NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Jclombardi highlights Packers headlines day after loss to Bears.

Guest senior writer jclombardi @ http://lombardiave.com

Packers couldn’t handle their own hype: This was an epic collapse for a team that has its sights set on the Super Bowl. The Packers set a team record with 18 penalties, wiping out Finley’s touchdown as well as two fourth-quarter turnovers. Their special teams gave up two long kick returns, including Hester’s 62-yarder for touchdown. Receiver Jones’ fumble both scuttled Packers’ potential game-winning drive and set up Bears’ winning field goal. “We lost our composure,” receiver Jennings said. “Anytime you have that many penalties and mistakes, you’ve lost your composure.”  They were an undisciplined mess.  It’s true that rookies committed both penalties that overturned both turnovers. Linebacker Zombo’s hit to Bears quarterback Cutler’s chin nullified Barnett’s interception. A pass interference call against safety Burnett put the Bears in position for Gould’s game-winning 19-yard field goal. Rodgers contributed to the mess. His intentional-grounding penalty pushed the Packers back 10 yards on the play prior to Jones’ fumble.

Bears 20 Packers 17–Mistakes by the lake: Generally, after games like Monday night, when the Packers outgained the Bears (379-276), had a huge edge in time of possession (35 minutes, 49 seconds to 24 minutes, 11 seconds) and essentially gave away the game on wide receiver James Jones' fumble with 2:18 left to play, the losers go through the motions of giving the winners credit.  But after Monday night, those clichés were in short supply. "We can't shoot ourselves in both feet and win a 100-yard race," said linebacker Nick Barnett, whose potential victory-clinching interception with 6:38 left in the game was wiped out by a roughing-the-passer personal foul penalty on rookie linebacker Frank Zombo.  Or, as wide receiver Greg Jennings put it, "You only have so many shots to kill yourself, and we did everything in our power to beat ourselves as far as penalties, fundamentals."

Long night of oops and downs for Packers: The combination of ends Peppers and Anderson driving blockers into the backfield and coach Mike McCarthy eschewing the running game for a spread offense spelled disaster for the Packers.  What started out as a good night offensively proved to be temporary as the Packers slid down a slippery slope and ended up playing right into the Bears’ hands. Despite outgaining the Bears, the Packers scored just once in the second half.  The offensive line played a huge part in the loss as Peppers, Anderson and Idonije continually pushed tackles Tauscher and Clifton into the backfield and within a hair of quarterback Rodgers. McCarthy went to a spread game against the Bears and dared them to blitz. Instead, the Bears played heavy zone coverage and mostly rushed four. Rodgers didn’t complete a single pass to a wide receiver longer than 18 yards.  The offensive line had eight penalties–three of them holding and four of them false starts. It appeared the group wasn’t up for the challenge.

Packers special teams play especially awful game: One mistake after another by the Green Bay special teams unit made a difficult NFC division game on the road even tougher on the Packers Monday night at Soldier Field. In the end, Chicago won, 20-17.  Special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum said it wasn’t a matter of dedicating more practice hours to special teams. ”I don’t think it’s about focus, it’s about execution,” he said, “and we’ve got to execute week to week.” This unit collapsed in Week 3 after decent outings in the first two games. The worst play may have been at the start of the fourth quarter, when Packers punter Masthay boomed what would have been an impressive 57-yard punt out of his own end zone to give the Packers some room on defense. But tackling was a problem, and Chicago’s Devin Hester returned to his form of a few years ago, bringing the return back for a 62-yard touchdown.

Penalties erase defensive effort: Instead of capitalizing on some great defensive play in the first half, when they sacked Bears quarterback Jay Cutler three times and picked him off once, the Packers managed to shoot themselves in the foot one toe at a time when it counted most, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They had Cutler seemingly where they wanted him and then the game simply got away from Green Bay. "That's a lack of focus, a lack of discipline that we displayed out there," said a dejected linebacker Nick Barnett in the Packers' locker room.”

Post game report: Why did the Packers lose?–The Packers blew a 10-0 lead because penalties and special teams miscues at the worst possible times killed them. Things to feel good about–1. Rodgers was superb. With a non-existent running game, Rodgers gave the Packers the appearance of one by taking what the Bears’ Cover-2 defense gave him. He completed 34 of 45 passes for 316 yards and one score. Rodgers completed 75% of his passes as he ran West Coast offense. Three things to worry about–1. Penalties: A franchise-record 18. 2. Special teams: Tim Masthay had a net average of 19. A field goal got blocked. They gave up a punt return for a TD. Mason Crosby kicked a ball out of bounds. Tramon Williams had a nice punt return called back. 3. Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher: Not only did they have six penalties combined, but even if Rodgers wasn’t sacked, both had a rough time in pass protection. Add in that they don’t give you a whole lot in run blocking in this zone scheme.  They need to play better. They’re getting paid a lot of money.

Packers at a loss to explain team record 18 penalties against Bears: It wasn’t so much that the Chicago Bears won 20-17 Monday night, it was more how the Green Bay Packers essentially handed their opponents the victory in a nicely wrapped package. Green Bay unintentionally picked a national Monday Night Football stage to set a rather dubious team record that gave the Bears a win, with the Packers committing an unconscionable 18 penalties for 152 yards, breaking the former team mark of 17 penalties against the Boston Yanks (the who?).  Maybe it was the 180th renewal of the bitter rivalry between the two NFC North teams. Maybe the Packers took the Bears too lightly. Or maybe it was just the domino effect where Green Bay became more flustered with each subsequent yellow penalty flag thrown. Rather than rattling the Bears, who remained calm, cool and collected, the Packers seemed to grow increasingly desperate with each call whistled against them. Take your pick.

The Seahawks are turning heads and is tied for first in the NFC West at 2-1 with the Arizona Cardinals. Will the good times continue or will Seattle come tumbling down from atop its perch?

It’s Tuesday and that means it’s time for your voices and thoughts to be heard with this week’s offering of the Tuesday Two Deep.

Can't get enough NFLGridironGab? Follow SeahawksGab Editor Devon Heinen on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DevonHeinen.

Seems that ‘Steelers Week’ hit early in Baltimore, as their head coach, John Harbaugh, wasn’t too happy about questions coming in Sunday after the teams rather lackluster 24-17 win over the awful Browns.

“We don’t care,” he said. “It doesn’t make any difference to us. Ok, you asked me last summer what I thought about the Steelers without Ben Roethlisberger. Does anybody remember? None of you wrote it. What did I say? You don’t even remember, do you? I said they’re going to be a very good football team, no matter who is playing quarterback. And that’s turned out to be true, right? So listen, this is a darned good football team. They have a great defense, they have a great running game, they have dangerous wide receivers, their special teams are much improved. So we’re not surprised that they’re 3-0, but we don’t care. We’re going to play the game.”

Wow John, a little testy already are we about the Steelers? It will be a great lead up week as the Steelers look to go to 4-0 against their biggest rival, and this little tirade by Harbaugh is just the beginning of what should be quite a week of back and forth.

All of a sudden, a 10-win season doesn't seem so far-fetched for the '10 Bears.

Thanks to 17 Packer penalties, the return of the Windy City Flyer and a late forced turnover by the Bears dynamic linebacking duo, Chicago beat Green Bay 20-17. The victory leaves the Bears as the only undefeated team left in the NFC.

The much-hyped Aaron Rodgers vs. Jay Cutler showdown had its moments – Rodgers threw for 316 and TD and (hail mary INT); Cutler 221 yards with a TD and INT. But defense and special teams proved to be the difference for the Bears.

After the Pack jumped out to a 10-0 lead on a 7-yard Rodgers-to-Jennings TD pass and a 38-yard Mason Crosby field goal, the Bears offense responded. But like last week, Jay Cutler had to dust off from some early sacks.

With :26 seconds left in the 1st half, Cutler hit Greg Olsen for a 9-yard TD pass that gave the Bears much-needed momentum entering halftime. But the Bears offense wouldn't get an opportunity to maintain that momentum as Rodgers orchestrated an 8.5 minute drive to start the 2nd half that ended…in a blocked field goal by Julius Peppers.

Peppers managed to dominate the game defensively despite not recording a sack. In addition to the blocked field goal, he forced Packers tackle tandem of Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher into countless false starts and holding penalties, one of which wiped out a Rodgers-to-Jermichael Finley touchdown pass.

But Peppers wasn't the only X-factor for the Bears. Devin Hester returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown early in the 4th quarter to give the Bears a short-lived 14-10 lead. Whether it was planned or an emotional improvisation, Hester lept into the endzone with fans. ESPN announcer Mike Tirico appropriately referred to it as the "Bears Bounce." It was Hester's first TD return since 2007.

The Packers reclaimed the lead with a 3-yard TD run by Aaron Rodgers. But Cutler led a 7-play, 67-yard drive that ended in a gimme 25-yard Robbie Gould field goal to tie the score at 17-17.

In a game destined for a replay on NFL Network this week, the Packers threatened the Bears at midfield as the 2:00 warning approached. That's when the Bears dynamic LB duo of Briggs and Urlacher changed the fortunes in Chicago's favor.

Rodgers hit WR James Jones with a sideline pass. Urlacher and Briggs tracked Jones down, knocking the ball out of his hands. Only feet from the sidelines, the ball dropped straight down, staying in bounds just long enough for backup CB Tim Jennings to make a diving recovery.

The Bears started their game-winning drive with just over 2 minutes remaining. Aided by a completion to Olsen on 3rd and long and a pass interference on Packers' rookie safety Morgan Burnett, the Bears moved inside the 10 yardline with a minute to go.

After 3 runs got the Bears to the Packers 1, Chicago let the clock run down to 8 seconds. The gimme 19-yard field goal by Gould on 4th down secured the Bears fate as the last undefeated team in the NFC.

Another primetime game awaits vs. the Giants on Sunday night in New York. But for at least a day, the Bears, the city of Chicago and Grabowskis across the nation get to enjoy a big win over a bitter rival!

Bear Down!

Jclombardi’s summary and rapid reactions about Packers loss.

Guest senior writer jclombardi @ http://lombardiave.com

Summary: With the game between the undefeated Packers and Bears going down to the wire, Packers’ mistakes and penalties eventually set up the winning field goal to hand the victory to the Bears 20-17.  The Packers had 18 penalties, allowed a blocked field goal by Bears DE Peppers, committed at least 3 key special teams mistakes, and had a winning drive stopped by a key fumble leading to the final minutes meltdown and winning Bears field goal at the end of the game.

Rapid Reactions:

1. Same old issues of penalties and turnovers–the Packers had a team a record 18 penalties. Coach McCarthy and staff simply failed to field a disciplined elite team to win against the physical Bears on their home turf.  Throughout crucial series in the game, the Packers were outplayed, outmuscled, and outcoached costing the game. Further, they did not try to build on a 10-0 halftime lead with sloppiness eventually costing the game for the Packers.  This elite offense get 7 points in the second half.  Disgusting!

2. Special teams atrocious–crucial breakdowns including the blocked field goal, the game changing Hester punt return for a touchdown, and P Misthay’s bad punting.  His bad punts included a 35-yard wounded duck late in the first half that Hester returned 28 yards to the Packers' 44 setting up the Bears' first touchdown. In the first half alone, the Packers' kickoff coverage was awful with Manning getting a 44-yard return after an offside penalty on Desmond Bishop and K Crosby booted the next kickoff out of bounds giving the Bears great field position at their 40.

3. Rookies failed to perform–the Bears picked on the two rookies CB Shields and S Burnett in the defense with good success.  Rookie OLB Zombo had a key penalty cancelling a big interception and leading to the game tying field goal.  Then, penalty no. 18 was pass interference by S Burnett wiping out S Collins' interception and giving a first down at the 9 to the Bears.  Then, after three run plays,  Bears K Gould kicked the winning field goal in the final seconds of the game.

4. Writer Bedard is correct: this team plays down to the mediocre level of the competition. In the NFL, the successful teams use their explosive offense to set the winning game strategy.  They do not allow a competitor’s tough defense to control the tempo of the game or to keep them in a game.  We said so in previewing the season.

5. The running game is a complete mess–15 carries for 63 yards is pedestrian.  The mess is due to awful play calling and bad execution by the offensive line.  Repeatedly, McCarthy broadcasts the conservative running plays with personnel against an obvious 7 or 8 man front line box.  They dared the Packers to throw the ball.  Further, the run blocking is a nightmare failing to open up the necessary holes for the running backs.

6. QB Rodgers played well, but he is still not a gamer or a high stakes winner.  Rodgers threw for 316 yards and had two total touchdowns.  He scored on a 3-yard run that gave the Packers a 17-14 lead in the fourth period.

7. TE Jermichael Finley is a beast–nine catches for 115 yards.  Unfortunately, he left the game with cramps reflecting bad timing on that failed final drive.

8. The difference between an “explosive Manning” offense and the “elite Rodgers” offense:  Opening up the second half, the Packers marched 61 yards in 12 plays using 8:27 minutes on the clock.  Yet, they came away with nothing after Mason Crosby's 37-yard field goal was blocked following a holding penalty on OT Tauscher nullified a 15-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Jermichael Finley.

9. Tale of two defensive halves–the defense was solid in the first half with good blizes and three sacks as the pressure forced the Bears offense into costly mistakes.  In the second half again, the defense failed to pressure Cutler and he did enough to win the game.

Last night I heard the trio of talking heads on NFL Network talking about how the Viking's bye week couldn't come at a better time because the team can treat it as a belated training camp to get Brett Favre on the same page as his offensive line and pass catchers.

Apparently, that won't be the case.

The players had a meeting on Monday morning but will have time off until next Monday, when practice will begin as normal.

The rest will be welcomed for injured players like Percy Harvin, Brett Favre, Chris Cook, John Sullivan, Cedric Griffin and so on.  And it isn't like no work will take place during the week off.

Brett Favre says he plans to stick around and watch film until Friday.  Brad Childress says that coaches will do a thorough self evaluation.

"We'll do a fair amount [of self-scouting] but we've only played three games," Childress said. "That's not a lot of body of evidence right now. We kind of are who we are. We'll see if we have any tendencies in some of those charitable spots, short-yardage, goal-line, that type of stuff."

"For us it comes at just a good time with guys that that are a little bit more beat up than we'd like to see them right here this early" he said. "It allows some freshness to occur both mentally and physically. When I look at it, where it hits for us to have been practicing football from Aug. 1 to really the end of September here, we get a break after two months of this.

"Yeah we've got a 13-game stretch to finish the regular season. That will allow us to be able to get into a routine and hopefully build momentum as we go. It has been kind of stop and start with the way the schedule is. On a Thursday, the Sunday-Sunday, stop. So we're really not going to know who we are as a football team I don't think here for another eight-10 weeks."

I'm not sure how much of the offensive starters can claim they've been practicing football for two months, but a rest should at least provide time to gather themselves and rest up.

Well that sucked. The Giants outplayed the Titans, except for the fact that all those damn penalties, turnovers and mistakes cost them. It was brutal, and  I think it's the biggest indication yet that Tom Coughlin has lost this team. Let's delve into Thoughts and Musings

-The hallmark of Tom Coughlin's teams have been discipline. Arriving on time is arriving late.  Not a lot of penalties or turnovers. But this year, this team, there's a lot of penalties. Lots of turnovers. Lots of stupidity ( see McKenzie, Kareem).

-Coughlin is on the hot seat. But, will he be fired, and if he is going to be fired, when? That all depends on how the next three weeks pan out. If they go 3-0, he keeps his job. 2-1, seat is a little bit cooler, but it's warm. 1-2, it's on fire. And 0-3, he's out.

-Who replaces him? Probably Perry Fewell. But, who knows, maybe they gut the whole staff and bring someone from the outside. I don't know.

-Speaking of Fewell, the defense did look better. It did. More swarming to the ball, more aggressiveness. Obviously the end result wasn't good, but they were improved.

-Really, Kareem McKenzie? Really? Are you that stupid? I mean, really?

-The delay of game on the field goal in the 4th quarter said a lot about this team. That should never happen.

-And, on the last play, when they were on the 5 yard line or so, with about 5 seconds to go, couldn't get  a play off. At that point, it's pride you're playing for. You want that touchdown. The Giants clearly didn't.

-I'm not a fan of Darius Reynaud. He just doesn't do much. He's too tentative. Doesn't hit the holes with authority.

Special to NFL GG by Rajan Nanavati

When Mike Shanahan hired Jim Haslett as his defensive coordinator, and the latter declared he'd be bringing and installing the 3-4 defense in Washington (despite lacking the appropriate personnel to do so effectively), the theory for the change was based on the idea the Redskins would sacrifice statistical positioning and average yards per game (ranked in the top 10 in 5 of the past 6 seasons) for forced turnovers and increased QB pressure.

After the Redskins loss to the Rams, there's going to be an increasing clamor for Haslett to go back to the UFL (where he briefly coached), or at least get the heck out of Washington. Haslett's defense entered the matchup versus the Rams as the worst unit in the entire NFL, and did absolutely nothing to improve that ranking against St. Louis. Pat Shurmur, the much-maligned offensive coordinator for the Rams, produced a game plan for the Rams that abused Jim Haslett's (supposedly) havoc-inducing defense, and flat-out stole it's lunch money.

Astutely, the Rams opened up the game by punching the Redskins tissue-soft rushing defense right in the mouth, courtesy of their physical freak at running back, Steven Jackson. Jackson's 42 yard touchdown run on the Rams opening drive – his first rushing touchdown in over six games – set the tone for what would be a very long evening for the Redskins defense. Whenever the Redskins needed a critical stop, Haslett's defense never answered the call. Even after being handed a lead early in the 2nd half, instead of blitzing everyone and everything including the kitchen sink, the Redskins defense rolled over and let the Rams defense walk right over them.

Throughout the second half, the Rams attacked the Redskins defense with the short passing game – which the Redskins had absolutely no answer for – and eventually gave way to the Rams running the ball right down the Redskins collective throats. With no blitz to deal with, Rams rookie quarterback Sam Bradford – a quarterback whose strengths were based on accuracy and timing – could set his feet and deliver passes downfield with increasing confidence as the game wore on. And with the lead in hand, the Rams put the game away – something the Redskins have yet to learn how to do – with a running attack featuring backups named Kenneth Darby and Keith Poston, who won't be invoking any "thunder and lightning" nicknames anytime soon.

The Redskins offense certainly did absolutely nothing to bail out the defense, with less than 100 yards of total offense in the 2nd half. But Redskins fans expect a lot more from a defense run by Haslett, a guy who cut his teeth running the Steelers defenses of the late 90's.

An offensive "explosion" of 30 points from the worst team in the 2009 NFL season, that hadn't scored 30 points in over 700 days and 29 games, and was starting a quarterback playing in only his 3rd NFL game is the last thing any Redskins fan would ever expect.

In Haslett's defense, he's not the one blowing plays on the field. Not a single player on the Redskins defensive line has played anywhere above "adequate" all year. Andre Carter has been nothing more than $4 million dollar liability in coverage, and he's been absolutely useless on the pass rush. DeAngelo Hall, after notoriously demanding how he wanted to cover the opposing team's best wide receiver, allowed over 80 yards receiving to a receiver who was essentially acquired in exchange for a sack of nickels. Carlos Rogers couldn't hang on to an interception if it were a beach ball thrown to him while he was wearing gloves coated in superglue.

But Haslett should have realized he's running a scheme without the proper personnel in the first place. With guys like Carter, Phillip Daniels, the much discussed Albert Haynesworth, and even Ma'ake Kemoeatu on the front line, the Redskins could have a very effective 4-3 defense that could hold up at the point of attack (against the run) and still get after the quarterback. A couple of simple tweaks – letting Brian Orakpo put his hand in the dirt more often and moving LaRon Landry to Strong safety full-time – is all this defense needed.

Instead, the coaching staff decided against this, and stuck with the 3-4, displacing guys like Carter and Haynesworth from positions they would be best suited for. So ultimately, when the players aren't executing the scheme you install, that's the coach's fault. And when your defense allowed an offense that was stopped by the hapless Cardinals and hopeless Raiders to walk all over it, you're going to have a lot of explaining to do.

After a sloppy game that led to a bad loss against a beatable Vikings team, no question the Lions coaching staff deserves scrutiny and criticism. However, the issue most writers, pundits and fans are using as Exhibit A for Head Coach Jim Schwartz's fallibility is a decision he made that I actually agreed with.

At the end of the first half, the Lions had good field position and a little over a minute to play after forcing a Vikings turnover. The offense was able to move the ball into scoring range, and with about 15 seconds left in the half, Derrick Williams caught a pass and was tackled around the 15 yard line.

The Lions had one timeout left, and most observers expected them to call it immediately and allow the offense to take a shot at a touchdown. Instead, Schwartz let the clock run down to three seconds and sent in the field goal unit.

The question is whether or not the "proper" move would have been to allow the offense a play or two to throw a ball into the endzone for a possible touchdown before making the field goal attempt. For most teams, the answer would likely be yes. Sadly, the Lions are not most teams.

Last week, Schwarz had a comparatively tough decision when the offense was stopped on third and one within field goal range in the second half against the Eagles. Then, Schwartz chose to be aggressive and let the offense try to get the first down instead of taking the almost sure three points. The Eagles stopped them cold and the momentum swung back their way.

Last week, Schwartz made the wrong call, and I'm not just saying that because of the outcome. He made the wrong call because he failed to take into consideration that the Lions are terrible on short yardage power runs. Most teams have a package and play that can almost guarantee at least a one-yard gain. For whatever reason, the Lions do not. In fact, it is one of the things they absolutely must develop if they ever want to be a competitive team.

But I digress.

This week, Schwartz made the right call. For most teams, taking a shot into the endzone as time runs down is a low-risk/high reward venture. Not for the Lions. With no time outs and less than 20 seconds to play, any number of things could have gone wrong. Hill could have been intercepted (as he was twice at the end of the game trying to do the exact same thing), or more likely he would have thrown to Pettigrew or Sheffler on the 5 yard line and they would have failed to score or get out of bounds. Time expires. No points.

Frankly, I was as surprised as most viewers when Schwartz failed to take a time out the moment Derrick Williams was tackled on the previous play. "Why not at least throw it up for Calvin Johnson once or twice before kicking the field goal?" I asked. However, the more I thought about it, the surer I was that he made the right call. The Lions simply are not a good enough team to take those kinds of risks unless they absolutely have to.

Pro football Hall of Famer George Blanda, who racked up more than 2,000 points in a record 26-year career, has died at age 83, the Oakland Raiders announced Monday.

A quarterback who doubled as a placekicker, Blanda retired in 1975 at age 48. During stints with the Raiders, the Chicago Bears, Baltimore Colts and the Houston Oilers, he scored a then-record 2,002 points, including 236 touchdown passes.

Blanda died after a brief illness, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced.

Blanda was the NFL Player of the Year in 1970, the season that a string of last-minute touchdown passes or field goals led to a string of Raiders wins and one tie in five straight games. Raiders owner Al Davis, a personal friend, once called him “the greatest clutch player the game of pro football has ever known.”

“Our heart goes out to his wife Betty and the Blanda family, and we grieve with them for our great friend,” the team said.