Game 3 of the quintupleheader up next, my third Buffalo game this preseason, as the Bills are at Green Bay. It'll be B.J. Raji's first game for the Packers.
Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon, the traditional Packer preseason crew, on the call.
Beautiful night in Green Bay, as the Packers kick off to start us off. Leodis McKelvin only makes the 18 with the return. Bills in their once-again standard no-huddle. Trent Edwards to Lee Evans for 7.
Inside handoff to Marshawn Lynch comes up a little short. Center of the d-line doesn't hold at all for
Green Bay as Lynch goes up the middle for 3. The Packers stuff a first down run and on second down, Nick Collins breaks up the pass for Evans and tips it to Brady Poppinga for an INT. That's already their fifth INT of the preseason.
Ryan Grant gets 5 on first down and takes a pass in the flat for 7 on 2nd down. Packers at the Buffalo 24. Marcus Stroud stuffs Grant off right tackle for 1. Hands to the face takes away a completion to Jermichael Finley inside the 10. I'll tell you what, he'd better quit carrying that thing like a loaf of bread in any case. 2nd-20 at the 34. 7 to Donald Lee, followed by a draw to Grant, stopped less than two yards short. Steve Spagnuolo says, What are you wacky Packers doing?, as Green Bay goes for it from the 16. And Spags looks smart when Buffalo stuffs the Grant run up the middle. Buffalo ball.
That's still OK. Mason Crosby doesn't need the work. Green Bay learned more there than they would have from a routine field goal.
False start on Geoff Hangartner moves Buffalo back to the 12. How does THE CENTER false start? Shouldn't he know the snap count? That's followed by a sack for Johnny Jolly. Lynch gets nowhere on 2nd down and Edwards rolls right and gets FOREVER to throw on 3rd down, but never unloads, is taken down by three Packers, and gets stripped by BRANDON CHILLAR, with AJ Hawk recovering for Green Bay at the 5.
Nifty fake by Aaron Rodgers is followed by a blistering throw to Greg Jennings on a slant for a 5-yard TD. The Lambeau Leap is so unspontaneous now that Jennings is surrounded by about 50 photographers looking for an easy shot after he jumps into the stands. Time to retire that old chestnut.
Also, bowing to your home fans in the end zone is a penalty, but the Lambeau Leap STILL is not?
Also also, I can hear T.O. complaining even louder about Trent Edwards now. That sack was a poor play by a third-year QB with plenty of starting experience. He should know better.
Green Bay 7, Buffalo 0.
Unlike every other stadium I've seen so far, Lambeau Field is PACKED tonight. That's why Packers fans have the reputation they do.
Bills at their 20. Al Harris blows up a sweep left for Lynch, but Edwards hits TE Derek Schouman for a first down at the 30 to finally stop Buffalo's bleeding on offense. But not for long, as Green Bay forces poor passes from Edwards on 2nd and 3rd down to force a punt.
Packers at their 21. Rodgers hits Finley, open easily against McKelvin, for 18. After a run, Finley's wide open over the middle for 21 more. Packers at the Buffalo 35. Offsides and (a cheesy) DPI move the Packers down to the 24. Buffalo's blitz does no good, and Terrence McGee has no clue, as Donald Driver turns for a sideline pass at the 4. Grant sweeps right from there for a standing-up TD.
Green Bay 14, Buffalo 0.
The Bills look positively awful on both sides of the ball tonight. Seeing that Tennessee got killed by Dallas this weekend, too, I wonder if it isn't a good idea to bet against the Hall of Fame Game teams two weeks later.
Kevin Harlan stupidly brags/rhetorically asks if there's an NFL team playing better this preseason than the Packers. Hey, dummy, weren't the Lions 4-0 last August?
Bills at their 22. Harlan and Gannon are doing a great job tracking their top draft pick, Raji, on the field. I say this because I'm not even sure I heard the Seattle crew call Aaron Curry's name once in two weeks. Fred Jackson makes AJ Hawk look awful as he shakes him for a first down on a screen pass to end the quarter.
End of first quarter: Green Bay 14, Buffalo 0.
Bills at their 43. Make it 33; they held on first down, Langston Walker. 1st-20. After a 4-yard run, Jackson loses the ball after a screen pass and Poppinga recovers. Jolly forced the fumble. The Bills are a total cluster tonight.
If the Packers' defensive performance translates to the regular season, and they're back to their form of 2007 and earlier, they're the favorite to win the NFC North, Brett Freaking Favre be damned (and he should be). Grant slashes for about 20 down to the Bills 23. Well-executed screen to Grant gets down to the 10. Everything is working for Green Bay tonight. Offsides puts the ball at the 5. Driver can't corral the quick slant at the goal line thanks to a hit by Reggie Corner the corner. Rodgers gets ALL NIGHT to throw on second down, rolls right, pump fakes and DRILLS a TD pass to Driver just inside the front pylon for another Packer TD. Driver made a sweet move on McGee in the end zone to fake him toward the back line while he cut forward to the pylon to help out his QB.
Green Bay 21, Buffalo 0.
Illegal block starts Buffalo at the 10. Jackson sweeps left for 8 after a short pass, for a first down.
That's it for them, though, as Derek Fine drops a third-down pass. Well, at least Brian Mohrman's
getting loose tonight.
Brian Brohm replaces Rodgers at QB and gets his first pass knocked back in his face by a defensive lineman. 2nd-10 from the 34. They empty the backfield on 3rd-and-3 and Brohm ends up scrambling for a first down. They get moved off midfield by an Allen Barbre hold and only get the 10 yards back with a dumpoff and a Brandon Jackson draw. Punt is fair caught at the 10.
Ryan Fitzpatrick graduates to QB for Buffalo. Dominic Rhodes gets the corner and bulls some Packers up the sideline for a 17-yard gain across the 30. Fitz gets popped on a scramble at the 34 by Desmond Bishop to leave 3rd-and-8. He hangs a long curl route to 17 that Green Bay nearly picks off.
Packers at their 15 with 3:00 left in the half. DeShawn Wynn now the RB. He goes behind left guard for 6, then gets stacked up for 1 on 2nd down. 3rd-3 at the 2:00 warning.
Brohm gets flushed right but hits Jordy Nelson on the near sideline for a first down. 10 yards. Over the middle to Nelson for 12 more. Packers in hurry-up, obviously. He lobs a long ball too short for
James Jones, but the underthrow draws DPI from Ellis (Rhymes With Wankster) Lankster. That puts Green Bay at the 20, but Nic Harris blows up a screen to Wynn for -3. 1:06 left in the half as Brohm calls timeout. On 2nd down, Brohm throws a very poor, underthrown sideline pass that's picked off by Reggie Corner the corner. Or maybe he badly overthrew Nelson on a dig route. Any way you slice it, the pass sucked.
Buffalo just wants to run out the clock and go home. Even though there's a half left. No, they follow up an 11-yard Rhodes middle run with a timeout. Dumpoff to the TE gets 8 more and takes another timeout. 2nd-2 at the 30, the Bills commit their FOURTH peanalty of the half. Brad Jones sacks Fitzpatrick, knocks the ball loose and the Packers recover.
My GOD is Buffalo awful tonight. Brohm hits a short pass to Finley for 7. 2nd-3 at the Buffalo 19. Brohm dances all over the place before finally getting the sense to throw the ball out of bounds. Third down pass for Wynn is incomplete, though. Crosby hits from 30 to extend the lead with 0:09 left. The Bills do something right for the first time tonight by running off the rest of the clock.
Halftime score: Green Bay 24, Buffalo 0.
Green Bay will start the second half in great field position. Will Blackmon is a threat to mishandle every kick but he gets out to the 32 on this return and is taken down brutally, and brutally late, out of bounds by Chris Ellis. A late horse collar out of bounds that was worth two personal fouls. Craig Lumpkin handles the first run, has it knocked free by John McCargo, guard Duke Preston falls on it for a 12-yard loss.
And Mike McCarthy immediately yanks Lumpkin off the field.
Green Bay can't recover from 2nd-22 and punts.
Brett Swain STUPIDLY BELTS the punt returner after he clearly called for a fair catch at the 5. Rack the Bills up at the 22. Rhodes gets dropped HARD on a 3-yard run, Fitzpatrick throws a poor incompletion, but on 3rd-and-7, he throws a sweet pass to big Steve Johnson at midfield. 24 yards. After another first down, Fitz throws a nice sideline pass to Felton Huggins for a first down inside the Packer 30. Look out, the Bills are driving! Not so fast. The Packers blitz two LBs and Jarious Wynn reaches across his man and drags Fitz down one-handed for a sack. Third and long pass is too short for John Stupar, though it's going to take a Packer replay challenge to get the call right.
THE PLAY STANDS????? This is the second straight game we've had an obvious result on replay that the referee has been to thick to use to get the right ruling on a play. Is this the quality of refereeing we're going to get for the regular season, referees who can't see a ball hitting the ground or a player stepping out of bounds, IN SLOW MOTION???????
Another honey of a cluster now for Buffalo, as Fitz fires a WTF pass right to Desmond Bishop. Their FIFTH turnover. Ridiculous.
Lumpkin's off probation as the Packers start from their 10, but finds no room up the middle. Brohm's screen pass is batted by Copeland Bryan and nearly pick-sixed by the Bills. Remember when everyone with a draft guide was calling Brohm the steal of the draft three years ago, that he should have gone in the first round? Well, he's probably a good kid, but as a QB, he's a pile of crap.
Heartbreak Hill time - 7:00 left in the third. Ronald Talley stuffs a sweep right for -3. Bishop LIGHTS UP Corey McIntyre on an attempted screen. 3rd-13. Fitz finds Huggins deep over the middle of the Packer zone for 15, though. They're at the Packer 48. DPI on Bishop, 1st-10 now at the 43. Fitz tries a bomb for 17 but it's underthrown and broken up by 29. Fitz finds Stupar over the middle, though, for another first down at the 22. Stupar makes a fine grab on the bootleg screen to set up 3rd-and-1. McIntyre manages to run through 29 Anthony Smith for 3 and the 1st down at the 11. Screen to Johnson for 6. Xavier Omon gets squat on 2nd down, and the Bills FOUL UP THE SNAP COUNT and false start on 3rd-and-3. From the 9, Fitz lobs it to Stupar, and rookie LB Brad Jones
has no clue it's coming, to end Green Bay's streak at nearly seven scoreless quarters this preseason.
Matt Flynn takes over for Green Bay at their 28. Spencer Johnson knocks down Tyrell Sutton on 2nd down as the 3rd quarter expires.
End of third quarter: Green Bay 24, Buffalo 7.
Flynn's hit as he throws on third down and the pass flutters harmlessly to the ground. Punt away!
Gibran Hamdan checks in for Buffalo at their 34. Omon gets 8 out of a dumpoff. 40 Joe Porter stuffs him on a 2nd down sweep left, though. Packer DBs really do excel at run support. POINTLESS sideline pass to Huggins for A YARD on 3rd-and-3.
WHY BUFFALO WHY???
Packers start at their 14 with 13:00 left. 12 to Cole Heckendorf on the sideline. If that isn't a classic
4th-quarter-of-preseason name, nothing is. Bryan smokes Breno Giacomini and sacks Flynn hard to force a fumble. 2nd-20. They surrender with two Lumpkin handoffs and punt it.
Hamdan play-actions at his 40 and hits Shaine Smith for 17. I don't believe we've seen Roscoe Parrish tonight at all. With all the rumors Buffalo wants to get rid of him, you'd think they'd have tried to feature him. Hamdan converts a 3rd-and-10 with a lob over the middle to Stupar down to the 19. Good thing he was as open as he was, or a safety would have lit them up. Sideline completion to Smith gets them down to the 7. Green Bay playing VERY soft coverage. Omon gets down to the 1 and then just barely dives in on 2nd-and-goal.
Green Bay 24, Buffalo 14.
Flynn's shoulder was injured on the sack/fumble last possession and he's done for the night. That sends Brohm back in. Brohm throws a TERRIBLE slant pass WAY behind Heckendorf. He does hit JaRon Harris in stride for a first down out to the 40. The play counts but Green Bay gets a 15-yard penalty afterward. Brohm spots 13 open by a stride deep downfield but overthrows him badly. 3rd-5 draw to Sutton from the 30 works for 10. Quick slant to Heckendorf for 9. Sutton gains 10 more and Buffalo chips in with a facemask by (Rhymes With Wankster) Lankster to get them inside the 30. My thanks to Sutton and Packers for chewing up a lot of clock with this drive; we're under 4:00. Sutton rumbles for about 15 down to the 10. Heckendorf makes a heckendorf of a nice play on a slant thrown badly behind him at the 4. Sutton slashes in around right end for this game's coups de grace.
Green Bay 31, Buffalo 14.
2:46 left with the Bills at their 26. Hamdan hits Johnson at the 38, then Smith, a former Ram, tries the David Tyree catch on a deep sideline pass but can't quite manage. Omon, though, takes a short
third down pass, pinballs and slips about four blown tackles at midfield to get behind the Packer defense and down to the 10 before he's harshly upended. 2:00-ish left to play.
2:00 left in a preseason blowout, and there are still more fans at Lambeau than any other stadium except Minnesota has had at the START of a game. Stupar lobbies for DPI on Anthony Smith on an end zone pass and gets it. 1st-goal at the 1. Hamdan manages to throw a one-yard pass short; incomplete. Bruce Hall drives in for a TD with 1:33 left.
Green Bay 31, Buffalo 21.
After the kickoff, I hereby invite Dick Jauron to ROT IN HELL for calling timeouts. 2nd-5, 1:24 left.
Sutton gains 5 like he did on the previous play to put an end to that. My hero. Good night, Buffalo.
Final score: Green Bay 31, Buffalo 21.
MVP: The Packers were firing on all cylinders, and Rodgers was on fire, but it's too easy to pick him, so game ball's going to defensive tackle Johnny Jolly, who had two sacks and forced a fumble for a defense that looks like it has turned itself around.
What did we learn: The Bills looked like a tired team that ran into a buzzsaw, but Edwards' performance still has to be considered a little off-putting. Stupar and Bryan showed staying power on either side of their depth chart. Besides Green Bay's defensive resurgence and Rodgers' hot hand, Jermichael Finley looked like an absolute monster at TE. Obviously they could be in major trouble if Rodgers goes down. Flynn's hurt and Brohm is brutal.
Up next: Staying off line for Giants vs. Bears. Hmm, how did those two teams end up getting a weekend primetime slot?
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