September 8th is the birthday of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Born in 1828 in Brewer Maine, Chamberlain is most famous for leading the 20th Maine into battle during the Civil War. His claim to fame was the defense of Little Round Top on the second day of the battle of Gettysburg which arguably secured the Union victory. Over the course of the war he was wounded 5 times in battle and had 6 horses shot out from under him. With this incredible battle resume in tote, Chamberlain was promoted to Brigadier General by war’s end. At Appomattox Chamberlain ordered his men to salute the Confederate soldiers as thy marched past in surrender. This decision, though vilified by some in the North did much to begin the healing process between North and South. He turns 177 today.
And now back to sports.
In case you haven’t heard, Sunday is the official opening of the NFL season for most teams. New England plays Oakland tonight, which gives me the opportunity to remind Anonymous that the Patriots are on tonight, so don’t miss it. There. My civic duty is done. With that completed let’s get to Samichlaus’s Packer Keys to the Game.
Wait, that sounds kind of hackneyed.
Samichlaus’s Shiznit on the Pizzles? Well at least it’s fresh.
The Shiznit: The Packers open at Detroit on Sunday at 4:15 Eastern time. Detroit, with their high powered offense is favored by three.
Key-izzles to victory for the Pizzles
Key-izzle 1: Stop the run. Detroit has an amazingly talented running back in Kevin Jones. He’s fast and big and has amazing cutback ability. This is going to be a problem for the Packers defense, which has shown little ability to manage cut backs during the preseason. The return of Grady Jackson to the line will help, but the onus of stopping the run will fall on the linebackers. Oh, did I mention that our top outside linebacker N’ial Diggs is hurt? Stopping the run puts the ball in the hands of weak armed Joey Harrington, but with Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Rookie sensation Mike Williams at wide receiver I’m not so sure this is a good idea either.
Key-izzle 2: Special teams must play perfect. Detroit has the hands down best kick/punt returner in the game in Eddie Drummond. Mark my words, he WILL return at least one kickoff or punt return for a TD. The Packers special teams have be short bus special in the preseason. Let’s hope that Drummond only scores once. Kids, this one could get ugly.
Key-izzle 3: Turnovers. Ahman Green has been averaging a fumble per preseason game. Mind you, that’s been in limited action. Davenport’s been a bit better. Favre has been making good decisions, but if the Pack falls behind watch out. The team who commits the fewest turnovers wins, and this doesn’t look good for the Packers.
Key-izzle 4: Reverse the curse. Detroit plays indoors, and every one knows Favre’s Achilles heel has been playing in domes, right? For what it’s worth Favre has gone 4 -3 in his last 7 dome games posting a 99.8 QB rating. Not bad. His last game in Detroit: 25-38-257. 2 TD’s 0 Ints. Rating 102.6 OK, let’s say keep the curse reversed.
Key-izzle 5: Play “Fundamental Defense”. Last season saw week in and week out huge plays against a defense that (a) didn’t know what it was supposed to do (b) didn’t have any confidence in its game plan and (c) didn’t know how to tackle. This is basics, kids. Jim Bates promised that at bare minimum these fundamentals would be instilled. I’ve seen glimpses of it during the preseason, but I’ve yet to see it put together for any stretch of time. Well the time has come.
Hip-hop bling bling rappin’ wrap up from the hizzle in R-town
I’ve been predicting the Packers to win this game fairly easily, but now I’m not so sure. The offense will carry them because they have to.
Pizzles 34 Motown 28
Didn't get the full Week 1 preview up, but I'll take the Pats tonight, minus whatever they're minus!
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