He has appeared in five games this season as part of an offensive line that has yielded a league-worst 31 sacks.

The Packers on Saturday also signed wide receiver Biren Ealy from the practice squad. The 6-foot-2 Ealy appeared in four games with Tennessee in 2007 and spent the 2008 season on the Titans’ practice squad.

Guest senior writer jclombardi @ http://lombardiave.com

Rodgers Headlines:  Rodgers Plays Part in Packers’ Sack Woes.

K Crosby Headlines:  Crosby Struggling From Long Range.

P Kapinos Headlines:  Kapinos said he needs to kick fewer 50-yard punts and instead get his hang time numbers up to allow the coverage units to get in better position and should in turn improve his net average.

Offensive Headlines:  Havner A Happy Surprise.    Sitton O-Line’s Strongest Link.   Backup QB Flynn Shines In Practice.

Track Sacks Headlines:  Tracking Sacks Through Games.

Defensive Headlines:  Hawk To Showcase Skills? 

McCarthy Watch Headlines:  Losing Season Would Put Heat On McCarthy.

Thompson Watch Headlines:  Oates–Thompson’s drafting hasn’t been great, but it has been above average.  By eschewing free agency and splashy trades, however, he has ended up with the youngest team in the NFL for four years. Despite a solid talent base, the Packers lack stars and still have weak areas that good teams can exploit.  Bloggers–Thompson has had five seasons to prepare for each of these declines and departures. Five years is the old plan, the universally accepted time period that a good GM could turn things around and get a team to a Super Bowl.  He’s not just failing on the high draft picks.  He’s failing at a majority of all draft picks.

Bucs Game Headlines: What: Green Bay (4-3) at Tampa Bay (0-7). When: Sunday–noon Where: Raymond James Stadium–Tampa, Fla. TV: Fox Sports.  Preview:  Five Things To Watch & Matchup.

Ryan Pickett, Johnny Jolly, and Cullen Jenkins will remain the defensive line starters, but as the season progresses, look for the Packers to use a deeper rotation to keep those guys fresh.  Raji will play a larger role.

After looking slow and weak in his first two games, big B.J.  had a great game against Cleveland, registering two solo tackles and a great push against the Browns’ line.  Then he looked solid against the Vikings despite a fine worthy facemask penaly.

Raji discussed his improvement this week, “Yeah, and now I’m really starting to understand the defense.  I’ve been more spectating and watching and learning than playing. So now, I’m getting my chance, and hopefully, I take advantage of it.”  He also thinks that he has most of his power back.

Let’s hope that this $18 million man will prove that he was worth the holdout as he gets more significant playing time.

Jclombardi looks beyond Favreageddon to the 2009 NFL season.  Favre is MVP?

After the Vikings win in Favreageddon 2 and countering the anti-Favre public relations campaign by Packers management, Fox says that people missed the undisputed truth about the blood feud between Favre and Packers management:

Fox says," We Blew It."

In all the hoo-hah over Brett Favre’s much-hyped return to Green Bay, Whitlock says everyone missed the biggest Truth of all: It’s the Truth–Favre’s proving Thompson wrong.” 

Jclombardi reviews Packers headlines.

Mid-Season Report Headlines: Wildcard Team At-Best.

Rodgers Headlines: Sore Foot Injury.   Good Statistical QB or Winning Leader?

Offensive Headlines: Tauscher & Clinton To Start?   Spitz Not Progressing.

Defensive Headlines: Jenkins, Jolly Regret Critical Remarks.  Hawk To Replace Injured Chillar.

McCarthy Watch Headlines:  The Case Against Mike McCarthy.

Bucs Game Preview Headlines:  Bucs Like the Bad Old Days.   Jsonline.   Espn.

Veteran left tackle Chad Clifton might be ready to return from a nagging ankle injury, too.

“No substitute for experience, and Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton have a ton of it,” McCarthy said. “You see that just in the practice today, just some of the things that they do. Any time you add experience to your group, it’s definitely a benefit.”

Clifton and Tauscher both were active last Sunday but did not play against Minnesota. Instead, rookie T.J. Lang started in Clifton’s place at left tackle for the second straight game Sunday, and Allen Barbre made his seventh straight start at right tackle.

ESPN: 12. Rodgers is starting to show signs of his season-long beating.   

FOX: 12.  Now that the circus has left town, can the Packers get on with making a playoff run? Maybe, but not until they fix what’s seriously broken on the offensive line.  Maybe GM Thompson intentionally got rid of Favre so he didn’t get the legend killed behind the line’s friendly fire.

NBC/PFT: 13.  The Packers should have saved some of those boos for a few of the current members of the team.

AOL Fanhouse: 14.  Rodgers leads the NFL in passer rating with a mark of 110.4. Of course, he’s constantly being compared to Favre, who has a far superior team due to offensive line, running game, special teams and the entire defense. But that’s not gonna matter to the masses, because the Vikings are 7-1 while the Packers are 4-3.

Yahoo: 15. They got away from the game plan, it appeared, quickly.

Sporting News: 16. Favre has beaten them twice, and pass rushers continue to beat up Aaron Rodgers.

CBS: 16.  That offensive line is bad. If they don’t improve there, Rodgers doesn’t stand a chance.

Summary: Former Packer QB Favre three for 244 yards & 4 touchdowns leading the Vikings past the Packers 38-26. After an awful first-half start, QB Rodgers led a furious comeback throwing 261 yards and 3 touchdowns. In the end, in a litmus test against a strong NFC team, the Packers failed and repeated ongoing game issues of poor execution, protection breakdown, dreadful rushing, and untimely penalties

Video Highlights: NFL. ESPN. Fox.   CBS.

Game Reviews: Favre sweeps Packers out of the way. He Came, He Threw, He Conquered. Favre throws four TDs in victorious return to Lambeau.

Game Ball: 1. TE Havner 2. QB Rodgers 3. WR Jennings. 4. NT Pickett.

Quotes:

1. Bud Lea, a longtime sportswriter who was born and raised in Green Bay and started covering the team in 1954, said he’d never seen anything like it. “It’s surreal,” Lea said.

2. Former Packer QB Lynn Dickey likened the rift to a divorce. The couple is still in the bitter, feuding stage. “In the big picture, he’ll be back here retiring his jersey and people will love him,” Dickey said. “Everything will be forgotten in a few years.”

3. CB Woodson: I think it was disappointing for a lot of people. It’s just a loss, but I think a lot of people really wanted this one bad. We let a lot of people down today. That’s what we are. Right now we can’t win the big game.

4. Coach Philbin: We were out of balance, out of rhythm, out of tempo. Just did not play well in the first half. Didn’t have them ready to execute and we didn’t make plays. Not good enough.

5. Lesson–life, character, & winning equate intangibles: “Once we added Brett, everybody came together and got even closer,” DT Williams said. “He brings a mentality that’s old school–that everything’s OK, so just have fun with it. We take our job seriously, but we ain’t stressing.”  Added TE Shiancoe, “He brings structure, a sense of accomplishment, a sense of winning. When they got back in the game and things tightened up, he kept his composure and was collected–you need that from your offensive leader, ‘cause it’s contagious. He’s not panicking, so the young guys aren’t.”

Report Card Grades–Good, Bad, & Ugly:

Pass Offense—C. In the ugly first half, the Packers had a net 47 yards for total offense. QB Rodgers has 5 passes for 11 for just 38 yards and 4 sacks.  At the first half, the Packers trailed 17-3. In the second half, Rodgers settled down leading a good comeback, but it wasn’t enough as the Packer came up short.  As one reviewer wrote:

After a furious comeback, the Packers trailed, 31-26, and faced second and 3 at the Minnesota 28 with 6:26 left. The game was there for taking. On third and 8, Rodgers was very well-protected. Instead of hitting open receivers James Jones short or Greg Jennings to the left, Rodgers went deep down the left sideline and the pass to Donald Driver never had a chance to be completed.

While facing an intense pass rush, he completed 26 for 41 passes for 287 yards, 3 touchdowns, no interceptions, six sacks, and a 108.5 passer rating. He rushed 5 times for 52 yards. LT Lang and RT Barbre struggled giving up numerous sacks. Veterans LT Clifton and LT Tauscher stood on the sidelines watching the surreal spectacle. WR Jennings had 8 receptions for 88 yards. WR Driver had 6 receptions for 63 yards. WR Jones had a key catch for 42 yards.  Backup TE Havner had another great day with 2 receptions for 21 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Rush Offense—D. The offensive line lost the battle in the trenches. Led by QB Rodgers, Packers rushed 19 times for 90. Finding few open lanes, RB Grant had only 10 carries for 30 yards. While the run game is struggling, if handoffs become an issue, there’s a problem.

Pass Defense—D. Vikings QB Favre looked invincible. He completed 17 of 28 passes for 244 yards, 4 touchdowns, no sacks, and no interceptions. For a 40 year old man, Favre outmaneuvered the Packers’ pass rush to lead crucial game winning drives. As a reviewer summed up:

The lack of pressure on Favre compared to the pressure on Rodgers was laughable. Some of it was due to the differences in the offensive lines. Lang/Barbre did nothing to alleviate the concerns that Thompson did not have a very good plan in place to replace Clifton/Tauscher. Favre’s most underrated skill set: his ability to sense pressure in the pocket and move it around with slight adjustments, helping his linemen keep in front of the rushers.

Caper’s 3-4 blitz scheme was ineffective against the veteran Favre who read the too early blitzes and the disguised blitzes.  In another bad sign, one Packers headline said, “Defense vents frustration again: Jenkins says players are handcuffed by system.”

Rush defense—B-. The Vikings had 32 carries for 111 yards averaging 3.5. RB Peterson rushed 25 times for 97 yards averaging 3.9 yards and one touchdown. The front seven had a good game, but it wasn’t enough giving up big plays.

Special teams—D. The kickoff coverage had a disastrous day. The Vikings starting four drives at their own 30-yard line, one at the Packers 38, and one at the Packers 14. Vikings WR/KR Harvin stole the spotlight with a combined 261 offensive yards.  He average 35 yards on returns with two game-changers led to touchdowns.  K Crosby was 2 for 3 in field goals. P Kapinos had 5 punts averaging 43.2 yards.

Coaching—D. Outcoached, Outclassed, & Outplayed. If the team cannot win big home games, the team has serious issues. In two games against the Vikings, the Packers allowed 68 points and 14 sacks. Penalties are killing the Packers. Also, these type of games get people fired. The lack of execution, discipline, special teams coverage, and winning games point to both Coach McCarthy and GM Thompson. In the red zone, they were only 3 for 5.  In 3^rd down efficiency, they were 7 for 16.  In 4^th down efficiency, they were 0 for 1.

Overall Game—D. The team looked too tight with the prime time stage looking too big for them. At 4-3, the Packers are just an above average good team dominating poor teams, playing good against equal teams, and looking awful against elite teams.

CTV Good, Bad, & Ugly: Good–Pickett, Barnett & Havner; Bad–Barbre, Grant & Slocum; Ugly–McCarthy.

Rodgers vs Favre series: week 8. “Silver Fox” Vikings 7-1.  Packers 4-3.

Commentary: The game was predictable making it hard to watch. The Packers failed another tough home test against the Vikings. Someday, after Favre finally does retire, he will return to Lambeau to a hero’s welcome to retire No. 4. Meanwhile, as the vets know, this Packers team lacks consistent playmakers, has inexperienced players in key positions, and has talent gaps raising management issues.  As bloggers surmised, GM Thompson and Coach McCarthy had ceded 2009 to be a transition year.

Preview: Easy test against win-less Tampa Bay Buccaneers.