In this edition of The Post Pattern, we'll take a look at Green Bay's first two contests. In today's NFL, there are several "experts" who've created a social media career diagnosing players injuries.  This week, we have our own Doctor of Athletic Training, Sadie Buboltz-Dubs, contributing her insights on the biggest news coming out of Week 1 - Jordan Love's knee injury.  Following that, Coach Vanderhoof continues his Coaches Corner commentary to provide us with his insights on the team's performance to date.

The Vault this week includes the usual updates...news on the 1980 picking competition, tailgating news, and some random tom-foolery. One thing it DIDN'T mention (perhaps somewhat surprisingly), was any commentary on a rather famous event that happened in Week 1. We'll pick up the slack in a special "On this Date" feature covering a wild ending to a Packers / Bears contest.

Finally, we close things out with a Buboltz Sports Kids Roundup guaranteed to leave our readers asking for more!

"News Flash Bulletin"

The Post Pattern is very excited to pass along our congratulations to Bryce and Emily Buboltz as they announced the arrival of Beckham Henry Buboltz on September 16th. Tipping the scales at 9 lbs 12 ounces (which we estimate is about 27% cheeks), Beckham joins brother Theo in a very happy household.

(Check out The Vault this week for a bit of a coincidence on this topic)

Dubs and Horn Lead the Way

After two weeks of competition, Jason Dubs and young Willis Horn are our co-leaders in our group of pickers.  Willis joined Noah Vanderhoof in leading all pickers in Week 1 with a 14-2 mark. Jason's Week 2 best 12-4 record vaulted him into a tie heading into the third week of the season.

With two weeks in the books, our current division leaders are Jason Dubs (Packer Nation), Willis Horn (juniors), and Nick Simmons (Impeccables). In our Hall of Famers group, it's probably fitting that Rick, Shelley, Kim, and Doug are all tied at this point.

Astute observers will notice this week that we have rolled out a divisional realignment this season. Correcting an obvious wrong, our Impeccables division is now made up of all of Al and Helen's grandchildren. Our other divisional change includes our new picker this year. Clearly knocking off some rust, our Mystery Picker is looking up at the rest of our Packer Nation division.

Pack Avoids Disaster in Brazil

Amid much fanfare (and a touch of controversy), Green Bay kicked off the season in South America vs the Eagles. While there was plenty of chatter about the location, once the game kicked off most of the attention seemed to be on the quality of the field.  Whether this impacted a certain play or not may be debated, all thoughts turned to Jordan Love's left knee. Fresh off of signing a $220M extension, Love's knee buckled in the closing seconds of the game after a questionable tackle from Eagles DT Jalen Carter. While losing the game, it appears Green Bay may have dodged a long term scare. We now turn to Sadie Buboltz-Dubs for her insight

** Note ** This report was filed on the Tuesday prior to the Colts game. Unfortunately our editor wasn't able to publish until now.  We'll try harder to get this news to our readers more quickly next time!

Injury Report

By Dr. Sadie Buboltz-Dubs

The dreaded knee injuries. Knees are notorious for getting injured. Fortunately, JLove seemed to escape a more serious knee injury, though MCL (medial collateral ligament) sprains are nothing to sneeze at. It is reported that Love has a sustained Grade 1 or Grade 2 MCL sprain. A Grade 3 is a full tear and is diagnosed with a clinical test called a Valgus Stress test. The purpose of the test is to examine the tightness of the ligament.

The injury is graded based on the sensation the clinician feels during the test called an end feel. End feel is a sensation of a joint stopping excessive motion and the clinician is no longer able to move the joint in that direction (video of Valgus Stress Test). The test is always compared to the other side so the clinician can feel a normal, healthy side and compare it to the end feel of the injured side. The diagnosis is later confirmed via MRI.

In a Grade 1, the end feel is typically normally present, but the patient reports pain with the movement. In a Grade 2, the end feel is present, but is termed as having more “laxity” (moves further) when compared to the other side. In a Grade 3, the end feel is absent when compared to the other side and the joint “opens” up.

Grade 1 MCL sprains usually take 2-3 weeks for full recovery. Grade 2 sprains are usually 3-5 weeks for recovery and Grade 3, without meniscus involvement, usually take 4-8 weeks for full recovery. Surgery is not usually a treatment recommendation because the MCL can heal well on its own due to the abundance of blood flow. A typical treatment will begin with pain management and swelling control with treatments such as compression, electrical stimulation, thermal ultrasound, and massage. Swelling is initially a good thing so for the first 24-48 hours we do not want to stop it, but swelling is not welcome after 48 hours. After that the standard procedure is to regain normal range of motion and stability training with strengthening glutes, hamstrings, calf, and quad (* editors note - our readers may have noticed videos of Love practicing this week seem to shown him doing drills focusing on these muscles).

Now the Packers medical staff have all methods of treatment at their fingertips, I am sure they were pulling all the stops to try to make it heal faster. From what I understand, JLove has not yet been ruled out for the game on Sunday. However, the standard operation of how the process works is the athletic training team meets with Gutey and LaFleur on Monday morning and give their recommendation on who is able to play and who is not able to play. I am sure that can change throughout the week on special cases, but rarely do true “game time decisions” actually occur. The coaches start game planning, and they need to know who is available to them immediately to begin the game planning.

I do not believe the medical staff will rush Jordan Love back to play quickly. Dr. McKenzie has been known to tend to be more conservative and though his replacement is now on staff, he has not relinquished control yet. I doubt Love will play this week, though they may not rule him out until the day before to keep the Colts guessing.

Doth My Eyes Deceive Me?

As an offensive-minded coach, watching Matt LaFluer’s game plan against the Indianapolis Colts was truly enjoyable. The use of motion and misdirection was phenomenal. Play after play, the formation and motions used in the run game consistently set up players with good angles on the defenders they were assigned to block. I pointed out Tucker Kraft’s blocking ability last season, but Sunday against the Colts may have been his best game yet.

I am not, however, going to write about the offense today. In our third season since the Post Pattern’s resurrection, it is finally time for me to write about the Packers' defense.

While it has only been two weeks, the early returns look promising. Last season, GB secured seven INTs all season. They already have five at the start of this very young season. According to Pro Football Focus, Sunday was Anthony Richardson’s worst game as a starting quarterback. Granted, it was only his sixth start at QB, but it is a good sign. Even more promising, Week 1 was Jalen Hurts 64th start at QB and it was his worst PFF rating also. Their third-down defense ranks 6th (26%) in the league after two games. Last season they were ranked 28th (43.75%). In those two games, QBs have a 54.4% completion percentage, which ranks 3rd best among league defenses.

Here are three videos highlighting ways the Packers' defense looks slightly different this year.

In recent years, Packer fans have set very low expectations for safety play in Green Bay. We hoped, at best, to see a mediocre performance, and if we got a little greedy, competent play from our duo of safeties. So far this season, it certainly seems like we can significantly raise our expectations. The first video clip highlights Javon Bullard lined up in the slot against Colts TE #83. Bullard jams the TE, not allowing him a free release. This allows Bullard to stick with him and is right on his hip when the TE breaks outside on his route. His tight coverage forces the need for a perfect throw, which Richardson is unable to provide. Just as importantly, the clip also shows the rest of the secondary blanketing the other receivers. While the pass rush has been a slight disappointment so far this season, here they collapse the pocket, not allowing the athletic Richardson to escape outside. Instead, he has to step up where Walker is there shadowing him, forcing a tight window throw that he can’t make.

Another facet of past GB defenses that caused fans consternation was the inability to ‘set the edge’. Too often we saw RBs and QBs get to the outside of the defense and up the sidelines. Against the Colts, journeyman LB Eric Wilson made two of the biggest plays of the game; one being a key interception due to excellent coverage over the middle of the field. The other came with GB clinging to a 13-3 lead. At the start of the 4th quarter, Indianapolis faced a 3rd and 1 on the Packer 28-yard line. Indy called an option to the wide side of the field, the first time they showed that look.

The goal of the play is to make Wilson be wrong, no matter what he does. Our offense at Lakeside thrives on this concept. When run correctly, the defender can’t be right. On the snap, the left tackle is able to get to Quay Walker, preventing him from scraping over the top. The backside TE knocks down McDuffie, (although you could argue it was a block in the back). 

As a result, Wilson is the only one left to make the play short of the first down marker. Wilson does a good job of forcing Richardson to make the pitch, while staying ‘near footed’. This means he keeps his shoulders square, which allows him to react to the pitch. Alexander does his job maintaining outside leverage, but if Wilson is not there, the RB has room to get the first. With Alexander’s help, the RB is forced to cut back and while Wilson does miss the tackle, by stringing out the play, Xavier McKinney has time to fill the alley and make the tackle. The Colts missed a 50 yard FG on 4th down and GB used the positive field position to get a FG of their own, extending their lead to 16-3.

The final play in our analysis is another important third-down stop. This one came with Indianapolis in the Red Zone partway through the 3rd quarter. The Colts lined up in a Trips formation, with three receivers on the left of the formation. GB answers with a unique coverage look that seems to confuse the young QB. Being able to run this coverage rotation is a combination of both a reliable safety and a new defensive coordinator. Indy sends five WRs on a route, but only two of them are deep enough for a first down when Richardson sets to throw. The Packers’ defense has those two bracketed with five defenders. Lukas Van Ness and Devonte Wyatt run a pass rush stunt up front. LVN crashes inside, running through the hip of the left guard, Nelson. This frees up Wyatt to pursue Richardson, who helps Green Bay a little by leaving the pocket a shade early. The deceptively mobile Wyatt quickly closes the gap, forcing Richardson to take the safe throw and Keisean Nixon makes the tackle forcing 4th down and the field goal attempt.

Letters to the Editor

Our new servers must have overloaded and crashed.  That is the only explanation why we didn't receive any letters last week.