Packers Win Ugly Thriller
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by Cheezer
The Green Bay Packers defeated the Denver Broncos 19-13 in overtime on Monday Night Football. The thrilling end to the game compensated for a very ugly display of professional football by both teams.
The game was marred by the 22 penalties for 166 yards. There was some justification for the numerous penalties as both teams played sloppy, however the over-officious jerks did call things a little too tightly in my opinion.
Brett Favre silenced his critics who questioned his arm strength by throwing touchdowns of 79 yards (46 yds in the air ) to James Jones and 82 yards (approx 40 yds in the air) to Greg Jennings. This is great news for the Packers as Favre hadn’t completed a pass of over 40 yards in the air since 2005. Future opponents will have to game plan for the potential big play from the Packers.
Observations
- Favre finished 21/27 (13/14 in the second half) for 331yds and 2 TDs.
- The game winning TD came off play action. This shows the benefit of the running game to help the passing game.
- The Bronco secondary is in trouble. James Jones beat Champ Bailey for the first touchdown and Greg Jennings beat Dre Bly for the game winner.
- DeShawn Wynn is not ready for the NFL. I’ve lost track of his injuries as yet again he had an early exit.
- Ryan Grant finished with 22 carries for 104 yards. The first 100 yard rusher for the Pack in 10 regular season games.
- Atari Bigby took some very stupid penalties and showed his immaturity.
- The Packer defense continues to play sloppy but not give up many points.
- The Packers are 8-3 (3-0 this season) on the road under Head Coach Mike McCarthy.
If the Broncos won the toss to start overtime, they probably would have won the game. The Packer defense spent most of the game winded after Green Bay’s first quarter time of possession of 2:56. Further wear and tear on the Packer defense is due to the 11-play 72-yd drive that resulted in the game tying field goal at the end of regulation. The Packers D may not have held up for another drive through the thin mountain air..
After the game, McCarthy announced that Ryan Grant will be the starting running back for the Packers next week against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Packer Injuries
- Nick Collins-Ribs (played injured)
- Deshawn Wynn-Shoulder (left the game)
- Ryan Pickett-Knee (returned)
- How they would stop rushing the QB to prevent the pass to the checkdown.
Bob Sanders Vanilla approach to not give up the big play may hurt them later.