Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles: A Historical Perspective

In their history in the NFL, the 3-0 Green Bay Packers and 1-2 Philadelphia Eagles have played 40 times in the regular season going into tonight’s contest at Lambeau Field. The Packers hold a 26-14 advantage over the Eagles in the series.

The Packers joined the NFL in 1921, while the Eagles came into the league in 1933. In Philadelphia’s inaugural season in the NFL, they met the Packers at old City Stadium in Green Bay and were beaten by a 35-9 margin.

In their most recent meeting in 2016, the Packers defeated the Eagles 27-13 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers is 3-1 lifetime against the Eagles in the regular season and has a 104.4 passer rating against them. Overall, No. 12 has thrown seven touchdown passes vs. two picks for 856 yards.

Philadelphia has also met Rodgers in the postseason, as Rodgers led the Packers to a 21-16 win in a 2010 NFC Wild Card playoff game in Philly. Rodgers and the Packers kept winning that postseason and ended up winning Super Bowl XLV.

Speaking of Super Bowls, the Eagles won Super Bowl LII behind backup quaterback Nick Foles, who had taken over at QB after starter Carson Wentz was lost for the season with a knee injury.

Foles is now in Jacksonville playing with the Jaguars, but will be lost for some time after breaking his clavicle in the first week of the 2019 season.

But Wentz is back. No. 11 is 0-1 in his career vs. Green Bay, as he started against Rodgers in that 2016 regular season game in Philly. Wentz didn’t throw a touchdown in that game, but did throw a pick. He threw for 254 yards and had a passer rating of 75.5.

Now, getting back to the postseason history between the two teams. Overall, Green Bay has won 13 NFL titles, including four Super Bowls. Philadelphia meanwhile, has won four NFL titles, including one Super Bowl.

Before the Wild Card Playoff Game that the Packers and Eagles played in Philadelphia in the 2010 postseason, the two team met twice prior to that in the postseason.

One of those games was in a 2003 NFC Divisional Game, again played in Philadelphia.

The Packers started fast in the game and led 14-0. The ground game of the Packers was especially effective as running back Ahman Green rushed for 156 yards in the game. The Packers were leading 17-14 late in the game when head coach Mike Sherman had a difficult decision to make.

It was fourth down and about a foot to go at the 40 of the Eagles. One more first down ends the game. It’s either go for it or punt. To me, there was nothing to think about. Run for the first down and get ready for the NFC title game the next week.

Why? Well, not only had the Packers been running wild on the Eagles the whole game, they were also ranked third in the NFL in running the ball in 2003. Toting the rock was a big strength of the team.

Still, Sherman decided to punt. The punt went into the end zone and the ball was placed on the 20. The Packers had a net gain of 20 yards after that punt. Plus, Sherman was putting the game in the hands of a defense that was 17th in total defense in 2003 and was even worse in passing defense, as the team was ranked 23rd.

It all led to the 28-yard completion by Donovan McNabb to Freddie Mitchell on the infamous fourth-and-26 play, which led to the game-tying field goal. The Packers later lost in OT, as the Eagles kicked another field goal after Brett Favre was picked off on a deep pass.

Finally there was the 1960 NFL Championship Game played between the Packers and Eagles, again in Philadelphia, but this time at Franklin Field.

I wrote an article about that game almost three years ago. That game was the only postseason loss a Green Bay team coached by Vince Lombardi would ever have.

The Packers dominated the game statistically, but the Eagles ended up winning 17-13. The Packers almost came back to win the game, but the game ended when fullback Jim Taylor caught a 14-yard pass from quarterback Bart Starr, but was tackled at the 8 by linebacker Chuck Bednarik as time expired.

During one of our many conversations, Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer told me that Lombardi addressed the team in the locker room after the game and was very direct in his words.

“After the game, Coach Lombardi stood up on a equipment box and addressed the team,” Kramer said. “He said he was very proud of the way we played. He told us that we were going to be in a number of NFL championship games in the future and that we would never lose again. And he was right.”

The following year the Packers won their first of five NFL titles that the team would win under Lombardi, which included the first two Super Bowls.

After losing that first postseason game against the Eagles, the Packers won nine straight games in the postseason under Lombardi and indeed never lost again.

Back to the game tonight, when the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI behind Favre and Super Bowl XLV behind Rodgers, the Packers had also faced the Eagles in the regular season and twice beat them in dominating fashion.

In 1996, Favre and the Packers whipped the Eagles 39-13 at Lambeau Field in a Monday night football game. And in the opening game of the 2010 season, Rodgers and the Packers beat the 27-20 in Philadelphia. The final score did not reflect how much the Packers dominated the game, as the Packers led 27-10 at one point, plus sacked quarterback Michael Vick six times.

We shall see how things will turn out tonight, as the Packers are undefeated and the Eagles are coming into the game banged up.

Based on the history of Rodgers vs. the Eagles, I like Green Bay’s chances, even as No. 12 is still trying to fine tune the offense of new head coach Matt LaFleur.

Plus there is this, the defense of the Packers has sacked opposing QBs 12 times, plus have held the QB to a 63.1 passer rating.

Wentz has been sacked seven times, plus a number of his receiving weapons are injured.

That bodes well for the Packers.

Milwaukee Brewers: Another September to Remember in 2019

Well, the Milwaukee Brewers are doing it again. After going 20-7 during the month of September in 2018 which led to the Brew Crew winning the National League Central Division title, Milwaukee is having another September to remember in 2019.

Going into their weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Park, the Brewers have so far gone 14-4 this month which as catapulted them to the No. 2 Wildcard position.

In addition to that, the Brewers are just one game out of the No. 1 Wildcard spot held by the Washington Nationals and just three games out of the NL Central lead, held by the St. Louis Cardinals, with nine games to play.

The Cards and the Chicago Cubs (who are one game behind the Brewers) are currently battling in a series at Wrigley Field which has three games to go, plus play each other again next week for three more games in St. Louis.

And a lot of this has happened without the help of 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich, who was lost for the season due to a fractured kneecap on September 10 in Miami. The Brewers have gone 8-2 since that devastating injury took place.

Yelich was having another MVP type season in 2019, as he had hit 44 homers and had 97 RBIs, plus was hitting .329. No. 22 had also stolen 30 bases.

Still, the Brewers are getting the job done this September. In the 18 games that they have played so far, the Brew Crew has scored 81 runs (4.5 runs-per-game) and given up just 59 (3.27 runs-per-game).

In terms of leading the Brewers in the absence of Yelich in terms of clutch hitting, three players come to mind in the month of September. 3B Mike Moustakas (35/85/.258), C Yasmani Grandal (27/73/.248, plus 100 walks) and LF Ryan Braun (20/67/.277) are all having solid seasons, but have really heated up recently.

Braun put an exclamation point regarding his legacy in clutch moments, when he hit a grand slam homer with two outs and two strikes against the Cardinals in St. Louis to win the game last Sunday.

Plus, role players like OF Ben Gamel and IF Corey Spangenberg have both come through when it counted as of late. With rookie sensation 2B Kestin Hiuri (17/44/.301) back in the lineup after a hamstring issue, the Brewers have really added strength to their lineup.

Speaking of strength, 1B Eric Thames (21/56/.248) has been solid as well this season overall.

Add to that, CF Lorenzo Cain (10/45/.251) looks like he has some pop in his bat now after going through some injury woes. In his absence, rookie Trent Grisham (5/16/.246) has been a good replacement, not only in center, but in playing all outfield positions. The same holds true with Gamel.

SS Orlando Arcia (14/51/.217) has been struggling at the plate, but Hernan Perez (7/17/.230) has helped out at SS since his return from the minors.

Nobody has struggled more this year than IF Travis Shaw (7/15/.154), but even he hit a home run recently. If Shaw ever returns to the form of the last two seasons in the near future, the Brewers would be exuberant.

Still, you don’t go 14-4 in September without good pitching. And this is where manager Craig Counsell is utilizing his bullpen to the maximum. More times than not a starter won’t last through the fifth inning, but still the formula has worked as the pen has been excellent for the most part.

Now with starter Brandon Woodruff (11-3/3.69 ERA) back in the mix after an oblique injury, the pitching staff now has even more options.

The other starters have done their job overall. Jordan Lyles (6-1/2.35 ERA) has been outstanding after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Zack Davies (10-7, 3.70 ERA), Gio Gonzalez (2-2/3.86 ERA) and Chase Anderson (6-4/4.50 ERA) have all been fairly consistent, although each has had a few bumps in the road.

Adrian Hauser (6-7/3.83 ERA) has also started as of late, but with Woodruff back, he might go back into a bullpen role in which he was very effective.

Speaking of the pen, four pitchers have really looked good recently. I’m talking about Drew Pomeranz (0-1/2.42 ERA), Freddie Peralta (7-3/5.36 ERA), Junior Guerra (9-5/3.60 ERA) and Alex Claudio (2-2/3.75 ERA). Pomeranz looks to be the closer when Josh Hader isn’t available, as his high fastball has been striking out hitters at a high rate recently. The same goes for Peralta and his high heat.

Hader (3-5/2.66 ERA) looks like he is back on track again now, after having a bit of a rough stretch. But because he is now mixing in his slider along with his tough to see fastball, Hader has been very good. No. 71 has struck out 130 hitters in just 71 innings.

Counsell still seems to trust Matt Albers (8-5), but his ERA has been steadily climbing and is up to 5.01. Jay Jackson (1-0/4.50) has had his moments, but has overall done a good job.

The bottom line is the Brewers are doing something that almost no one saw the club doing when the month of September started. I mean, the team was just three games over .500 and hadn’t really had a real hot streak all season long. Then on top of that, the team loses it’s best player 10 days into the month for the season.

As someone who covered the Brewers during a time when the Brewers made it to the postseason for two consecutive seasons in 1981 and 1982, this team has an energy that I saw on those teams, as well as the one who made it one game from the World Series last year.

The players certainly deserve credit for overcoming so much this season, but so does Counsell and his coaching staff.

Kudos also need to go to GM David Stearns for adding players like Lyles and Pomeranz.

Time will tell what will happen in these last nine games of the season, but what the Brewers are doing sure looks good from my perspective.

Boyd Dowler Talks About Bart Starr and Also Playing Some Tight End

Bart Starr and Boyd Dowler. (Photo: Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports)

In the 12 seasons that Boyd Dowler  played in the NFL, 11 of those seasons with the Green Bay Packers, No. 86 was 10th in all-time receptions in the NFL and 12th in receiving yardage when he retired.

The game was different in the era that Dowler played in, as the running game was featured much more often, plus the rules in those days allowed defensive backs to pretty much mug a receiver running down the field and not see a flag thrown.

The Packers utilized the running game more than most in the NFL, especially in the early years when Vince Lombardi became head coach. Both Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor put up big numbers between 1959 through 1962. Hornung was the NFL MVP in 1961, while Taylor was the NFL MVP in 1962, when the Packers won back-to-back NFL titles.

Still, Dowler put up some nice numbers himself, which was recognized, as he was named to the NFL 1960’s All-Decade team, as well as the NFL 50th anniversary team (second team).

In his 11-year career with the Packers, Dowler had 448 receptions for 6,918 yards and 40 touchdowns. In the postseason, Dowler also had 30 receptions for 440 yards and five scores.

Also, in his rookie year in 1959, Dowler was named Rookie of the Year by UPI (United Press International), plus was named to two Pro Bowl teams in his career.

That is why I believe Dowler deserves a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

There are very few quarterbacks in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who do not have at least one receiver or tight end from their team in Canton with them.

One of those quarterbacks is Bart Starr.

Starr passed away in May and is going to be honored in Green Bay this weekend, which also just happens to be alumni weekend for the Packers. A number of former teammates will be on hand, as well as players who were coached by Starr during his tenure in Titletown.

One of those teammates is Dowler. Another is a guy who used to hang with Dowler and Fuzzy Thurston after practice and have a few beers. They called themselves the Three Muskepissers. I’m talking about Jerry Kramer, who will be one of the speakers to honor No. 15 this weekend.

I had a chance to talk with Dowler recently and we talked about what it was like playing with Starr.

“Let me give you an example about how smart Bart was and how he trusted guys like me,” Dowler said. “In the ‘Ice Bowl’, when I scored my first touchdown, it was not a play called in the huddle. It was an audible at the line of scrimmage.

“We had never, ever talked about running that play or pattern from that formation with me in tight. We never practiced it either. We never did anything close to what we did on that play. It was the first time we ever did that.

“Bart called the ’86 audible’, which had nothing to do with my number. The play was designed for the split end to run a post in a blitz situation. But normally it was called when the split end was out wide, not in tight like I was. Bart called the play because Mel Renfro was near the line of scrimmage. Now Renfro didn’t blitz, but it didn’t matter because he was already committed to the line of scrimmage.

“So when Bart called that audible, I knew I was supposed to run a quick post, even though I was inside. I had the linebacker on my outside shoulder and the cornerback on my outside shoulder, which is not sound coverage. So all I had to do release inside and look for the ball. It turned out be an easy pitch and catch and we were up 7-0.

“Bart and I laughed about that play after the game. I knew that particular audible was used with the split end on the left side of the formation to run a post. But I was in tight, like a tight end would be. I knew I couldn’t call a timeout. I couldn’t shout out to Bart and say, ‘Do you want me out wide?’

“The bottom line is Bart had enough confidence in me to figure out what I was supposed to do in that situation. The thing that made it so great, is that Bart called that audible, even knowing that we had never run it from that formation in nine years. Even in practice. And Bart called it in a NFL championship game!

“That is a capsule comment about Bart Starr.”

No. 86 continued.

“Bart did things like that,” Dowler said. “And you know the funny thing about plays like that he called? They always worked! Just like the sneak in the ‘Ice Bowl.’

I wrote about how well thought out that sneak was in this piece. Starr carried the ball in his left arm as he crossed the goal line and not in his right, as outside linebacker Chuck Howley of the Cowboys tried to strip the ball from his empty right arm.

“When you start talking about doing a tribute to Bart Starr, just look at he ‘Ice Bowl’ game,” Dowler said. “I’m talking about making big plays count or making big plays work. You can look at both my touchdowns in that game, you can look at the give play to Chuck Mercein and you can look at the sneak.

“You can take four, five or six plays alone from that game and hang an MVP award around Bart’s neck. Not just because of the plays, because they were good plays. But because when they were called. It was the brain of Bart Starr that made those plays work.”

It wasn’t a coincidence that Dowler was in tight on his first touchdown pass against the Cowboys in the 1967 NFL title game. No. 86 started playing tight end on passing situations beginning in 1965 and continued to do that through his last year with the Packers in 1969.

That meant the Packers could basically use three wide receivers on third down.

“After Ron Kramer left and Marv Fleming was in his second year I believe, Coach Lombardi started using me at tight end on third down or in passing situations,” Dowler said. “When we were going to play the Bears or the Colts, I would be Mike Ditka or John Mackey on the scout team for our defense.

“So I got quite a bit of work at tight end. I was big enough and I could get off the line. I was able to run the tight end patterns pretty well. Coach noticed that and said to me, ‘You look pretty good in there.’

“Anyway after Ron left, even though Marvin was a fine player and a fine blocker at tight end, he didn’t have wide receiver quickness and speed to get down the field. He basically wasn’t much of a threat in the passing game as I would be. It came down to Max McGee getting in the lineup when I would play tight end instead of Marvin. Max had been a backup after Carroll Dale arrived in 1965.

“Vince wanted to get Max in the games and thought that would be a good way to do it. I slid in to tight end and Max took my spot at split end with Carroll on the other side. The first game we did it in was the ‘Fog Bowl’ in Baltimore in late 1965 and I caught a pass for a first down from the tight end position, plus caught a touchdown pass as a tight end. We scored six touchdowns in that game (a 42-27 win) and Paul had five of the TDs while I had the other one.

“Vince was very proud about that, as it was his idea to move me to tight end in passing situations. It gave us a little more downfield speed. I think it helped us. I was all for it. It kept me mentally sharp. I thought it was kind of fun.

“In 1968 against the Bears at Wrigley Field, I played the whole game at tight end. I caught two touchdown passes, one from Zeke Bratkowski and the other from Don Horn. I had a big game. So did Don.

“In Super Bowl II, one of my two catches that day came while I was playing tight end. My touchdown came when I was at split end, but the other catch came while I was at tight end.

“Bottom line, me playing tight end gave us a lot more flexibility. I really enjoyed playing the position too.”

 

Green Bay Packers: The D gets an A in Beating da Bears

Preston Smith of the Packers chases quarterback Mitch Trubisky of the Bears.

The final score on Thursday night at Soldier Field was…Green Bay Packers 10, Chicago Bears 3.

It was apropos that this NFL game between the Packers and Bears was played 60 years after Vince Lombardi made his head coaching debut against George Halas and the Monsters of the Midway at City Stadium (now Lambeau Field).

Yes, in 1959, Lombardi coached his first ever game in the NFL and it was also against da Bears. And like the game was on Thursday night, the contest was a defensive battle. The Packers ended up winning 9-6.

On Thursday night, Matt LaFleur made his head coaching debut for the Packers and like it was for Lombardi in 1959 against the Bears, the defense saved the day.

In 1959, all the Packers could muster on offense was a late Jimmy Taylor touchdown. The only other points scored by the Pack that day was because of a safety after Taylor had scored his fourth quarter touchdown.

In that game, the Packers defense, which was coordinated by Phil Bengtson, held the Bears to 164 total yards. The defense also forced two fumbles, plus scored on the safety.

The Packers only had 262 total yards themselves, led by Taylor’s 98 yards rushing. Paul Hornung also rushed for 61 yards. In all, the Packers rushed for 177 yards behind the work of Jerry Kramer and company on the offensive line.

Quarterback Lamar McHan was only 3-for-12 for 81 yards in passing the ball and also threw an interception.

After the win, the players of the Packers hoisted up Lombardi and carried him across the field.

The Packers carry head coach Vince Lombardi off the field after his debut win versus the Bears in 1959.

On Thursday night, Aaron Rodgers took his career record in the regular season versus the Bears to 17-5, but it wasn’t easy. Rodgers was just 18-of-30 for 203 yards and one touchdown pass, which went to tight end Jimmy Graham from eight yards out in the second quarter.

Rodgers was also sacked five times, as he was trying to implement the new offense that LaFleur has the Packers running this year. The offense is definitely a work in progress. The key to the offense is the outside zone running scheme, but the Packers only had 47 yards rushing, with running back Aaron Jones picking up 39 of those yards.

Rodgers also led the Packers to another score in the fourth quarter, when kicker Mason Crosby connected on a 39-yard field goal.

Other than that, it was the defense coordinated by Mike Pettine which was the story of the game. The Packers harassed quarterback Mitch Trubisky of the Bears all night long and sacked him five times, with 2.5 of the sacks coming from two of the big free agent signings from this offseason, Preston Smith (1.5) and Za’Darius Smith (1.0).

Trubisky was just 26-of-45 for 228 yards and one very costly pick, as former Bear Adrian Amos (another free agent signing) intercepted Trubisky in the back of the end zone late in the fourth quarter.

Safety Adrain Amos of the Packers celebrates his late interception of Mitch Trubisky of the Bears.

The defense of the Packers was just as stingy against the run, as they only allowed 46 yards rushing.

The bottom line was that the Packers had a crucial win on the road against their top rival in the NFC North and now will return to play at Lambeau Field to play five of their next six games there.

The next tilt will be against the Minnesota Vikings on September 15, which will also be alumni weekend and also the time when the Packers will honor the late, great Bart Starr.

You may have noticed in the game between the Packers and Bears, that the No. 15 decal was on the back of the Green Bay helmet.

So while the offense of the Packers will continue to have growing pains, the defense looks to be the strength of the team right now. The defense looks to be a top five unit in the NFL this year based on what I saw on Thursday night.

The last time that occurred was in 2010.

That was also the year the Packers went on to win Super Bowl XLV.

 

Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers vs. the Chicago Bears: By the Numbers

Over his career in the NFL, quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers has pretty much had his way when he plays against the Chicago Bears.

The numbers certainly back that up.

Regular Season Record: 16-5

Postseason Record: 1-0

Completion Percentage: 67.16

Completions: 454

Touchdown Passes: 45

Interceptions: 10

Passer Rating: 105.9

Yards Passing: 5,156

Yards Rushing: 233

4th Quarter Comebacks: 7