Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Wins, Cars and Dead Rodentia

Sorry there's no game recap this week. MF had a busy week. Bought a car and picked it up on Monday, watched the game and then slayed a field mouse that had decided our house was a nice place to live. The mouse thing may not seem like much (mostly because it isn't) but the lady of the house considers mice to be on par with dragons so getting rid of one takes on a bizarre level of importance.

So, rather than the full game recap, here are some thoughts from the Monday Night game. Let us know whether you agree or disagree and all that. That's part of the fun.

The Monday Night Football Breakdown

MNF has greatly improved in many areas this year. Mostly this is due to the absence of Joe Theismann and the addition of Ron Jaworski. Jaws is articulate, not particularly full of himself (which is saying something for a former QB) and actually explains the game in a way that's interesting for avid watchers and inexperienced folks (read: wives).

The statistical breakdowns, pass tracking systems, etc are all fun to look at and (just barely) add to the presentation of the game. In all, it's pretty dang good and makes the game feel like an event.

Unfortunately MNF still has a few negatives. These were on full display in Denver. I'm generally ambivalent towards Tony Kornheiser during the game (he doesn't bring anything to the table but he doesn't take much away either) but his pre-game essay is always borderline retarded.

Tony K, Jaws and Mike Tirico basically had a 3 man gang bang of all things Favre. The only thing gayer than that sequence is a pink mesh t-shirt. Which we've all seen before, but still...I mean, the reason there is a backlash at all on Favre is because of this sort of hero worship. This just in...Tony Romo, Tom Brady and the rest also enjoy playing the game. It's not that crazy.

It pains me to say this but the worst part of the broadcast was Deanna Favre's montage. I like Deanna, I'm happy she's trying to raise awareness for breast cancer, but I don't need two montages AND an interview with her during the game. I just don't. At one point Tony asked Deanna what her conversation was with Brett after his father passed away. Why? Does America need to know the answer? This sort of stuff just gets me queasy. It borders on the infatuation people have with Britney Spears forgetting her underwear or LiLo drinking too much. Just let the man play football. Let the woman raise awareness, but don't get into the personal stuff please.

Also, "he's my Brett, our Favre" is just painful. That should be played during a family reunion or something, not a football game. Moving on.

The Actual Game

The intros were actually entertaining tonight. Dre Bly decided to forgo giving out the lineups for the Denver Defense and just talked about the game plan. I'm a little disappointed he didn't bust out a telestrator and show how they were going to get pressure up the middle on Favre.

Nick Barnett handled the intros for the Packer D and did two things fantastically well. One, he called Poppinga "Brady, the swarmin' mormon". Two, he seemed to be wearing a Bill Cosby sweater with a gold chain. 1986 comin' at ya bitches!

Finally, Mark Tauscher called Favre "Vinny Testaverde's father". Thank you all for making what is usually an awful sequence somewhat entertaining.

Denver scores on a TD pass to their Tight End, Scheffler. The Denver offense looks okay, but the Denver offense PLUS Atari Bigby giving up huge plays/penalties? Now that's just awesome.

Green Bay 0 - Denver 7

First play from scrimmage after the TD and Favre hits James Jones 40 yards downfield. JJ cuts it back across the field for another 35 or so and a touchdown. Wow. Pretty deep ball from Favre, great catch and run by the rookie. Over Champ Bailey no less. We're tied at 7 and it looks like the Offense isn't going to roll out the ugly junk we've seen the last few weeks.

Green Bay 7 - Denver 7

Denver gets to the Green Bay two yard line and fumbles the snap. Looks like a guard was pulling and just swatted it out of Cutler's hand. Barnett pounced on the ball as if it were an old jazz record in the basement. Nice work.

On the drive John Lynch had to leave the game. The Packers caught Denver with only 1o men on the field and got a first down. Then they rushed to the line and caught them with 12 men. Later they forced Denver to call a timeout because they again had too many men on the field. Do "genius" labels expire on coaches after 5 years or something? Shanahan can't get anything right. The Packers kick a field goal.

Green Bay 10 - Denver 7

DeShawn Wynn started the game. Ran once for 1 yard and is now hurt. I wonder where this "lack of toughness" label comes from? I mean, he's been nothing but a man for us. 40 carries a game? No problem. Ryan Grant is running very well at the moment. We again fail to score a TD but a short Figgie isn't a bad concession.

Green Bay 13 - Denver 7

Denver has the ball for what seems like the entire third quarter. The only point of interest is that they have a receiver named "Glenn Martinez". Since Glenn is currently #2 in the "most whitest names" behind "Tad" I'm a little surprised there's a "Martinez" following it.

Hey, can we get an intern to go buy some more quotation marks from Office Max or something? I used up all of 'em in that last sentence.

Green Bay 13 - Denver 10

Maybe it's the beer talking (it isn't) but it seems like we've been in control of this game the whole time and yet we're only up by 3. These are the games that, when you lose, you feel like you were completely blindsided. But then you look back and realize you just weren't paying attention. I do not like these games.

The 4th quarter results in more flags (we're in the 20s now). That makes for a rough game. Ryan Grant has become our 1st 100 yard rusher on the season. Good to see we got that out of the way.

Denver drives with no timeouts and fails to convert on third down from our 4 yard line. Elam and the special teams group rush on to make the field goal as time expires. Overtime!

Green Bay 13 - Denver 13

Weird damn game. Offenses moving the ball all over the place and yet it's tied at 13. No turnovers by the Packers, just one for Denver. We won the toss, let's score here and go home. I don't know if the D can stop Denver again.

Okay. That was pretty much the coolest thing ever. On the first play from scrimmage Favre hits Greg Jennings 50 yards down the field. GJ takes it the rest of the way for the touchdown. Dre Bly didn't address how he was going to handle a simple go route in his breakdown of the D when he had the chance. Caught you napping Dre! It's pandamonium!

Green Bay 19 - Denver 13




Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Rocktober Fest


Pack finally wins one in Denver! Favre came alive and brought a little bitty running game with him as they beat the Broncos in OT.

Here are some good articles.

Rocky Mountain News
ESPN's John Clayton
Denver Post

16 more wins like this, and we'll be even for Super Bowl XXXII.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Let's Let Deanna Favre Speak For Herself

I believe in freedom of speech at cheese and packers, that everyone should be heard. Today it's Deanna Favre's turn. Deanna, speak to us.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Broncos This Week

We got the Broncos for Monday Night Football in a few days, but what does Homer think about the Denver Broncos?:

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Reggie White Wrestling Part 2

Here's the exciting conclusion of Reggie White kicking Bear ass.

Packers Tailgate Pary


Justin Timberlake shotguns a Miller Lite and that dude from what show....90210 or something....smiles for the camera. This was before the Bears game a few weeks ago.

Who cars if the Bears have that jack-ass Jim Belushi, we have Jessica Beil!

See the whole party here.

Monday, October 22, 2007

The Great McGee


I'm sure by now you've heard the news of the great Packer legend Max McGee and his fatal accident this weekend. I never watched had a chance to watch him play, but I did grow up listening to him on the Packer Radio Network. It's too bad, he won't be able to watch us beat the Patriots in this years Super Bowl.

Here is an article about his death.










And on a side note, Max was one of the co-founders of the best Mexican restaurant ever, Chi
Chi's.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Reggie White All-Star Wrestling

I'm not sure if you remember this, but Reggie White got into the wrestling ring sometime in the late 90's and went up against Steve McMichael. Remember that loser ex-Bear who played with us for a year...no not McMahon, McMichael. Anyways, here is part one.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Cleanin' Up.


We here at Cheese and Packers love to chew the fat with our readers...we couldn't do this without you. We may not always reply to comments, but we always enjoy reading your comments. Thanks for your support, and let us know your thoughts. Except for Deanna Favre (the one who reads this site, not the husband of the touchdown record setting Favre).

5-1.....let's go Pack!

Golden Mullet Awards-Pack vs. Redskins

Sloppy, sloppy game. But we have a couple weeks to digest it thanks to the bye. Now let's see who comes out a winner Cheese and Packers style.

Quarterback:






I don't care that he had some close calls in the end zone, I'm looking at results here. Two picks and not enough yards. Sure a wins a win but come on, we gotta start building something here. We're not the Vikings!

Running Backs:






I wish I could give less than one here. I would settle for Hershell Walker right about now. Fix this!

Receivers:






I'm getting bored with average.

Defense:






Is four too much? Finally the defense stepped up a bit, they won the game for our team. Who needs a running game, the Vikings?

Special Teams:






Missed field goals come on! Get good already.

Coach:






Let's give Mike a bit of credit here. He beat a good time with a poor Favre performance. I like wins, even ugly ones.

Vikings Stupid Running Back:






I'm jealous.

Bears Defense:






That was awesome. Go Bears! Can you play any worse?

Well, we're a good team, but I'm looking for great. We got to step up our running game, fine more consistency in our passing, and tighten up on defense. Oh, and get better on special teams. Is that too much to overcome?

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Recap! Washington (3-1) at Green Bay Packers (4-1)

When last we spoke (and yes, I'm pretending that we've been having conversations) the Packers were busy blowing a game against the Bears. It was disheartening. But, on the plus side we were still alone in first place. We hadn't been blown out (like last year, or the year before that, or the year before that...). All told, if you had asked Packer fans if they'd be happy with 4-1 they'd all say "yes" so really, what was the issue?

For me it was the next month of the schedule. Home game against an up and coming Washington team, bye week, then road games against Denver and KC. Frankly, I thought the possibility of 0 for October was a possibility. So those antsies in the pantsies were a might bit fired up last week.

Kenny Albert and Troy Aikman are in the booth today. I like Aikman more now that he's not with the insufferable douche that is Joe Buck. I'm still troubled that a grown man goes by the name "Kenny" but he's not a douche so I'll call this an improvement. Terry McAuley is reffing today. I have no idea who he is. Make a good memory for me Terry.

I think a win today puts us on the right track for a division title. I know it's early, but it's these sorts of games that you have to win in order to be relevant in the NFL. Plus, I saw Washington higher up in a few Power Rankings lately so this can be considered a solid team (in the public's eye, at least).

Jason Campbell, the young QB for Washington, has a boy band mustache. A 'stache like that doesn't want to play football at Lambeau, that sort of 'stache wants to be crooning to some blonde teen from Chippewa Falls while wearing a jean jacket themed ensemble. I feel better about our chances.

As always, italics mean that the opponent has the ball.

1ST QUARTER

9:02 - Both teams trade short and/or meaningless drives to open up. Favre was nearly picked on a wobbler. But he was not. I'm reaaaaaally hoping the offense isn't the same one from the second half last week. Fortunately on the second series Favre hits Don Lee over the middle. Don busts a tackle or two and carries it 60 yards all the way to the Washington 3.

8:16 - DeShawn Wynn in for the TD off right tackle. That was nice.

GREEN BAY 7 - WASHINGTON 0

3:43 - Hmm. Despite missing on some short passes J.C. (the love machine) manages to lead a drive down the field. Once again Tight Ends are our nemesis. Chris Cooley made the big play with a 30 yard catch and run off a screen pass down to our 3. That sucked. J.C. (the ladies' man) scrambles in for the TD. It seemed like Al Harris and a few others stopped playing on defense halfway through the play. That also sucked.

GREEN BAY 7 - WASHINGTON 7

2:06 - I'm noticing a trend. Cooley just had a drop (his first) but to this point has 4 catches for 55 yards at this point. We should probably cover him.

2ND QUARTER

12:44 - Favre gets hit as he's throwing and fumbles. Tony Moll recovers. We're a little loosey goosey with the ball right now. After last week's butterfinger bowl you'd think we'd stop doing that sort of thing. By the by, Moll is in because Coston is out. And Spitz (who lost his job to Coston) is in for Wells at Center because he broke his eye socket. Seriously. Who breaks their eye socket?

12:43 - I would like to point out that this particular blogger doesn't want his eye socket broken by any of the Wells extended family, particularly if size runs in the family. Get well soon!

9:23 - Right now Washington looks like the better team. They have a nice mix of pass (to a Tight End) and run. Fortunately Santana Moss tipped a pass and Chuck Woodson picked it. So we're hanging on.

6:45 - After another ugly three and out by the offense the D again comes up big. On 3rd and 3 from the GB 41 Randle El drops the 1st down catch. Poppinga almost had a pick. Okay, when I said "the D again comes up big" I mean that the receiver for Washington dropped the ball. I want to be totally clear on this issue. Much like every announcer ever I will completely disavow any in-depth analysis.

5:47 - For the what, 3rd time now, we attempt a deep pass. I mention this because we haven't come close to completing any of them. You know how the Cowboys cheerleaders look in their little cowgirl outfits? Our offense is like the opposite of that right now.

1:17 - Well. There's a fucking shock. Chris Cooley just caught a touchdown. He was wide open. It was weird because he also had a couple catches on the drive and nearly has 100 yards receiving on the day. So odd. I didn't even know Washington had a tight end!

1:16 - Sorry, I was away from the computer, that last entry was from Bob Sanders. What happened? What the fuck? Bob! Stop blogging and get someone to cover the dang tight end, man!

GREEN BAY 7 - WASHINGTON 14

:03 - The Packers run a nice two minute drill down to the Washington 30 yard line. It's 45 degrees. It's raining. Why run another play with 12 seconds left when you can have your rookie kicker line up from 46? Crosby pulls it wide left.

3RD QUARTER

13:20 - I know I was ranting about Cooley earlier but really the D has kept us in the game. Other than the 60 yard strike to Don Lee the offense has contributed little. James Thrash just made a 40 yard completion but it's coming back. As it turns out there are rules against tackling the cornerback, throwing him to the ground, and then going on as if nothing has happened.

11:20 - Dammit! James Jones was wide open deep but the ball was underthrown and picked off. Why are we throwing deep? The only time we've moved the ball was when we went with short passes and some runs. But we keep punching ourselves in the pants.

3:55 - The D forced a 3 and out. Punt to the 49. From the 20 Clifton gets called for a hold. Even Aikman and Albert note that there was no holding on the play. Excellent call Terry McAuley! The Packers are pushed back, then complete a pass for 13 over the middle to Bubba. Finally, Favre finds James Jones in the end zone for 6! Oh, no wait. This time Terry has called Tauscher for holding. Aikman and Albert agree that there was no penalty.

3:07 - Crosby hits from 37. I contemplate starting a website called www.terry'steam.com where people can go to find out more about how Terry and his team of refs overcame profound stupidity to become NFL employees. There'd be a link to Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder's site for similar information on becoming owners despite this affliction.

GREEN BAY 10 - WASHINGTON 14

2:05 - Rock Cartwright (Flintstones character? Yes or no?) returns the kick to the Green Bay 45. That's not ideal. Fortunately, on an end-around Santana Moss continues to contribute to a Packer win by being stripped by Corey Williams (of the football, ahem). Chuck Woodson pounces as only a former Wolverine can and returns it 55 yards for a touchdown! Wow, that was amazing. We've made exactly 2 big plays in this game and we're ahead.

GREEN BAY 17 - WASHINGTON 14

4TH QUARTER

10:58 - The D forced another 3 and out. Cooley has been mostly silent in the second half with I think just one catch for 5 yards or so. On 3rd and 2 we went deep again. We failed to come close to connecting again. How does the game plan include 8 deep passes when attempts 1 thru 7 have failed miserably?

10:42 - Clinton Portis fumbles on his own 9 yard line. AJ Hawk pounces, as only a former offshoot from a tree can, and recovers.

10:00 - Ahem. Bubba Franks just made a beautiful TD catch in the back of the end zone. Despite getting violently hit in the chest he managed to get one foot in and the other 3 inches out. Now, he went up vertically and would have come down easily in bounds but Terry's Team somehow felt this was not a force out. This is the most ridiculous call in sports. How is that not a TD?

9:55 - Favre manages to lose 12 yards on the sack. Making the Crosby attempt from 38 instead of 26. Of course he hits the left upright. No points. 1st and goal from the 9 and we get no points. Well, I mean other than the 6 Bubba got. Not that I'm bitter.

6:57 - Washington has driven to the Green Bay 38. They complete a pass to Cooley (who?) for 7. Forcing a 4th and 1 from our 33 or so. Washington burned a timeout before the play and one after. They're putting all they have into this play.

6:43 - Nick Barnett stuff Ladell Betts for a loss on a little flare pass. I love Nick. He doesn't get a lot of credit but he makes big plays.

4:15 - "You want to antagonize me? Antagonize me motherfucker! I'll kick your bitchy little ass, punk." This quote off of Guns N' Roses excellent Use Your Illusion II's "Get in the Ring" brought to you by me. For no reason we went deep again. It was intercepted by Sean Taylor again.

:20 - Wow. That's not how you run an offense. Washington got the ball for one final drive with a little over 1 minute left on their own 20. 1st down - KGB flushes J.C. Love and forces a desperation dumpoff. 2nd down - Aaron Kampman sacks J.C. and rubs grass stains all over his Girbaud jean jacket. An O-Lineman gets hurt, 10 second runoff because they have no timeouts. 3rd Down - False start, another 10 second runoff. Then Jarrett Bush swats away the pass. On 4th down Ladell Betts gets tackled 7 yards short and doesn't even try to lateral or keep the play alive.

FINAL: GREEN BAY 17 - WASHINGTON 14

The story today was the Defense. They were helped by a lot of drops by Washington receivers, by Santana Moss being an absolute trainwreck and J.C. having eyes only for tight ends. But still, the Defense couldn't have won this game for us last year. I'm gonna call that progress.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

A look back at Packers vs. Redskins

Here's a look back to when the Pack beat the Redskins on Monday Night.

"On a chilly October night in 1983, Lambeau Field turned into an offensive wonderland. The Green Bay Packers (3-3) and Washington Redskins (5-1) lit up Monday Night Football that evening with the show's greatest scoring explosion ever. The teams combined for 95 points, 771 yards passing and 254 yards on the ground. And though they posted 10 fewer first downs than the Redskins' 33, coach Bart Starr's Packers held on for a 48-47 win."

Read the rest here.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Golden Mullet Awards-Pack Vs. Bears

Quarterback:






A couple touchdowns, a pick. Biggest complaint is he didn't win it in the end. Yes, I expect that now.

Running Backs:






Best all year, but that's not saying much.

Receivers:






Tons of yards...fumbled balls. Where's Driver?

Defense:







Started out great, that let the Bears score...come on!

Special Teams:






Like everyone else...okay.

Bears Fans:






You win one game against us, and it's like you won a Super Bowl or something...whoops, I forgot you lost that one. Sorry.

See you next week, let's hope we can do better!

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

What goes around.....

I got a few calls from Bears fans, I'll be honest. So instead of jumping to my Golden Mullet Awards, I'll put something up that's more pressing. This is for all the Bears fans that suddenly have a short term memory.

Never forget.
We never will.


Monday, October 08, 2007

Movie Recap! Straight Talk starring Dolly Parton on HBO Family

I didn't really know what to expect going into this one. Could Dolly Parton convincingly play a smooth talking radio host in the big city of Chicago? Would she be taken seriously with her down home charm, Tennessee drawl and gigantic rack? I had to find out.

7pm - After this on HBO Family I can catch a preview of the just released Firehouse Dog!

7:14pm - I sadly realize that I'll be watching a football game rather than Dolly Parton's chesticles and that no one wants to read a blow by blow diary of Straight Talk. A deep depression comes over me.

8:45 am (Monday) - I give up the ruse that I watched a bad movie from the 80s instead of the game. I accept that losses are part of a season.

8:46 am - I resolve to punch the following people:

Mike McCarthy - For the overly conservative playcalls in the second half. For the terrible use of the challenge flags. For poor clock management at the end of the game.

James Jones - For fumbling twice. If not for those two fumbles it would be reasonable the Packers would have been up 17-0. Although I don't want to punch JJ, Chuck Tillman punched him enough and it didn't go well for us.

Brett Favre - Brilliant most of the night, horrible on the pick to Urlacher.

John Madden - A punch right to the turducken (right above the belt buckle) for this chud. I loved that he said Urlacher was coming on after the interception. Uh, John, it fell into his lap.

Chuck Woodson - For fumbling after a nice punt return.

Nick Barnett - For making a great tackle to force a punt at the end of the game but somehow using the guy's facemask as a jungle gym in the process and giving up 15 yards on the penalty.

Finally I'd like to throw a punch to each team's coach for each penalty they accrued. Man that was ugly. Larry Nemmers the Ref is retiring at the end of the season, apparently he's going out with a bang. It also took him 10 minutes to figure out if 12 men were on the field (there were) and then he made the wrong call. After 10 minutes. Maybe you should shut 'er down right now Lar'.

I'm disaapointed. But we're 4-1, all alone in first place and no one looks like much of a threat. I realize the Bears won last night but there is no question they were the inferior team. This division is ours if we want it. That's a nice feeling. Now if you excuse me I've got some punching to do.

9:05 am - I grow weary of this game. I also have work to do. I'm outta here.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Golden Mullet Awards-Pack Vs. Vikings

4-0! How do you like that! It's always a joy to beat the Vikings, but to do it in the dome and to jump ahead in the division, totally awesome dude.

Quarterback:






Favre was amazing once again. I hate to see it, but he puts the offense on his back and pulls them to victory. He breaks the record, throws for over 300 yards, throws two touchdowns, and best of all, no picks! PERFECT!

Receivers:






Jennings had a great game, but I feel like Driver could have done a little better. But over all, pretty, pretty good.

Running Backs:






They got nothing. Where's Ahman? I'd even take Mike Sherman back there over these guys.

Special Teams:







The field goals were great, but I feel like we gave up too many yards to the Vikings on kick returns.

Defense:






Did you see Al Harris? He was on fire. Overall, pretty good, but they still gave up a hundred yards to that stupid Viking rookie.

Coach:






Mike crafted a great game, not balanced at all, but still great. He got the Pack to beat the Vikes in the dome, and.....4-0.

Viking Fans:






Skol Vikings, Skol!

Great win boys, but we got a long ways to go. We just got to keep the momentum up. Go Pack Go!