photo from bleacherreport.com

This time of year for football is the most exciting part for me outside of the actual season with everything from free agency and the use of the  franchise tag, and I love the anticipation that comes with it. (Free agency is set to start Tuesday, March 12 at 4 p.m. eastern time…yes I am counting down the minutes!)

Last week, the Packers opted out of using the franchise tag on WR Greg Jennings. As much as I love Greg, it really does make perfect sense to me. First of all he isn’t getting any younger, but more importantly, Aaron Rodgers has a lot to work with that doesn’t include Jennings. With WR’s Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, and James Jones, in addition to TE Jermichael Finley, there are still a great amount players to work with on offense.

And when it comes to free agents, RB Steven Jackson from the St. Louis Rams is a name that we keep hearing in association with the Packers. Although nothing has been said by Jackson or the Rams on if he is staying, going, or what his situation is, he is continually being linked to either the Atlanta Falcons or Green Bay Packers.

photo from helmet2helmet.com

With the release of Michael Turner from the Falcons, that would leave room for Jackson, but Green Bay could use the extra help at RB . If Green Bay were to take that route, they would have to pay Jackson the $7 million he is set to make in the last year of his contract. Coming from someone who has lived their entire life in St.Louis and lived through the Steven Jackson era, he is most definitely a player that any team would be happy to have on their roster. In addition to having 8 consecutive seasons of over 1,000 rushing yards, his work ethic, drive, and ambition is through the roof. He is a truly talented player and works so hard to achieve greatness. He has said he wants to play for a winning team and get a ring, and Green Bay just may be a place to get that done!

Once again this week, it wasn’t pretty, but the Pack got it done. They defeated the Lions in a 24-20 victory that keep us watching all game long.

photo from espn.go.com

First of all, I gotta give a HUGE shout out to Matt Stafford for throwing an interception that was returned 72 yards by M.D. Jennings for a TD. Pick 6 baby!!

And of course we can’t forget the touchdown passes from Aaron Rodgers to Jermichael Finley in the 1st and Randall Cobb in the 4th. Of the game today Rodgers said,

“When our best was needed, we were able to come through.”

Yes they were, and today makes this the 5th consecutive win for the Packers. Nothing better than coming off a bye week with a win…especially against the Lions!

Next week the Packers will be on their way to MetLife Stadium to play the reigning Super Bowl champion Giants on Sunday Night Football.

photo from packers.com

Alright, as much as I hate to say it, today’s game was nothing short of a disaster. Not only did the Packers have a significant amount of injuries hindering them during the game, the heartbreaking loss to the Colts after a missed field goal attempt to tie the game was devastating.

Mason Crosby, kicker for the Packers, missed a field goal early in the game previous to the missed field goal in the 4th quarter that would have tied the game.

According to Mike Spofford of Packers.com, this is what Crosby had to say for himself,

“I haven’t hit a ball that moved like that in a long time. It’s weird. It’s a big disappointment. It came straight off and then it jumped over to the left like a knuckleball, kind of. We’ll have to take a look at the tape, slow it down, and see what happened at contact.”

Injuries killed the Packers today as well. WR Greg Jennings was already out for the day, but during the game they lost Jermichael Finley, B.J. Raji, and Cedric Benson.

In all, the Packers fell to the Colts 30-27  and the offense just has to get better. This is not the Packers team that we are used to seeing.

With the loss today the Packers fall to 2-3 on the season, with the Vikings at 4-1, the Bears at 4-1, and the Detroit Tigers at 1-3. Next week Green Bay heads to Houston to take on the undefeated Texans, who play the Jets tomorrow night on MNF.

The NFL came out with a statement today saying that they will not overturn the call from last night, and that Seattle did win the game. Taken from ESPN.com, here is the full statement from the NFL.

In Monday’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks, Seattle faced a 4th-and-10 from the Green Bay 24 with eight seconds remaining in the game.

Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw a pass into the end zone. Several players, including Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate and Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings, jumped into the air in an attempt to catch the ball.

While the ball is in the air, Tate can be seen shoving Green Bay cornerback Sam Shields to the ground. This should have been a penalty for offensive pass interference, which would have ended the game. It was not called and is not reviewable in instant replay.

When the players hit the ground in the end zone, the officials determined that both Tate and Jennings had possession of the ball. Under the rule for simultaneous catch, the ball belongs to Tate, the offensive player. The result of the play was a touchdown.

Replay Official Howard Slavin stopped the game for an instant replay review. The aspects of the play that were reviewable included if the ball hit the ground and who had possession of the ball. In the end zone, a ruling of a simultaneous catch is reviewable. That is not the case in the field of play, only in the end zone.

Referee Wayne Elliott determined that no indisputable visual evidence existed to overturn the call on the field, and as a result, the on-field ruling of touchdown stood. The NFL Officiating Department reviewed the video today and supports the decision not to overturn the on-field ruling following the instant replay review.

The result of the game is final.

I do not agree with this statement and clearly saw that Jennings intercepted the ball in the endzone, but a number of Green Bay players had some reactions of their own. First, I’ll begin with the tweets sent out by players after the game. Due to some explicit language, I have edited out certain words…but you’ll get the picture.

First of all, if you follow TJ Lang, you saw the outrage in his tweets last night. He said,

“Got (blank) by the refs…Embarrassing. Thanks nfl”

Then he goes on to tweet,

” (blank) it NFL…Fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs.”

Josh Sitton had some very harsh words for the refs as well. He went on to say,

” The nfl needs to come to gb and apologize to us for (blank) us. These refs r bums!”

Here are a few more tweets from players.

In addition to tweets, there were also live reactions. The first thing out of Aaron Rodgers’ mouth as soon as he took the podium after the game was,

“It was aweful. It was aweful. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”

Rodgers was also asked if he had ever suffered a worse loss, in which his response was “No”.

You could see the frustration on the face of Head Coach Mike McCarthy as he took the podium as well, and with good reason. Here is what coach had to say,

“Don’t ask me questions about the officials. So let’s cut it right there.”

According to Vic Ketchman Packers.com, McCarthy also had this to say about the game.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in all my years of football. Our defense was outstanding, very hard to swallow. It’s important for us to get back and get ready for the Saints.”

So as McCarthy says, we’ve just got to carry on, and just wait for the game against the Saints next week.

First off, I’ll say this. It’s one loss, just gotta brush it off. On to the next one.

photo from Packers.com

The next thing I would like to mention is that we need the refs back! No, I cannot blame the loss today completely on the refs, but let’s be real. They were definitely in favor of the niners…especially in the first half.

The Packers were just not able to hold up against the 49′ers defense. I know, you can’t compare this years team to last, but I must say that this is not the 15-1 Packers that we saw last year…and not even close to the same offense.

While I’m still ranting about things that I didn’t like about this game, what’s up with Perrish Cox flipping Jermichael Finley and then stomping on him? Not cool. But then, Jermichael came back and scored a touchdown, and as it was stated on the Aerys NFL Twitter feed, Finley gets a TD, a Lambeau Leap, and the last laugh. The first Lambeau leap of the season too. Couldn’t have said it better myself!

But back to the recap of the game, it wasn’t pretty. The first quarter consisted of a David Akers field goal to put the niners up by 3.  Things got a little more interesting in the second quarter.  In the 49ers first of the second, Alex Smith hits Randy Moss for a TD, and Green Bay responds on the next drive with the Finley TD.

In the third quarter Alex Smith hit Vernon Davis for a TD, and the fourth quarter was by far the best.

With 11:35 left in the fourth, Randall Cobb runs for a 75 yard TD on the punt return, followed by a successful 2-point conversion attempt.  On their next drive, Rodgers passes to Jones for a 10-yd TD, making the score 30-22 San Fran.

This is the time where we were all hoping for the rally of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, but in the end they just couldn’t get it done.

That’s why I say there is always next week….just have to keep workin.

The Packers will meet the Chicago Bears this Thursday for an NFC North showdown. With wins from the Lions, Vikings, and Bears today, Green Bay has a lot to make up for in the division. GO PACK GO!

 Today the new Nike uniforms were revealed for all 32 NFL teams. Some had pretty dramtic changes while others, including the Packers, remained nearly the same.

To the left is Packers TE Jermichael Finley showing off the “new” Packers uni, that looks the same as the ones that have always been worn.

Nike actually said today that there were five uniforms that did not change, and the Packers were one of those.

They tweeted that the Packers uniforms remained the same along with the Falcons, Eagles, Raiders, and Panthers.

One of the other uniforms that cannot go without mention is that of the Seattle Seahawks. They underwent a complete change and look great. And out of the mouth of Jermichael Finley, the are pretty “SICK”.

Todd McShay even said today on ESPN that Seattle is now the Oregon of the the NFL. If you watch college football at all, you completely understand. You can see them here!

photo from www.inquisitr.com

Here’s a look at all the new uniforms, and I think Nike did an excellent job. Even if the uniforms had the same look as before, the colors seem to be brighter, and the fit is better. All the teams are lookin’ fresh for the upcoming season.

Awesome job Nike, looks great.

Ben McAdoo, who has been the Packers Tight End Coach since 2006, has been promoted to Quarterback Coach.

He has previously worked alongside Head Coach Mike McCarthy with the San Francisco 49′ers and the New Orleans Saints. He has tutored Jermichael Finley at the tight end position since he joined the team as a rookie in 2008, in which he has done an amazing job.

The Packers will be on the search for a new Tight End Coach now, perhaps just promoting someone to that position, like they have been doing. Promoting people within the organization seems to be the current trend for the Packers.

As far as McAdoo being the new QB Coach goes, getting to work with Aaron Rodgers is something that he can most definitely look forward to, especially since he’s the league MVP…I just love throwing that in there! We wish McAdoo the best in his new position, and look forward to the great things to come.