🏈 BEHIND LOVE ❤️, PACK STAYS IN HUNT WITH CONVINCING 33-10 TAKEDOWN OF VIKES!

Jordan Love
Jordan Love
Quarterback
Green Bay Packers
PHOTO” Packer website

🏈 BEHIND LOVE ❤️, PACK STAYS IN HUNT WITH CONVINCING 33-10 TAKEDOWN OF VIKES!

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

Special to Courtside Sports

Green Bay, WI, Jan. 1, 2024.  With quarterback Jordan Love leading the way, the Green Bay Packers (8-8) crushed the arch-rival Minnesota Vikings (7-9) 33-10 in a New Year’s Eve blowout at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Love is now one game away from accomplishing something that iconic Packer QB Aaron Rodgers failed to do in his first or last full seasons with the Pack — take them to the playoffs.  

Love was an impressive 24-36-256 with 3 passing TDs, another rushing, no interceptions, and a QB rating of 125.3, engineering all four of the team’s end-zone trips. Running back Aaron Jones added 120 yards rushing on 20 carries, as the Pack dominated from the opening whistle.

The much maligned green and gold defense pitched a near shutout, allowing only a field goal and a largely meaningless TD set up by a muffed punt inside the 10 years line. Surprisingly, the Vikings, playing behind their third and fourth string QBs, largely failed to show up in this rivalry game with the playoffs on the line. The margin could have been even bigger, as Packer receivers were running open all night, running backs were often into the Vikes’ secondary, and the only home team trip to the end zone was a gift. 

Left for dead after four straight mid-season losses, the Packers now have a clear path to the playoffs: Beat the 7-9 Chicago Bears at Lambeau on Sunday and they are in! On paper, that looks “doable,” given that Green Bay downed Chicago at Soldier Field 38-20 in the season opener in September. 

Yet, the situation is eerily similar to last season. Then, behind Rodgers, the Pack needed only to beat the Lions, who had already been eliminated from the playoffs, at Lambeau. However, the Lions didn’t roll over, besting the home team 20-16 to send Green Bay to a losing season and no playoffs in AR’s swan song. That was a precursor to this season which saw Detroit win the NFC North for their first divisional crown in three decades.

While the Bears are guaranteed another losing season, and are all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs (less than 1% chance), the Pack should expect a battle. The Bears have won four of their last five and two straight. Green Bay leads the NFL’s oldest matchup 107-95-6, but a playoff-elimination win over their rivals from up north would “make” Chicago’s season. 

While the Packers’ fortunes may not match Taylor Swift’s impact on the worldwide economy, they are still the biggest deal in this town — by far! The general mood rises and falls with their team. So, at least for today, it’s a Happy New Year from “the Bay.” 

🇺🇸😎🥳 Happy New Year and Due Process Forever from Courtside!

PWS

01–1-24

SPORTS:  AR, DEVONTE SHARP AS PACKERS REPEL VIKES IN OPENER — Robust Offense Dominates In 43-34 Win!

Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers
Photo by: original: Mike Morbeck
derivative: Diddykong1130
Public realm

SPORTS:  AR, DEVONTE SHARP AS PACKERS REPEL VIKES IN OPENER — Robust Offense Dominates In 43-34 Win!

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

September 14, 2020

Exclusive for Courtside

Pundits picked the Green Bay Packers as the team most likely to regress from last year’s surprising 14-4 season that took them within a game of the Super Bowl. Drafting QB Jordan Love rather than another wide receiver to pair with veteran Devonte Adams was widely viewed as one of the dumbest moves of the offseason. Many speculated that it would hasten the end of the “Aaron Rodgers Era” in Green Bay. Most picked the Minnesota Vikings as the upswing team to capture the NFL North title from the defending champ Pack. 

At least on opening day, Rodgers, Adams, Coach Matt LaFleur, and the entire Packer team, particularly the offense, made the pundits look stupid. Rodgers had one of the better days of his stellar career, throwing for 32-44-364 and four TDs with no picks. Adams caught two TD passes on the way to a 14-156-2 day that tied Don Hutson’s 78-yer-old franchise record for receptions (amazing, when you think about all the great QBs and receivers on the Pack since 1942). 

Wide receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard also caught TDs from AR. Six rushers chipped in a highly effective 158 yards on 32 carries, with Aaron Jones leading the way with 66 yards on 16 carries and one TD. The Pack amassed an impressive 522 yards of total offense, allowing them to dominate time of possession with more than 41 minutes.

On defense, cornerback Jaire Alexander stood out. His second quarter sack of Kirk Cousins in the end zone was a safety, leading to a field goal on the ensuing drive. Then, his interception of Cousins later in that quarter led to a Packer TD. Thus, Alexander helped set up 12 Packer points. Despite having to rely on some backups, the Packer offensive line kept Rodgers sack free and opened up some large holes for the runners.

What I liked most about this performance was the Pack’s aggressive, yet balanced downfield offense. Even in the Rodgers Era, past Packer teams have had a tendency to go into “offensive stalls” after getting a lead. Sunday the Pack punted only once. More important, they scored TDs on each of their three second-half possessions (not counting the “victory formation kneel down” at the end), putting together three drives of over 60 yards that wore down the Vikes defense and kept their offense on the bench.

As he often does, Kirk Cousins put up some big passing numbers while vainly trying to bring his team back from three-score deficits that he had helped cause by giving up a safety and an interception. That tendency to run up big stats without producing big wins is what probably has given Cousins some of the flashiest QB stats in the league without ever breaking into the “elite QB club.”

The game wasn’t actually as close as the score might indicate. Down 22-10 at the half, the Vikes punted on their first second half drive. Thereafter, thanks to the Pack’s aggressive offense, the Vikes never possessed the ball down fewer than three scores. Most of their scoring offense was generated against a fairly soft Packer “prevent defense.” I’m not a fan of the “prevent.” But, with the offense moving the ball and not trading TDs for field goals or empty possessions, it worked out this time. And, the margin should have been greater, because in the first half both Valdes-Scantling and Adams dropped sure TD passes from Rodgers.

Who knows whether this will be the start of something good for the Pack or just a high point in the disappointing season predicted by most pundits. But, so far, so good. 

This coming Sunday, the Pack takes on Matt Stafford and the Detroit Lions, who blew a fourth quarter lead against the Chicago Bears. It will be an unusual  “home opener” in a Lambeau devoid of fans.    

SPORTS/GOSSIP/THE PACK: It’s Official: AR & Danica Patrick Are “An Item!”

Forget “S___gate,” the Budget, North Korea, and all that other stuff. Even forget the Pack’s post-season reorganization of their coaching staff and front office following a disappointing 7-9 season, The front page news from Green Bay is that the Superstar QB Aaron (“AR”) Rodgers is dating recently retired race driver Danica Patrick.

Here’s what the Green Bay Press Gazette had to say about it in an article that forced most other news to the second page!

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/fans/2018/01/15/its-official-aaron-rodgers-and-danica-patrick-dating/1034255001/

“Buckle up, Packers fans: Aaron Rodgers and Danica Patrick’s relationship just hit the fast lane.

“Yes, Aaron and I are dating,” the race car driver confirmed Monday to the Associated Press.

Speculation that Rodgers, 34, had moved on from actress Olivia Munn with Patrick, 35, surfaced earlier this month when sports gossip blogger Terez Owens reported the two had been spotted at Chives Restaurant in Suamico after Christmas and “couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other.”

Neither Rodgers nor Patrick had commented publicly about the report, but it didn’t stop Maxim from quickly declaring them “the sports world’s newest super couple.”

RELATED:  Danica Patrick, Aaron Rodgers spotted on dinner date

RELATED:  Mom, son have ‘amazing’ Aaron Rodgers encounter in Chicago

Patrick told the AP the two first met at the 2012 ESPY Awards. There is, however, a wrinkle: Patrick, who was born in Beloit and grew up in Illinois, is a Chicago Bears fan.

“I told him (Rodgers) a long time ago I’d always root for him as a player,” Patrick told the AP. “Now I am probably going to cheer for the whole team. Take out the word ‘probably.’ Now I’m going to cheer for the whole team.”

Rodgers split from actress Olivia Munn in 2017 after three years together. In December, a spokesperson for Patrick announced she and fellow NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were no longer a couple after nearly five years.

TMZ posted a photo over the weekend of Rodgers and Patrick dining with other guests on Saturday night at a Mexican restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona. Patrick lives in Arizona.

In November, Patrick announced her retirement from full-time racing and said she plans to make the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 her final two races.

She has recently been promoting her fitness book, “Pretty Intense: The 90-Day Mind, Body and Food Plan That Will Absolutely Change Your Life,” which came out Dec. 26.”

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Wow! Dinner in Suamico! Can’t get much more romantic than that! We were actually in Green Bay right after Christmas. But, we mostly ate (vegan) Mexican and carry out! Actually, a fantastic and very authentic Mexican restaurant is right in Wick’s neighborhood. I was impressed with how well they had meshed the Mexican and Packer themes. A bunch of big screen TVs tuned to football and low-priced generous Margaritas didn’t hurt either. I highly recommend El Serape (two locations) the next time your travels take you to Packer city.
No speculation yet on how this will affect AR’s play next season. I suspect that the performance of new Defensive Coordinator Mike Pettine and how the Pack does in the draft and in free agent signings will have more to do with AR’s stats and the Packer’s success next fall than Danica!
And, yeah, even though as a lifelong Packer fan I don’t normally have much of a warm spot for the Minnesota Vikings, I was very happy for them and their fans after the “miracle catch” by Stefon Diggs for the winning TD. Good luck to them in the NFC Championship game v. the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday! Congrats to Arlington ICE Deputy Chief Counsel David Kelly, a native Minnesotan and die-hard Vikes fan! I just wish my daughter-in-law Anastasia’s mother Susan Rathman had lived long enough to see her beloved Vikes a game away from the Super Bowl!
PWS
01-17-18

PACKER REPORT: AR Breaks Collarbone As Pack Loses To Vikes 23 -10! — Season Likely Over For One Of NFL’s Brightest Stars!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/10/15/the_nfl_just_lost_its_best_and_most_exciting_player.html

Nick Greene reports for Slate:

“Oh No, Aaron Rodgers Broke His Collarbone

Green-Bay-Packers-v-Minnesota-Vikings
Aaron Rodgers rides a cart into the locker room after being injured.

Adam Bettcher/Getty Images

The 2017-’18 NFL season is objectively worse right now than it was on Sunday morning. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone, and, for the foreseeable future, the league’s best player will be spending his Sundays watching games rather than playing in them.

The injury occurred in the the first quarter of Green Bay’s game against Minnesota. Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr tackled Rodgers to the turf, and the quarterback crumpled awkwardly on his arm and shoulder. (It’s a bit of frustrating irony that Rodgers’ offensive line on Sunday was in the best shapeit’s been in all year.)

After Rodgers was carted to the locker room for tests, Brett Hundley replaced him under center. Hundley is a promising young player, but, unfortunately for the Packers, he is one of the roughly 7 billion people on earth who is not Aaron Rodgers, meaning he will represent a downgrade at the quarterback position. With Rodgers, the Packers are a consistent threat to challenge for the Super Bowl. Without him … well, we’re about to find out.

Rodgers had been enjoying a terrific season, leading the Packers to a 4-1 record atop the NFC North. Just last weekend he performed his customary late-game vivisection of the Dallas Cowboys, which was exhilarating at the time but rather irritating in retrospect as it perfectly encapulates what fans will be missing due to his broken collarbone.

In 2013, Rodgers suffered a similar injury when he fractured his left clavicle in week nine. However, he was able to recover in time for the last game of that season, an affair in which he threw a last-gasp, game-winning touchdown to win the NFC North for the Packers and usher them into the playoffs. It was a miraculous performance that Green Bay fans will be careful not to label “once-in-a-lifetime” just yet.

Football carries more potential energy per play than any other sport. You never know when a routine tackle will result in something devastating, but the possibility is always there. While these high stakes may make the sport exciting, they can also conspire to result in the exact opposite outcome. Aaron Rodgers’ broken collarbone is an example of this, and the league will suffer as a result.

Nick Greene is a Chicago-born writer who currently lives in Oakland, California. Follow him on Twitter.”

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Pack backup QB Brett Hundley didn’t “knock anyone’s socks off” in the first “real action” of his career.  He was 18-33, 157 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT.  Not going to win many games with stats like those. But, perhaps, with knowledge that he’ll be starting and time to practice with the starters, he’ll do better next time out.  We can only hope.

Some folks (including me) think that Packer General Manager Ted Thompson would do well to ring up CBS Broadcaster Tony Romo (Wisconsin native) and/or notorious former 49er Colin Kaepernick (also a Wisconsin native).

The Pack (4-2), carrying lots of injuries in addition to Rodgers, are now tied with the Vikes atop the NFC Central (although the Vikes now own the “tiebreaker”). They play the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau next Sunday.

PWS

10-15-17