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| Photo - ESPN |
When we last left the Green Bay Packers, they were ruining a 15-1 regular season with an epic playoff choke against the now-world champion Giants. When we last left the San Diego Chargers, Philip Rivers had turned into an interception machine, and since then, has lost his #1 receiver, who A.J. Smith has replaced with New Orleans' #3 WR from last season. Lots of luck with that, San Diego.
Have I ever mentioned that the Chargers have really, really hot cheerleaders?
FIRST QUARTER
Gaa, no Suzy Kolber this year? Tonight's ground-breaking female official doesn't make up for that. San Diego cheerleaders, however...
Nick Perry abuses Jeromey Clary for a sack of Rivers, then gets flagged by the replacement referee for... flexing his muscles? Wow, you'd think it'd take more than the first series of downs to make us wish Jerome Boger was back... After that 15-yard gift, Rivers beats a blitz with a dumpoff to Ronnie Brown to get to midfield. Davon House blankets Malcom Floyd, who has a brother named Malcolm, on 3rd-and-3 to get the Chargers off the field.
Aaron Rodgers and the Pack have to start from their own 3 after the punt, though. Rodgers hits Tom Crabtree and James Jones for first downs, but James Starks on this drive: 2 carries, five yards, a dropped pass and a fumble, recovered by former Packer Atari Bigby. Good thing the Packers stood pat at RB over the winter, eh? Cadillac Williams, call your agent!
The Chargers strike quickly after the fumble with a 2-play drive. Antonio Gates head-fakes LB D.J. Smith in, then fakes safety M.D. Jennings out, for an easy 23-yard TD, catching a perfect throw from Rivers.
Chargers 7, Packers 0
Picking up where they left off in January, the Packers continue to kill themselves with turnovers. Diondre Borel loses the ensuing kickoff after a big hit from Shareece Wright. Chargers set up again right around the red zone.
And picking off where he left off last year, Rivers throws a terrible interception to Tramon Williams, who easily had position over Meachem on the play. Why the hell is Rivers trying to force that throw?
Three-and-out for Rodgers, with the Chargers taking a screen pass away from him on 1st down and covering everyone on 3rd down.
After the punt, a one-and-out for the Chargers, courtesy of a fumble by Freebird Michael Hayes. To call this game kinda sloppy would be like calling Kate Upton kinda cute. Viva preseason!
The Packers take over at the SD42, but Chargers first-round pick Melvin Ingram takes over. After a couple more two-yard efforts by Starks, Ingram draws a hold on 3rd down. Norv Turner declines the penalty to force 4th-and-2, so Mike McCarthy gets cute and goes for it. Ingram, though, hits Rodgers on 4th down and forces a poor throw that Antoine Cason intercepts. Ingram also wipes Starks out during Cason's return. Fifth turnover
this quarter.
Jarrett Lee now in for Rivers. Thought he looked good in some of the college all-star action. Here, though, the Chargers are 3-and-out. A Packer blitz blew up a 2nd-down screen, and Lee settled for a short pass on 3rd. The aptly-named Shaky Smithson nearly muffs the punt away for Green Bay.
Graham Harrell now in for Rodgers. He enters the game with a lot to prove, and after a poor 3-and-out, still has a lot to prove, missing Smithson badly on 2nd down and throwing poorly behind Borel on 3rd. All short stuff, little excuse not to be more accurate. Shaun Phillips stuffed a run to start the series.
Nice rollout pass from Lee to Vincent Brown sets the Chargers up across midfield. Hayes gets stuffed off left tackle to end the quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
Packers 2nd-round pick Jerel Worthy blows up a Hayes run on 2nd down. The Chargers hold on 3rd down, taking back another nice sideline pass, from Lee to rookie Taylor Embree. Chargers give up with a dumpoff on 3rd-and-long and punt. I'd say who committed the hold if tonight's replacement referees had much interest in giving us the number of the player they flagged.
Neither team is doing anything on the ground. Starks probably had 2 yards a carry; Freebird Hayes is lucky if he's averaging 1 right now. And this Packer drive starts with Alex Green getting stuffed off LT. Harrell finally throws an accurate pass on 2nd down, but badly overthrows D.J. Williams on a 3rd-down go route. I'd say what the whole Graham Harrell experience says about trusting college spread offense QBs, but Sam Bradford might hear me.
Lee gets an initial first down starting from his 20 with another nice sideline throw, to Dante Rosario. Lee clearly has the arm to make all the throws. Much like the Rams' own Austin Davis, I'm not sure why the heck this kid wasn't drafted. Curtis Brinkley for 7 on a counter run that counts as a breakaway run so far tonight, but House gets him back on 2nd down by flashing into the backfield for a big loss, eluding Vincent Brown's half-assed block attempt. Lee, though, stands tall in the pocket and fires to Micheal Spurlock, who wheels away from Jarrett Bush's poor overrun all the way down to the GB20. The play's good for 45, and Lee's play should be opening eyes around the league at this point. No long play in preseason is complete without the offense having to call timeout because they can't get the play in, so we get one of those. Spurlock's big play only sets up a FG, though. Casey Hayward breaks up a pass on 2nd down and Lee misses Embree on 3rd.
Make that a FG
attempt. Nick Novak, who's got enough experience to do better, doinks a 35-yard chip shot off the upright. Sigh. Viva preseason.
Harrell continues to look terrible, missing Randall Cobb badly over the middle and missing a sideline pass before getting blitzed into a no-gain dumpoff.
Brinkley's the first RB tonight to actually offer his team some running game. Worthy needs to step up his run defense for the Packers; at the moment he seems much more interested in pass rush, where he has looked effective. But now, another big play for Lee, for 36 down the sideline for Vincent Brown, who beat Hayward. Hayward closed and made it close, but not in time. Chargers back in the red zone, and then back out after a hold on Mario Henderson. Lee doesn't let that kill the drive, though, firing to Brown wide open over the middle at the 5. He dances his way into the end zone through a bunch of bad tackling for the Chargers' 2nd TD. 28-yard TD. Think that was Jerron McMillian who blew the tackle at the 5, but a couple of other Packer DBs also blew tackles. Jon Gruden and ESPN do a nice job showing how the route combination created LB Dezmon Moses' blown coverage on the play.
Chargers 14, Packers 0
After one more poor throw, Harrell makes a play for the first time tonight, hitting Borel over the middle for 27 on 3rd-and-5. Looked like a good time for San Diego to blitz to me, but it didn't pay off. Packers in Charger territory at the 2:00 warning. 9 more to Borel at the SD 27. See? It just takes Harrell a quarter-plus to settle down. Cobb burns Shareece Wright off the snap and takes a slant down to the 5. Ingram, who's had an excellent half, appears to blow up the pocket to set Larry English up for a sack but gets flagged for illegal hands to the face instead. Mike Tirico complains that the replacement ref called Ingram for illegal hands to the face. Well, he only had his hand illegally in his opponent's face, so... If that's the non-call Tirico says it is, I guess I have to wonder about the regular referees now. Hayward can't fight his way through crossing routes to catch up with Cobb, who gets the TD on a goal-line flare.
Chargers 14, Packers 7
Good point by Tirico that when Harrell finally looked comfortable, it was when he was in the 2:00 offense. That's all he ever played in college. Bad point by Gruden that Ingram's penalty supposedly kept the TD drive alive. Really? It cost the Chargers 2-3 yards on first-and-goal. And if the sack had counted, it's still 2nd-and-goal at the 10. I'd hardly describe that as a costly penalty. Halftime.
THIRD QUARTER
Harrell opens the second half by overthrowing Jarrett Boykin badly on a play-action bomb that should have been a TD. Somebody named - get this one - Curenski Gilleylen badly blows a third-down catch for the 3-and-out, which serves the terrible Harrell right for blowing the certain TD on first down. And what the f**k kind of name is Curenski Gilleylen?
Chargers get a little going on the ground with Freebird Hayes and Curtis Brinkley, but Lee must have left his game in the locker room at halftime, blowing a snap and underthrowing a deep pass terribly for an easy Anthony Levine interception. Does that make six turnovers, or only five? In all the lack of excitement, I've kinda lost track myself.
Wendell Tyler's son, Marc, enters the game for the first time for Green Bay and gets stuffed for a yard. Great pressure by Vaughn Martin forces Harrell to eat the ball and take a sack from a couple of different Chargers. Rookie Kendall Reyes is all over Harrell on 3rd down to force a very meaningless completion.
Back in the free agency previews on the RamView blog, I said Erik Walden makes a play everytime I watch the Packers, and he does it here again, jacking Lee up on 2nd down to force his pass attempt to fly wildly off to the right. And, shocker, screen pass on third-and-long in preseason doesn't get the first.
No Packer blocks LB Darryl Gamble on 1st down, leading Tyler to get stuffed for another loss. Then he runs smack into Reyes for another loss. Harrell miserably one-hops a slant to Dale Moss that would have been six yards short anyway.
I was disappointed the Rams didn't take a late-round flyer on Graham Harrell when he came out. I thought he could have been drafted as high as the fourth round by somebody.
I'm an idiot. Graham Harrell isn't good enough to make a UFL roster.
Even more depressingly for Green Bay, House gets injured on the billionth punt of the quarter. He walks off, though.
Former Ram update: Daniel Muir flattens Rock Baker on a screen pass that was poorly thrown by Lee anyway, and helps stuff Jackie Battle on a draw. Already more plays than he made in a Rams uniform! 3-yard pass to Brinkley on 3rd-and-10. Preeeeeeeeeseason.
Most interesting thing to happen in the last quarter-and-a-half of some of the worst football two teams can play is ref Shannon Eastin breaking up a scuffle on special teams. And look out now, she's taking over the game, calling a hold on TE Brandon Bostick to take away Tyler's only decent run so far. Harrell bails Bostick out by scrambling out of the pocket and hitting Commiskey Gilligan at midfield for an actual first down. Unable to stand prosperity, Harrell has to blow a timeout with eight seconds left in the quarter. The Packers must have been so unused to making a first down that they couldn't get lined up for the next play in time.
FOURTH QUARTER
Tyler grinds out a first down for the Packers inside the 40, which opens up play-action for Harrell, at least until Reyes blows up the pocket and forces a throwaway. The Packer tackles aren't blocking much of anything right now. Dale Moss does not make a very good play on a 3rd-down back-shoulder throw, but Gregory Gatson bails the Pack out with a pretty dumb PI. Strong 5-yard run by Tyler down to the 20 sets up a play-action rollout pass to Moss at the 7.
Don't tell me we're heading for a 4th-quarter tie here. Gruden wonders if Harrell was across the scrimmage on his last throw, but darn if it wasn't a fine call by Shannon Eastin. Tyler pounds it in on 3 carries from there, and Mike McCarthy'd better be going for 2. He is!!!!! Nominate that man for a Nobel. Sadly, McCarthy's service to humanity is not rewarded, though, as Shareece Wright breaks up what Tirico calls a back-shoulder throw for Boykin. Another poor throw by Harrell. Wright had a better chance to catch it than Boykin ever did.
Chargers 14, Packers 13
If I'm Dennis Dixon, I'd have called my agent the night this game was played and told him to send the Packers a highlight tape or something. He'd be better right now than Harrell. Hell, A.J. Feeley would be an upgrade for the Packers behind Rodgers.
The Packers won't be able to withstand Rodgers being out for more than a series in 2012.
Vic So'oto whips Jacob Hester, who ought to be a whole lot better than that, to sack Lee the first play after the kickoff. Embree nearly gets it all back on 2nd down, but Lawrence Guy does a fine job getting push on 3rd-and-1 to stuff (I believe) Hester behind the line. Not a sterling series for Hester there.
Tyler's starting to hit some gaps now, and his line is getting some positive push in front of him. He gets 10 yards on 2 carries, then, just as I say that, rookie Andrew Datko blows a cut block and gets him stuffed by Logan Harrell, followed by a false start on the line. Harrell rolls out of pressure on 3rd down and fires a nice pass, one of his best of the night.
Former Ram update: wide open for about a ten yard gain off a nice pass by Harrell, TE Demarco Cosby brutally drops the pass. There's a shocker. A Ram TE dropping a ball. More with the punting.
You'd think with all the punting tonight, something interesting would have happened on one by now. No.
What, only 5:33 of this riveting excitement left? The Packers stuff Battle for a two-yard loss, then - former Ram update - Anthony Hargrove, getting some reps in before taking a half-season vacation imposed by Roger Goodell, tips a pass at the line. That's followed by the big play of the night and probably a killer for the Packers, as Lee gets plenty of time and hits Embree streaking down the sideline for 37 on 3rd-and-long. Rookie CB Otis Merrill turned himself around and got over there far too late. Brinkley tacks on another 10 around left end, then Phillip Payne breaks loose with a quick screen and gets down to the 15. WR Mike Willy makes a nice play on an underthrown Lee pass inside the 5. Brinkley might have run through Brandian Ross for a 4-yard TD around right end. The refs say no, but with a chance to do so before the 2:00 warning, Norv Turner challenges the call. Wasn't a poor call live even if it's overturned. His knee looks awfully close to being down when he puts the ball on the pylon.
Good call, and the Chargers will have to put it in from the 1-foot line. Which Brinkley does, with a LaDainian Tomlinson-like leap to make it 20-13. This is a situation where coach RamView would go a little screwy and go for 2, even in regular season, but Norv sensibly takes the PAT.
Chargers 21, Packers 13
1:56 left, but it's Harrell running the 2:00 offense again, he may suddenly lurch into competence again. No, he doesn't get the chance, the Packers have put in rookie B.J. Coleman. He immediately shows better accuracy and velocity than Harrell did all night, making two completions to Boykin and barely missing a deep connection with a strong throw. He goes Nuke LaLoosh three times but hits D.J.Williams for 10.0000001 across midfield to keep the game alive. And never mind from there. Tyler gets stripped from behind on a screen pass by Ricky Elmore and the ball bounds right to Bront What-The-Hell-Kind-Of-Name-Is-That Bird. Chargers kneel out the win.
Final score: Chargers 21, Packers 13.
Post game show:
What have we learned: Again, if Aaron Rodgers misses much more than a series in Green Bay this season, they're doomed. They made a good move to shore up RB when they signed Cedric Benson. I'd totally recommend they sign Dennis Dixon, who's still out there, if he's healthy, of course, which may be why he's still out there. Both these teams ultimately looked too much like they did at the end of their respective seasons. Packers can't run and make too many turnovers. Chargers can't get the opposition off the field on third down and make too many turnovers. Ingram looks like a super pickup for San Diego, though.
Player of the game: The hell with the players, I'm picking Shannon Eastin, which you probably already guessed I was going to do anyway. First woman to officiate in an NFL game and it looked like she did a good job.
Up next: Obviously speed is not going to be a strength for me again this season. Vikings-49ers is my next target, assuming I get there.
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