Just read this while recording the podcast. (Thanks to Pack One for nudging us)

Shocking. Unreal. Words fail.

One can’t be sure and I don’t want to rush to judgement, but the sad thing is I wouldn’t be shocked if the Driver families allegations are true. And that’s just sad.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Donald Driver and his family tonight.

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I would be remiss if I did not mention the extraordinary day enjoyed by Donald Driver yesterday and his tying a Packer record with 103 consecutive games with a reception. How can you not love this guy? Just an outstanding performance for one of the greatest Packer receivers ever to don the Green and Gold.

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I wouldn’t want to be in the film room with Jimmy Robinson this week.

The notorious perfectionist will see plenty to help instruct this week at practice, but here’s hoping he splices together Donald Lee’s drop in the end-zone and Donald Driver’s drop on a free-play and has them on loop every morning when his receiving corps comes to work.

Both Donalds make the same mistake, and the funny thing is, it’s something that gets drilled into receivers in Pop Warner football as one of the biggest fundamental mistakes they can make. (Indeed, I can still hear my dad telling me not to do this in the backyard)

Both receivers jump as the ball gets to them, for no reason whatsoever.

This is particularly noteworthy when you go back and look at Driver’s drop last week when he does the same thing. There’s no telling what has caused two seasoned veterans to revert to such fundamental mistakes, but the tape doesn’t lie.

The guess here (and that’s all it is, a guess) is that both players are desperate to show outsiders (fans, media, etc) that this Packers’ team will be just fine without Favre. Rodgers’ is their guy and they want to show how much they are behind him. All three drops are a classic case of a receiver “fighting the ball” and not “letting the game come to them”. Both those quotes are cliches, but, of course, cliches become cliches because of their inherent truths.

Both Driver and Lee need to stop pressing and let the game come to them.

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…can we now stop worrying about Rodgers?

An off-the-top-of-my-head list of Aaron Rodgers’ teammates miscues tonight:

• Jason Spitz forgets the snap count (or the entire offensive line does - take your pick)
• Brandon Jackson is completely inept on a very simple blitz pickup
• Donald Driver drops a perfect pass
• Ditto Chris Francies
• Ditto James Jones (though Jones gets a reprieve for later taking a monster hit and continuing on to the end zone)
• Brandon Jackson sets up a ‘Come On In’ sign in the backfield again

You get the point.

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• What I Don’t Get…

Not toys. Props. I’m talking timelapse. Cheese and Packers style.

So I am perusing Packer World and I notice the Out of Bounds blog tab has a headline that reads “The first Aaron Rodgers action figure“.

What is cooler than my very own full team set of players? The frickin Brett Favre action figure. Dang. I went to the McFarlane Toys site and they have different photos of the Brett figurine and the Team.

They only chose four teams for this full team edition. Green bay, New England, Oakland, and Pittsburgh. Oakland? wtf? Maybe it has something to do with the Spawn look and the Raider look being similiar.

The players in the Packers set: quarterback Aaron Rodgers, running back Ryan Grant; tight end Donald Lee; receivers Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, and James Jones; and left tackle Chad Clifton, guard Daryn Colledge, center Scott Wells, guard Jason Spitz and right tackle Mark Tauscher.

It’s sort of sad that my set has has to have Daryn Colledge. Good thing my girlfriend is good with paint.

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• The Good and the Bad (Waiting On Ugly…)

One of the many great benefits of having Packer World up and running is being able to monitor news basically as it happens. So, I see that there is a new article on packers.com. It’s my favorite kind. Highlight videos. Last season’s 5 best by packers.com polling data. A must see.

“Favorite Fives” of 2007: Play of the Year.

Having seen 2 of the 5 plays live, Donald Driver TD against the Giants was a trace more exciting than the Tramon Williams punt return TD if only because it was a playoff game and we needed the boost and Double D willed it to happen.

The other interesting note is that Favre is only truly responsible for 1 of those plays…and it’s the one that has the most questions for Aaron Rodgers.

continue reading "Greatest Packer Plays of 2007"

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Packers.com Video showcases favorite pass and run plays at Lambeau for the fans to vote on their favorite play. The run poll has ended and I think the pass one closes soon.

The videos are great.

Top 5 Passes at Lambeau

Packers.com favorite five pass plays (home) from the 07-08 season here.

If I had to order them by “Greatest Pass 2007-08 Plays Season at Home in a Season”:

Players names link to their bio. Dates link to the NFL Gamecenter for that game.

1. Donald Lee 11 yd Pass 2nd Quarter vs Seahawks 1/12/08

Ingredients for a good Packer Pass Gumbo. You need: Signature Brett Favre escape. Snow. Divisional Playoff Game. 1st Down. Heart of the D softened. mmm..eat that up

2. Donald Driver 90 yd TD 2nd Quarter vs. Giants 1/20/08

Would have been my pick for #1. Except we lost the game. This one is a Pyrrhic Victory for Double D. Corey Webster gets to feel what happens on the other end of a bump & run…ouch. Too bad the irony is he catches Favre’s interception in overtime.

3. Greg Jennings 57 yd TD 4th Quarter vs. Chargers 9/23/07

Brilliant slant for daylight. Favre ties the TD record with Marino. Greatness and Talented Youth come together to be realized.

4. Greg Jennings 80 yd TD in 3rd Quarter vs Raiders 12/09/07

A dash of speed, Stanford Routt getting beat and Greg Jennings and Brett Favre reading each other’s minds serves up nice.

5. Ruvell Martin 17 yd TD Tipped 4th Quarter vs Vikings 11/11/07

Take this crap off the list. Much, much better passes existed this season. Corey to Packers Multimedia guys: Wake Up! Greg Jennings had a catch in that game where he hits it perfect, takes the ball from the corner, gets smacked by Darren Sharper and hangs on. Or what about Donald Driver 49 yd play action beauty against Carolina? Or Donald Lee against the Raiders dragging half their secondary on his back for a TD sleigh ride?

The question on packers.com was “What was your favorite pass play, in home game 2007?” As of 10:00pm EST 45,508 voters have voted as such: 1. Driver v NYG 43%, 2. Favre-Lee v Sea 24%, 3. Jennings v SD 18%, 4. Jennings v Oak 10%, 5. Martin v Min 2%.

Top 5 Runs at Lambeau

Packers.com favorite five run plays from the 07-08 season here.

If I had to order them by “Greatest Run Plays 2007-08 Plays at Home in a Season”:

1. Ryan Grant 43 yd run 3rd Quarter vs. Seahawks 1/12/08

The only way this could get any better is if there was more snow.

2. Ryan Grant 30 yd TD 1st Quarter vs Vikings 11/11/07

This is what happens when a play caller successfully confuses the crap out of the defense. After passing four times straight (3 five wide formations straight) McCarthy delivers an I-Form Packer Sweep that leaves Minnesota’s Defense looking like left out overnight cheesecurds while somewhere Vince Lombardi is smiling proud.

3. Brett Favre 21 yd scramble 1st Quarter vs Lions 12/30/07

Playcalling magic confusion pill 25: Brett Bavre will not run the ball. So- you run it and they not so smart. It would be nice if we had 3 more like this. sigh.

4. Brandon Jackson 46 yd run 3rd Quarter Lions 12/30/07

In what would be his best game of the season(20 for 113 yds rushing, 2 for 22 receiving) Brandon Jackson shows why the NFL is all about making the most of opportunity. He has some real competition with Ryan Grant. Let’s see if it’s good for him.

5. Deshawn Wynn 44 yd run vs. Bears 10/07/07

Really? Probably the best thing about both losses to the Bears.

There really should be more Ryan Grant choices on this list when you really are honest with yourself and not Packers.com multimedia staff.

The question on packers.com was “What was your favorite running play, in a home game 2007?” As of 10:00pm EST with polls closed 50,935 voters have voted as such: 1. Grant v Sea 53% 2. Favre v Det 24%, 3. Grant v Min 14%, 4. Jackson v Detroit 4%, 5. Wynn v Chicago 3%.

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KC Joyner over at ESPN thinks that Donald Driver is overrated, due to “metrics and statistics”. Which is why, as Lombardi said, statistics are for losers.

Joyner is a smart guy. He does some incredibly nuanced research on the game of football. He came to prominence by writting and publishing a book of his research himself, and then stalked Paul Zimmerman at CNNSI until Dr. Z cited his book in his online mailbag column. Then, ESPN gobbled him up and made him a regular contributor. But knowing numbers and statistics as they pertain to the game of football and knowing the game as it is played on the field are two completely different things. Any observer of the game of football who doesn’t understand Driver’s worth, or labels him ‘overrated’, simply doesn’t know very much about the game.

Just because a receiver does not rack up double digit touchdowns on a season, it does not diminish his value to the team. How many touchdowns did Greg Jennings score because the defense had rolled coverage to Driver’s side? One need look no further than the play at St. Louis where three defenders jumped Drivers shallow crossing route on an all out blitz leaving Jennings so wide open it looked like he was fielding a punt before walking in for a touchdown. That doesn’t happen without Driver. And of course, it doesn’t show up on Joyner’s precious ’statistics and metrics’. Because it’s a real game of football, not numbers on a page. One could go on and on about Jennings touchdowns, like the one in Kansas City where the defense keyed on Driver’s 15 yard ‘in’, or against Denver where the lone deep safety shaded to Drivers side at the beginning of the play, giving Jennings one-on-one with Dre Bly. And this doesn’t even begin to take into account Driver’s run after the catch ability, where the man runs as though his life depends on it.

No, Mr. Joyner, if there is anyone who is overrated, it’s you and your metrics, not Driver and his game.

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