 3 weeks? 8? Maybe no one is certain. The only thing that is certain without the leader of the Pack the Pack’s offense has ground to lurching halt.

Without Rodgers Green Bay has looked flat, uninspired, lifeless, and without a chance. And that’s just the assessment of the defense. Tolzien showed he may – may – have some promise for a future in the NFL, but the cold hard reality for the Packers is the future is now. While it was to be expected the offense would dip in Rodgers absence totally unfathomable is the defenses’ weak showings. On paper and on the surface it would look as if the pieces are there but another cold, hard reality is the Packers simply cannot stop the deep ball no matter what they try.

Time of possession? Check. They kept Nick Foles off the field. Field position? Check.

But a recurring theme of not getting off the field, giving up huge chunks of yardage and most troubling allowing almost 17 minutes of game ending, clock killing drives in the past 2 losses to the Bears and now the Eagles that does not bode well for the Pack.

LeSean McCoy picked right up where Matt Forte left off. McCoy did not do anything special and looked more than ept against the inept tackling efforts of the Packers D as he posted 155 rushing yards, shredding the Packers run D repeatedly. 2 weeks ago playoff tickets were being ordered. The fizz has gone out of the bubbly faster than you can say injured reserve. Also MIA is the once league leading D that caused and created turnovers. Typically lumped in among the league leaders in the turnover category the Packers D now ranks very near the bottom of the league. Last year’s rookie sensation Casey Hayward has missed most of the pre and regular season with a hamstring injury and seeing him rolling on the ground clutching the back of his leg in agony on Sunday sent the appropriate shiver down the spine of Mike McCarthy.

It would be categorically unfair to call the Pack ‘snakebit’ at this point with regard to the staggering numbers injuries to date. It is an affront to every snake everywhere to do so. This season’s medical catastrophe is bordering on the theater of the absurd and no matter how many “jars on the shelves” Ted Thompson has to offer up to McCarthy in worst case scenarios at the current pace the cold, hard reality is both men are running out of jars.

Rapidly.

When Wallace tried rolling to his right and firing a la Aaron Rodgers he landed awkwardly

and immediately grabbed his groin area in obvious discomfort. Enter Tolzien, a highly regarded if little known body relegated to the practice squad only a week ago. Cut loose by San Francisco in the preseason the Cleveland Browns thought highly enough of him to offer him a contract bump and roster slot. The Packers stepped in and matched the offer and promoted Tolzien to the big squad squelching another Browns attempt to raid the cupboards.

In the disaster plan after the preseason nowhere was it written that at the halfway point in the season would the mighty Packers offense be led by Scott Tolzien. Yet that is exactly what happened when Wallace pulled up lame. Tolzien played reasonably well all things considered, but merely competent is long ways away from the Pack needs to keep on winning. Two picks hurt Tolzien, the most costly of which was a timing route, back shoulder throw that Tolzien underthrew and was picked off in the end zone and returned 76 yards by Brandon Boykin killing a legitimate shot at a score.

When it rains, it pours. Mason Crosby missed his first 2 kicks, both wide right in the swirling winds of Lambeau. The first kick clanged off the upright while a gust from nowhere blew his second outside. Without Rodgers points will be at a premium. Missing opportunities and leaving points on the field simply will not get the job done.

One man getting the job done continues to be RB Eddie Lacy who improves with every passing week. Nimble and light on his feet he brings a load with him and can send defenders backwards as well as juking them out of their jockstraps. Lacy put up 76 yards for the day but that wasn’t enough for the Packers to hitch the wagon. Tolzien wasn’t exactly awful in throwing for 280 and 1 TD. Nick Foles kept right on rolling for Philly nearly matching his perfect QB rating from last week. For the day Foles was 12/ 178 for only 228 yards but 3 TD’s and a QB rating of 149.3. It was the long TD throws that most frustrated Dom Capers and McCarthy.

The deep ball has been biting the Packers D on the backside of late. As DeSean Jackson

raced thru the middle of the field Foles underthrew him slightly allowing Tramon Williams and Morgan Burnett to close quickly. In a move out of the Keystone Kops Burnett and Williams flattened each other while the ball popped up off Williams’ facemask that Jackson snagged as it hung in midair then tiptoed across the goal line untouched. And backwards.

 

Foles was anything but laser-like on his throws. He underthrew Riley Cooper badly yet Cooper stumbled back to the ball as the Packers secondary lost the ball, Cooper, and a shot to keep pace with the now division leading Detroit Lions. Cooper did another Keystone Kops Katch as he dove forward, grabbed the ball and rolled himself into the ends zone for 6. Both balls to Jackson and Cooper hung in the air like lollipops and yet on both the Packers were unable to capitalize on the miscues.

In adding injury to insult not only did Hayward and Wallace exit C Evan Dietrich-Smith also left with an injury and RT Don Barclay moved over to the RG spot. His replacement Marshall Newhouse is performing worse each week in a backup role. When Barclay was done with another knee injury the last dressed OL on the Packers bench was Lane Taylor. To say the Pack was undermanned is an understatement. It begs the question just how many more of these types of injuries can Green Bay bear? Never mind the playoffs at this point… just getting to competitive is the order of the day.

Even decimated the Packers are still good enough and have enough time to right the ship.

As they gear up to face the Giants, Vikings and Lions it is a crucial 3 game stretch, especially within the division, that the Pack simply cannot squander. The margin for error has been reduced to zilch and for the Packers to avoid having their post season following suit the W’s have to start coming and from unexpected sources.

Mr. Flynn? We’re ready for your close up now…