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Jclombardi reviews and grades Packers loss to Dolphins.

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

Summary: The Packers lost to the Dolphins 23-20 in overtime when Dolphins K Carpenter hit the game winning 44 yard field goal. The Dolphins won through special teams and beat a worn out injury plagued, patchwork defense. For the Packers, this was the second straight overtime loss losing to Washington in overtime last weekend too. The inability to protect the quarterback and the allowance of big plays by the special teams beat the Packers through field position. In overtime, after holding the Dolphins, the Packers had a special teams penalty setting them back deep in their territory. When the Packers failed to move the ball, a poor 37 yards punt gave good field position to the Dolphins. The exhausted defense faltered allowing the game winning field goal.

Game Balls: CB Williams. LB Bishop. WR Jennings.

Lame Balls: Coach McCarthy. P Masthay. CB Woodson. FB Hall.

Injury report: TE Finley is officially on I.R. to make room for S Smith. Meanwhile, this week, CB Harris, SS Bigby, and RB Starks begin practicing after coming off the physically unable to perform list. LB Poppinga had arthroscopic surgery to repair damage to his left knee, probably out for three weeks to season-ending. WR Driver (quad strain) and LB Hawk (groin strain) will miss practice time this week preparing for the Vikings game.

Report Card Grades–Good, Bad, & Ugly (LA vs. SE):

Pass Offense—C- vs C. Under constant pressure, QB Rodgers had his shaky moments. He lacked confidence, failed to stay in the pocket, and failed to step forward to make good throws. He making bad decisions and throws against a cover 2 man underneath defensive scheme. He completed only 18 of 33 passes for 313 yards, 1 passing touchdown, 1 rush touchdown, and 1 interception. The Dolphins brought constant pressure getting 5 sacks. Dolphins OLB Wake had 3 sacks and six hits abusing inexperienced rookie RT Bulaga. Four of the five sacks were drive killers. With two drives into Dolphins territory, two sacks forced punts. The other two sacks came on third downs forcing punts including one in overtime. For almost three quarters, the Packers failed to score a touchdown. Then, QB Rodgers completed a late 4th quarter drive with a 1 yard touchdown run to force overtime. WR Jennings had 6 catches for 133 yards and 1 touchdown. WR Nelson caught 4 balls for 64 yards, but he had two key drops. In third down efficiency, the Packers were an awful 3 for 13. In the red zone efficiency, they were only 1 of 2. Now, Rodgers is 7-13 in games decided by seven points or less. Also, he is 1-11 in games decided by four points or less.

Rush Offense—D vs D. The ground game was very pedestrian getting 76 yards averaging 3.6 yards per carry. RB Jackson running for 53 yards. He never seemed to get going in the game. On the Packers scoring drive late in the 4^th quarter, FB Kuhn was stopped twice at the one yard line. Then, the unpredictable quarterback sneak by attentive QB Rodgers finally got the score. In another bizarre call, the screen pass to FB Kuhn was absolutely awful. With the muscle on this Packers roster, they need to use power formations in big running downs.

Pass Defense—C- vs C-. Without pass rusher OLB Matthews, DE Pickett, and DE Neal, the Packers defense no longer looked stout and had no pass rush. They got exposed in the run and coverage. With maximum protection, the slow inaccurate QB Henne completed 23 of 39 passes for 231 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. No one could cover WR Marshall who had 10 catches for 127 yards. CB Williams did make a nice play on his interception. All-pro CB Woodson got constantly exposed along with two interference penalties.

Rush defense—D vs D. The Dolphins rushed 39 times for 150 yards running at the edge against the inexperienced rookie DE Wilson. Eventually, the patchwork Packers defense wore down in the late quarters and overtime. Running backs Brown and Williams combined for 137 yards averaging a solid 4.3 yards per carry. Also, the ILBs had a mixed game looking soft against the middle run game. LB Bishop has an okay game in the gaps and made a few big plays. Yet, he must improve to press the line of scrimmage. LB Hawk simply cannot get off blocks to make dominant plays to press the line of scrimmage. Yet, the inspired patchwork defense played a very competitive game considering its key injuries allowing the Dolphins got only 23 points against the patchwork Packers defense.

Special teams–D- vs D-. The Packers poor field position and key penalties cost game. K Crosby struggled with kickoffs getting only one touchback. KR Lee and KR Nelson combined for a meager 19.8 average on kickoffs. P Masthay punted five times averaging an awful 38 yards (gross) and 33.4 (net). On 24 punts, Masthay's averages of 43.1 and 33.4 actually are worse than P Kapinos compiled (43.8, 34.1) last year in 66 punts. The bizarre penalty against an inexperienced LB Francois gave a first down to the Dolphins at the Packers 38. Then, the Dolphins marched for a touchdown to lead 20-13. In overtime, after holding the Dolphins, FB Hall's illegal block on an overtime punt return put the Packers back to their 16. When the Packers failed to move the ball, a poor 37 yards punt gave good field position to the Dolphins. Then, the exhausted defense faltered allowing the Dolphins winning field goal. In one positive note, FB Johnson had a partially blocked punt for special teams.

Coaching–D vs D. The Packers lost a second straight overtime game. QB Rodgers is 0-5 as a starter in overtime. Head coach McCarthy is 1-6. The same old issues continued to plague to Packers including dropped passes, questionable play calls, failed conversion of big 3^rd downs, and failed execution of fundamentals. McCarthy and his staff were outcoached, outmuscled, and outplayed against a predictable game plan. The Dolphins controlled the clock and ball possession grinding out the running game, getting more first downs (26 to 16), and having more time of possession advantage (37:56 to 28:03). Thus, the Dolphins dominated the game tempo exhausting a patchwork defense. Finally, the Packers cannot put games away, playing down to the level of the mediocre competition.

Overall Game—D. With a déjà vu atmosphere, in the 4^th quarter and overtime, the special teams and sputtering offense units continued to be brutal costing games for the Packers.

Commentary–Improving the offense: If the Packers are to get their offensive back-on-track, they need to find ways to beat the effective Cover 2 man underneath scheme. They need to take more chances and creative play-calling. Further, the Packers could use power formations on big run third downs. Also, they could use four verticals scheme spreading the safeties out away for sidelines plays. Finally, they must neutralize the linebackers and get back to using effective slant formations too.

The Ravens have been anxiously waiting for their Pro Bowl free safety Ed Reed to get back in the lineup, as he started the season on the PUP list with offseason hip surgery.

Reed could come back this week, but as of now, coach John Harbaugh says it’s not a for sure that Reed will play against the Bills at home Sunday.

Pro Bowl free safety Ed Reed will begin practicing with the Ravens on Wednesday, coach John Harbaugh said. Reed has been on the physically unable to perform list because of offseason hip surgery, which meant he had to miss the first six weeks of the regular season.

Harbaugh couldn’t guarantee whether Reed would play Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. He said it’s “up in the air” whether Reed would start or be limited Sunday. “We’ll just see how he goes,” Harbaugh said. “I think it’s going to be something that we’re going to have to figure out.” Barring a setback, it is believed that Reed is set to play Sunday against the Bills at M&T Bank Stadium.

After last week's big win over the Chargers, the Raiders used their much-needed bye week to get ready for a very important divisional game next week in Denver. With Quarterback Bruce Gradkowski getting a chance to rest his shoulder, the time off couldn't have come at a better time.

As for me, instead of watching the Raiders on a Sunday afternoon, I got a chance to go out with the family, catch up on some reading, do some yard work, bake an apple crisp, go to the movies, pay some bills, go for a run, and take a nap.

It was a great day all-in-all.–and then I blinked 3 times and tried to pretend any of that had happened, instead if what I witnessed yesterday in San Francisco.

Talk about taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back. This was like taking 2 steps backwards, and then another 7 more. Was that even football? I haven't witnessed something that inept since I coached 7th graders in football 20 years ago, and we had one player and one play, and we ran it over and over and over again. And just like the Raiders, that was good enough to beat the really bad teams, but the ones who had a clue not only beat us–they made us look like we had never played the game before. My quarterback actually asked me why we should huddle since we ran the same play every time. I told him, "Just get the ball to Drew and get out of the way."

If there was ever an argument that Jason Campbell is not a starting quarterback in the NFL, the defense now rests. Actually, with Jason, the offense rests. 3 plays and out. Go sit down.

A week ago I wrote how Raiders fans booed Campbell undeservedly when he replaced an injured Gradkowski. Now I stand corrected. His QB rating yesterday was 10.7. Like the SAT's, you get points for just showing up, don't you? It was literally the worst performance by a Raiders quarterback I have ever seen, and that's saying something. It's not like we're to the point where we're saying, " Remember that QB we had back in the day…Number 1 pick. I think he went to LSU. Total bust. What was his name?"

HIS NAME WAS JaMARCUS RUSSELL AND HE SHOWED UP IN A RAIDERS UNIFORM YESTERDAY.

Actually, JaMarcus, I apologize. You never even had a game as bad as that one. How is that possible? Didn't Russell set the position back like 40 years? Well, if he did, Campbell took it back another 20. 1950 is about when the forward pass started to take off in football, so that seems about right for what happened at the Stick yesterday.

Abysmal effort. Just sickening. And to top it off, I don't even have an apple crisp to enjoy. What a waste of a day.

The Titans physical play dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars Monday night, as the team used their brute force to overwhelm the Jags 30-3 to move to 4-2 on the year.

The team lost QB Vince Young in the first quarter with a sprained knee, but it didn’t matter as Kerry Collins did more than enough and the Titans D crushed the Jags offense, who had just 249 yards on the night.

Jacksonville QB David Garrard also left the game with an injury, as he was rocked by Titans LB Will Witherspoon and left with a concussion late in the second quarter and was replaced by Trent Edwards.

The Titans struck right away, as they came out throwing, and Young led the team on a 6-play, 79-yard drive that concluded with a 23-yard TD pass to Kenny Britt to make it 7-0 early.

The Tennessee D was good all night, as Jacksonville was ineffective punting on three of their first six possessions, and those also included two picks and a fumble as well.

Collins led the team to their second TD after a pick, as he hit TE Bo Scaife for a two-yard TD to give the Titans a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. They hit a Rob Bironas 26-yard field goal to make it 17-0 at the half.

The teams traded field goals in the third, and in the fourth Bironas hit a 36-yard field goal and then Chris Johnson took over as he rushed for 66 yards on the teams final drive, the final run being a 35-yard TD run to close out the scoring at 30-3.

Collins was 11-for-16 for 110 yards with a score, and Johnson had 111 yards on 26 carries. The Titans run game ran over the Jags for 153 yards on 39 carries.

The Titans are now tied with the Colts and Texans for the top spot in the AFC South at 4-2, and have won three of their last four after starting 1-2.

They will be at home Sunday to take on the Eagles.

The Dolphins will have somewhat of a new look, as Bill Parcells he is no longer taking part in the day-to-day decisions and activities of the team according to league sources.

ESPN reports that Parcells is still working as a consultant for the team, and general manager Jeff Ireland and coach Tony Sparano will pick up the slack for Parcells.

The Super Bowl winning coach has already packed up and is out of his Dolphins office. The Fins felt that Parcells would stick it out to the end of the year, though they knew he was eventually going to leave the club.

The Dolphins must still pay Parcells the balance of the $12 million due to him under a four-year contract that expires after the 2011 season.

Parcells was hired by Wayne Huizenga as the Dolphins staggered to the end of a 1-15 season in 2007. In the Parcells regime’s first year in 2008, Miami made a great leap forward to 11-6 and a playoff berth under Sparano, who also came from the Cowboys.

There was concern about the injury to the toe for tight end Antonio Gates, but the Chargers are feeling a lot better about his possible status for this Sunday vs the Patriots.

Coach Norv Turner said today that Gates might be able to play after all, and that the toe injury isn’t as bad as first feared. Tests found that the injury isn’t serious and is just a sprain, per the San Diego Union-Tribune.

"I am hopeful he can play this week," Turner said.

Two players that probably will miss the game are wide receiver Malcom Floyd with a hamstring injury, and kicker Nate Kaeding has a groin injury, and it looks like he will have to sit as well.

Browns head coach Eric Mangini in his Monday press conference was asked about the NFL hot topic today, which were the hits that Steelers LB James Harrison laid on two Browns WR’s in the Steelers 28-10 win over the Browns Sunday.

Mangini pushed the issue aside when asked if he felt that Harrison got away with a lot in the Steelers win.

"They typically call those plays pretty tight. I've been on all sides of it, whether it was T.J. Ward's hit against Cincinnati or Eric Smith's hit against Anquan Boldin where he was suspended for a game or the hits yesterday,” Mangini said. “What I want to do is be able to coach it so our guys are doing it the right way and not putting anybody at unnecessary risk. I don't want to lose anybody for the same reasons. It's really a league matter and I'm sure they'll address it."

Ray Anderson, VP of football ops for the league, said Monday that a player could right away get a suspension for laying a helmet to helmet hit, and Mangini was asked if suspending a player like Harrison is the right thing to do.

"They suspended one when I was in New York with Eric Smith, he got suspended. I'm pretty sure that's how it went for helmet to helmet on Anquan Boldin,” Mangini said. “Whatever they think will be best I support."

Josh Cribbs, who took the first Harrison hit, is expected to be able to play Sunday when the Browns play the Saints. As for Mohamed Massaquoi, his status will be likely up in the air as the game gets closer. Mangini was asked if the hits looked worse on film, or live.

"Josh's (Cribbs) I really couldn't see from the angle that I had. Mohamed's (Massaquoi) probably was worse when I was there because it was right in front of me and you could get a sense of it as opposed to tape it gets a little bit more sterilized,” Mangini said. “Both guys have concussions, so we have to go through the concussion procedure and see where we are going into next week.

“Could be not only the loss of this second half of this game which was a four point game until deep into the third quarter, but it could also carry over into the long week."

Titans QB Vince Young left the MNF game in Jacksonville after throwing a 23-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Britt on the opening drive.

Young left with a sprained left knee when he fumbled a snap on the next series. Kerry Collins replaced him and led two scoring drives, including a 2-yard TD toss to Bo Scaife.

The Titans led at half 17-0, and seemed well on their way to moving to 4-2 on the year and a tie in the AFC South with the Colts and Texans for the division lead.

Moss kickstarted Percy Harvin’s 95-yard TD return to open the second half

Randy Moss may have only had five catches for 55 yards in the Vikings victory on Sunday, but according to Brett Favre, it was Moss who may have turned the tide, jumpstarted the Vikings to give them the much needed momentum to start the 2nd half.

"He gave a great, I don't know if you would call it a speech, to the team," Brett Favre said of Moss' halftime address. "Most people don't think of Randy that way."

"It was matter-of-fact and what we needed to hear. It wasn't anything scientific. It was a couple of choice words that I'd rather not use, but I thought the guys responded well."

Favre even went so far as to suggest that Percy Harvin's 95 yard kick return at the beginning of the second half may be directly attributable to Moss' words.

"I would like to think the kickoff return is because of that speech, and maybe it was," Favre said.

Coach Brad Childress said Moss gave a speech with hopes of "bringing your own energy coming out of the locker room."

"Randy was just saying, 'Either we just stay on the field longer, or we just score in that short amount of time,'" Favre said. "Everyone has to take ownership of it, and once again it's no secret to those things, but coach can come in and say those things over and over again and sometimes it's in one ear and out the other. That's just cause you hear it from that guy all the time.

"And if you hear it from a guy like Randy, you kind of see guys' reactions like, 'Yeah, you're right.'" 

Moss has been accused of a lot of things and called a lot of names over the years, but "team leader" might be a first as of Sunday.