Hey bud, are you lost? Green Bay isn’t playing here tonight. What a mix up huh? I don’t know which website or service you use to get your NFL schedule and tickets but they have led you very wrong. Actually, you’re just a true Grade-A a**hole. Do you know that? I am sure you do. I imagine you standing in your room in front of your mirror staring at yourself wearing that Green Bay jersey before the game and thinking “oh man I am awesome and so ironic; I am going to show everyone just how much I love the Packers!” Well guess what…no one is impressed and no one gives a sh** about your team here.

Oh, wait! Now you feel it necessary to stand up and flaunt your jersey? Now you have shown your true self. You are from New Jersey and you are a piece of shi*. Ah, there you go, a pretzel at your head. No, don’t turn around and act surprised, shocked and dismayed. You brought this on yourself and you deserve worse. People that think it is ok to wear another team’s apparel have very low self esteem. 

Oops a half eaten hot dog hit your nasty looking troll of a brother..oh wait..nope that’s your girlfriend. Such a shame huh? Well you brought it on yourself. If you are going to go to a game between two teams you don’t care about please follow proper etiquette. Just a heads up, the proper etiquette is to go to the game not wearing anything related to another NFL team. You do have something other than football jerseys right? This might be assuming too much based on your insistence on wearing a short sleeve v-neck under your Donald Driver jersey in sub-freezing weather.  If you don’t want your date to get hit by food, then please just come to the game wearing a normal jacket and hat. That’s it…no need to get fancy or try to prove anything to anyone, just come and enjoy the game.

So in closing, you are an a**hole for thinking you are a bad ass for wearing another teams jersey at a game. Anyone that thinks that is ok is also an a**hole.

Sincerely yours,

Gordon Southard

Here are my primary takeaways from the game:

The offensive line turned in their worst performance of the year.  There have been many games when they’ve failed to run block well and there have been games when they’ve failed to protect Joe Flacco, but on Monday Night they failed in both facets.  The Ravens recorded just 185 yards of total offense and if it wasn’t for the 175 yards they received as the result of Packer penalties the final could have been more lopsided.  Packers’ rookie defensive tackled BJ Raji worked Ben Grubbs, while his fellow rookie teammate Clay Matthews Jr. gave Jared Gaither fits. 

Greg Mattison is the king of sending blitzes that don’t pressure the quarterback.  A typical Ravens blitz goes a little something like this…Ravens send two or three defenders who are instantly swallowed up by the O-line and/or running backs, the QB sidesteps what little pressure is in his face and connects down field for significant yardage.  Our corners are simply not good enough to be left on an island, so we need to disrupt the QB when we blitz.  The Ravens managed just one sack and two QB hits last night while the Packers sacked Flacco three times and hit him eight times total.  I’ll admit that the pressure from the down linemen was better in the second half, but still not acceptable. 

Raven receivers get ZERO separation and it hampers Joe Flacco and the offense as a whole.  Far too often you’ll see Flacco check down to Ray Rice or try to force a ball into tight coverage, which is a direct result of the lack of open receivers.  Last season the Ravens were able to use play action to get receivers open, but that was when they were a legitimate running threat.

John Harbaugh looked shell shocked on the sidelines for most of the game.  Teams reflect the personality of their head coach and last night the Ravens intensity was lacking for most of the game.  Harbaugh started jawing at Flacco after he threw a fourth quarter endzone interceptions, but besides that there was little fire from the head coach.  On another note, I can’t understand why Harbaugh would elect to short kick it after two consecutive scores.  Trailing 17-14 I would have booted it deep and let the defense take over. 

Cam Cameron’s play calling was a little suspect last night as well.  Cam did a masterful job working with a rookie QB last season…maybe it’s time to dumb down the play book a bit and get back to basics. 

NFL referees have way too much impact on the outcome of games.  I get that the Ravens and Packers are the first and second most penalized teams in the NFL, but last night was a bit ridiculous.  The game featured a combine 23 penalties for 310 yards, which made it the second highest single game penalty total in NFL history.  You can attribute that to a lack of discipline on both sidelines, but the sheer volume speaks to a deeper problem.  The NFL is soft.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…the NFL rules committee has gone too far to foster offensive production.  It’s to the point where sound defensive plays are being flagged and it’s having a significant impact on the outcome of games. 

The silver lining is that if the Ravens win out they still have a real chance of making the playoffs, but at 6-6 they no longer control their own destiny.  Last year we saw the Patriots miss the playoffs at 11-5 and the year before that Cleveland was left out after going 10-6.  The Ravens head back to M&T for a two home games against the Lions and Bears before hitting the road to finish at Pittsburgh and Oakland.  It’s definitely possible to win out, but if we really want to be a legit team we need to fix our line play on both sides of the ball. 

~ Pat Cary

1)  Even in defeat, I really liked how two NFC teams battled this week. Both the Falcons and Packers could have rolled over and let the Saints and Vikings continue to beat up on them but, instead, showed a lot of heart and fight in their disappointing losses. It’s a testament to the kind of QB’s they have at the helm. You can knock down Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers time and time again and they’ll simply step right back up in the pocket and make a big play when called upon. If I had to guess which team is going to knock the Saints off first by the way, look to the Falcons in week 14. Both these teams will be in the Wild Card conversation as weeks go by.

2)  Is anyone else getting absolutely tired of the replay rules in the NFL? I’ve heard nothing but people complaining about how adding replay to baseball on more than homeruns will kill the rhythm of game when NFL football has become the most out of sync sporting event in the United States. I watched about 8 games on Sunday which were stopped time and again on stupid challenges and then was subjected to an exciting Saints/Falcons Monday Night game being slowed by what seemed like 6 stoppages of play on either challenges or booth reviews. In this day and age of technology and High Definition Television, how hard is it to simply have a ref up in the booth strictly dedicated to making calls on the replay front. Why do we a) have to allow the refs to go under a hood for 3 minutes to get a call wrong still about 70% of the time and b) have the challenge rule in place anymore? It was one thing 10 years ago when we were still living in fuzzy single and double digit television channels. Note to the NFL, I can see what Jack Del Rio ate for breakfast that morning from my couch when you get a shot of his teeth on the sidelines. If the goal of replay is to get the play right, have 1 or 2 guys up in the booth whose sole job it is to buzz down to the official if a play should be reviewed. These 1-2 gentlemen will be the decision makers as to what the call should be. Let’s also give them no more than 1 minute to make up their minds as to what the correct call should be. This will not only speed up the game but, in reality, eliminate some stupid challenges that coaches feel they have to submit due to the current rules. I’m willing to bet 95% of the game will remain in rhythm with only a limited number of calls ever coming into question or going to booth review.

3)  I know it’s hard to watch some of the football currently being played in November. There are some horrible teams in the league this year and parity is definitely not in existence in 2009. I can’t say I mind this though. With the lack of good teams in the league this season, the playoffs will be that much more special. It’s been a while since power house AFC Teams like the Colts, Patriots, Steelers and Broncos could all basically be penciled in for the playoffs. Not only that but, for the first time in years, there are about 8 strong teams at the top who could all not only make the Super Bowl but, would be more than worthy of getting there. As much as seeing teams like the Cardinals make it all the way is a nice Cinderella story, I will always pull for the USC/Texas matchup over Alabama/Cincinnati just as I’ll always pull for a Vikings/Steelers or Cowboys/Colts Super Bowl over a Cardinals/Jaguars. While parity may be dead, I can all but guarantee that two NFL powerhouses/storied franchises will be meeting in the Super Bowl this year. Even the Saints have a long history and great fans.

NFC:

1) Saints (15-1)…NFC South Winner
2) Vikings (13-3)…NFC North Winner
3) Cowboys (10-6)…NFC East Winner
4) Cardinals (9-7)…NFC West Winner
5) Falcons (10-6)…Wild Card
6) Packers (10-6)…Wild Card

Last 4 out: Eagles (10-6), Giants (9-7), Bears (8-8), Panthers (7-9)

AFC:

1) Colts (14-2)…AFC South Winner
2) Patriots (12-4)…AFC East Winner
3) Broncos (11-5)…AFC West Winner
4) Steelers (11-5)…AFC North Winner
5) Ravens (11-5)…Wild Card
6) Texans (10-6)…Wild Card

Last 4 out: Bengals (10-6), Chargers (9-7), Dolphins (8-8), Jets (8-8)

Playoffs:

NFC:
Round 1: Cowboys over Packers, Falcons over Cardinals
Round 2: Saints over Falcons, Vikings over Cowboys
NFC Title Game: Vikings over Saints

AFC:
Round 1: Texans over Broncos, Steelers over Ravens
Round 2: Colts over Texans, Steelers over Patriots
AFC Title Game: Steelers over Colts

Super Bowl: Vikings 23 over Steelers 20

Sure, Favre knows the Vikings offense like the back of his hand, but what about the conditioning and the team building aspects training camp brings?  What about developing relationships and a sense of timing with your new cast of wide receivers?  I know certain vets have written off training camp and the preseason and that’s worked in some cases, but don’t you think a 39 year old coming off shoulder surgery would have been better served by attending training camp rather than throwing passes to high school kids in Mississippi? 

Despite only traveling to the Midwest a handful of times I can fully attest to the good nature of the majority of people who reside in that part of the country, however, I can’t imagine the anger that Packer fans feel right now.  Et tu, Brett?  Et tu?  I can’t think of anyone who has done more of a 180 in the face of their die- hard legion of fans.  As a non-Favre fan I always had respect for him.  I looked at Favre as a throwback to the mindset of NFL stars from the 60’s.  He possessed the hard-nose grit of Bart Starr with the fun loving demeanor of Art Donovan.  He was that good ole boy who happened to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.  Now I view Favre as a narcissistic waffle-er who announced his retirement three times in six months.  I no longer want to be on the receiving end of a patented Favre behind-the-back passes during a game of Wrangler Jeans touch football.  I just want Favre to go away.  Stop using your past accomplishments and self-serving attitude to bogart sports media coverage from now until February. 

From a football standpoint the deal is ehh to me.  I’m not one of the many who feel the addition of Favre has penciled the Vikings in for an early February trip to Miami.  Like I said earlier Favre is 39 years old, coming off shoulder surgery and an atrocious end to his ’08 season.  Over the last five seasons Favre has averaged 20 INTs per year.  I don’t think Favre’s game meshes well with a run-first, ball control, defensive minded team.  Some will point to Favre’s 2007 season and believe that he can just roll out of bed and play at a high level, but that was two years, two teams and an arm surgery ago…a lot can change in that time.  I just can’t think of too many quarterbacks that were relevant at age 39.  Johnny Unitas started and won Super Bowl five at the age of 37, John Elway won Super Bowl 33 at age 38, but that’s about it. 

I’m trying to view this move objectively, but it seems like an aging, bitter Favre is trying to take the easy road to one last super bowl (and revenge on the Packers).    

 ~ Pat Cary