The Scrap Heap

This week's links and rants...

First, the Packers injury recap. S Derrick Martin was added to the growing list of Packers on the IR, further compromising the team's already shredded secondary depth. Clay Matthews appears to be out for Sunday's game vs Miami (he did not practice on Wednesday). But the biggest blow is that TE Jermichael Finley's knee injury was worse than expected and he is expected to miss 8-10 weeks, if not the rest of the season. This is a huge blow for the Packers, as Finley is Rodgers's favorite target and he played a big role in the Packers overall offensive scheme.

On the bright side, QB Aaron Rodgers fully participated in yesterday's practice. However, there were no full-contact drills. I would guess that he cleared to play this weekend.

The big news in Madison is that College Gameday is returning to cover the Wisconsin vs #1 overall ranked aOSU. This should be a fun game. My best football memory is still the Badgers rain-soaked victory over aOSU in a night game at Camp Randall in 2003. Sure enough, College Gameday was there that week too.

This Big 10 Power Poll was one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen.

During the international break, Yankee Yiddos has been running a great series called "Yanks we'd like to see at the lane". You can find their pitches here, here, here, and here. This break comes at a good time as Spurs are quite banged up. They play the Cottagers this weekend and then head to Milan to take on Inter in their next Champions League bout.

Preview: Packers (2-0) at Bears (2-0)

Too much work to do today, so this will be short. What's with so many Bears fans drinking this team's Kool-aid? They barely beat the lowly Lions *at home* and only on the strength of a bizarre mistake/rules wrinkle. Then they beat the overrated and asleep-seeming Cowboys in Dallas, which was more impressive. But honestly though - this was 2 games. All the problems that you complained about last season (Lovie, the offensive line) are still in place, though at least Urlacher is back. Cutler was a bit unlucky (and erratic) in general last season, and still does not have a great line in front of him. He's been better in the past 2 games, but, By DeRosa's Stubble, it's only 2 games. I'll be interested to see how their line handles Clay Matthews.

Most of the focus going into this game is on the quarterbacks, and for good reason. Both these teams (the Bears especially) don't really have great rushing games. I'm willing to give Forte a bit of the benefit of the doubt as the Bears O-line is not that good, but he seems like he's more of an outside runner/screen pass kind of guy anyway. The same applies to an even greater extent for Brandon Jackson, who's a great 3rd down kind of back but it not the guy you can count on for 3 yards when you need it. On top of that, the Bears have Urlacher back to shut down the middle of the field. Basically, we're going to see a lot of passing in this game, and I'll take Rodgers over Cutler. But if the Packers get absolutely *nothing* out of their running backs they could be in trouble.

Another reason to worry is that the Packers are still missing half their secondary with Bigby and Harris still recovering from surgery. Tramon Williams looks okay in the second CB spot but he's not all that special. Luckily neither are the Bears WRs. I don't really get the love for Devin Hester, Wide Receiver. They should be giving Aromashadu more touches. In fact, he should be matched up against shaky nickel back Sam Shields tonight.

On the other aspect of passing defense, I think Green Bay has the clear advantage. Clay Matthews and the Packers D, which is rated as the best pass rushing defense in the league according to FO. Clay Matthews has been an absolute terror, totaling 6 sacks.

Predictions
Aaron Rodgers: 2 TD, 1 INT
Jermichael Finley: 1 TD
Donald Driver: 1 TD
Packers D: 5 sacks (2 by Matthews)
Culter: 2 TD, 2 INT

Final Score: GB 23 - 17 CHI

Green Bay 37 - Buffalo 7 (and Washington 27 - Houston 30)

I felt pretty secure in saying that despite the fact I was missing this game on TV, I wasn't missing much. Rodgers threw for 2 TDs and ran for another, and Brandon Jackson picked up his first TD as a starter. The only negative thing I can say about the game is that for a blowout this big, the Packers only put up 91 rushing yards. I like Jackson because he's a decent option to catch passes out of the backfield, but we're talking about Buffalo, the 24th best team against the rush (per FO). I know the Packers are a passing-oriented offense but you have to think that they're looking desparately for a new RB.

Supposedly they are looking at Marshawn Lynch, which I'm not a huge fan of (who else is available though). He's been accused of sexual assault by his ex, struck a drunk pedestrian and fled the scene, and was caught with marijuana and a loaded gun in his car following the 2009 Pro Bowl. He also loves Applebee's, which makes me instantly despise him on top of all the legal issues. Obviously his head isn't screwed on straight.

For the most part this was a scoreboard watching game, and the best news was that the Vikings lost (now 0-2!). The Bears beat the Cowboys, which further dims their chances as a WC contender but with the Vikings 0-2 and Favre struggling the Packers look like they don't really need it anyway. The Vikings get the frisky-looking Lions next week in the Metrodome. The Lions are a pretty good pick at home right now, I think but I don't really see them winning this game on the road.

Game Balls:
Offense: Aaron Rogers
Defense: Clay Matthews (3 sacks)

Next week the Packers travel to Soldier Field to play the improbably 2-0 Chicago Bears on Monday Night. It should be a fun one, for various reasons, most notably the fact that I heard several Bears fans mention on Twitter/fb something along the lines of Cutler should sue his offensive line for attempted murder.

(mini-recap: Washington 27 - 30 Houston)
The Redskins looked much, much better this week, and I take back anything I said about McNabb being done. That said, I don't really have any idea how Houston managed to come back, despite the fact that I watched it. They just have a great, great offense. They look like a playoff team, and could even knock off the Colts in the AFC South.

I still don't know what to think about the NFC East. The Cowboys were overrated but they still managed to surprise me by losing to the freaking Bears IN DALLAS. The Eagles don't wow me either, though McCoy sure looked good. Teams will start gameplanning for the Notorious Dog Killer if he keeps playing, and Kolb certainly did not look impressive against the Packers before he was knocked out. The Giants are kinda good but aren't really blow you away good. I thought the NFC East would be a real muddle but now I'm even more convinced. I wouldn't be surprised if 9-7 won the division (with a bunch of tiebreakers) and I could see the Skins (or any other of these guys) going on a hot streak to win it.

I was going to add some more here about the NFL overtime rules and the lameness of icing kickers, but that deserves its own post.

Packers win 27-20

This was a snoozer early on, then got tense in the 4th quarter when the opposing offense suddenly woke up in the hands of a notorious dog murder. The Packers o-line looked shaky early but managed to adjust to the opponent's (admittedly, good) pass rush as the game went on. There were many injuries in this game, most notably opposing QB Kevin Kolb. For the Packers, the casualties inclued:

• DE Justin Harrell (knee)- could be out for the season
• RB Ryan Grant (ankle) - was in a walking cast and unable to return. I would not expect him back next week
• DE Cullen Jenkins (hand) - he broke his hand but isn't likely to miss any time. He'll just wear a club cast for the rest of the season
• FS Nick Collins was banged up late in the game but seems to be okay. Losing him would be a big blow since the Packers are already down half their starting defensive backfield with Bigby and Harris out

I would worry a bit about the defensive meltdown in the second half, but I think a big part of it was the fact that the team prepped for Kolb and not the notorious dog killer, who is a completely different QB. It seemed like Capers was asleep at the switch, not leaving anyone to keep an eye him on those big runs.

Despite their impressive comeback, the opponents managed to shoot themselves in the foot several times. They had 10 penalties for 80 yards, and the NDK threw and incomplete pass late in the 4th quarter when he had enough open field to run in for the game-tying TD. I'll take the win on the road.

Game MVP: Clay Matthews. He was all over the field today, terrorizing the opposing QBs (he's the one who knocked out Kolb). Woodson had a great game too, just missing out on a pick and being a big part of a fumble recovery.
Game LVP: Rodgers didn't have a great game, and I have no clue who the hell his second pick was supposed to go to. He threw a near-certain Pick 6 that the defender somehow dropped.

Next week, the Packers play LEEEEEEE Evans and the lowly Bills at Lambeau.