7:30 – TV – check (no HD; don’t have the HD set where I have the computer, I don’t have a laptop/wireless router, and even if I did, ESPNHD is an extra expense and at least last time, they didn’t send the HD feed down the line to WISN). Beer – check. Full belly from a delayed Thanksgiving dinner – check. More beer – check. ESPN really playing up the possibility of Favre retiring, had William Henderson on the pregame montage.
7:38 – Mikey, Mikey, Mikey, they don’t wear blaze orange in a duck blind. The Lions start off with good field position (their 32), but they have a false start penalty to start things off. A good stuff on 1st down and good coverage by Ahmad Carroll (the apocalypse is nigh) is wasted on piss-poor 3rd-and-14, then Kevin Jones does his not-so-great Barry Sanders impersionation to get them inside the Packers 10. Two more Jones runs puts them within a quarterback sneak of the end zone as Jones gets his arm bent back.
7:46 – Somewhere down there was Grady Jackson as the Lions are forced to send in Jason Hanson to kick an off-camber 3-point extra point. Dead-nuts-center (no BJ Sander trying to hold here). 3-0 Bad Guys.
7:50 – Carroll is no better at returning kicks than Andrae Thurman was. They start 3 yards further out than Detroit despite getting a kick 7 yards shorter than Longwell’s effort. 2-and-out as Favre fumbles (Theisman, everybody and their brother knows that the plastic on Favre’s right hand didn’t help any). Meanwhile, Detroit methotically grinds out another 1st and goal and the Packers burn a timeout. Uncle Paulie makes the first smart observation of the day – don’t run inside on Grady Jackson as he takes up all the room. Now the Lions get ESPN more time to run commercials. Shoop must be running the Lions offense as on 3rd and goal, they try to run up the middle. Now 6-0 bad guys.
8:01 – Another short kick, another short return. Fergie must have either Stick-Um on his jersey or a permanent impression in his chest as Favre goes over 3000 yards for the 14th straight season (a new NFL record). Audrae actually caught a pass, and they’re marching with a heavy dose of Sammy the Bull (who now has twice as many starts in the NFL than he did at Liberty). Piss-poor pass into triple-coverage toward Fergie in the end zone, fortunately it’s not picked. After a typical Sherman/Rossley throw well short of the first on 3rd down, it’s a Longwell field goal to put the Pack on the board. 6-3 Lions.
8:10 – Decent distance on the ensuing kickoff, but the only thing that saved the touchdown was McQuarters’ mumblin’ bumblin’ stumblin’ to give the Lions their second red-zone start in 3 possessions. There’s the Ahmad Carroll I know; defensive holding moves the Lions 5 yards closer (and a respectable QB would have completed that for a 1st-and-goal). Juggling catch by Williams as he pushed off Al Harris for an apparent TD (instead of a yellow flag for offensive pass interference, you have a red challenge flag). Time to implement Operation No Opposing Fans; Williams does a Lambeau Leap. I remember a Oilers/Steelers game in the late ’70s where the Oilers’ receiver juggled the ball all the way through the end zone. Touchdown stands. 13-3 bad guys. Hope I have enough liquor, I may be hitting the heavy stuff early.
8:22 – Yet another sub-20-yard kickoff return. It’s a good thing that Jason Hanson can’t boot the ball more than 55 yards. A 4-yard gain by Gado ends quarter 1 and this portion of the live blog. Will I be wasted by halftime? Stay tuned.
