Green Bay Displays Balance in Downing Tampa Bay

By Eric Goska

The Packers have sorely missed
Josh Jacobs (8) this season.
(photos by Eric Goska)

Coaches and players often talk about stacking wins.

In Tampa, Green Bay stacked running plays.

The Packers ran a season-high 25 times in defeating the Buccaneers 17-14 Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. In doing so, Green Bay increased its commitment to the ground game and avoided tying an unwanted team record.

That the Packers have struggled to run the football is no secret. Play-by-play announcer Chris Meyers and color commentator Jonathan Vilma touched on that subject throughout the game.

In the second quarter, a cutaway informed that Green Bay was the only team in the league to have had three different starting offensive line combinations. In addition, the club’s 146 rushing yards were the fewest through three games in franchise history.

Vilma, a former linebacker for the Jets and Saints, cut to the chase in the opening minutes of the game.

“And that’s (running the ball) going to be one thing I’m definitely going to be keeping an eye out on. It’s not necessarily all the rush yards for the Packers. It’s really about the rush attempts. How many times are they going to force the issue because, yes, they’re last in the league in rush yards, but they also are last in attempts.

“You have to force the issue and make these defenders believe that you’re going to run the football. That’ll open up the play-action pass for Jordan Love.”

Last in rushing attempts. That signals a coach – in this case Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur – has little confidence in his running attack.

Prior to Sunday, the Packers had only once run the ball more than two times in succession this season. That came in the third quarter of the opener in Minnesota, where MarShawn Lloyd gained 6, 4 and 1 before Chris Brooks chipped in 5 yards. Jordan Love then ended the streak when he passed to Jonnu Smith for 43 yards.

Over the next nine quarters, the Green and Gold never ran more than two times consecutively. They had six instances of two in a row in a 20-17 overtime win against the Jets and just one in a 35-14 loss to the Falcons.

Historically, when the Packers fail to string together more than two running plays in a game—let’s call them two-fers—they lose. Since 1954, the team is 9-54 (0.143) in such games (regular-season only).

The team of 2016 is the only one to have endured three consecutive two-fer games.  During those three Sundays, Green Bay demonstrated nothing more than a passing commitment to its running game (never more than two consecutive runs) in falling to the Colts, Titans and Redskins.

In Tampa, the Packers of 2026 quickly ensured they would not be lumped together with their counterparts of 10 years ago. On the team’s second possession, Brooks burst off left tackle for 27, Love scrambled for 4 and Lloyd hit right guard for no gain.

A three-fer.

Later, on the same drive, Lloyd got 1, Tucker Kraft gained 3 on a tush-push and Brooks grabbed 3 to end the first quarter.

Another three-fer.

Tucker Kraft converted fourth down
with a 3-yard push late in the first quarter.

Love then capped the advance with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Golden early in the second period. Nine of the 16 plays used to reach the end zone were runs.

The Packers went one better in posting their second touchdown: a 2-yard pass to Kraft that put them up 17-7. Lloyd got 5 on third-and-one before giving way to Kaleb Johnson who reeled off gains of 5, 31 and 3 yards.

And just like that, the team had its second four-fer of the season.

With his effort, Lloyd became the first Packer this season to convert a third down by rushing, another sign of how neglected the running game had become.

In the end, Green Bay’s 86 yards on 25 rushes won’t turn heads (3.4 average), but the increased workload proved enough to set up a last-minute three-for that never gets old: back-to-back-to-back kneel-downs by Love to close out a victory.

Extra Point

Sunday marked the 68^th regular-season game since 1954 in which the Packers reeled off two runs of 25 or more yards (Brooks 27; Johnson 31), but just the second in which the team failed to rush for 100 or more yards when doing so. The last sub-100 game featuring at least two runs of 25 or more yards occurred on Dec. 30, 1990, when Darrell Thompson had gains of 28 and 27 yards and Green Bay managed but 88 yards on the ground.

Noted: Jeff Van Note, Falcons Legend, Passes Away

 By John Turney 

Jeff Van Note, the Atlanta Falcons' center for 18 seasons and a six-time Pro Bowler, died Friday the 2nd of October. He was 80. No cause of death was announced.

Jeffrey Aloysius Van Note was born February 7, 1946, in South Orange, New Jersey, and played at St. Joseph Prep in Bardstown, Kentucky, where he earned all-conference honors in three sports. Next, at the University of Kentucky, he was a freshman fullback in 1965, then a defensive end on the varsity from 1966 through 1968. 

He was second-team All-SEC as a sophomore, the Wildcats’ most valuable senior in 1968, and played in the Blue-Gray Game. Kentucky later retired his jersey and placed him in its athletics Hall of Fame. In 1990, for the program’s 100th season, the Louisville Courier-Journal named him to its All-time Kentucky team.

The Falcons took him in the 11th round of the 1969 draft, 262nd overall, as a linebacker. He was said to have been drafted to back up All-Pro middle linebacker Tommy Nobis, but that career path didn't happen. He was moved to center after the first day of practice at summer camp after his coach Norm Van Brocklin called him off teh field and "handed him an offensive playbook."

 Norm Van Brocklin moved him to center, a position he had not played, and the minor league team was where he was trained to get snapping skills. So, that year, after playing in the league opener, he also played for the Alabama Hawks of the Continental Football League in Huntsville.

"I think the old man (Van Brocklin) liked that Jeff was Dutch so he gave him a chance," one teammate remarked. That makes sense. Van Brocklin had cut him only to bring him back so he could play in the first game, so the youngster could get a $2,000 bonus for being on the active roster. But he was cut again. Van Note said at the time, "He cut me twice in the same week!"

While learning a new skill, he also bulked up his weight from about 230 pounds to 244 pounds to withstand the interior line pounding. It all worked, won the job in 1970. He held it for the next 16 seasons.

Photo credit: Atlanta Falcons

Van Note played in 246 games and started 226, second on the franchise list to Mike Kenn, the club has listed his starts at 225. He missed four games in an 18-year career, was truly an iron man.

He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1974, 1975, and each year from 1979 through 1982, and was a second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press in 1979 and 1982. United Press International named him First- or Second-team All-NFC four times. Those postseason "alls" would have been higher, but it was an era filled with crest pivots. Guys like Hall-of-Famers Mick Tinglehoff, Jim Otto, Jim Langer, Mike Webster and Dwight Stepehson were vacuuming most of the All-Pro honors, leaving little but All-Conference selections.

His competitors for those All-NFC and the Pro Bowls were pretty good, too. Rich Saul and Len Hauss were grabbing slots and were usually on better teams, which seemed to matter to the writers, coaches, and players who voted for those various teams.

Photo credit: Atlanta Falcons

During his prime, he was also receiving good reviews from scouts. One independent NFL scouting organization usually gave him a high "red" grade, their second-highest category. In 1980, he was "blue," and ranked as one of the top four centers in the game. 

Green Bay-based writer Cliff Christl was another independent voice and was someone who picked his own yearly All-Pro teams, but also gathered information for scouts and opponents. In 1975, he said Van Note was the second-best center in the NFL. Hall-of-Fame coach George Allen would regularly rank opposing NFL players, keeping lists in his playbooks. One such list from 1976 showed that Van Note was listed third among all NFL centers. There's more: Buffalo News writer Larry Felser, who had a similar process, named Van Note to his 1980 All-Pro team. He thought Van Note was the best center that year. High praise and not bad for a guy who claimed he'd been cut from his Pee Wee football team. Twice, he said. 

When he went to his first Pro Bowl after the 1974 season, he did it with a chip on his shoulder. "I went to the Pro Bowl disliking just about everyone connected with the game. I knew most of the guys mostly as opponents, and I didn't like them, particularly the Dallas and Los Angeles teams, but I found they were the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet."

After he'd been in the NFL for nearly a decade, he took on more of a leadership role, being called the "glue" of a fine Falcons O-line, with young talent like Mike Kenn, R.C. Theilmann, Dave Scott and Warren Bryant (all drafted in the top three rounds) who held that unit together and helped the team become a playoff contender in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 

Down the road a few seasons, Van Note eventually became the player who "got by on guts, technique and intelligence." He was the proverbial and literal "grey beard" on the offensive line. He'd been in teh NFl since 1969 and in his final few years, he looked closer to 50 than someone in his mid-30s due to his wavy grey hair and chin whiskers and his missing front teeth.

Photo from Van Note's final season

One of the passers he protected, Kim McQuilken, summarized his venerable teammate this way: "Jeff epitomizes the old-school image that I really enjoyed. He's laid back, but he's a great leader at the same time. You always knew with Jeff that when he took out his teeth it was time to go to work. He just loves getting dirty and going to practice."

Van Note was the recipient of some good-natured ribbing from a popular X account that has over 750,000 followers called @Super70sSports in which the owner of the account, Rickey Cobb, would make a recurring joke in which he'd post a picture of Van Note in his final years and say something like he did on Mar 16, 2021—"Jeff Van Note led the NFC in 1986 in bitching about his VA benefits from the Korean War." Or, like one on Jan 7, 2024—"Jeff Van Note led the NFL in 1986 in telling World War II stories." Good stuff.

We contributed this on May 9, 2017: "Jeff Van Note was a fine center, but at times he'd go into a trance and start telling 'Nam stories" 

He snapped for quarterbacks like Bob Berry, Bob Lee, Steve Bartkowski, and David Archer and blocked for runners like Dave Hampton, William Andrews, and Gerald Riggs, all 1,000-plus runners. From 1970 through 1985, whenever a Falcons' skill player had success, Van Note was an integral part of the reason why.

Always concerned about players' rights, he was active in the NFLPA and was a vice president for a few years and then was president in 1983 and 1984. In an X post, the players' union said, "We mourn the passing of former NFLPA President Jeff Van Note, whose leadership and service helped strengthen our union. Our heartfelt condolences are with all who knew and loved him."

Jeff held on to his starting job until 1985 and the following season, when, at age 40, he played in his 246th game. It was on December 14, 1986, in his final home game at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, the Falcons honored him and gave him a '57 Chevrolet in honor of his uniform number, a fitting gesture by the Falcons' organization.

Photo credit: Atlanta Falcons

Five years later, in the franchise’s 25th season, fans voted him the club’s all-time favorite player. He entered the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Falcons Ring of Honor in 2006. In 1984, he was also inducted into the American Football Association’s Semi-Pro Football Hall of Fame, a nod to the Huntsville year. In addition, Van Note was also elected to the Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) Hall of Very Good as part of their class of 2023.

After he retired, he worked as a color commentator on Falcons and Kentucky broadcasts through the 1990s and into the early 2000s, and was a regular on Atlanta sports radio. In 1997, he called Tennessee Oilers games. He left the Falcons and Kentucky booths after 2003, then filled in for Georgia Tech in the fall of 2004. He stayed on Falcons radio for years after that, hosting a studio pregame show and taking calls after the game. 

In a released statement, Arthur Blank, the Falcons' owner, said Van Note "embodied toughness, resilience, humility, and an unwavering commitment to his team," and that his place in the history of the franchise was secure. He is survived by his three children, per media reports.

On behalf of his alma mater, the university released a statement that in part read, "Jeff Van Note is one of the legends of Kentucky football," said J. Batt, Kentucky's Director of Athletics. "Known for his toughness as a player and for his many years of service on our radio broadcasts, Jeff loved being a Wildcat.  His accomplishments during his long NFL career speak for themselves and he always will be a treasured part of our heritage.  Our condolences are with Jeff’s family, friends and teammates."

"Jeff was the kind of player that coaches loved because he was always fully prepared ... A true professional," fellow lifelong Falcon lineman Mike Kenn added.

A beloved figure, voted by fans as the franchise’s all-time favorite player in 1991, Van Note leaves a legacy of a fine player and even better person. He was an all-star-level player in high school, college and in the NFL and he contributed to the welfare of his fellow NFL players and stayed connected to the game through the media after he retired. 

Jeff Van Note was truly "Mr. Falcon."

It Was Bound To Happen. "Greatest Duo" Gets Hurt.

 By John Turney 

In late August, the NFL, among others, posted a meme on X asking whether the Myles Garrett–Aaron Donald pairing could be the best defensive duo ever.

We called the question ridiculous in an August 31 post. The inevitable arrived quickly. Both got hurt in the season's first month. 

Garrett first. He carried a nagging knee into the season, aggravated it in the Week 1 opener in Melbourne, and has not been right since. Donald did not play that game. In Week 3, Donald injured his back and will miss at least this week's game against the Eagles.

We like both of these players as much as anyone. The preseason hype was still over the top. We suggested letting them play a full season together before anyone judged whether they were the greatest single-season duo. They have not yet shared a healthy afternoon.

We'll check back in a few weeks, in case the next meme asks whether this is the greatest comeback by an injured duo in a season, ever.

Play the games. See what happens after. No one knows the future, and no one can predict much of anything—least of all whether someone will be the greatest anything.

TUESDAY TIDBITS: "We'll win that one for the title"

By TJ Troup  

This past Sunday was chock-full of close, hard-fought, exciting games. We can all hope this continues so 2026 can be one helluva season for all of us. Every statistic in football is meaningful, yet some are more important/significant than others. 

Forty years ago it was first communicated by Steve Sabol, sharing the win percentage when a team returns an interception for a touchdown. All these years later and when a player returns a "pick" his team wins about 80% of the time. That stat was probably not going through Kain Medrano's mind as he dashed 50 yards to seal the victory for the 'Skins.... oops! 

Kain Medrano

Commanders in their win over the defending SB champions. Allan Malamud was an insightful, superb writer whose column "Notes on a Scorecard" was must-reading in the early '90s, and though cannot compare (nor am I trying to), today's column might seem similar? Most folks believe the Chargers have a strong team and their defense Sunday recorded 4 sacks and 5 takeaways, and LOST! You won't see that happen very often this year. 

Ok, folks what team has surprised you the most this year and why? October 4th, 1964 the Patriots are in Denver before 15,485 for a dominating 39-10 win over the Broncos. AFL All-Star Gino Cappellletti sets a pro football record as he kicks 6 field goals in 6 attempts in one game. Cappy's six field goals are in the first three quarters of the game as Boston builds a 25-0 lead. 

The punishing Patriots defense will allow Denver only 53 yards rushing, and averages just 82 yards a game all season. Boston bruiser Larry Eisenhauer leads a pass rush that records 8 sacks. In their last 24 games, the Patriots have had just one 100-yard rusher, but today halfback J.D. Garrett pounds out 121 yards on 12 carries to key the offense. The Patriots' highlight film of '64 Bob Gallagher states that Cappelletti is "ever dependable," and after four weeks Cappy was on pace to attempt 70 field goals! 

Gino Cappelletti

Later in the season at Buffalo, the Pats beat Buffalo 36-28. Rookie Oliver Dobbins was beaten easily by Cappy for the final touchdown in the victory(his 3rd of the game). Babe Parilli is quoted after the game "It's going to go down to the final day of the race when the Bills come to play us at Boston, and we'll win that one for the title". 

We all know that the Bills claimed their first outright division title on that artic afternoon 24-14, yet boy oh boy what a season for Cappelletti by scoring 155 points in fourteen games. 

Today begins the baseball playoffs, and sure wish had Malamud to share his thoughts on the White Sox series against the Astros, especially since the last White Sox World Series Title came at the expense of Houston. Enjoy the games!

One-Two Punch Kayos Green Bay in Home Opener

By Eric Goska

The Packers were dealt a one-two punch Thursday night unlike any they had absorbed in more than a century of playing professional football.

So effective was the combination that it ranks among the most productive in NFL history.

The Atlanta Falcons dominated Green Bay on the ground and through the air in administering a 35-14 beatdown at Lambeau Field. Not only did the victory halt the Packers string of successful home openers at 13, it left the Green and Gold with far more questions than answers.

Top of the list: How to tighten a defense that hemorrhaged 498 yards. Also: How to ensure two players – no matter how talented – don’t account for 80 percent of that total.

Bijan Robinson pounded out 194 yards rushing on 29 carries. Drake London soared for 194 yards on nine receptions.

The two supplied 16 of Atlanta’s 25 first downs. They accounted for 11 of the Falcons’ 13 offensive plays of 10-plus yards.

Robinson ripped off a 55-yard run on the Falcons’ first drive to six points. London snagged passes of 68 and 40 yards on consecutive advances to set up Atlanta’s final two touchdowns.

Mr. Robinson averaged 6.7 yards a carry. Mr. London averaged 21.6 yards a catch.

The tandem earned those titles of respect due to their superlative performances.

Over the years, of course, Green Bay has helped many backs extract 150 or more yards rushing (51 instances) at its expense. It has enabled many wideouts to secure 150 or more receiving yards (54 occurences).

What the club has never done is dole out 400 scrimmage yards to two players in the same game. Robinson (213) and London (194) commandeered 407.

London, selected eighth overall in the 2022 draft by Atlanta, and Robinson, taken in the same spot a year later by the team, have played in 48 regular-season games together. In 18 of those, they combined for more than 200 yards from scrimmage.

Prior to Thursday, they had twice accumulated more than 300. Their best effort had been a 396-yard outing in a 24-14 takedown of Buffalo last season.

The Packers, generous to a fault, allowed the duo to crack 400. In doing so, Green Bay joins seven other teams – Oilers (1963), Giants (1965), Colts (1972), Dolphins (1976), Lions (2007), Raiders (2015) and Eagles (2018) – to have permitted such shenanigans and it, like the others, paid the price with a loss.

This comes with one proviso that I neglected to mention in my original post. In reaching 400, each player must have contributed at least 175 yards to the cause; that is, one player did not supply a disproportionate amount of the total. Essentially, both athletes were equal in what they brought to the one-two punch.

Extra Point

The Packers did not rush once in the fourth quarter, opting instead to pass on all 22 of their offensive plays in the final 15 minutes. Since 1953, Green Bay is 1-14 in regular-season games in which it completely abandons the running game after 45 minutes of play.

The 400 Club
The eight times two teammates accounted for 400 or more yards from scrimmage in one regular-season game in NFL history. Each player must have contributed at least 175 yards to the cause. (list generated using Stathead at Pro-Football-Reference)

Yds   Tandem                                                                         Team              Date
531   Antonio Brown (306)-DeAngelo Williams (225)       Steelers         Nov. 8, 2015
481   Art Powell (247)-Clem Daniels (234)                           Raiders          Dec. 22, 1963
442   Kevin Curtis (221)-Brian Westbrook (221)                 Eagles            Sept. 23, 2007
414   Ernie Green (222)-Jim Brown (192)                             Browns          Nov. 14, 1965
410   Ron Jessie (220)-Lawrence McCutcheon (190)         Rams              Oct. 3, 1976
409   Amari Cooper (217)-Ezekiel Elliott (192)                    Cowboys       Dec. 9, 2018
407   Bijan Robinson (213)-Drake London (194)                Falcons          Sept. 24, 2026
401   Rich Caster (204)-Eddie Bell (197)                               Jets                Sept. 24, 1972

Marshall Faulk Number, Soon Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs Qualify

 By John Turney

Credit: Tristar Cards

Back in the 1990s, STATS, Inc., now STATS Perform, introduced a Roger Craig "number" and in later volumes of their publications, changed it to the "Marshall Faulk Number," which was the harmonic mean of rushing yards and receiving yards in the same season. To score high one must do well in both categories so unlike a mean, a large average yards per game is not sufficient because it can be leveled. 

We expanded it to go by games played, since old-school guys like Chuck Foreman and Lydell Mitchell, among others, would be on the list since they played mostly in 14-game seasons. We chose a minimum of 60 games rather arbitrarily or maybe to allow Billy Sims to be included on our list. That would be admitted to.

Later this season, barring injury, Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs will reach 60 games played and will make our list. And they rank high. They are the Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk of today (along with all-time leader Christian McCaffrey.

Note that De'Von Achane and Breece Hall could also rank in the top 25 if they reach 60; Hall almost certainly will. Achane needs to play 14 of the next 15 games. We'll see on that one.

Here we are currently, allowing actives who may make 60 by end of season. Bijan looking strong.

Brock Purdy—First in Passer Rating, or Will Be Soon

 By John Turney

Back in the day, if you wanted to know who the “all-time leading passer” was, you reached for paperback record books like the ones above. The answer changed with the book—and with the system.

Before 1973, the NFL crowned its passing leaders with a moving target: yards one era, completion percentage the next, then various point and inverse-ranking schemes that compared a passer only to the men who threw that same season. When the league adopted the Pro Football Hall of Fame formula in 1973—the four-category scale Don Smith (Hall of Fame), Seymour Siwoff, and Don Weiss (NFL) built against a 1960–70 performance standard—the names at the top shifted because the method itself had changed.

That formula has its well-known limits. It rates the pass, not the quarterback. It ignores sacks, rushing, and era. But it has been the same formula since 1973. The intent was stability: a fixed standard instead of a yearly pile of category rankings that reshuffled every time the rest of the league improved.

The formula had many critics (rewards dink-and-dunk passers), and some semi-fans. Steve Young once said, "It's hard to do well in those categories. It's hard to throw touchdowns and to not throw interceptions." Both views have merit..

Be that as it may, we will likely have a new leader in about a month.. Current leader, Lamar, at the oment sits at the top with a 102.2 rating. Aaron Rodgers is slightly behind him. But when Brock Purdy reaches 1,500 pass attempts (he is 91 short), he will be number one with a rating around 104, barring injury and him throwing a mess of interceptions.

So at 26, he will be number one. 

Chart by PFR, with Purdy added by us

Is 1,500 pass attempts to sit atop a list like this given how many passes are thrown these days? Perhaps not, but that is what we have. And after all, Ken Anderson was just 27 when he surpassed Len Dawson to become the official all-time NFL passing leader. We say official because the NFL did not allow AAFC numbers in their NFL lists, but the Pro Football Hall of Fame did. After the 1983 season joe Montana made that problem moot since he ended that season with a 90.0 rating, about 3.5 "rating points" ahead of Otto Graham who'd been the Hall's number once since the system started. And Montana was 27, same as Ken Anderson.

Purdy, because of real time, will get the record, as we mentioned at 26, but he will be 27 when the season ends, and when next year's Official NFL Record & Fact Book is published, that will be his age. He will be the third 49ers quarterback (Montana and Young) to be first on the list as well.

This matters less and less, but in the 1970s at a young age`, it was fun getting those paperbacks and  seeing in print the new leader is passing. Stuff of great memories.

Von Miller—Late Career Slide?

 By John Turney 

Von Miller

Statistics usually don't tell the whole story, especially in football. Many times a player might have statistics that are not the norm for him, but there are reasonable explanations for it. In terms of a pass rusher, he might be getting extra blocking, or the offense running plays to help neutralize a player's skills.

However, with Von Miller, it seems his statistics as of late are telling the story. And it is backed up by watching him play, the old 'eye test,' as it were. The story is he's one of those players who is having a late-career slide.

In his years in Denver, and even the half-year in Los Angeles, he was as good a 3-4 OLB as there ever was not named Lawrence Taylor. He was a joy to watch; his speed his "ghost move", a move Miller where he would show the long-arm or stab first, drawing the tackle into a punch or an early set, then drop underneath the hands and vanish around the corner. The "now you see me, now you don’t" line he used while demonstrating it, plus the specific combination of fake and dip, is the version that caught on around the NFL, the move he is the father of.

But that was then. This is now. Today, the once super-elite edge rusher is average, if that, if the last two games as a Dallas Cowboy are any indication. However, and this is key, that is so far. There are fifteen games left and who knows; he may end up with a double-digit sack total and the Cowboys get into the playoffs and Miller is part of a defense that can help make a run for a title. 

That he's done before, once with the Broncos and once with the Rams. 

This is a guy who Pro Football Focus (PFF)  graded with an average grade of just under 90 from 2011 through 2022 when he was a starting All-Pro and about 67 since, when he's been a designated pass rusher.

Again, breaking down PFF and also Football Outsiders (FO) independent totals of QB pressures (combination of sacks, hits and hurries), the numbers tell the story

2011–2022 (11 seasons, excluding 2020 missed year)

PFF  average: 68

FO  average: 53

2023–2026 (3 full seasons)

PFF  average: 31

FO  average: 31

However, let's be fair: Miller is 37 and was always a speed/technique rusher. He was a guy who was timed in the 4.5 forty range and looked like it on the field. In his early days, he was more than a pass rusher. With defensive schemes of coaches like Wade Phillips and Vic Fangio, he would be asked to cover a back or the flat. With Phillips, it might be calls like "Will Wink" or "Sam Sink" that would send four of the 5-man line (three defensive interior players and two edges) after the quarterback and either the Sam backer or Will backer would drop. 

The same was true of the Fangio scheme; the edge players would have to drop sometimes, the flat or as a "bonus hook" player, and Miller was good at it. Some guys are just "there," and others can cover, be more than just there. Miller could cover, especially early in his career.

Given his age and performance, he likely won't get a dozen sacks like a 37-year-old Kevin Greene did in 1999, but he might get a handful in a season like James Harrison or Clay Matthews Sr. did in their late 30s. It's possible, at least. But does that help or hurt his legacy?

When does his production get to the point of being like Willie Mays in 1972-73 with the Mets or Hank Aaron with the Brewers in 1975-76, or a Johnny Unitas in 1973? When is he just is not himself and it starts to hurt your heart to see one of the best ever do it, being a shell of himself. 

To his credit, he came back from an injury plague in the 2023 season to be productive the last two years, but even then, watching him, it was not the same. Hopefully, this year will be more like 2024 and 2025 than 2023, but the film, SO FAR, isn't showing that. Obviously, things can change in the next span of games.

Of course, Miller is going to get a Gold Jacket, likely five years after he retires, but it will be based on the six All-Pro seasons in the first half of his career, around 140 career sacks, and his two rings that were aided by his 16 career playoff games (when his teams went 11-5) and when he recorded 10.5 sacks, 49 tackles, three forced fumbles ... including 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in Super Bowls alone.

 

Let's just hope the current version is not what is left in voters' minds, or they might ding him a year. Let's hope not, but that is a discussion for another day. 

Career stats and honors—

TUESDAY TIDBITS: "Whatever You do John, Don't Throw the Ball"

By TJ Troup

The 2026 season is off to a roaring start with so many storylines! Ok, folks what game so far surprised you the most? Which game this coming weekend stands out to you?

This coming Sunday the 27th is one of those days that truly stands out for all of you BALTIMORE Colts fans. The opening day game in '53 is of course the Bert Reich's once-in-a-lifetime performance, yet I want to highlight the '64 game of the Bears going to Memorial Stadium.

The Colts from 1955 through 1960 had won nine of twelve from the Bears and lost only once in Memorial Stadium. Then the Bears win six straight against the Colts.

During a stretch during the Bears 1963 Championship season the George Allen defense allowed just 31 points over the course of 23 quarters. The Unitas led Colts score 24 points in the first half, 28 in the 2nd in the demolition of Chicago. Everyone contributed for the Colts that afternoon.

Many times have mentioned Mr. Steve Sabol and we all know his creativity was the focal point at NFL Films. Really believe that the "America's Game" series was his best. For those of you that have never watched the 1970 BALTIMORE Colts, do yourself a favor and watch.

While Curry, Smith, and Curtis are insightful and entertaining in there comments want to pay a quick tribute to Mr. Ernie Accorsi. He is in his first year as PR director, and his commentary is a key component to why this chapter is so fun to watch.

Baltimore has a 1-1 record and are struggling against a woeful Patriot team, as they lead 7-6 in the 4th quarter. Head Coach Don McCafferty joined the staff in 1959 and developed a strong working/coaching relationship with John Unitas. The title of today's column comes from Accorsi, as McCafferty tells John to be conservative. Unitas's play-action touchdown pass to Roy Jefferson for 55 yards puts the game out of reach. Though they struggled with many a close game, this Colt team hoisted the Silver Trophy. Accorsi worked for a handful of teams during his long career, many of those teams had success. RIP Ernie!

Finally, am going to shift gears to go to the horsehide game. Two years ago the White Sox won 41 games and would rank with the worst teams in baseball history. This year has been "magical" for them and with six games remaining the Pale Hose can earn a playoff berth.

Fielder Jones
colorization by PFJ

Today is the 130th anniversary of Fielder Jones of the Sox hitting his 2nd home run of the season for the soon-to-be champions. Why is his home run significant you ask? Well, he now has tied Billy Sullivan for the team lead in home runs. The White Sox hit seven home runs all season; no that is not a misprint----SEVEN! There are teams in this era that hit seven in a week. See ya next week.

No Six-Pack for Green Bay in New York

By Eric Goska

Lukas Van Ness led Green Bay with nine combined tackles
including stuffing Jets running back Braelon Allen on
fourth down late in the fourth quarter.
(photos by Eric Goska)

Like winning, losing can become habitual.

Fortunately for Cheeseheads everywhere, the Packers kicked the habit in the Big Apple Sunday with a 20-17 overtime win against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.

Green Bay entered the matchup riding a five-game losing streak (regular-season only). Had it faltered, the team from Wisconsin would have dropped more than a sixth straight game; it would have seen one of the longest streaks in NFL history come to an inglorious end.

Six straight losses. That’s a snootful. No coach or player wants to go there.

But for three quarters, that’s the direction in which the Packers were trending. Whether penalties (14 for 133 yards), fumbles (five with one lost) or third-down efficiency (1 for 9 for 11%), Green Bay appeared destined to start the 2026 season 0-2.

That outcome appeared even more inevitable after Jason Sanders booted a 32-yard field goal to put New York up 17-7 with 11 minutes, four seconds left in the fourth quarter. For the Packers, engineering a comeback under those conditions had become a distant memory.

In dropping five straight prior to Sunday, the Packers had all but ceded the final 15 minutes to the opposition. The Broncos, Bears, Ravens and Vikings (twice) had outgained them 479 yards to 267 and had outpointed them 65 to 9.

Why should the Jets not follow suit?

Simply put, New York ran up against a Green Bay defense that, having played well throughout, took control. The unit gave up 41 yards on 18 plays (2.28 average) in the fourth quarter and overtime. More importantly, Lukas Van Ness and Co. did not allow a third- or fourth-down conversion during that stretch.

That late-game chokehold is even more impressive given the length of time Green Bay’s defense spent on the field. The Jets ran 22 more offensive plays than did the Packers (72 to 50) and had the ball for almost 11 additional minutes (37:40 to 26:57).

But Green Bay’s defense didn’t wilt, and the Green and Gold now have their first win since Dec. 7, 2025. Further, the team extended its all-time NFL record of 565 consecutive regular-season games without a six-game losing streak.

Wideout Matthew Golden caught four
passes for 58 yards for Green Bay.

Owning that record is a testament to how well the team has played over these past three-and-a-half decades: 27 winning seasons, 25 playoff appearances and two Super Bowl wins. It’s a resume most teams would love to have.

No more so than Arizona or Cleveland. The Cardinals have endured 14 six-game losing streaks during Green Bay’s run of avoidance and the Browns 15. One of Arizona’s and four of Cleveland’s flings with futility stretched into double digits.

That just doesn’t happen in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Some may not remember the last time the Packers lost six or more regular-season games in a row. George H.W. Bush (the first Bush) was president. The price of gas was just over a dollar a gallon. Social media as we know it today did not exist.

Green Bay, under head coach Lindy Infante, closed out the 1990 season with consecutive losses to Minnesota (7-23), Seattle (14-20), Philadelphia (0-31), Detroit (17-24) and Denver (13-22). In opening the 1991 campaign, the team fell to the Eagles (3-20) and Lions (14-23) before squeaking past the Buccaneers 15-13 to end a seven-game skid.

In the time since, the Packers have suffered through three five-game losing streaks. In addition to the one they just ended, the Green and Gold bungled five straight in 2008 (games 11-15) and 2022 (games 5-9).

But that’s all in the past. Having dispatched the Jets, Green Bay has again put winning on the table. Packers fans can only hope victory becomes habit and not a one-time affair.

Six Pack Avoidance
Most consecutive games between losing streaks of six or more games (regular season only).

No.      Team                  Years                 Record During Streak
565       Packers             1991-2026              348-214-3 (.619)
553       Dolphins          1967-2003              345-204-4 (.627)

488       Patriots            1993-2024              325-163-0 (.666)
480       Bears                1929-1968              302-155-23 (.653)
424       Steelers            1999-2026              267-154-3 (.633)

TUESDAY TIDBITS: "Run to Daylight"

By TJ Troup 

The first week of the season in the books, and boy, oh boy, was there a lot to savor from the games, yet some teams' performances have raised questions. Those questions will be answered in due time. 

Ok, folks please share which game stood out to you and why? For the upcoming week, which game will have you get out the smokehouse almonds & Dr. Pepper? Oh, not all of you have those treats on your coffee table? Watching the Bills win at Houston in a game that saw many lead changes kept my attention till the final gun. As usual will go back in history to hopefully enlighten/entertain all of you with teams or games in the past that take us to the league this year. 

The 1954 Champion Cleveland Browns allowed just 34 points over the course of 25 quarters late in the season. This past Sunday in Jacksonville, the Browns defense allowed 34 points in the first half in a loss that begs the question: how bad is this team going to be? 

Making a prediction, this Browns team will not play for the silver trophy in February! When time permits, hopefully you will read Eric Goska's outstanding article on the Packers loss in Minnesota, and my segue to Green Bay's opening day loss to Detroit in 1970. 

The Packers getting beat in a dominating shut-out victory by division rival Detroit was embarrassing enough, but in the Lions highlight film for the '70 season, Van Patrick stated that the Lions "ran to daylight"! Seem to recall a Packer coach that used that phrase in a book he wrote with W.C. Heinz in '63? 

The merger will allow the best second-place team from each conference to earn a playoff berth, known as the "wild card". The Lions, who closed with a rush (6-1-1) to end the '69 season open in Green Bay and for the first time in thirty-six years, shut out the Packers 40-0! 

Altie Taylor

Detroit gains its fifth-most rushing yards in a game (at this point in team history) with 266. Mel Farr and Altie Taylor combine to gain 144 yards on 33 carries. Larcenous left corner Lem Barney, who has intercepted 18 passes in his last 29 games, returns an interception 40 yards for a touchdown in the 3rd quarter to seal the game. Detroit limits the Packers to just 114 total yards for the game (their best mark of the season). After a 5-4 start, the Lions again close like gangbusters to finish 10-4 and earn the NFC wild-card berth.

Meltdown in Minneapolis

By Eric Goska

Trey Smack kicked three field goals in Minnesota.
He could have had a fourth.
(photos by Eric Goska)

Next time, perhaps, Matt LaFleur might side with his placekicker and not his defense.

With the fourth quarter not yet two minutes old, the Packers head coach took a field goal off the board believing he could get a bigger payout against the Vikings. The decision backfired spectacularly as not only did Green Bay come up empty, but Minnesota dialed up 22 unanswered points, more than enough to bounce its division rival 39-22 in the season opener for both teams.

Implosions such as the one at U.S. Bank Stadium are as rare as they are alarming. Unfortunately for the Green and Gold, these late-game failures have become too familiar. Think Packers-Bears rivalry circa 2025.

This latest collapse broke new ground. LaFleur’s desire to hold Minnesota to the fire added fuel to a Vikings’ team eager to break out after having trailed for most of the game.

Said inflection point arrived early in the fourth quarter. With his team up 22-17, LaFleur opted to take a five-yard penalty (Minnesota’s Dallas Turner had been offside) rather than stick with a 40-yard field goal by rookie Trey Smack. That decision left Green Bay with a fourth-and-one at the Vikings 17-yard line, an assignment bungled when Jordan Love failed to gain on a quarterback sneak.

While understandably stoked by the stop, the Vikings were assured of nothing. To that point they had gained 168 yards in 45 plays (3.7 average) with the majority of their snaps (25) bringing fewer than four yards.

Packers head coach
Matt LaFleur in 2025

Not to worry. Aided by a Packers defense beset by penalty—and an officiating crew only too happy to help—Minnesota could not help but prevail.

Three times did Minnesota quarterback Carson Wentz face third down. Three times was his unit stopped. Three times did a flag fly with the promise of a first down.

Three penalties. In the fourth quarter. On the same drive. Each moving the chains.

How often had that happened to the Green and Gold over the years?

Six times since 1937. Six times in the team’s last one thousand, two hundred, seventy-eight regular-season games.

But until Sunday, never had all three infractions come on third down.

For six-and-a-half minutes, as Wentz marshaled the Vikings goalward, yellow flags flew. A 10-yard sack (Edgerrin Cooper and Devonte Wyatt) wiped out by an illegal contact penalty on Javon Bullard. A Wentz incompletion was negated by a roughing the passer infraction on Chris McClellan. Evan Williams’ end zone interception erased by Xavier McKinney’s defensive holding.

Green Bay could not get off the field.

Aaron Jones finally capped the affair with a 3-yard run that put Minnesota ahead for good (25-22) with 6 minutes, 37 seconds remaining. Toss in Jonathan Ford’s encroachment infraction at the outset of the advance and the Packers gifted 28 of the 83 yards the Vikings needed to reach paydirt.

Green Bay’s lead, good for more than 50 minutes, was toast.

Christian Watson led all receivers
with 147 receiving yards.

Possessing a five-point lead after three quarters as the Packers did in Minnesota usually spells victory. Green Bay is 574-38-6 (.934) in the regular season in such games.

Until this debacle, Curly Lambeau (161-5-2) had lost most often when afforded a 5-point cushion after 45 minutes of play. LaFleur now joins him (53-5) courtesy of his ill-advised gambit.

Eight seasons deep into his Green Bay run, LaFleur coached his 118th regular-season game in Minneapolis. His teams have surrendered at least one first down by penalty in 98 of those contests (83 percent).

That’s the highest percentage of any head coach who lasted a full season or more in Green Bay. Ray Rhodes (81.3) and Mike McCarthy (80.4) are second and third, respectively.

Of course, there is no way to know if the Packers would have won had LaFleur opted to stick with Smack’s fourth-quarter field goal. But had it counted, Smack would have joined Chester Marcol (1972) as the only players to have kicked four field goals in their first game with Green Bay.

Fourth Quarter Fizzles
The six regular-season games in which the Packers were outscored by more than 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Pts.   Date                  Opponent   Location                                         Result
31      Sept. 13, 1981      Falcons          Lambeau Field                              GB lost, 17-31
27      Nov. 5, 1950        Colts               Memorial Stadium                      GB lost, 21-41
24      Oct. 12, 1952       Rams              Marquette Stadium                     GB lost, 28-30
24      Oct. 18, 1959       Rams              Milwaukee County Stadium      GB lost, 6-45
24      Dec. 2, 1979         Redskins       RFK Stadium                                GB lost, 21-38
22      Sept. 13, 2026    Vikings           U.S. Bank Stadium                      GB lost, 22-39

People Needed to Wait and See: Myles Garrett Injured Knee On Way to Being One-half of Greatest Defensive Duo Ever

 By John Turney 

A couple of weeks ago, we opined that it might be better to wait and see what the "duo" of Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald do on the field before they are crowned the greatest-ever duo, whatever that is defined to be.

Last Thursday we saw why. Donald did not make the trip to Australia, and Garrett had been nursing a knee/leg issue and was non-existent in the game versus the 49ers, which they lost handily. Now, Garrett will miss at least a month while he goes under the knife.

It's a good object lesson that people cannot predict the future. Projecting the Donald/Garrett duo as one of the "best ever" based on their past number of NFL DPOY awards was a fool's errand.

Again: Wait and see. Be entertained with what happens, not with what you think MIGHT happen. Sure, that can be fun, picking games or picking Super Bowl winners, but it will never, ever be exact enough to crown all-time greats before they play a down together.

So, message to @NFL, the NFL's X account: it's not your fault; it's just a risky parlor game you're playing. But we also acknowledge you're trying to engage social media users, so it's not all that serious one way or another. It was all in good fun. 

Oh, and we suppose the other social media post predicting Rams would break the single-season sack record will be cautious next time, as well. Even if healthy, that was a reach, too. A big one.

TUESDAY TIDBITS: "Faulkner would trade his entire coaching staff for Sestak"

By TJ Troup 

Tomorrow night the season begins, and no doubt a joyful time for so many across this great red, white, and blue Nation. 

My first question to all of you: which game is the most compelling? When you are a fan of a team, you most likely will watch your team play and maybe check out a couple of the other games. Minnesota and Green Bay have forged a nasty rivalry, and since my favorite rivalry is the Niners vs. the Rams will be watching or paying attention to updates on the games. 

The well-coached Houston Texans easily won their wild card game, then lost. The Buffalo Bills won their wild card game, then lost a heartbreaker to Denver. Buffalo travels to Texas to take on Houston and for me this game is the most compelling. 

Tom Sestak

Additionally, the Buffalo Bills have had a couple of dandy games on Sunday, September 13th in their history. After losing to the Boston Patriots in the '63 playoffs, the expectations for the Bills in '64 at the Rockpile were gonna be fun/rewarding! A crowd of 30,157 saw their team score 31 points in the 1st quarter in demolishing the Chiefs. Leading 24-0 with just a couple of minutes left in the half, Tom Sestak "read the set-up and smelled a screen pass, so I drifted over to the right". 

Big Ses returned the interception 15 yards for the touchdown. Denver assistant coach Red Miller scouted the game and commented with the title for this week's column. Though the Chiefs answered with 17 points, was not near enough in the Buffalo 34-17 victory. Many of the Bills players had rock-solid games, yet the game belonged to "Big Ses" as he also pillaged the Kansas City pass pocket to record multiple sacks and recovered a fumble. 

How many defensive tackles in league history have recorded a sack, a fumble recovery and an interception in a game? For those of you who don't remember '64 (I do), that Bills team was a juggernaut and won their first Championship. 

Now, let's turn the page to 1992. By far the #1 question for the Bills was: could they return to the AFC title game for the third consecutive season? Buffalo will be at San Francisco for the September 13th game against a 49er team that has everything you want in a team. Buffalo gains 598 yards in total offense in their "K-gun" offense as Jim Kelly becomes the first Bills QB to throw for over 400 yards in a game. Since Steve Young shreds the Bills secondary for 447 yards, we have, for the just the third time in history, two quarterbacks gaining over 400 yards in passing in the same game. 

San Francisco leads at the half 24-17, but the Bills will not be denied as Thurman Thomas dashes 11 yards for the winning score. The 1,086 yards gained by both teams is the fourth most total yards gained in a game through 1992, yet what still stands out to me the most. NEITHER team punted! 

Will we see that this weekend? 

Enjoy the games, see ya next week.

Calais Campbell—Eighteen Seasons Of Elite Play. Soon to be Nineteen? Probably.

 By John Turney

Calais Campbell just turned 40 this past week. Most men that age are thinking about tee times. Campbell is thinking about five-technique alignments, twists, stacking and shedding and how many more snaps he can give the Baltimore Ravens in what he says is likely his final NFL season.

It will be his 19th.

When Baltimore opens their season this upcoming week, Campbell will sit five regular-season games from passing Jim Marshall for the most games ever played by an NFL defensive lineman. Marshall finished with 282. Campbell has 278 and has not missed a regular-season game since 2022. He has started 259 of those.

If he plays at least a dozen games, he will have a total of 290 games played. That alone is impressive.

Last season, back in Arizona where the Cardinals drafted him 50th overall in 2008, the 6-foot-8, 307-pounder started all 17 games and posted 6.5 sacks and 43 tackles. Those 6.5 sacks would have led last year's Ravens. He then signed a one-year, $5.5 million deal to return to Baltimore, where he played from 2020-22.

"This year, I feel as strongly as ever that this is probably going to be my last year," he said this summer. He has probably said versions of that before. The difference now is the it may actually happen. Or not. If he plays like last year, why not go for an even 20 seasons?

Either way, if healthy, Campbell will extend his career totals in two diverse stats: quarterback sacks and run/pass stuffs.

We have long preferred stuffs (developed by Nick Webster) as the cleanest single number for interior and hybrid defensive linemen over the NFL's TFL stat. Campbell’s unofficial stuff total stands at 108.0. Add the 117.0 official sacks and you get 225 plays behind the line of scrimmage. But if you prefer TFLs he has 196 of those, six behind Terrell Suggs for most all-time, and in this case "all-time" starts in 1999.

That is Hall of Fame territory (if you value stopping the run and don't overvalue sacks, that is), even before you count 65 passes defensed, 18 forced fumbles, 13 recoveries, three interceptions, three defensive touchdowns, 11 blocked kicks and three safeties. Throw in Football Outsiders and Pro Football Focus pressure totals in our tracking (677 and 810).

Proscout, Inc, once wrote that he "Defines a HOFer ... Tall-fast-strong-moves on all downs ... Blue when playing tight end, tackle, guard and center ..." 

Yes, he can be seen as a starting 3-4 end, a 4-3 end, a defensive tackle in 4-3, and even as a nose or shade tackle. And he has started games at nose, even if not always shown that way in season-ending position listings. Make no mistake, he was good no matter where he lined up. However, as edge rusher he was not as good as when he played further inside. 

Hall of Fame conversations will follow the retirement announcement, whenever it actually comes. The case is already made strong on the combination of longevity, that 2017 peak, all-decade recognition, and the stuff/sack double almost no modern lineman matches. Voters can argue the exact slot. They cannot argue the career.

Like Cam Jordan, the Hall's new rules would seem to make it more likely for induction but probably not a first-ballot guy based on possible position bias. Pure pass rushers seem to get in quicker to 30 ends/40 tackles and only J.J. Watt has a shot to break out of that voter bias, he'll get in right away but he had the sacks and awards that Campbell and Jordan didn't.

The apex for Campbell remains 2017 in Jacksonville. In his first Jaguars season, Campbell posted 14.5 sacks, 72 tackles, three forced fumbles and a defensive touchdown. The Associated Press named him first-team All-Pro. The Pro Football Writers of America named him Defensive Player of the Year. He was six votes shy of the AP Defensive Player of the Year. That front, with Campbell as the hub, carried Jacksonville to the AFC Championship Game.

He was second-team All-Pro in 2014 and 2016 with Arizona, a six-time Pro Bowler (2014–15, 2017–20), All-NFC in 2014 and All-AFC in 2017 and 2019. The league put him on the 2010s All-Decade Team with J.J. Watt, Julius Peppers and Cameron Jordan with Watt and Peppers a mythical "first-team" based on out survey of the voters. 

Calais Campbell made the NFL Top 100 Players list 6 times and received postseason notice (if you count PFF) five times in his time in NFL and that might give voters pause. heck, Kevin Williams was a five-time first-team All-Pro and seems not to have a lot of buzz from voters, though he didn't play as long.

Off the field, he collected the 2019 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, the Bart Starr Award and later the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, all great awards but are not going to move the needle much when his case is presented by a Hall official in the early 2030s.

A career in five cities

Nine seasons in Arizona built the foundation: a 2008 NFC Championship as a rookie reserve, then a long run as a 3-4 end who could slide inside on passing downs. Three seasons in Jacksonville produced the statistical high-water mark and the only first-team All-Pro. Three seasons in Baltimore (2020–22) added another Pro Bowl. One year in Atlanta (6.5 sacks in 17 starts) and one in Miami (5.0) proved he could still hold up as a 17-game starter in his late 30s. Then the 2025 return to the Cardinals: 17 more starts, 6.5 more sacks. Pretty consistent.

That is 18 seasons with 5-plus sacks in all but four years, and two of those four were shortened by injury or snap-count management in Baltimore. 

From age 36 through 39, he still delivered 6.5, 5.0 and 6.5 sacks and totaled over 15 run/pass stuffs in that same span. Not spectacular, but solid. The Ravens would love that kind of production, you'd think.

The Ravens do not need Campbell to be a 60-snap, every-down player. They need the veteran who can two-gap, collapse a pocket on third-and-long, and set a standard in a room that has injury questions on the interior. Thirty to 40 defensive snaps a week, used well, is a winning role for a 40-year-old who still generates pressures.

Five more games and he passes Marshall. Another 6.5-sack season would push him near the top 20 in official career sacks (he sits 25th at 117.0). Neither mark is why he came back, he's never been a stats guy. He came back because he still loves the game, he is still fairly good at it, and a team still wants him and will pay him well. In the meantime, we get to watch, for at least one more season, one of the most durable players in league history.

And he can still play. Nothing has really changed since the time Jonnu Smith said a couple of years ago on the Pat McAfee Show, "(Calais) is like the LeBron James of the NFL right now as far as his age and the production that he brings to the game, still playing at a high level. I mean, the guy is 1,000 years old and playing like he’s 21."

Nineteen seasons and still good. NINETEEN.

Career stats—

Pressures: FO = Football Outsides, PFF = Pro Football Focus

Honors by season—