Packers-Cardinals Game Live

Here we go!

3:42 PM:  Wow! Not a good start. Rodgers first pick in what seems like forever. Not a good way to start your playoff career. And I was glad I we won the toss. Hold them to three and I’ll be a happy guy.

3:51 PM:  The Packers look very nervous. Not sure what to make of it. Jordy looked like he never returned a kick before on both returns. Rodgers throws a pass he hasn’t thrown all year. When we settle down we should be OK.

3:54 PM:  Didn’t we just see this three hours ago in New England. Three plays two turnovers. 14-0 Cardinals. Oh well, the Packers were clearly overconfident. This will be a great learning experience for next year. This one is over. Hopefully the Packers can at least make a game of it to keep a little momentum going. I said weeks ago I didn’t think this team could win a road playoff game. Damn I hate when I’m right. Lots of time left, but confidence is wavering.

3:59 PM:  Jordy Nelson should be benched right now. Top it off with a personal foul. Like the previous three games this weekend, it looks like another blowout.

4:13 PM:  Not saying I’m giving up, but down 17 in the first half on the road in the playoffs is pretty much a done deal. The Packers are the better team I still believe, but they are too young. We knocked on the door this year, next year we’ll knock it in. The core of this team is too good to not to keep improving.This is our first shot, but not our last shot. Future confidence is high, but we all know today is a lost cause.

4:24 PM:  McCarthy just made the worst coaching decision of his career. To think Crosby could make that field goal is absolutely insane. Whatever New England coach Bill Belichick was drinking today is the same thing McCarthy must have been drinking – the fountain of stupid decisions.

4:48 PM:  Don’t let this one game spoil the whole season. I like my 2009 Green Bay Packers. The 2010 Packers are the team to beat in the NFC.

4:54 PM:  The deer in the headlights. That is the Green Bay Packers today. We weren’t going to the Super Bowl anyway. This is a wake-up call.

5:10 PM:  The field goal certainly helps. The turnovers are killing the Packers and that was the only way the Packers could lose this game. If the Packers’ defense doesn’t step up its game the Packers have will not come back. It is a miracle the Packers are only 14 down considering the way the Packers are playing. The seasoned playoff team is the Cardinals and that is clear.

5:32 PM:  Down 31-10 I’m definitely looking toward next year. The Packers aren’t going to win today so lets see how they handle the deficit. If they could at least mount a little comeback it would be a positive heading into the offseason. It is going to suck the next week or so, but I already can’t wait for the draft and minicamp. We got our taste.

5:54 PM:  The Packers made a good comeback but were out-coached big time today, especially on defense. Following the pattern of Brett Favre and Ben Roethlisberger, Kurt Warner ripped the Packers’ secondary to shreds. I am feeling better about the offense, too bad the defense is struggling so bad.

6:08 PM:  The Packers are definitely not quitting. Rodgers has come alive but the Packers’ defense can’t stop Warner. I hope we can stay within seven as I don’t want to get blown out – which is still a possibility.

6:42 PM:  Trying not to jinx us, but this is one hell of a football game!

6:51 PM:  I love my Packers. We have nothing to hang our heads about. See you tomorrow.

6:53 PM:  Did I just see what I just saw?! Unbelievable!

6:59 PM:  The holding call on Colledge pretty much ends the Packers hopes. And he wants a big money deal? Not after that.

7:01 PM:  One of the greatest games in playoff history ends suddenly. The reason the Packers lost was because their defense got burned again by a prolific passing offense. That is the only thing they have to shore up. The Packers gave up 24 points off of turnovers too, which is a sign of a young team in the playoffs. Aaron Rodgers is simply incredible. To throw for over 400 yards in your first playoff game is simply amazing! The Packers and Rodgers have a bright future.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 10th, 2010 at 4:36 pm and is filed under Al Davis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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  • jonnyfootballhero

    At least it wasn’t the blow-out that it looked like it was gonna be. It was a lot of fun watching the game with you guys today. Looking very forward to next season.
    So, who are the Packers gonna pick as their 1st rounder this year?

  • Mike LaChamp

    FootballHero:

    It was all fundamentals from what I could see. A failure to tackle. A failure to cover wide open guys. A failure to get to the quarterback in our base defense or when we brought a blitz. You can’t expect to win when you let wide receivers run wide open.

  • Ratpack

    Packers played a hell of a second half. only if they would of tried the same approach in the first half.

  • Dan

    Steve, they caught the ball before it hit the ground…aka, INT

  • jonnyfootballhero

    Steve, the ball never hit the ground.

  • dd

    This is going to hurt for about a week

  • Mike LaChamp

    I know AR played a great game but I go back to that first pass in OT; if he just lofts it up, the game is over.

  • Mel e Mel

    Well the book is out on the Pack go 4 wide and find Jarrett Bush. Held Fitz pretty well but nothing else at all. Back to my argument that Julius Peppers needs to be signed post haste. Matthews is the only threat and good teams will take him away.
    On that last drive MM got greedy. Donald Lee should have played his last down a Packer he is not worth his roster spot. Posses the ball play solid and win but as we all know critical thinking is not MM strength. Weaknesses that were apparent all year showed up this game. Colledge is horrible, Clifton is brittle, ditto with Tauscher. That leaves Sitton Lang and Wells as the three lineman we go into next year with. Rodgers has heart but he needs an NFL not a UFL line.

  • http://yahoo.com SN

    Yeah, Rodgers had a “good” game not great. He was good in the comeback, but his INT and overthrows were costly.

  • Mike LaChamp

    AR needs to make that flipping pass.
    /buries head in tear soaked pillow

  • CheesyD

    No defense today. Total disappearance. Embarrassing to say the least.

    Nice game by Rodgers once he settled down. Should have hit Jennings in the OT and that would have been it. Can’t fault Rodgers for this loss when the defense was non-existent. Rodgers had 4 TD’s and over 400 yards and put up 45 points and the team still loses?

    Nice onside kick call by MM.

  • dd

    there going to tear rodgers apart for this lost

  • simon

    not the first time he miss jenning wide open, but boy if our d stood up like he did after 1st quarter we would’nt have needed to think about overtime

  • Steve

    If you look at all of the articles and the play-by-plays they say that Rodger’s fumbled the ball. Rodgers arm was moving forward a lot more than Big Ben’s arm was in the Steelers game.

  • Dan

    Whisenhunt just talked about learning a lot from the Packers defense last week.

  • Jen

    To The Pack! We love you more than words can say! And we are with you every step of the way! We will get them next year boys! Packers for Life! Love You! Jen

  • Rocky70

    Season’s over …….. Everyone have a great off-season …….. See you next season ……….

    PB – It’s been fun ……….. GTH ………. LOL. (really)

  • http://Orlando Mark

    The sun will come up tomorrow and we’ll have a good start on what we need to finish the job next year. Our pass defense looked like it did vs Pitt and would still be there if we got the calls and bounces. N.O., MN or Dallas would’ve put up big #s against us. We could use another corner and safety. The best game of the post season and I hope we don’t hang our heads because the team exceeded all my expectations. If the team feels the same pain we do as young as they are the’ll only get better. And, our last champions had tough playoff losses before they won it all. Maybe all our champions did but as far back as I go I can only remember time running out vs the Eagles in 1960.

  • Ratpack

    Referring to Jonnyfootball Hero. Football is a simple game even tho football language is some what complicated as to how plays are called. It all boils down to 11 payers against 11 players knowing and understanding their responsibilties. the packer defense tonight lost focus in the first half and didnt pay attention to their reponsibilties and produced no pass rush. staring at the quarterback gets you lost in coverage if you dont have a pass rush. So to sum things up tonight packers youth on defense really showed up. Its all about understanding the game. You would think that guys that make hundreds of thousands of dollars would know how to play the game of football.

  • AATP

    4205, I’m with you on that… couldn’t believe it – lead with the helmet and not get the roughing call? Then the next play a blatant face mask on Rodgers – not sure if the officiating crew was calling it loose only cause they didn’t want to have to make that controversial call… Ah well, I’d like to be pissed about this loss but it was very apparent that neither defense was in the game until that last play (which probably should have been a facemask and 15 yards). Their defense showed up when it needed to and our didn’t otherwise we would have gotten the ball back more often instead of during a kickoff…

    Anyway, great game considering I had written the Pack off after we were down 31-10 and I was going to DVR it and watch it later, glad I didn’t. This gives me the utmost hope for next season, with a few key signings and a strong draft I think we’re looking at a deeper run into the play-offs and a possible run to the SB… Thanks Pack for a great run and a very entertaining season – we’ll see you in the fall!!!

  • Ratpack

    Great season Al. Great Website! I look forward to more posts next year.

    Sincerly
    Lombardi legends

  • Dan

    Showed a lot of heart coming back.

    Tipping my hat to the team and organization.
    Those that are back next year, we’ll be cheering you on.
    Those that are let go, thank you for the memories.

    We all hope the NFL owners and players are smart enough to keep the salary cap.

  • Ratpack

    Unfortunately owners and players dont care about whats good for NFL they are only worried about money. And that focus only will hurt the NFL. Hope to talk to everybody again for the draft. My favorite time of the year.

  • Jordan

    Everyone go to SI.com and look at the front page. They caught the facemask in plain sight…how do you not call that?? The refs jobbed us.

  • Mel e Mel

    To your point AATP At some point the officials stopped making calls on the Cardinals consciously or unconsciously. The call on Jenkins was pure fraud. The no call Fitz running over Woodson. No face mask on the last play. A Donaghy job. The Pack dug too big a hole to expect to get calls.

  • Bob

    This was a great way to let the young guys get a taste o what the playoffs are all about, I already can’t wait for next season to start. we have a very young and talented team, the sky is the limit for the Packers and their Fans.

  • Mel e Mel

    Right on NFL.com homepage the Cards player has his hand on Rodgers facemask. Insult to insult.

  • iccyfan

    I’m bummed – nice season that ends too early for my taste! They showed high character in this game and were oh so close to moving on…

  • Devil’s Advocate…

    Well……. Now at least all you Butt Fucker fans can get on board his train…….. After the shitty refs (as I keeep saying) screwed up the Cards 37th points with a missed tackle( offensive holding) and offensive pass interference (helmet to the chest of Woodson on the TD catch) but called a roughing the passer…… CRAP!!!!!! Blind refs….!!!!

  • packer_bob

    Rocky,

    What the hell does GTH mean? See you next season as well…..We don’t always see eye to eye, but always fun sparring with you…..Good Health, my friend!

    I said it was water and aspirin, but what can I say, I lied!! Instead it was the last of that bottle of Three Feathers. Remind to tell you that are interested of how I came across it in the first place.

    Obviously, the outcome is not what we have hoped for, given OT and the fact we got the ball first. But as I said earlier in the week, I never thought we’d get here in the first place and after the horror show of the first quarter, many thought we’d never make a game of it.

    So, I’m not devastated. In honor of Mark’s post, the great comeback of the 2nd half of the season and this particular game, and in the spirit of most on this board:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1fWmc1y4qc

  • Mel e Mel

    I think Warner goosed the Refs with his retirement talk The last 2 Drives were right out of the NBA.

  • Mike from Arizona

    A few thoughts from a very dramatic game….

    There were alot of Packer fans at the game. I could not believe how many luxury box were empty. Bad economy here in Arizona.

    Rodgers has a great game. He did have some poor throws and a ball tipped for an interception. But all in all an excellent game being away in a very very noisy dome stadium.

    Finley and Jennings made some unbelievable catches. Grant was strong when he got the ball.

    We lost this game in the trenches. Both O-line did not protect very good today and the D-line did not get to the QB.

    The Defense sucked today and Capers is not to blame. It is our personnel. Granted this is our first year as a 3-4. Bigby never showed up and most of our linebackers can not cover the receiver/TE. We had trouble all day with 3 and 4 wideout sets.

    Nelson was lost today as a returner. Not sure if he was too nervous.

    Good Season and something to build off

  • http://Orlando Mark

    That’s funny, thanks p-b.

  • packer_bob

    You’re welcome, Mark……but really it has nothing to do with me.

    It has more to do with the Three Reathers:

    http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,935789,00.html

  • Jeff

    Knowing this was Rodgers’ first playoff game , why did McCarthy pass on the first play ! It was not even a safe pass. Not getting that TD before halftime was a killer.
    Pittsburgh and Arizona took advantage of Al Harris being gone. This has got to be the end of Jarrett Bush.
    I do not get it , Capers had to either send the kitchen sink at Warner or drop everyone into coverage. I did not see one Woodson blitz , they should have tried that early.
    The last 3 playoff overtime games ended the same way , win coin toss , QB turns ball over on our own side of the field.
    Our offense is set for next year , it can not be stopped..
    The defensive backfield needs the most work , we are not sure if Al Harris at his age will make a full recovery, Bigby is hot and cold. Our first round draft pick needs to be in the seconday and I say Thompson should sign the best available defensive bak in free agency. Collins and Woodson are set, but the other 2 spots need to be repaired.
    I have a feeling AJ Hawk may not be back , I am sure Kampman is gone unless they use him as a pass rushing specialist on the line.

  • Jeff

    Packers should be favored in the North next year. We need to win the division next year. We had a better record than the Cardinals but did not get home field because of not winning the division. We finished only one game out , a split with the Vikings would have given us the division. We would have won it also if we finished the games in Tampa and Pittsburgh.
    Capers should have learned in Pittsburgh that you do not sit back and let a good QB sit in the pocket and the sad thing is that Warner has shown in the past to be ordinary when you out the heat on him.
    The Packers totally shut down the high octane Cowboys and they did it by getting in Romo’s face ! Woodson was used as a blitzer and in coverage in that game.

  • Oddball

    I’m with Mike. We lost this game in the trenches. They got the pass rush. We didn’t.

    Even with that, we left points on the board with the FG before the half instead of the touchdown and the two times Rodgers overthrew Jennings. Badly as we started and badly as our secondary sometimes looked, this game was well within reach.

  • Sammy

    One cannot blame Rodgers for the loss…but if he only hit Jennings in stride on the first play in OT. We have got to fix the defense, need consistency. I am still proud and will wear my Packer gear today. Sad, sad, sad.

    Now is anyone with me in supporting the Cards for the rest on the season? As I live in AZ now, the Cards are my “second” team. Thanks to all on this board for letting me vent at times. Be proud! Over and out……………

  • JJ

    4-4 to 11-5 was a great run. we need to focus on that.

  • JJ

    How about the eerie similarities between Favre’s OT playoff turnover and loss in January 2008 and Rodgers’ OT playoff turnover and loss in January 2010? This is being debated all over the Internet this morning.

    Here’s what I see:

    1. Factual Similarities: Packers; playoff game; OT; Packers have ball; on almost the same yard line; QB takes snap; QB turns the ball over; OT loss.

    2. Factual Dissimilarities:

    * Favre played in frigid conditions; Rodgers played in comfy conditions.

    * Favre had no run support that game – 28 yards total rushing all game – and had to win (or lose) the game by himself; Rodgers had 90 yards rushing to support him yesterday – with a team 4.5 yards per carry average – and did not have to win (or lose) the game by himself.

    * Favre’s OT turnover came TRYING TO WIN the game; Rodgers’ OT turnover came TRYING NOT TO LOSE the game as he once again held the ball too long.

    * Favre’s OT turnover was a PHYSICAL mistake in horrible weather; Rodgers’ OT turnover was a MENTAL mistake in good weather.

    * Favre’s OT turnover did not IN ITSELF give the Giants the game; Rodgers’ OT turnover did IN ITSELF give the Cardinals the game.

    3. Some people have made Favre’s OT turnover and loss their favorite play of the last two seasons and their mantra for getting rid of Favre and continuing to hate on him even after he left us.

    4. But those same people have turned Rodgers’ OT turnover and loss into a cascade of excuses why Rodgers is not to blame.

    5. Was it justice?

    6. Is there hypocrisy?

  • roy jamison

    The refs were not playoff quality, but our defense…for alledgedly being number 2, stunk. I hate to bring up the four letter word starting with a B again, but he is simply not NFL quality. Of the million things to ponder after a loss like this, rewind to shortly before halftime when for no apparent reason we wound down the clock to the point where we gave up an opportunity for a touchdown and settled for 3. Give us another 3 or 4 ticks and we get a tock.

  • PackerPete

    JJ

    Fu*k off and continue your oral fixation on favers manhood.

  • http://Orlando Mark

    jj, the point is that football is a team game. Neither #4 or #12 lost those games. The difference is #4 has so much hype by the media that you’d believe he’s supposed to win every game by himself. The reality is #4 is good and gives every team he plays for a chance but if he were the Packers QB this year he’d have been 8-8 because he doesn’t have any mobility anymore(neither does Warner and if we’d gotten some pressure on him he’d be toast). The only reason the Vikes have any chance this week is fear of AP might slow the Dallas rush..

  • Oddball

    Jesus Christ, JJ! Isn’t it a little early for this kinda shit? We’ve got months on end get all reflective about things now.

    My blood pressure is still coming down from last night fer cat’s sake.

    I have to disagree with Jeff. Our offense is in serious need of line help. At the end of the year, we were still counting on 3 Sherman-era linemen to get it done. I would also really like to see a true #1 wideout for Rodgers to go to. Let Jennings go to a #2 spot where he can be a killer and Driver to #3 where he can destroy any nickel back in the league for at least the next year or two.

    On the defensive side, we lost a lot of DBs to injury this year. Is there any hope that Pat Lee might be something in the NFL? Maybe we have the players there – maybe. But I think it’s pretty clear that we’re not getting the pass rush we need. I don’t know if that’s schematic or personnel, but no matter what we do with the DBs, they’re not going to hold up if we don’t get a better pass rush against a QB like Warner.

  • packer_bob

    JJ,

    This is not a productive line of discussion.

    I didn’t think it was right to put the 07 loss all on Favre when there were so many other failures—20 some yards of rushing, Harris getting burned by Burress all night, giving up rush yardage, etc.

    Similarly, while Rodgers may have made a bad play and missed a throw in OT, putting the blame at his feet is ridiculous. He and the offense did more than anyone thought possible in the 2nd half. Our 2nd ranked defense gave up 51 points–end of story.

    The biggest mystery is how we didn’t lose by double digits. You’re right in that many of the Favre bashers would be laying this loss at his feet had it been him, but to be consistent, I didn’t feel Favre lost that game for us and don’t feel Rodgers did yesterday.

    Let’s give Rodgers and the offense credit for making a game of it when it should have been a blowout rather than open old and meaningless wounds.

  • http://jlworden1suddenlink.net LarryTex

    Well, I can remain silent no longer – JJ pushed me over the edge.
    Observations and Opinions: INT and FUM, down 14 and two dropped passes another 14 off the scoreboard. Nothing changed about the Offense, we need two young OTs or Barbre and Lang to develop quickly. With 45 PTS after all that, enough said about the O other than a RB to develop.
    Oh, that unpredictable Defense. In hindsight we should have gone for tackles rather than strips, but it is obvious we were playing for TOs. Speed of their backup WRs caught us off guard. We need McKenzie to search for somebody’s #3 CB that cannot break into the starting lineup, like he did with Harris. We also need to develop a #3 CB of our own that is ready to step up within a year I’d guess. This is probably the most important year we’ve ever had, since Vince in ’59, for the Director of Football Operations because we’re so close.
    Other than that the improvements are marginal, ie, returner, gunners, kicker, punter, and not worth a big investment. Two punts and a missed 54 yarder had no impact on that game. The holes on O and D have to be plugged and this off season will be a huge test for the scouting dept and waiver/FA wire specialists.
    I never expected such accuracy from Warner-this would not have happened if we had kept him, har-har. IF, IF, IF, Rodgers hits Jennings for the bomb in OT. Rodgers threw it away on the last play. Or, the officials call the face mask penalty on Adams on the last play of the game. Pretty close, guys, for a team with age at only CB and OT. Incidentally, the last play of the game was the same blitz that Finley got loose on for 44 yds earlier. Go figure, a game of inches.
    And, oh yeah, Jeff and Roy think Bush lost the game for us. Eighteen other reasons given for the loss in this post and these two have to jump on Bush. Unbelievable.

  • Mike from Arizona

    BF has been gone for 2 years. I forget Rodgers is like Jeff George / Ryan Leaf, not….

    Stop with the BF talk in season 2010.

    No QB in the history of the NFL has had the kind of numbers of Rodgers in this first two season. With an improved line, it will be down right scary.

    Some people are never happy…… and that includes the Defensive back fields of all the teams we play next year.

    Go Rodgers, our Pro Bowler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • iccyfan

    Preface: No single play loses any game, but some loom larger than others!

    Big Play: On the last series, Darren Colledge got blown up and had to hold, negating a first down and putting the Packers in second & twenty. Those are the plays that kill you in overtime of a playoff game in hostile territory, yet rarely get mentioned.

    Conclusion: I agree with Oddball; the Packers need to acquire quality OL and especially DB help. I don’t think we can count on Al Harris to return to his former level of play (if at all) and we still have no idea if Pat Lee or Will Blackmon can play. As evidenced by Early’s two TD grabs yesterday, we know that Jarrett Bush can not.

  • packer_bob

    Yeah, LT, it’s a little ridiculous to single out Bush. I can’t stand him in coverage as it seems he’s always getting burned, but that failure yesterday was a complete defensive let down.

    We got gouged by the run like we hadn’t since the Cincy game, precious little pressure on Warner, and if we wanted to list who blew what coverage, the list could go on 10 players deep. Even Woodson got beat, although he did also create our only TO.

    This was a team loss, failures in all three departments. I disagree about that 54 yard FG not making a difference, btw. We eventually got the game tied, every point matters, just like it mattered that we had to settle for a FG at the end of the first half due to poor clock management.

  • Pack4life

    Let me Jump on Bush also. AZ has a Jarrett Bush he is Mike Adams, but Adams has the common courtesy to at least get a pass interference. Capers defense is built on stopping the run great but that philosophy is pase. Minn,Pitt and now AZ didnt give a rats ass about running the ball. So the whole defense is a square peg because teams will simply lineup 4 wide and find Jarrett Bush. BF,Warner and Big Ben are all HOF Qbs
    Tricks (psycho package) will not phase them. You have to physically beat them or they will kill you. Hopefully we have learned the lesson. If we cloned Deion Sanders, Lester Hayes, Mel Blount and Lem Barney, it wont make up for lack of pass Rush!!!!!
    SIGN JULIUS PEPPERS!!! Then you can force opposing teams to keep extra blockers and keep the extra dbs on the bench.

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