Published by the Impeccables since 1975 / Rebooted in 2022

Packers & Pickers back for more!

Last week while taking Jack to practice, I was a bit surprised by the sight in front of me at Lakeside Lutheran High School. A jam packed parking lot on an early August morning was not on my bingo card for the day.  Volleyball, soccer, football, cross country athletes and cheer leaders filled the campus.  The sound of coaches' whistles, the crack of shoulder pads, and the shouts and laughs from teenagers in competition filled the area.  All those signs were clear messages that indeed we are on the eve of another fall sports season.

While the athletes have been gearing up all summer for a return to their favorite sport, The Post Pattern has also been preparing to make Year 2 of our reboot better than ever. From working out tiebreaker scenarios to preparing content and lining up guest writers (and pickers), we've been eagerly awaiting the return of the season. In this year's edition, we hope to bring you more of the content everyone loved last year (including everyone's highlight, the Buboltz Sports Roundup) while hopefully adding a few new wrinkles.

In terms of content, it would be borderline illegal for a Packers-based news outlet to NOT include a Jordan Love article. With Aaron Rodgers taking the first Jet out of town (anyone watch Hard Knocks?) we asked our own resident expert, Coach Vanderhoof, to provide his take on what we can expect from Love as a starter. In the Buboltz Sports Roundup, we provide a recap of the Spring/Summer season...with some HUGE accomplishments to celebrate!. In a new feature for the '23 season we will be introducing a "Letters to the Editor" section. This will be a chance to share what's on the mind of our loyal readership.

For the 2023 edition of "The Vault", we will travel back to the 1979 season of the original Post Pattern. Over the course of that season Doug, along with help from the Impeccables, created nine editions. The editor clearly thought the '78 version was too tame, so he pulled in the big guns for for the '79 campaign. With featured articles ranging from criticism of (then head coach) Bart Starr, to fan perspectives on the state of cheerleading in the NFL, each edition included hard hitting commentary sure to be found nowhere else.

Finally, addressing the reason we're all here...the picking!  Everyone who joined us last year is already automatically enrolled in our picking platform (CBS Sports app).  If there is anyone who didn't pick last year (Mike Horn and John Wilma we're looking at you) reach out to the editor for instructions. For the most part, last year went about as smooth as a Bart Starr pass to Max McGee so we've decided to stay with the same platform. The biggest issue seemed to be some of our pickers forgot games are played on Thursday nights. Our advice? Set an alarm on your phone, put sticky notes all over your house, or text/email the editor (he's been known to be a little flexible on timing if you reach out). We should have another exciting picking season ahead of us.  Can Casey or Jack repeat as champion? Who will take the title in the vaunted Hall of Fame division?  Will Jaclyn turn her picks in on time?  All riveting questions to be sure.

So with that out the way, buckle up and get yourselves ready for what promises to be an exciting season!

Do You Believe in (Jordan) Love?

The biggest question people are asking about the  Green Bay Packers this season is, ‘Do you believe in (Jordan) Love?’ And everyone has an opinion. Some ‘experts’ predict he will be somewhere near the bottom of the QB rankings at season’s end. PFF (Pro Football Focus) list him 26th in their preseason rankings, and ESPN, the former gold standard of NFL coverage, puts him 27th in their preseason fantasy football list. Rival fans from the rest of the NFC North are desperately hoping that ‘Love Stinks’ and they will finally get a break after 30 years of dominance from the Packers. And they are not shy about sharing that fact on social media. On the other hand, the most optimistic, including yours truly, expect Love to complete the trifecta of back-to-back-to-back hall of fame quarterbacks in Green Bay.

The truth, as it always does, will likely land somewhere in the middle. Let’s take a look at the small sample of evidence we have to try and predict if the Packers faithful will be feeling the ‘Love’ this season.

There are certainly reasons for concern about the upcoming Packers’ season. For one, change. No one likes it. Many people fear it. Since 1992, only four quarterbacks not named Brett or Aaron have started a game for the Packers. (It is actually five total. There have been two Bretts during that time). For those curious, the Bears have had 36 and Lions have had 24. And as much as we like to make fun of the Bears, the Browns have an astounding 41 different starting QBs during that time, even with a three year span with no team at all.

Another cause for concern is the lack of opportunity Love has had. In his first meaningful action against the Chiefs in 2021, Love was 19-34 for 190 yards with one touchdown and one interception and much of it was ugly. In particular, Love did not look comfortable in the pocket and struggled against persistent blitzing from the Chiefs. That being said, you can lay the blame of that loss at the feet of the special teams as much as Love, something Packer fans are very familiar with. The clip below shows a few of Love’s throws against the Chiefs. You can see he throws off his back foot in the face of pressure.

Packers fail to adequately support Jordan Love vs. Chiefs as QB loses first career start.mp4

Love’s career stats are what many would say of an average QB, with a 60% completion percentage, three touchdowns, three interceptions, and a QB rating of 79.7. His preseason work has also been somewhat inconsistent, with four touchdowns, five interceptions, and and only a 59.6% completion percentage. Stats in the preseason are typically misleading, however. Some will argue defenses are typically backups and they play very vanilla schemes. On the other side of the coin, offenses aren’t doing anything complex and backup QBs are playing behind shaky o-lines and throwing to practice squad and journeymen WRs and TEs. This is certainly true in Green Bay. In fact, Love had eight throws dropped during the the 2022 preseason, the 2nd highest rate of any QB (That is a 6% different in completion percentage).

So, how do we tell if he is any good? We have to look at the tape. First, let’s look at his accuracy. This clip shows four throws against the Saints during preseason in 2022. All four throws hit the intended target on the hands, but they are not able to hang on to them. On each throw, Love puts the ball where only his WR can catch it. The second one, into the end zone, is extremely impressive. Love rolls away from the pressure, plants and throws across his body and puts the ball in the perfect spot. It may give some fans visions of a Rodgers to Nelson connection. That is a next level NFL throw, or as Packer Report writer Eli Berkovits called it, “stupid good.”

Love Preseason vs Saints.mp4.

Next, let’s see if he is comfortable in the pocket. Against Kansas City, he looked jittery, especially against the blitz, which KC did a lot of. We once again look at the preseason game against the Saints and see that Love was decisive and got the ball out quickly once he made a decision. He made his way through his reads quickly and was not afraid to take a hit or to escape the pocket if necessary, which he does in the first play of the clip below. While Love is not a running QB, he has the speed and athleticism to make plays with his legs, either to buy time to throw, or to tuck it and run when necessary. The second play shows Love’s willingness to sit in the pocket and he looks much more comfortable than he did against K.C. Perhaps most importantly, not a single throw is off his back foot like in Kansas City.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XPtzkzUK32MbaukwaewbU2I50xAnZBvT/view?usp=sharing

This past season against the Eagles, who led the league in sacks, Love looked even more comfortable. Watson deserves most of the credit for the TD in the clip below, but Love shows his comfort level with the offense by getting the ball out in rhythm on the plays in this video. We didn’t see that as much in 2021. The final play of the clip is a great back shoulder throw that we have all grown accustomed to, unfortunately, Jones wasn’t able to make the catch.

Every Jordan Love Pass Against The Eagles _ Packers Highlights - YouTube.mp4

While it is good to see the development, it is still a small sample size. Will this carryover into the 2023-24 season now that Love has become the starter? If early reports from training camp are any indication, all the tools are there. Let’s see a few thoughts from Andy Herman, writer for the Packer Report who has been at practice.

Of course, just like preseason, we need to be careful in reading too much into an early training camp practice. Yet, If Packer fans are looking for reasons to be optimistic about Jordan Love this season, the signs are there. If he can put it all together while running the full Matt Lafleur offense, which we may truly see for the first time, we might discover that Love is in fact, all we need. 

Coach Vanderhoof

Heard at Training Camp

• Our roster includes Love, Romeo, and Valentine. It's no wonder Goodell referred to GB as "the heart of football".

• Speaking of Valentine early signs point to Carrington Valentine being a great find for Gutey. Jaire/Stokes/Douglas/Valentine will cause WR's problems.

• Kurt Benkert teased Packers fans this week after speculating the reason Rodgers gave up $35M was to clear space for his buddy David Bahktiari. What do you think, should GB get as much as they can for Bahk, or do they hang on one more year? (due to his $40M cap hit in '24 if it seems likely '23 will be his last with GB).

• Green Bay's young WR corp will get a lot of attention this year.  Early signs from camp seem to give Packers fans reason for optimism.

• It's very early in preseason so there's no reason to be worried about our rookie kicker...right?

• What does the "real" Matt LaFleur offense look like?

• Don't shoot the messenger here...but Aaron Rodgers on Hard Knocks is fun to watch (I reflexively ducked after I typed that).

Letter to the Editor

It probably would have been a good idea for us to let everyone know we were going to host this section before running the first edition.  Tune in (hopefully) next time to hear thoughts from the crowd.  As you'll see in the upcoming editions of the Vault, readers from the late 70's were on top of their game!

Help Wanted (Still)

Just like in this economy, good help is hard to find! The Post Pattern is looking help in a variety of areas. We are looking for guest contributors in the areas of general interest, Packers content, Buboltz history, and Buboltz kids sports contributions.  Additionally, as our staff is a bit technically limited, we would welcome any help from our younger readers who can help "jazz up" our publication to make something Cousin Eddy would call "Real nice".

All contributors will be paid with a sense of accomplishment in a job well done.

Maui Strong