Blind Impressions

  This weekend I traded in my Green and Gold for the Blue and White of Penn State. Once a year, we will go to a Penn State "White Out" game and put together a real "Jersey" Tailgate with about 40 friends and family.

aaron-200x120

aaron-200x120

 

This weekend I traded in my Green and Gold for the Blue and White of Penn State. Once a year, we will go to a Penn State "White Out" game and put together a real "Jersey" Tailgate with about 40 friends and family.

 

 

 

 

From Friday night to Sunday morning there is no Packers talk, no TV or radio reports, no internet news or blogs. Just tailgating, Penn State football, and then a great Sunday Brunch at the famous Nittany Lion Inn.

 

As we hit the road for home on Sunday, usually around 12:30, my thoughts start to wander back to the Green Bay Packers. I know I won't be watching this game on TV, but in my glove compartment is my temporary savior—my Sirius Radio. God bless the NFL Network on Sirius.

 

Thanks to Sirius, while trapped in my car for the four hour car ride home, I can utterly annoy and then bore the three women in the car with me. Yes, to these ladies, a Packers game on radio is the perfect cure for insomnia. They are all asleep 10 minutes into the game.

 

For me, the dulcit voices of Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren are the perfect antidote to falling asleep at the wheel.  Larrivee with his picture-painting play-by-play and McCarren with his commentary and analysis, keep me wide awake and hands firmly gripping the wheel.

 

I've always had a love affair with radio, from a very early age. I remember listening to NY Knicks and NY Rangers games on my little transistor radio hidden underneath my pillow when I was supposed to be asleep. In my mind's ear I can still hear a very young Marv Albert calling those games. Frazier to Monroe, he spins, he shoots, Yessssss!

 

But getting back to the Packers, I listened to the entire Packers-Rams game while making that rainy ride home on Sunday afternoon. It was up to Larrivee and McCarren to be my eyes and tell me what I was "seeing."

 

After enjoying the win, I decided to try a little experiment: I would keep my impressions pure and not look for any more information on the game. I didn't watch Sportscenter, didn't look for Packers highlights on the internet, didn't hit packers.com for game stats and interviews, didn't read any Packers blogs. My impressions would not be influenced by anything other than the radio call of the game.

 

I do plan on getting a copy of the game and doing some "film study" (time permitting), but for now I'm going to give you my thoughts on the game, thanks to the Packers' Radio announcers:

 

  • Stephen Jackson is a horse and we did very well containing him as much as we did. After Jackson had carried a few times, McCarren lamented (I am paraphrasing), "While unfortunate he's on the other team, it's nice to be able to watch a really good runner once in a while." Ouch. Sorry Ryan...
  • Whatever happened to JerMichael Finley owning the end zone? Every time the Packers were in the red zone, I kept waiting to hear Finley's name called there. For that matter, I'm waiting to hear Finley's name called anywhere. Did he have any catches in this game? Was he ever thrown to? My "radio" impression is no.
  • It wouldn't be a Packers game without a Jarret Bush penalty. Yet the Packers decide to cut Aaron Rouse when they have injuries at safety. There was an article in the local Jersey paper here quoting Tom Coughlin saying how fortunate the Giants were to find a safety of Rouse's quality on the waiver wire. Ouch...
  • The Packers actually ran a quarterback draw AND a reverse in the same game?! Are you kidding me? PLEASE let this be a pattern. I am a HUGE proponent of running a few trick plays EVERY game. Let's give the other teams as much as possible to think about and prepare for. Just like Capers' approach to defense.
  • So DeShawn Wynn is now officially nothing more than a blocker. With Jackson out, Sutton gone, and Lumpkin rotting on the practice squad, we have a one trick pony at running back. Easy for other teams to plan for? I would say so.
  • There were lots of Packers fans at the game. Listening on the radio, it was hard to tell from the crowd noise if something good had just happened for the Rams or for the Packers. Only until the announcers' call caught up, did I really know.
  • We still can't run a decent screen.
  • All of that "Chillar at safety" talk wasn't so crazy. I'm curious if on the two Rams TDs he was playing at LB or in the quasi-safety position?
  • I understand they are still going slow with Nick Barnett, but couldn't Bishop have gotten some more reps spelling Hawk for a series or two as well? Would there really be a drop-off?
  • The Packers finally committed to the run. Of course, they decide to be as predictable as possible and continually run on first down.  Again, I haven't seen the game stats, but it felt like 70-80 percent of first down plays were running plays.
  • I am not, however, criticizing the commitment to the run. Committing to the run like this will certainly make your play-action passing game more successful. I am guessing that most of the successful long completions were off play-action. Of course, Packer fans have seen sudden commitments to the run before, and it's easy to keep running when you are winning fairly comfortably. Will Mike McCarthy have the fortitude to keep running if down by two TDs in the third quarter against Minnesota?

 

So those are my impressions of the game after emerging from the video-proof booth otherwise known as my Jeep Grand Cherokee. I hope to be able to get a copy of the game, find the time to break it down and see how I did with my "blind impressions." Of course, if I'm totally off-base, I'll just blame Larrivee and McCarren.

—————————–

You can find more of Jersey Al Bracco’s articles on several sports websites: Jersey Al’s Blog, Packers Lounge, NFL Touchdown and Bleacher Report.

You can also follow Jersey Al on twitter.

 

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE.

__________________________

"Jersey Al" Bracco is the Editor-In-Chief, part owner and wearer of many hats for CheeseheadTV.com and PackersTalk.com. He is also a recovering Mason Crosby truther.  Follow Al on twitter at @JerseyalGBP

__________________________

0 points
 

Comments (18)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
IronMan's picture

September 29, 2009 at 06:45 am

You nailed it.

The Packers played a lot of 3-5-3 and Chillar was indeed the "quasi-safety."

Chillar was beat on the first touchdown; however the second one to Fells was just a damn good throw and catch.

And yes there were a lot of Packers fans there. (I was one of them)

0 points
0
0
Jersey Al's picture

September 29, 2009 at 08:38 am

Then I guess Larrivee and McCarren did a good job. Why so many Packer fans there? Any specific reason?

0 points
0
0
Franklin Hillside's picture

September 29, 2009 at 11:22 am

1) Proximity to WI.

2) No one in St. Louis has any desire to watch the Rams = lots of tix for visiting team, especially one that travels very well.

0 points
0
0
smlutz's picture

September 29, 2009 at 08:18 am

As a Penn State student who was in attendance this weekend, I am sure you had a great time before the game, but during the game pretty much nothing went well.

As for the Packers, when I am contained to my dorm room and the Packers aren't on TV I listen to the radio broadcasts. It is a different way to get my Packers fix, for sure. I would rather watch it any day though.

0 points
0
0
Jersey Al's picture

September 29, 2009 at 08:43 am

Well, the first quarter went well for PSU...

Must be strange for someone your age to listen to a game on radio...

0 points
0
0
Asshalo's picture

September 29, 2009 at 11:43 am

small world. I go to Iowa. It was a hard fought game on both sides. We were hoping for rain all week and rightfully so with Penn State's weapons on offense. With Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State putting together what looks to be solid records and Wisconsin and Michigan resurging after rebuilding periods, I can say without hesitation the Big Ten is back. Minnesota's actually looking decent too. I like the conference's chances in bowl season.

As I've said on railbird, I like Amarie Spivey (good in coverage and a great open field tackler), Ryan Donahue (maybe the best punter in the country for the second straight year, Penn State's is pretty good too) and Adrian Clayborn (be a great 3-4 DE, having a monster year and TT likes special teams). Spivey is probably the only one going in this year's draft though. Who do you like out of Penn State Al?

P.S. The white-out may be the coolest looking crowd in all of college sports. Glad we could get a smidge of yellow there to support the hawks tho. They deserve the praise after pulling that one off.

0 points
0
0
Asshalo's picture

September 29, 2009 at 12:15 pm

I'de like Bowman too, but we seem fine at Inside LB for the moment with more pressing needs on the OL, in the secondary and probably RB.

0 points
0
0
Jersey Al's picture

September 29, 2009 at 12:52 pm

Bowman and Lee are definitely PSU's best. PSU was very overrated to be put at #5. But, they did beat themselves this game. Donohue is amazing...

0 points
0
0
Asshalo's picture

September 29, 2009 at 02:13 pm

<blockquote cite="comment-5829">

<strong><a href="#comment-5829" rel="nofollow">Jersey Al</a></strong>: Bowman and Lee are definitely PSU’s best. PSU was very overrated to be put at #5. But, they did beat themselves this game. Donohue is amazing…

</blockquote>

Definitely agree about the no. 5 ranking, but then again that seems to be the case in all of college football. Preseason rankings are useless once the season starts. There's always a few teams that are unjustly ranked high (Notre Dame and maybe LSU now). "But, they did beat themselves this game." To a certain extent, but you have to give credit to Iowa's defense-- which realistically can compete against any offense in the country (you may be able to say the same about the special teams). Stanzi and the WRs have a few things to work out tho-- need to be able to stay on the field longer.

Yeah, Donohue has an amazing leg and he places the ball within the 10 with more consistency than any college punter I've seen. It's rare to have both those skills.

0 points
0
0
RonLC's picture

September 29, 2009 at 08:01 pm

At Camp Randall last Saturday for the Badger vs. Spartan Game. The Badgers had it well in hand until they decided to go to the 4th Quarter "Prevent Defense". Ahead 38 - 17 at the time, it ended just one successful on side kick away from a possible tie. One thing, we have a strong armed and accurate QB this year. A rarity for Wisconsin Football. And two future pro tight ends in Graham and Kendrick.

Watched much of the Penn State game at our favorite post-game bar. Man that sure looked dismal. I saw enough of Donahue to make me want to see him as a draft choice for our Green and Gold. He kicks in bad weather and it doesn't seem to affect him.

Did anyone else hear Kevin Harlen on the radio broadcast of MNF? He plagarized Laravee's "Dagger" on the Dallas INT. "And there is the Dallas Dagger."

0 points
0
0
Alex Tallitsch's picture

September 29, 2009 at 02:20 pm

Do I need to change the name to LionsLounge?

0 points
0
0
Jersey Al's picture

September 29, 2009 at 03:54 pm

We are.... Green Bay

0 points
0
0
Asshalo's picture

September 29, 2009 at 04:40 pm

It's part draft talk.

0 points
0
0
smlutz's picture

September 29, 2009 at 08:09 pm

<blockquote cite="comment-5826">

<strong><a href="#comment-5826" rel="nofollow">Asshalo</a></strong>: small world. I go to Iowa. It was a hard fought game on both sides. We were hoping for rain all week and rightfully so with Penn State’s weapons on offense. With Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State putting together what looks to be solid records and Wisconsin and Michigan resurging after rebuilding periods, I can say without hesitation the Big Ten is back. Minnesota’s actually looking decenttoo. I like the conference’s chances in bowl season.
As I’ve said on railbird, I like Amarie Spivey (good in coverage and a great open field tackler), Ryan Donahue (maybe the best punter in the country for the second straight year, Penn State’s is pretty good too) and Adrian Clayborn (be a great 3-4 DE, having a monster year and TT likes special teams). Spivey is probably the only one going in this year’s draft though. Who do you like out of Penn State Al?P.S. The white-out may be the coolest looking crowd in all of college sports. Glad we could get a smidge of yellow there to support the hawks tho. They deserve the praise after pulling that one off.

</blockquote>

White out was a bummer for the Iowa game...rain put a damper on it with people wearing blue/black/yellow ponchos. Certainly did seem like Iowa had a nice crowd in the north endzone though.

As for PSU's draft prospects, Bowman if he comes out will certainly be a good pick. Sean Lee is a solid linebacker, but he has been hampered by injuries last year and early on so far this year. Darryl Clark will probably be converted to a running back. He is probably a late rounder or UFA.

Lions have a top notch recruiting class thus far this season, and they will have the talent to be a top team for a while to come...assuming they all pan out.

Tip of the hat to the Hawkeyes...you (and Ferentz) seem to have our number. Good luck in the Big 10 and beyond.

WE ARE!

0 points
0
0
Asshalo's picture

September 29, 2009 at 10:06 pm

Thx, you too. Best of luck come bowl season.

0 points
0
0
Jersey Al's picture

September 30, 2009 at 08:21 am

the rain was more than a "damper". More like a "soaker". Too many other colors in the stands, though the students were all white. Not everyone thought ahead like me and went downtown to buy some cheapie white Penn State Ponchos for the game.

0 points
0
0
Jeremiah&#039;s Johnson's picture

September 30, 2009 at 05:36 am

Ted Thompson's an egotistical a**hole, and an idiot.

If he doesn't sign Tauscher who's working out for the Chiefs, that should seal it for Packer fans.

He likes "young boys".....

0 points
0
0
RonLC's picture

September 30, 2009 at 11:52 am

Can't argue that point. He knows the system and is better than that lump of crap Barbre.

0 points
0
0