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Freeman, Levens headed for Packers Hall of Fame

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Dorsey Levens The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Inc. announced today that it will induct former wide receiver Antonio Freeman and former running back Dorsey Levens at the 39th Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, to be held the evening of July 18, 2009.

Freeman (pictured) played eight seasons for the Packers, appearing in 116 games, with 90 starts.  He rankes sixth on the club's all-time list in both receptions (431) and yards (6,651), and third in touchdown receptions (57).  Freeman earned consensus All-Pro honors and a Pro Bowl selection in 1998 after posting 1,424 yards to lead the NFL.

Levens played eight seasons in a Packers uniform, with 53 starts among 102 games played.  The fifth all-time leading rusher in team history, Levens ran for 3,937 yards on 1,006 carries, with 28 touchdowns.  Levens also caught 271 passes for 2,079 yards and 16 TD's.

 

Listen / Download – Dorsey Levens says he's glad he became a Packer now. :26

Pro Bowl selections announced today

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The 2008-09 Pro Bowl selections will be unveiled later this afternoon.  Despite a 5-9 record, at least two Packers should have legitimate chances, DB Charles Woodson and WR Greg Jennings.  Safety Nick Collins and DE Aaron Kampman could also receive consideration. 

Woodson has made the pro bowl four times in the past, but none since he joined the Packers in 2006.

 

Packers officially eliminated from post season with loss to Jags!

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The Green Bay Packers rapid-fall from playoff contention was finalized today with a 20-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Jacksonville.  The Packers suffered their 4th straight loss and 4th straight on the road in eliminating themselves from the playoff picture.  It turns out it was just a formality with Minnesota running away from Arizona this afternoon, which would have also done the trick for the Packers.

David Garrard threw two touchdown passes, Maurice Jones-Drew scored twice and the Jaguars snapped a 4-game losing streak of their own.

The Packers started the 4th quarter with the lead at 13-7, but Garrard led a couple of scoring drives, resulting in a touchdown pass from Garrard to Jones-Drew and a 2-yard touchdown run by Jones-Drew.

The Packers tried to mount one final drive, but Aaron Rodgers was intercepted over the middle by Reggie Nelson with 40-seconds remaining.  Rodgers finished 20 of 32 for 278 yards and a touchdown.  James Jones caught four passes for 132 yards.

On the other side of the ball, the Packers defensive line failed to once again generate any kind of pass rush, allowing Garrard to throw for 238 yards on the day. 

So the Packers go from 13-3 a year ago and a win shy of a trip to the Superbowl, to a 5-9 record with two games to play and nothing to play for but pride and playoff positioning for the April Draft.  The Packers are off until a week from Monday night when they face the Chicago Bears in Chicago on Dec. 22nd.

 

Jolly has trial date set

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Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Johnny Jolly appeared in front of a judge in Houston on Tuesday.  Jolly is facing felony drug charges after his arrest July 8th outside a Houston nightclub.  Trial has been set for March 27th.  Jolly is charged with possessing at least 200 grams of codeine.

Jolly will be back on the practice field with the Packers today.  The Packers face the Jaguars in Jacksonville on Sunday.

 

Tauscher is done for the season

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Mark Tauscher The Green Bay Packers have lost right tackle Mark Tauscher for the final three games of the season.  Tauscher suffered a torn ACL in his knee and will have season ending surgery in the next week.

Tauscher is in the final year of his contract with the Packers and will need the entire off-season to recover.  He suffered the injury in the Packers loss to Houston on Sunday.

 

Listen / Download – M. McCarthy says they'll miss Tauscher. :17

Who's responsible for the Packers sieve-like defense?

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A couple weeks ago, the Packers defense was carved up by New Orleans for 51 points.  Sunday, they were hit with a 549 yard performance by Houston.  All season long, they've been gashed by big plays.  Each week, we here coach Mike McCarthy talk about gap control, pad level, correcting mistakes and moving forward.  Then a week later, the Packers play another game and we repeat the whole process.

On Monday, McCarthy defended his defensive coordinator, Bob Sanders and said the its the players that need to execute better.

The mistakes have been made every week, but the most important constant the Packers have suffered all season long has been little or not pass rush.  Even Aaron Kampman, who has been the only consistent pass rusher this season, was getting swallowed up by Houston blockers in the Packers 24-21 loss on Sunday.  Sanders called a number of 5-man blitzes Sunday, trying to get more pressure on the quarterback.  The result was a 414 yard passing day by Houston quarterback Matt Schaub. 

At his press conference on Monday, Mike McCarthy said, "When the defense is called, we need to play the defense.  No different on offense.  As long as we're not putting our players in bad angles, overload situations and things they can't win in, that's really I think the key to evaluating your game play."

"I thought Bob tried to be aggressive because of the lack of pass rush.  The pass rush coinciding with the pass defense, it all works together, and we didn't do a very good job of it."

The Packers lost Cullen Jenkins to injury early on and released Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila because he just didn't have it anymore.  They chose not to resign Corey Williams in free agency and traded him to Cleveland for a second round pick.  The Packers were banking on Justin Harrell to help out more, but he hasn't been healthy enough to pull that off.

Part of the problem has to fall on General Manager Ted Thompson's shoulders.  Thompson has no idea he's going to lose Jenkins to injury for much of the season, but he did choose to let Williams go, and then over estimated what he thought he could get from Gbaja-Biamila and from Harrell. 

And with that being said, regardless of injury, the coaches have to develope those players leftover, get them ready to play and execute on the field.  It's one thing to not have enough left to win consistently against really good teams.  But losing to the Houston Texans on a 3-degree day at Lambeau Field is hard to believe.

If Sanders is on the hot seat, you'd never know it by the way Mike McCarthy reacts to those questions in press conferences. 

A couple of weeks ago, I came to the conclusion that this team just isn't very good.  I believe that more and more with each passing week.  But are they good enough to beat Jacksonville on the road.  That's the next test.  The Jaguars have literally thrown in the towel on a disappointing season.  The Packers problems on defense won't go away, but if they don't beat Jacksonville on Sunday, Packers fans will start looking ahead to free agency and the April draft.

 

Listen / Download – Mike McCarthy defends Bob Sanders. :14

Packers sign Punter for the stretch drive

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After releasing Derrick Frost on Monday, the Green Bay Packers signed his replacement today (Wednesday), Jeremy Kapinos.  Kapinos was a Ray Guy Award finalist at Penn State in 2007 and beat out three other punters that were trying out for the job in Green Bay. 

Kapinos joined the Jets as a rookie free agent last year and was released before the start of the regular season.  He was then signed to the Jets' practice squad and was later activated for three games, punting in one game against Tennessee.  He averaged 41.6 yards gross and 36.4 net on his five attempts.

Kapinos will practice for the first time with the Packers on Thursday. 

Asked what he expected out of his new punter, coach Mike McCarthy said, “I want him to punt the ball in the right direction.”

The Packers also signed free agent wide receiver Lorne Sam to their practice squad.  Sam was previously with the Denver Broncos.

Packers release Frost, will likely hold audition's Tuesday

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The Green Bay Packers made it official by releasing struggling punter Derrick Frost on Monday (today).  Frost was averaging 42.1 yards per punt, which ranked 26th in the NFL.  His 36.1 net average also ranked 26th.

The Packers had released Jon Ryan at the end of training camp, looking to improve the position.  Ryan currently ranks 9th in gross average (46.4) and 17th in net (37.9). 

Frost had become a target of both the media and the fans after punting poorly much of the season.  Last week, he uncorked punts of 24 and 26 yards in a loss to the Saints on Monday night.  One would have assumed that might have been the last straw.  But the Packers buried their head in the sand and would hear nothing of it.  Then after a couple of very average punts on Sunday in the loss to the Panthers, the boo's came as loud as I've heard them in some time at Lambeau Field.

Clearly, the fans wanted Frost gone and although the Packers are saying that had nothing to do with his release today, how could it not be.  The Packers say Frost's release was based on the numbers.  If that were entirely true, then he would have been let go a week ago, or even sooner. 

Frost was the holder for kicker Mason Crosby.  That job will now go to backup quarterback Jon Ryan.

As for the new punter, the Packers have already worked out a number of punters some time ago.  They'll likely call a few of them back for an audition on Tuesday with the winner to get the job.

 

Packers clinging to playoff hope

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The Green Bay Packers may look like they're dead in the water, but believe it or not, there's still a chance at the post-season for the green & gold.  Now, the tricky part.  The Packers, who have dropped 4 of their last 5 games, including Sunday's 35-31 setback at home against Carolina, will likely have to win all four of its remaining games to have a chance.  At 5-7, they trail the Bears by 1 game and the division leading Vikings by 2-games. 

The Packers four remaining games are as follows:  Houston (4-7), at Jacksonville (4-7), at Chicago (6-6) and Detroit (0-12).  The combined opponents record is 14-32.

Chicago's four remaining games look like this:  Jacksonville (4-7), New Orleans
(6-6), Green Bay (5-7) and at Houston (4-7).  Combined record of opponents: 19-27.

Minnesota's four remaining games:  at Detroit (0-12), at Arizona (7-5), Atlanta
(8-4) and New York Giants (11-1).  Combined record of opponents: 26-22.

The Vikings have by far the most difficult schedule of the three, which is good news for the Packers.  They could catch a break at the end when the Giants will likely rest their key starters in the final week of the season.  But the Packers do own a tie-breaker advantage over the Vikings.

Now the question we all ask, can this team, as inconsistant as it has been, win four straight games, regardless of opponent and their record?  Mike McCarthy says first things first.  The Packers will have to beat Houston at home on Sunday just to have a chance, so they need to clean up their mistakes and take them one at a time.

The Packers have struggled in the month of November under McCarthy, but their December record in the coaches first two seasons is 7-1.  How you look at the Packers chances may depend on whether or not you're drinking the Kool-aide, but make no mistake, if the Packers can handle winning four straight, they just might have a chance.