Packers vs Lions Game Thread: Football is back Edition

[tynimiller]

Saw it coming too and hope it goes away because I also see the next steps which are going to be 'OMG that was taunting!" on social media and players trying to draw flags. I think the NFL looks dumber and causes more problems for themselves trying to do something about these meaningless things that aren't health or game play things.

I would be curious if making physical contact with the clear intent to demean or taunt is spelled out. They better be really clear what should and shouldn't be called...because like you said that could get really really loose.

 

[RRyder]

I would be curious if making physical contact with the clear intent to demean or taunt is spelled out. They better be really clear what should and shouldn't be called...because like you said that could get really really loose.

We've also seen a player get a taunting flag for flexing at another player this season.

These taunting rules suck and need to change. My guess is they call it like the dumb way they did this week and by mid-season it'll be called more like it has been in the past

 

[Half Empty]

We've also seen a player get a taunting flag for flexing at another player this season.

These taunting rules suck and need to change. My guess is they call it like the dumb way they did this week and by mid-season it'll be called more like it has been in the past

Any chance that, since it can cost the team and is entirely unnecessary, players can be coached to be like Barry Sanders scoring a TD?

 

[RRyder]

Any chance that, since it can cost the team and is entirely unnecessary, players can be coached to be like Barry Sanders scoring a TD?

Barry wanted to be like that. Thats how he wanted to be. Good for him. Others dont. So what?

Is it an issue for you when players show emotion and do you want them to just act like robots out there? Because that's what your saying when you say "just be like Barry"

Let them show emotion and no a little bit of **** talking shouldnt be a flaggable offense but that seems the way the league (and yourself id assume?) would prefer

Ill maintain these new taunting rules suck and hopefully is just a "only at the beginning of the season it gets enforced" kind of a thing

 

[rmontro]

No Fun League.

 

[BrokenArrow]

It wasn't just our game, nor was this not addressed to all teams from the league before hand. They told every team they were cracking down on taunting this year and have followed through.

Not a fan of it, but we cannot pretend to have not seen this coming either.

Basically, they want players to be play at an intense level and then instantly become emotionless robots the split second the whistle blows.

 

[BrokenArrow]

So being a cocky **** is being a man? So when Parsons made his first sack and instantly pointed towards the sky with one finger and celebrated with his teammates wasn't what a man should have done? A man would have found Goff and shoved his midsection into him looking down on him???

It's the mental part of the game and they're trying to eliminate it. You must be new to sports in general. What X did was very tame.

 

[tynimiller]

It's the mental part of the game and they're trying to eliminate it. You must be new to sports in general. What X did was very tame.

lol new to sports…that’s a good one.

X laid the smack down, make eye contact all you want but even X admitted he deserved the taunting call.

 

[Raleigh NC Packers Fan]

I think we'd better appreciate it while we can, because if they consistently perform as well as a lot of us expect them to, it's just a matter of time before someone tries to poach him for a head coaching job.

I have heard many say that he will be a head coach someday. He has really turned the defense around, both with player development and play calling, so he deserves to be and should be considered.

I just hope he stays around for a while. At the very least, I hope he stays about 3 more years. If/when he does leave, hopefully there will be some good candidates. Hopefully having a top defense will help make it easier to hire a good successor.

 

[OldSchool101]

Well, that happened... Complete Packer domination from the start. Not sure what I expected, but damned if it was that, lol.

My previously stated concerns


1. So yeah. That was ugly.
2. Very much that.
3. No one stepped up, not even Hutch, and they dropped him and Davenport into coverage a few times for some weird reason...
4. Hell of a catch. Well done, young man.

I'm not convinced that the coordinators are the problem (yet). Just looks like they were trying to call plays/formations as if this was last year's team, and it just isn't.

Good on the Packers for putting it all together. Tough for young teams to gel like that, but man they look tough to beat. Trying to tell myself it's just week one, but there is clearly a gap between our teams right now, and Lions are not on the same level.

Detroit has done a good job bringing a tough guy culture sprinkled with some finesse players. It’s Week 1 and by no means are teams (Offenses in particular) firing on all cylinders.

I will say I was impressed with our DL after Kenny Clark departure. Wooden looked every bit as good an interior Defender as TJ Slaton (departure) and in limited looks possibly better. However our speed showed up on tape. This is quite possibly the fastest from 7 in the entire league. Wooden ran the 40 at 274lb, but the slowest Defender from our front 7 ran a 4.79 40-yard. This group really gets after the ball

 

[tynimiller]

Detroit has done a good job bringing a tough guy culture sprinkled with some finesse players. It’s Week 1 and by no means are teams (Offenses in particular) firing on all cylinders.

I will say I was impressed with our DL after Kenny Clark departure. Wooden looked every bit as good an interior Defender as TJ Slaton (departure) and in limited looks possibly better. However our speed showed up on tape. This is quite possibly the fastest from 7 in the entire league. Wooden ran the 40 at 274lb, but the slowest Defender from our front 7 ran a 4.79 40-yard. This group really gets after the ball

Wooden is no longer that light either. I heard rumors of 15+ pounds added in offseason and some say now in year three he’s over 290

 

[BrokenArrow]

lol new to sports…that’s a good one.

X laid the smack down, make eye contact all you want but even X admitted he deserved the taunting call.

It's a stupid rule. It's called posturing. It's an attempt to mentally intimidate your opponent. It's been a part of sports, war and life since the beginning. The NFL is literally striving to be the most sissy-az.z league in the world. They expect players to play a high-intensity, adrenalin-filled game and then switch it all off and become robots between plays. I absolutely HATE what Goodell has done to the league.

 

[tynimiller]

It's a stupid rule. It's called posturing. It's an attempt to mentally intimidate your opponent. It's been a part of sports, war and life since the beginning. The NFL is literally striving to be the most sissy-az.z league in the world. They expect players to play a high-intensity, adrenalin-filled game and then switch it all off and become robots between plays. I absolutely HATE what Goodell has done to the league.

I have seen it all and there is a massive difference between intensity and switching to just a cocky ****. I still think the only thing X did wrong was initiate contact - which is essentially all he was told to avoid in the future. They're going to let guys chirp, they let guys even flex on eachother...but you make/initiate contact you're just punk behavior IMO. Now is it taunting worthy and unsportsmanlike call to the point they treat it like as if someone does a dirty cheap shot or rips someone's helmet off....no - that is just different levels.

 

[BrokenArrow]

They're going to let guys chirp, they let guys even flex on eachother...

That is demonstrably untrue.

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[tynimiller]

That is demonstrably untrue.

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They will and did, not saying every single time. The league made a point this was something they were going to harp on hard - not shocked, I think it's overreaching some for sure as we've seen in some calls from Week 1. I did notice nearly every call was when a player made an intent to only have their celebration directed at a single opponent and not just celebrating their success. Now, I think that's WAY too wide open for interpretation by a ref...but again I bet if Nolan Smith gets up and just screams and flexes NOT towards or while staring at the guy it doesn't get called....

Not defending the logic of the league entirely.

 

[milani]

I have seen it all and there is a massive difference between intensity and switching to just a cocky ****. I still think the only thing X did wrong was initiate contact - which is essentially all he was told to avoid in the future. They're going to let guys chirp, they let guys even flex on eachother...but you make/initiate contact you're just punk behavior IMO. Now is it taunting worthy and unsportsmanlike call to the point they treat it like as if someone does a dirty cheap shot or rips someone's helmet off....no - that is just different levels.

I will give you an example of how player confrontations can be misconstrued and how refs have been inconsistent. Back in 2009 when Favre was a Viking we hosted his team. It was an important game. On 3rd and goal in the first half we stopped Adrian Peterson for what would have forced a FG. Johnny Jolley and AP exchanged words. Jolley initiated a head butt of which AP appeared to respond to it. The refs flagged Jolley but made AP appear to be the exclusive victim. Vikings scored a TD and it changed the complexion of the game. A one score difference in the 4th quarter is different than two.

 

[BrokenArrow]

They will and did, not saying every single time. The league made a point this was something they were going to harp on hard - not shocked, I think it's overreaching some for sure as we've seen in some calls from Week 1. I did notice nearly every call was when a player made an intent to only have their celebration directed at a single opponent and not just celebrating their success. Now, I think that's WAY too wide open for interpretation by a ref...but again I bet if Nolan Smith gets up and just screams and flexes NOT towards or while staring at the guy it doesn't get called....

Not defending the logic of the league entirely.

Yep. This reeks of another opportunity for refs to affect the outcome of games by choosing what and when they want to enforce this crap.

 

[tynimiller]

I will give you an example of how player confrontations can be misconstrued and how refs have been inconsistent. Back in 2009 when Favre was a Viking we hosted his team. It was an important game. On 3rd and goal in the first half we stopped Adrian Peterson for what would have forced a FG. Johnny Jolley and AP exchanged words. Jolley initiated a head butt of which AP appeared to respond to it. The refs flagged Jolley but made AP appear to be the exclusive victim. Vikings scored a TD and it changed the complexion of the game. A one score difference in the 4th quarter is different than two.

I remember that well. However, unsure of the story impact on the discussion...I completely agree that such penalties need VERY CLEARLY spelled out things that cross it. Otherwise yet again you're asking refs to use way too much of their own judgement.

 

[milani]

I remember that well. However, unsure of the story impact on the discussion...I completely agree that such penalties need VERY CLEARLY spelled out things that cross it. Otherwise yet again you're asking refs to use way too much of their own judgement.

Well back then it was not usually called for the verbal " taunting " unless directed at a ref. But if fighting occurred or head butting it was unsportsmanlike conduct. Looking at the McKinney incident they flagged one player when it could have been both. In the Jolley incident they could have flagged both players as well.

 

[Half Empty]

Barry wanted to be like that. Thats how he wanted to be. Good for him. Others dont. So what?

My post included the point that it can cost the team. That was my 'so what'. If there's no rule against it, that's a different discussion.

 

[RRyder]

My post included the point that it can cost the team. That was my 'so what'. If there's no rule against it, that's a different discussion.

And the point of my post was the new taunting rules suck and shouldnt have been changed

 

[Thirteen Below]

I have heard many say that he will be a head coach someday. He has really turned the defense around, both with player development and play calling, so he deserves to be and should be considered.

Oh, he will be. He wants to be, even interviewed with the Jets earlier this year. If he wasn't interested in it, he wouldn't have taken the interview. He's very unlikely to be here very long at all; I think I'd be mildly surprised if he's still around next year.

I just hope he stays around for a while. At the very least, I hope he stays about 3 more years.

I'd be quite surprised if we get even one more season out of him after this one. I listen to lots of podcasts while working, and I heard 2 commentators yesterday on 2 different podcasts say they think it could be next year. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in that this early, but then again the flip side of that is that it's interesting to hear the buzz starting already Week One.

Thing is, though, I think he may be picky. First of all, he can afford to be, and second I know he likes LaFleur a lot and really enjoys his job here. And he may feel a bit of an obligation to LaFleur and his players to build a stronger program here before moving on. And if there's no opening next year that he really feels good about, I think he'll be confident that he'll be in even greater demand after Season Three.

His contract with Green Bay is believed to be 3-4 years, so technically LaFleur can control whom he goes to. I don't think Matt would want to hold him back, but I don't think he wanats him the NFC either. And god forbid, a divisional rival.

If/when he does leave, hopefully there will be some good candidates. Hopefully having a top defense will help make it easier to hire a good successor.

If he stays one more year after this season, he may be able to train up a position coach or something. Someone who had time to learn under him. Over this season, we may see one of his coaches make a really good case to replace him, and at this early stage, I think Covington has to be the front runner. He learned a lot in 7 years under Belichick, although I think his move to defensive coordinator there last season was too soon. He didn't have a good season, but a lot of that was almost certainly due to the sweeping organizational changes after BB moved on.

He's only 36, and that's pretty young for a DC. But LaFleur is very impressed with him, and the players seem crazy about him. If he can get that line turned around this season (and so far, he seems to be off to a good start), I think he'll have a strong case to step up when Hafley leaves.

 

[Thirteen Below]

I know Parsons came in and did pressures but we have to give our interior Dline some serious LOVING. They controlled the middle like they were the all pro guys…

Something I've been thinking the last couple of days, but I don't think we've talkerd about.

We are seeing that the whole D line is better because of Parsons, which of course was expected. But I think also that the maturation and continued development of the younger defensive linemen this season, along with what appears to be a lot of good work by DL coach Demarcus Covington, might make Parsons an improved player.

With all these high draft picks on the line - all that talent - plus a couple of really good Day 3s, this may be the best line Parsons has ever played on. Yeah, offensive lines will have to devote more attention and resources to account for Parsons, but when that creates more space for the other DL, guys like Cox, Wooden, Wyatt, and LVN are likely to get better penetration into the backfield than the Dallas line was able to do. That's going to provoke more confusion and disruption for the line and the quarterback, and that in turn is going to give him more chances to wreak havoc. Not only will we see Parsons chasing quarterbacks into the arms of the other DL, we'll see the reverse happening as well.

We saw that a number of times on Sunday, including the Parsons sack. That 4-man front utterly destroyed the O-line, and completely crushed Goff's pocket. I haven't seen that happen very often in Green Bay, but I think we'll see a lot more this year.

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[milani]

Basically, they want players to be play at an intense level and then instantly become emotionless robots the split second the whistle blows.

I understand that back in the day restrained celebratory or vicarious behavior was taboo. But in today's world this is a large part of the culture. They call it disrespectful. Sounds more like an old nun trying to shackle her first graders.