Packers Stock Report: Beating the bad guys edition

Even though the Green Bay Packers are 6-0, there's still a fair amount of consternation throughout the fan base about this year's team.

The offense isn't rolling like we're used to. Injuries are mounting. The defense just allowed 500 passing yards. Opponents facing an early deficit are allowed to hang around and play their way back into the game. What's up with Eddie Lacy and why can't Randall Cobb get open?

This type of consternation annoys some people. Certain sectors of the Packers fan base think other sectors are spoiled. "We're 6-0," they say. "Quit whining and enjoy it."

Of course, there are always "those fans" who are whiny and miserable no matter what, but I think they're a tiny minority. Most Packers fans are perfectly capable of loving the fact that their favorite team is 6-0 while still pointing out flaws and talking about ways the team can get even better. 

There's also the "formality factor." Before this season started, I wrote that Packers fans now view the regular season as a formality. Green Bay will win between 10-13 games, be in the mix for a Super Bowl and have several memorable moments from September through December. It's what happens every season as long as QB1 is healthy. 

Even though most fans will enjoy the ride of the regular season, it's the playoffs that matter. Anything that happens in weeks 1-17 will be immediately forecasted and analyzed as to how it might impact the team in January.

Is giving up 500 yards to Philip Rivers a sign that the Packers are doomed for another playoff defensive meltdown? Are Rodgers' recent struggles a sign that he might flounder in the postseason? Will the injuries be too much to overcome when the games matter most?

Go ahead and call Packers fans spoiled, but 10-13 wins and Super Bowl contention is just kind of what happens around here every season. It's a whole lot of fun. It also kind of becomes routine. You want more. You can't help but look ahead. You start nitpicking. You tell yourself not to do it but you do it anyway.

All of the sudden you sound like you're unhappy about your undefeated football team. We're not unhappy about our undefeated football team. We've just read this story before. The story had an amazing ending in 1996 and 2010. Every other time, the bad guys won, even though the book's first 300 pages were filled with the green and gold good guys kicking ass. 

Packers fans don't want the good guys to dominate the entire book only to see the bad guys win again in the end. That's why we sometimes talk about our undefeated team like they're 3-3. We can't help it. It's nice to beat the bad guys in October on page 125 of the story. But what we really want to do is defeat the lead bad guy in January on the book's final page.

Onto this week's Packers Stock Report:

Rising

James Starks
Starks' speed seems to catch teams off guard. That'll probably change now that Starks has been getting so many carries, but for the time being, thank you, Neo, for stepping up and keeping the Packers ground game above water while whatever is going on with Eddie Lacy gets figured out.

Datone Jones
Not a bad week for Datone Jones. He had a new baby and made some key plays to help the Packers survive and beat the Chargers. As long as Jones avoids the nagging injuries, he's continued to evolve into a very good player up front.

Lambeau Field
Is it just me, or does Lambeau Field sound louder than it has in years this season? Hats off to the Packers fans to fill the stands every Sunday. You're more than doing your job this season.

Steady

James Jones
Even though the Packers offense might be sputtering a bit, you can still count on the Sleeveless Turtleneck for 1-2 great plays per game.

T.J. Lang
Lang didn't do anything particularly special on Sunday, but let's give him credit for getting on the field and playing through a knee injury that has to still be bugging him a bit. Nobody would've blamed Lang if he wanted to sit this one out prior to the bye week, but he got back out there and played well. We could probably say the same thing about Cobb and his shoulder and a number of other players fighting through injuries.

Falling

Eddie Lacy
If Lacy is injured, the Packers should sit him until he's healthy. Trotting him out there for four lackluster carries doesn't do anybody any good.

Direct TV
In my market (Minneapolis), CBS decided to show the entire overtime of the Broncos-Browns game instead of switching over to Packers-Chargers. Direct TV refused to put Packers-Chargers on a Sunday Ticket channel in my market, even though we pay around $400 per season to "never miss a minute of our favorite team." Major fail on Direct TV's part. Sunday Ticket is literally the only reason I put an obscene Direct TV dish on top of my roof. Put the national game on Sunday Ticket if the network doesn't switch to it right away. Direct TV: You're the one with scrawny arms, not cable.

NFL games on TV
Once the Packers game finally appeared on my television screen, I was treated to a long series of commercials that were occasionally interrupted by a football game. The game lasted nearly 4 hours and about 3 hours and 30 minutes of that were commercials. Stop with the score-commercial-kickoff-commercial pattern, NFL and network television. You'll survive just fine if you knock out a handful of commercials to actually enhance the viewing experience back home.

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Comments (55)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
Evan's picture

October 20, 2015 at 02:24 pm

"CBS decided to show the entire overtime of the Broncos-Browns game instead of switching over to Packers-Chargers."

In Milwaukee I saw every second of the game on CBS.

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Packer_Pete's picture

October 20, 2015 at 04:19 pm

yep, as that is your home market team... I've had the same experience with the Broncos game showing in North Carolina. Once that was over there were a few minutes of commercials before it was finally Packers game time...

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Ibleedgreenmore's picture

October 20, 2015 at 06:48 pm

It helps to live there but some of us had to move bummer as it was. I tried all outlets on line and all had the Bronco game on bummer on Directs part.

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Flow49's picture

October 20, 2015 at 08:57 pm

DTV had the first quarter on the in the Tickets 700 channels for me in Dallas. I was really surprised.

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Packer_Pete's picture

October 21, 2015 at 08:20 am

That is actually the most frustrating thing to me about DirecTV (used to have it but not anymore) - one would think a game being on a 700 channel would be the same nationwide, except for the home market, when it is on CBS or FOX there. but if you live in different parts of the country, let's say North Carolina and Washington state, it doesn't mean that channel 705 here is channel 705 there with the exact same content, regardless of whether the Panthers or the Seahawks play at that time. All it means is that you get the 'local' CBS or Fox channel for your area, or that you get the local channel of the neighboring area to yours. Meaning I probably got the Atlanta CBS channel, and the Washington state person would get the Oregon or Montana local channel - and those showed the Broncos game... Sucks, and in my opinion is false advertisement, if i want to see one particular team play, but miss the whole first quarter since a different game goes into overtime. i wouldn't have an issue if they show the overtime on free CBS or Fox local, but on the DirecTv channel I'd expect every minute of my teams game...
Otherwise, what exactly is one paying for? It should be all about consumer choice, that's why i pay extra. Sure there were probably plenty people who wanted to see the overtime, but that should still be on either the original DirecTV channel, or on local CBS. The early games are usually on channels 702 - 712 or so, and the later games are on 713 or so upwards, and if my game is on channel 715 then I wouldn't expect to see content of 705 on 715 after 4:25...

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Gianich's picture

October 21, 2015 at 09:07 am

Same thing happened to me in the Duluth Superior market!! I was freakin fuming! I ended up having to watch the entire boring ass OT with Rag Arm vs the Browns, but was able to tune into Wayne and Larry on the radio. Missed the entire first TD drive so CBS could air their commercials even after NFL King Rag Arm's game was over! Direct TV and CBS screwed a lot of fans in the midwest because of preoccupation with Manning and money. I can't wait for that guy to retire, his play is gross to even watch and he looks like my thumb! Seriously, look at your thumb right now and tell me you don't see thumb head Manning looking back at you! F Nationwide! F Manning! F CBS! F Direct TV and thank God for Wayne and Larry saving my family from a complete house burning tantrum throwing meltdown!

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moco27's picture

October 22, 2015 at 07:11 am

I had the same trouble with the packer game not being on the channel it was advertised to be on. Channel 702 has the game mix and if you select the Packer game from there it will send you to the channel that it is showing on. I didn't miss any of the game as it showed on a 700 channel until the other game was over and then I had to switch to the advertised channel.

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aaronqb's picture

October 20, 2015 at 02:28 pm

Lang recovered Lacy's fumble. I would call that a big play.

We get DirecTV in the Seattle area and were able to watch the entire game.

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FITZCORE1252's picture

October 20, 2015 at 10:41 pm

That's because Baltimore/SF was the CBS game out this way. Not the Packers game, so Sunday Ticket carried the whole thing.

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RCPackerFan's picture

October 20, 2015 at 02:32 pm

Great read.

'Stop with the score-commercial-kickoff-commercial pattern, NFL and network television.'

This is so annoying. I would rather them after scored TD, do the extra point then do a longer commercial break. Versus 2 commercial breaks.

They always talk about the fear of making games longer and don't want to have more challenges or reviews during a game.
Well how about finding other ways, to include advertisements to reduce commercials. Add a little box next to the score to scroll advertiser's logo's, or something. I would rather have that little box next to the score then to watch 5 minutes worth of commercials a game.

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toolkien's picture

October 20, 2015 at 02:32 pm

I have a reasonable amount of confidence the injured guys will get healthy for the stretch run. And the Packers should be more balanced since 2010. Of course, more injuries could occur, but every team has injuries.

If helps any, the Packers got into a four week doldrum in the Magical Year Of 1996 when their receiving corp got banged up - Brooks out for the year, Freeman broke his arm, Chmura out with his ankle or groin (or both). The Packers nearly went 1-3 over that stretch, but they went 2-2 because the D reared up and won against the Tony Banks led Rams. Healthy, the Packers were better than a 13-3 team in 1996. Two (and almost three) of those losses were due to the injuries.

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John Galt III's picture

October 20, 2015 at 04:50 pm

"Every Team has injuries" - Nope

The Bengals are 6-0 and they have the same 53 men they started the season with as of today.

The 2012 Ravens won the SB with the same 53 man squad.

Luck is involved for sure, but some teams remain healthy. I don't remember a healthy Packer team in years.

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Evan's picture

October 20, 2015 at 07:09 pm

Ummm. Last year?

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Evan's picture

October 20, 2015 at 08:25 pm

Sure...Rodgers calf. But he didn't miss any games. (Though if he were 100%, they most likely beat Seattle.)

Outside of that, Bulaga missed one game, I think Lacy missed one as well and...that's it that I can really remember. Probably some I'm missing, but no major, season-ending injuries.

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RCPackerFan's picture

October 20, 2015 at 10:11 pm

Raji had a season ending injury before the season started.

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Evan's picture

October 21, 2015 at 07:14 am

Dammit. I knew I was forgetting something.

My point still stands. Last year was a very healthy season overall.

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RCPackerFan's picture

October 21, 2015 at 09:34 am

Oh yeah, it was very healthy year. the OL missed 1 game overall...

I guess to if you want to count Tretter in the injury category, but Linsley came in and played so well, that might have been a blessing in disguise kind of injury.

I am not sure how many games starters missed last year, but I am willing to bet that this year the starters have already missed more games then last year.

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toolkien's picture

October 20, 2015 at 02:34 pm

I've complained plenty about those commercials.

How long before games are pay per view? Simply can't sustain the number of commercials, a new model will eventually emerge.

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John Galt III's picture

October 20, 2015 at 04:54 pm

My wife is a Broncos fan and I'm a Packer fan. We record our games on the box and watch commercial free later in the day/evening. I enjoy watching her team and vice versa as we get a good perspectives of the other conference, The Broncos barely beat the Chargers the Sunday before last so I knew our game was going to be close despite some of the predictions here.

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PaulRosik's picture

October 21, 2015 at 12:20 am

the tv contract runs through 2022. No changes anytime soon other than little experimemts like this yahoo stream thing they got going for the London game this weekend.

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RCPackerFan's picture

October 20, 2015 at 02:35 pm

'If Lacy is injured, the Packers should sit him until he's healthy. Trotting him out there for four lackluster carries doesn't do anybody any good.'

This is so true. The reason why they kept Alonzo Harris is because he is very similar to Lacy and they wouldn't have had to change their scheme with Harris in there.

If Lacy is not that healthy and could only manage to get 4 carries, it would have been far smarter to sit Lacy, play Harris, and that would have given Lacy 2 weeks to get healthy.

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Dan Stodola's picture

October 20, 2015 at 04:02 pm

Lacy only got 4 carries, some might call that a very light workload and basically almost a rest day w a light workout.

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RCPackerFan's picture

October 20, 2015 at 08:24 pm

Light day for sure, but he still takes a pounding on those plays as well as the plays he doesn't carry the ball.
I have had ankle injuries before and it's very tough to play on. If his ankle is that bad, I would have rather he sat and Harris got those reps.

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John Galt III's picture

October 20, 2015 at 04:56 pm

Not sure who gave you a negative vote, but I think you are 100% correct in your insight.

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RCPackerFan's picture

October 20, 2015 at 08:33 pm

Yeah, there is a certain individual that doesn't like me.

What is worse is I got a dislike for telling Moe I was sorry for his loss.

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EddieLee's picture

October 20, 2015 at 02:58 pm

We all live and breath Packer football. We know every player on the 53, the practice squad, the coaches, GM, etc.... We nit pick. A lot. We fuss over every missed tackle. We moan when role players or backups are not probowl caliber. The back-up RB runs wild and the gnashing of teeth about the starting RB is deafening. I get it. I am right there with you most of the time. Sometimes we just need some perspective.

After watching a bunch of others games this season I must say Green Bay plays better/smarter/cleaner football then almost all the league. It's actually quite frustrating to watch most of the rest of the NFL try to play pro football. That MNF game last night was a comedy of suck. It was unwatchable.

This Packer team is talented. One of, if not the most complete teams in the NFL. We have great coaches who are not complete a--holes (like Harbaugh, Carrol, etc...) We have a very good GM that puts the franchise first. We also have awesome owners. Enjoy the ride Packer fans. It's gonna be a long fun season. It's a great time in history to be a Packer fan.

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adamczech's picture

October 20, 2015 at 03:52 pm

Agreed, EddieLee. I like your comment so much, I just Tweeted it :)

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4thand1's picture

October 20, 2015 at 04:20 pm

You are the anti ben.

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John Galt III's picture

October 20, 2015 at 04:58 pm

Agree on Carroll and Harbaugh. Glad they are elsewhere. Also, totally agree on awesome owners as I am a stockholder.

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Dan Stodola's picture

October 20, 2015 at 05:42 pm

I like the Harbaugh in Baltimore just fine. His brother not so much, but he's in college now.

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jh9's picture

October 20, 2015 at 06:41 pm

As I watched the San Diego game, I, like most Packers fans, felt a certain amount of alarm as Rivers easily moved the Chargers offense down the field. With each drop-back (for the most part), I saw the Packers front seven unable to get to Rivers. With each reception (for the most part), I saw a Packers defender right next to a Chargers receiver but the catch was made. Watching this happen play after play, I began to have my doubts about the Packers defense.

After the game, I thought about what I saw trying to analyze the situation and I realized that what I saw wasn’t so much about how bad the Packers defense was. It was more about how good of a quarterback Phillip Rivers is.

Yes, we didn’t get to Rivers but his release was so quick he didn’t even need to have much protection. Two steps back from the Center and the ball was out of his hand. And, yes, our secondary couldn’t defend the pass. But that had more to do with excellent ball placement than defensive failures. Giving up 500 yards passing would seem to indicate that our passing defense is terribly flawed. And yet, sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due. Phillip Rivers played incredibly well and all the other NFL teams should be thrilled San Diego hasn’t put a better team around him.

In short, there’s nothing wrong with the Packers defense. I’m confident we’ll be fine this year. I fully believe as long as Aaron Rodgers remains healthy we’ll win the Super Bowl. We just happened to play on one Sunday against a talented quarterback playing at the peak of his ability. It was pretty amazing to watch, and thank god we won.

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John Galt III's picture

October 20, 2015 at 05:05 pm

Everyone has #12, T Brady, the Mannings and so forth as the top QB's in football. As I watch a lot of AFC football I know Rivers belongs there. In fact if we didn't have Aaron Rodgers and someone said I could have any QB I wanted, I'd take Rivers in a heartbeat.

Favre has the most consecutive starts as a QB followed by P Manning, E. Manning and then Rivers - 150 consecutive starts. That is how good he is. A football team wins the SB, not just the QB and we just faced a really good QB.

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Tundraboy's picture

October 20, 2015 at 05:29 pm

Totally totally agree. It was nerve wracking but that was the simple truth.

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4thand1's picture

October 20, 2015 at 07:55 pm

Rivers beat a really good seahawks team last year, and single handedly keeps his team in every game. To bad he may never win a SB. It is a team effort but you have to have "the man" too.

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Big T's picture

October 20, 2015 at 04:49 pm

I believe our defense is capable of giving up 7-800 yards passing. Sam can't catch a cold let alone a football. Most of the DB's are better at tackling air than an actual person. The DB's are playing as individuals instead of a team. The silver lining, however, we still winning bitches

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John Galt III's picture

October 20, 2015 at 05:13 pm

The team with the second lowest completion percentage @ 56.7% is the Green Bay Packers. Only the Jets are better and they have Darrell Revis.

In addition at (7) Passing TD's so far this year we rank 7th with only 6 teams allowing fewer at (5) or (6).

So according to you we suck but I got news for you - 90% of the other NFL teams suck worse, so I am not exactly sure what you are talking about.

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4thand1's picture

October 20, 2015 at 07:57 pm

Gotta check the facts. You see a lot of over reaction on Mondays.

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Big T's picture

October 22, 2015 at 03:23 pm

Darrell Revis sucks and is a has been wannabe for awhile now. I guess if you think allowing over 500 yards passing is a good thing, then, yes I agree, we have a kick ass backfield...

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J0hn Denver's Gavel's picture

October 21, 2015 at 06:51 pm

Fact is we actually have one of the better secondaries in the NFL. Pack is 6-0, what's your team's record?

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Bohj's picture

October 20, 2015 at 05:59 pm

We are a unique fan base in our storied history, the town and team connection, small market, and stock ownership (even though others might argue that last point).

But we are not unique in criticizing and nitpicking. We have a lot less to nitpick than most. I see 200 comments when we lose a game or two. And half of that when we win. Imagine a losing season. 400 comments?

Living outside of the Midwest. So difficult having football conversations with other team fans. It's like they want to prove their team is worse than anyone else's. It's always, fire the coach, fire the GM, the coordinators, bench the QB.

When did people become so miserable? Enjoy the game. Keyword being........"game".

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SteveCheez's picture

October 20, 2015 at 07:02 pm

I feel your pain about DirecTV. I absolutely hate it when we are on the local affiliate; I never know what's going to happen to our game.

RE: The cost. Every August when the renewal hits my bill, I just call them up and they knock some $$ off with very little effort on my part. This year, they dropped my charge by $200.

Still, the downside to being a successful, popular team is that I'm buying the whole season when for the past few years I would've been able to see 8-9 of that year's games for free. I tell myself I'd love to have the a la carte option, but then I'd just get stuck watching the 'Niners and the Raiders for the other half of my Sunday.

Bottom line, it doesn't matter what happens, I'll find a way to bitch about it!

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MarkinMadison's picture

October 20, 2015 at 10:17 pm

I think the frustrating part was that you knew going into the Chargers game that quick-passing game was the ONLY option that they had. I think one of the game previews here even spelled it out. So you expect the Packers to be ready for it, and to be able to stop it.

So Rivers was on fire, the defense bent but didn't break (mostly) and the Packers won. I suppose we can fret about another team copying the San Diego blueprint, but there are maybe five QBs in the league who have the accuracy to do what Rivers did. Peyton Manning is one of those guys, and quite frankly he is going to get killed if they don't follow that pattern. Hopefully the Packers are feeling healthy and rested.

Longshanks/ThompsonTwin/ThompsonWhatever still posts (despite swearing to go away) and he lurks and gives us all -1. Sun sets and moon rises. Packers win so I'm happy.

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Lphill's picture

October 20, 2015 at 10:35 pm

In NY when CBS ran the Denver OT, directv did play the Packer game when it was blacked out , when the Denver game ended and The packers were back on CBS then Directv blacked it out again.

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FITZCORE1252's picture

October 20, 2015 at 10:37 pm

I've been forced to purchase Sunday Ticket for years (well, not exactly forced, but I'm not missing a game), It seems like that happens about once a year (i didn't have the Broncos on the local affiliate, so it didn't get me this time), it sucks, but they have us by the short hairs.

Like Steve Cheez, I do the auto renewal, and call them the week before kickoff telling them I want to cancel... they always knock a good portion off.

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PaulRosik's picture

October 21, 2015 at 12:27 am

I haven't paid for DirecTV in a dozen years or so and never miss a game. Streaming options may take a little bit of work but they are always there. And its made for some fun watching - watching games rebroadcast in Europe with foreign speaking commercials or on Skysports with English people trying to talk about American Football and tell us whats going on during all the breaks.

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FITZCORE1252's picture

October 21, 2015 at 12:54 pm

Idk, any live sporting event I've ever streamed hasn't been good quality, and likes to buffer at inopportune times. But if it works for you, go with it.

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PaulRosik's picture

October 21, 2015 at 01:25 pm

It has worked well for me. This year I haven't had to use it - every game has been on local tv, But at some point Dallas will play at the same time as Green Bay and I will have to use the internet connection patched in to the big screen tv.

My favorite moment was a few years back when Crosby was having his misfiring issues and during the timeout the Sky Sports announcer explained how his 40 yard field goal missed by 40 yards to the left. Coming from a soccer country I think he was offended at how bad that kick was.

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FITZCORE1252's picture

October 21, 2015 at 04:22 pm

Haha, that's awesome.

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croatpackfan's picture

October 21, 2015 at 04:02 am

Do you know who is the player of the week by PFF? Carson Palmer with +5.6 grade in loss against Steelers, with statistic data: he completes 64.4%, 421 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT's and a fumble. Compare that with Aaron Rodgers PFF grade -0.8 statistics: he completes 68.6%, 333 yards, 5 TDs and no turnovers.
What the hell we are talking here. How PFF can even defend their grading. This is complete joke! Please, do not use PFF grades to expalin anything. PFF lost all of their credibility! Also, that wasn't isolated stupidity from them... Read here: https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/10/19/best-players-at-every-p...

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J0hn Denver's Gavel's picture

October 21, 2015 at 06:57 pm

Yes, I saw Palmer's grade this week too. WTF? His throws must have been so difficult to get that PFF #, lol.

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4thand1's picture

October 21, 2015 at 07:47 pm

FPFF

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sheppercheeser's picture

October 21, 2015 at 05:36 am

All in all, Packer fans, we are a spoiled lot. We are so used to a winning tradition that we can't imagine going through the drama that Chicago or Detroit does, seemingly year after year.

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egbertsouse's picture

October 21, 2015 at 08:44 am

The writer needs to move 30 minutes east. I live in western WI, 30 min. from St. Paul, and I get every minute of every Packer game. Sure, I'm completely surrounded by Vikings fans and have to see and hear their obnoxious crap when they're winning but they disappear as soon as the Vikes get a couple losses. Move here and you can get Packer games and still work in the Cities where the pay is a lot better.

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Since'61's picture

October 21, 2015 at 09:17 am

I would have placed Janis in the rising category, he had 3 big plays. As for TV and Direct TV, I'm afraid it's only going to get worse (more expensive) before it gets better. Enjoy the bye week. Thanks, Since '61

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4thand1's picture

October 21, 2015 at 07:48 pm

I built a new house out in the sticks, so i'm stuck with direct tv because the internet sucks out here.

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