Before I comment about today’s game I want to point out that I was always a big Brett Favre fan; I even have an autographed mini-helmet I paid $125 for; included was a photo of Favre sitting at home signing items to confirm the signature as authentic. Even after he was forced out of Green Bay after one too many times announcing his “retirement,” I still wanted to see him put up some numbers to pad what were then still career NFL record stats.
Since then he’s had some legal issues in regard to the use of public funds intended for the needy in Mississippi, and now he revealed that he is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, apparently from by his count 1,000 concussions he suffered during playing days, which comes out to about three a game.
As a Packer fan you have to have some feeling about that, since Favre pulled the Packers out of the tundra it was frozen into since the end of the Lombardi era over 20 years previous, and the Packers had not won a division title since 1972, and had just two playoff appearances.
Naturally, somebody had to ask Jenn Sterger her opinion on the matter, and she said something about “karma,” or something. While I don't condone Favre's behavior at the time, the truth of the matter is that the no-talent Sterger was hired by the Jets to be eye-candy on the sidelines for fans, and as a friend of hers pointed out, she liked to bait "celebrities" on-line or via cellphone to send her "revealing" pictures of themselves (as Favre allegedly did) for her own personal amusement.
That out of the way, in today’s game the Packers fell behind at home to the Vikings 28-0, and ended-up losing 31-29. Between then and there, the Packer quarterback threw three interceptions, and Viking mistakes could be blamed for allowing the game to be that close by the end, with a muffed punt at their own 3-yard leading to a Packer touchdown, and another fumble giving the Packers an automatic red zone opportunity. Other than that, the Packers’ offense piled-up 465 total yards, meaning they scored just twice with the other 432 yards of offense.
And despite all, the Packers still should have won this game. No, it wasn’t Malik Willis coming down to earth before getting his legs firmly planted and making big throws. Jordan Love decided he was ready to play, certainly not wanting to become alarmed for his job if Willis had led the team a “surprise” victory, even the though the Packers entered this home game with a slight edge, according to the line. Love looked “uncomfortable” early, threw two first half interceptions. Sam Darnold and ex-Packer Aaron Jones took advantage, although the latter didn’t get an opportunity to take that Lambeau leap as he had hoped to do.
The Packers managed to keep from entering the locker room at half time being completely embarrassed in front of the home crowd after that muffed punt by the Vikings allowed them to punch it in quick to make it 28-7 at the half. Then both teams took turns appearing offensively inept in the third quarter before the Packers mounted their first competent drive of the game, 89 yards, including a 28-yard completion to Bo Melton, and Dontayvion Wicks scored on a 6-yard TD pass. Then a sack fumble, 2 plays, 20 yards and a two-point conversion later it was 28-22 with 10:16 left in the fourth quarter. Suddenly, Love had just shaken all the dust off and Packers were a score away from taking the lead. Just like that.
A Viking field goal made it 31-22, but it was far from over as Love hit Wicks for a 36-yarder, and later on he would catch a 17-yard scoring pass to make it a 2-point game. Now, before we crown Wicks as a “star is born,” it should be pointed out side of that outside of 3 catches for 59 yards and 2 TDs, Wicks caught just 2 passes on 10 other targets, including on Love’s third interception following the 36-yarder. But it would be just one of those days; on the Packers next possession, Tucker Kraft lost a fumble with 4:27 left in the game.
But it was hardly over, although it seemed that way as the Vikings reached the Packer 4-yard line near the two-minute warning, but failed to gain a yard for a first down turned the ball over. The Packers, with aid of two pass catches by a suddenly rejuvenated Jayden Reed who caught them for 62 yards, marched down the field and pulled within 2 after Wicks second TD pass catch. But a failed onside kick with less than a minute to play sealed the game for Vikings.
Yet despite all that Packers still should have won the game. Love threw for a career best 389 yards and 4 TDs, but those 3 INTs didn’t help. And now we have commentators questioning whether the Packers made the right move at the kicker position, and those questions will only increase exponentially after this game. Brayden Narveson missed field goal attempts of 37 and 49-yards, and technically either one could have won the game for the Packers. If the game had been a complete blowout as it appeared to be becoming, perhaps those misses would not be as noticeable, but with the final result as close as it was, those misses were a big enough hole for an aircraft carrier to sail through.
So Jordan Love is 0-2 as a starter this year, although to be fair he lost to two better teams than the ones Willis played against, but who knows? Love is obviously well enough to play (we think), and the Packers next play a Rams team on the road that lost to the Bears and are now 1-3. It would seem after his Super Bowl season, Matthew Stafford is back to being the same old Matthew Stafford he was with the Lions.
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