Green & Gold Express 1002

WOLF RIVER MEDIA WEEK 4 — PACKERS vs. 49ERS

ALSO INSIDE: • Power Rankings • Seymour Column • Beat the Expert • Schedule • Standings

OCTOBER 2, 2015

RODGERS THE BEST

EVER?QB draws comparisons

to Michael JordanSEE PAGE 2

PHOTO BY JIM LEUENBERGER

WOLF RIVER MEDIA2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015 GREEN & GOLD EXPRESS

Game VitalsGREEN BAY PACKERS (3-0) VS. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (1-2)WHEN: 3:25 p.m. SundayWHERE: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CaliforniaTV: FoxRADIO: 620 WTMJ, 92.3 WJMQ-FM, 101.1 WIXX-FM

Locker Room“I think we’re better equipped now for it,

having seen it so many weeks prior, whereas

in the past, that wasn’t necessarily the case.”

B.J. RAJI, on facing dual-threat quarterback

Colin Kaepernick

•••The Series

All-time, regular season: 30-27-1All-time postseason: 4-3All-time, at San Francisco: 11-18-1Streaks: The 49ers have won four straight games.Last meeting, regular season: Jan. 6, 2014; 49ers won, 23-20, Lambeau Field

•••

•••

ScheduleDate Opponent Time TVSept. 13 at Chicago Win 31-23Sept. 20 Seattle Win 27-17Sept. 28 Kansas City Win 38-28Oct. 4 at San Francisco 3:25 p.m. FoxOct. 11 St. Louis 12 p.m. CBSOct. 18 San Diego 3:25 p.m. CBSOct. 25 BYENov. 1 at Denver 7:30 p.m. NBCNov. 8 at Carolina 12 p.m. FoxNov. 15 Detroit 12 p.m. FoxNov. 22 at Minnesota 12 p.m. FoxNov. 26 Chicago 7:30 p.m. NBCDec. 3 at Detroit 7:25 p.m. CBS/NFLDec. 13 Dallas 3:25 p.m. FoxDec. 20 at Oakland 3:05 p.m. FoxDec. 27 at Arizona 3:25 p.m. FoxJan. 3 Minnesota 12 p.m. Fox

Rodgers quickly becoming JordanesqueQB says he’s not worthy of comparisonBy Paul ImigFor Green & Gold Express

Michael Jordan domi-nated the NBA for more than a decade. A 10-time scoring leader who won six championships and was the league’s Most Valu-able Player five times, Jor-dan’s dominance can’t be understated.

Aaron Rodgers doesn’t have the longevity yet to compete with Jordan’s list of accomplishments. After all, Rodgers is just 31 years old and strives to play an-other eight seasons beyond 2015. But the Green Bay Packers believe their quar-terback is playing as every bit as dominant on the foot-ball field as Jordan did on the basketball court.

“It’s like watching Mi-chael Jordan in his prime,” wide receiver James Jones said. “Every time you go out there, the dude does some-thing special. I’ve been say-ing these first three weeks: we’re all witnessing some-thing special. We may not realize it until he’s done and retired, how great he was. But he’s a special QB.”

Rodgers already has two NFL MVPs to his name, as well as one Super Bowl ring. Not that two different sports can be flawlessly compared, but that leaves Rodgers three MVPs and five championships shy of Jordan.

Rodgers actually won a ring at a younger age (27) than Jordan won his first

NBA title (28). And Rodgers is only in his eighth season as a starter. Jordan won his second championship in his eighth season, so Rodg-ers could match him there if the Packers win Super Bowl 50.

That’s the raw data. The comparison is mostly appropriate, though, due to the similarities in domi-nance in their respective sports.

Rodgers has completed 73.6 percent of his passes this season, throwing 10 touchdowns and zero in-

terceptions. No other NFL quarterback is even close to matching Rodgers’ league-best 135.4 passer rating.

There are other remark-able numbers that Rodgers can boast, as well. It’s been nearly three years since he has thrown an interception at Lambeau Field. In that time, Rodgers has attempt-ed 580 passes. Also, Rodg-ers has already surpassed Brett Favre for the most games of five-plus touch-down passes.

Not surprisingly, Rod-gers wasn’t comfortable

with the comparisons be-ing made between he and Jordan.

“I’m not worthy of that comparison,” Rodgers said. “I enjoyed watching Mi-chael. I was a big fan as a kid. I remember going and seeing him at Arco back at the end of ‘97. I loved the championship runs, as the (Sacramento) Kings didn’t really become my favorite team until Vlade (Divac) got there and they started making some runs in the playoffs.

“It’s a nice comparison.

I’m just trying to be a guy they can count on every week. I know my play is very important to this team, but it takes all the guys that dress playing well for us to win.”

With the exception of one unsuccessful snap for Julius Peppers last season, Green Bay’s defensive play-ers don’t get to share the field with Rodgers. Their vantage point on the side-line allows them to see Rod-gers make defenses that


Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been unstoppable this season, drawing comparisons to the legendary Michael Jordan.

ON THE COVERPackers QB Aaron Rodgers looks for an open receiver during Monday night’s 38-28 victory over the Chiefs. He threw for five touchdowns and has not thrown an interception on the season.

SEE PACKERS, PAGE 3

NFL Power Rankings

1. New England Patri-ots (Record: 3-0; Previous Rank: 1)

The defending Super Bowl champions continue to dominate. The Patriots’ lat-est outing involved scoring 51 points, as Tom Brady’s mission to destroy all de-fenses rolls on.

2. Green Bay Pack-ers (Record: 3-0; Previous Rank: 2)

Aaron Rodgers is making it look too easy. If he keeps playing at this level, it’s dif-ficult to see the Packers los-ing — no matter how many more injuries the team suf-fers at other positions.

3. Arizona Cardinals (Record: 3-0; Previous Rank: 3)

Arizona has outscored its three opponents by 77 points. That is by far the big-gest point differential in the NFL.

4. Denver Broncos (Re-cord: 3-0; Previous Rank: 4)

The Broncos have yet to look great in any of their three wins, and the com-bined record of their first three opponents is 1-8. Between Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, Denver has boasted the best pass-rush (and arguably, the best overall defense) in the league so far.

5. Seattle Seahawks (Record: 1-2; Previous Rank: 5)

The Seahawks have Kam Chancellor back, which in-stantly made their defense a lot better. And now Jimmy Graham is getting involved on offense. However, Seat-tle’s Week 5 and 6 opponents (Bengals and Panthers) are a combined 6-0.

6. Atlanta Falcons (Re-cord: 3-0; Previous Rank: 6)

Julio Jones can’t be stopped, and Matt Ryan has re-emerged into the

conversation as a top-six NFL quarterback. At-lanta’s defense might be somewhat suspect all sea-son, though.

7. Cincinnati Bengals (Record: 3-0; Previous Rank: 8)

The Bengals won again, and that’s ultimately what’s important. But their last two victories came over teams with a combined 1-5 record, and Cincinnati only won those games by a total of nine points.

8. Buffalo Bills (Record: 2-1; Previous Rank: 12)

Aside from a bad per-formance against a terrific Patriots team, Buffalo has been really good. The Bills made the Dolphins look like a JV opponent in Week 3 with a 41-14 win.

9. Minnesota Vikings (Record: 2-1; Previous Rank: 16)

The Vikings looked ter-rible during Week 1. Since then, Adrian Peterson has racked up 260 rushing yards and Minnesota’s defense has been great.

10. Carolina Panthers (Record: 3-0; Previous Rank: 13)

They haven’t been im-pressive wins for the Pan-thers, but a relatively easy schedule and a good de-fense has gotten Carolina off to a fast start.

11. Pittsburgh Steel-ers (Record: 2-1; Previous Rank: 7)

Ben Roethlisberger’s knee injury will keep him out for the next month. In the meantime, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown will have to play very well to keep the pressure off of Michael Vick.

12. Dallas Cowboys (Re-cord: 2-1; Previous Rank: 15)

The Cowboys let a huge halftime lead slip away at home against Atlanta. Dal-las is a well-rounded team, but winning without Tony

Romo and Dez Bryant won’t be easy.

13. New York Giants (Record: 1-2; Previous Rank: 18)

The Giants were close in both of their losses to open the season. Now they got in the win column with a good performance over Washington.

14. Kansas City Chiefs (Record: 1-2; Previous Rank: 9)

Kansas City’s schedule to begin the regular season was difficult, playing Den-ver and Green Bay. The Chiefs will eventually have to win those type of games if they’re going to make the playoffs, but they have the talent to do so.

15. St. Louis Rams (Re-cord: 1-2; Previous Rank: 10)

The Rams have scored the fifth-fewest points in the NFL. If they ever figure it out offensively, St. Louis’ strong defense can carry it the rest of the way.

16. Oakland Raiders (Record: 2-1; Previous Rank: 24)

Oakland is finding ways to win, and that’s a very positive step for a franchise that has struggled mightily in recent years.

17. Philadelphia Ea-gles (Record: 1-2; Previous Rank: 27)

The Eagles have too much talent to remain near the bottom for long. A road win over the previously un-defeated Jets was a good start.

18. New York Jets (Re-cord: 2-1; Previous Rank: 11)

On the flip side of what happened with Philadel-phia, the Jets fell back to Earth a bit by losing at home to the previously win-less Eagles.

19. San Diego Char-gers (Record: 1-2; Previous Rank: 14)

The Chargers were av-erage through two games,

then got beaten up by Min-nesota. San Diego is still searching for answers and an identity, but there is tal-ent on that roster.

20. Indianapolis Colts (Record: 1-2; Previous Rank: 21)

Hey, at least the Colts got their first win. Some-thing seems off about An-drew Luck this season, but a quarterback that talented eventually will figure it out.

21. Washington Red-skins (Record: 1-2; Previous Rank: 19)

Washington hasn’t been exciting, but they’re staying close in games. Being com-petitive is half the battle for a team with relatively low expectations.

22. Tennessee Titans (Record: 1-2; Previous Rank: 22)

Marcus Mariota has done quite well for a rookie quarterback. Mariota bene-fits from having a very good defense keeping opponents from scoring too many points.

23. Jacksonville Jag-uars (Record: 1-2; Previous Rank: 20)

A team like the Jaguars shouldn’t expect to go into New England and win, but a 34-point loss doesn’t exactly speak well for Jacksonville’s outlook.

24. Miami Dolphins (Re-cord: 1-2; Previous Rank: 17)

There’s plenty of talent for Joe Philbin to work with in Miami. So far, however, it has yet to translate to con-sistent on-field production.

25. Baltimore Ravens (Record: 0-3; Previous Rank: 29)

Baltimore has not been able to find a way to win. But each of their losses has been by no more than six points.

26. Detroit Lions (Re-cord: 0-3; Previous Rank: 23)

The Lions’ offense has been dreadful. It certainly

hasn’t helped Detroit that Matthew Stafford is playing some of the worst football of his career.

27. Houston Texans (Re-cord: 1-2; Previous Rank: 31)

It’s too bad that J.J. Watt’s prime years are be-ing wasted on a team that has an offense this bad.

28. Tampa Bay Bucca-neers (Record: 1-2; Previ-ous Rank: 28)

Tampa Bay hasn’t done much well yet this season. The Buccaneers scored just nine points against the pre-viously winless Texans in Week 3.

29. New Orleans Saints (Record: 0-3; Previous Rank: 30)

The Saints had a decent performance Week 3 with-out Drew Brees. New Or-leans doesn’t have the ros-ter to contend this season, though.

30. Cleveland Browns (Record: 1-2; Previous Rank: 26)

The Browns went back to Josh McCown after Johnny Manziel got them a win. And while McCown played OK against Oakland in Week 3, the countdown is on for when Cleveland turns back to Manziel.

31. San Francisco 49ers (Record: 1-2; Previous Rank: 25)

Since winning Week 1, the 49ers have been awful. Their latest embarrass-ment was a 40-point loss to division-rival Arizona. Colin Kaepernick is really struggling.

32. Chicago Bears (Re-cord: 0-3; Previous Rank: 32)

The Bears lost again, and then they traded Jared Allen and Jonathan Bostic. It’s as close to “calling it a season” as an NFL team can possibly do in Septem-ber. It also doesn’t help that Jay Cutler and Alshon Jeffery are still trying to re-cover from injuries.

By Paul ImigFor Green & Gold Express

WOLF RIVER MEDIA 3FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015GREEN & GOLD EXPRESS

plays (either from offside or 12-men-on-the-field penal-ties) in Weeks 2 and 3. It’s very early in the season, but Rodgers has two touchdown passes during free plays. The rest of the NFL quarterbacks combined have zero.

While Green Bay’s defen-sive players are thankful they don’t ever have to face Rod-gers in non-practice situa-tions, they do feel a bit spoiled at times by what they get to watch unfold on a weekly basis.

“It’s all I’ve been accus-tomed to here,” linebacker Clay Matthews said. “It’s not that I take it for granted, we just expect it. You watch some of these other passes or throws from quarter-backs around the league, and how can they not hit that throw? How can they not do that? People can take it for granted. But it’s just come to what we expect; stellar play, and that’s what he’s shown.

“He’s well on his way to another fantastic year, and who knows what that means in the long run. Hopefully another MVP year for him, All-Pro, Pro Bowl, whatever comes along. And he just con-tinues to build his resume as one of the best.”

Rodgers has 13 more games this season to attempt to continue his mastery of the quarterback position. But if he can somehow play this well for the next three months, Rodgers is on pace for 53 touchdowns, zero inter-ceptions and more than 4,000 passing yards.

Rodgers might not be worthy of the Jordan com-parisons yet, but he’s well on his way to that. More im-portantly in his own sport, Rodgers is on his way to becoming widely recog-nized as the best quarter-back to ever play the game.

PACKERSFROM PAGE 2


Keys to the Game: Packers vs. 49ersBy Green & Gold Express Staff

The Green Bay Packers are nine-point favorites for Sunday’s game at the San Francisco 49ers. Here’s the breakdown.

When the Packers have the ball

On paper, this looks like a tre-mendous mismatch.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rod-gers’ passer rating is 135.4, more than 14 points ahead of Cincinnati’s second-ranked Andy Dalton. Rodg-ers has completed 73.6 percent of his passes, good for fifth.

Rodgers will be attacking a San Francisco pass defense that ranks 30th with an opponent passer rating of 111.6 and 27th with a completion percentage allowed of 70.3.

“A lot of people are saying he’s playing better than he’s ever played,” first-year 49ers coach Jim Tomsula told reporters in San Fran-cisco. “I’ve looked at this guy for how many years? I don’t know how this guy ever plays better than he’s ever played.”

When the 49ers swept the Pack-ers in 2012 and 2013, Rodgers threw

eight touchdowns with three in-terceptions and a passer rating of “just” 96.0. That, however, was a totally different defense than the one Rodgers will attack on Sunday. Star pass rusher Aldon Smith’s nu-merous off-the-field issues cost him his job, and inside linebacker Pat-rick Willis and defensive end Justin Smith retired. Those were arguably the top three defenders on the team.

Three of the Niners’ top five defensive backs from 2013, corner-backs Carlos Rogers and Tarell Brown and safety Donte Whitner, have moved on, as well. The Niners thought they had a future building block with inside linebacker Chris Borland, the former Wisconsin star who had a huge rookie season last year, but he shocked the football world by retiring during the offsea-son.

Add it all together, and the Nin-ers’ defense is a shell of its domi-nant self. It ranks 31st in points allowed, 25th in yards allowed and 27th in passing yards allowed.

When the 49ers have the ball

If you lived in a vacuum, you

might think Colin Kaepernick is one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks. In the 2012 playoffs against Green Bay, he threw for 263 yards and rushed for 181 more with four total touch-downs. In the 2013 opener, he threw for a whopping 412 yards and three touchdowns. In the 2013 playoffs, he had 325 total yards as the Niners up-set the Packers at frigid Lambeau Field.

However, since Week 10 of last season, his passer rating is just 75.0. He threw four interceptions last week at Arizona, with two of those returned for touchdowns. He played so poorly that Tomsula had to give Kaepernick a vote of confidence this week.

“A bad game is a bad game, ob-viously. But it’s not been a pattern,” Tomsula said in a conference call. “The first two weeks, we were very pleased with what he was doing, how he was handling the offense and the things he was doing. This past week, tough game, OK? Be-lieve me, turnovers are turnovers. You can’t accept them and we can’t have them and he doesn’t want them. That’s all obvious. But I have all the confidence in the world in Co-lin Kaepernick. I have all the confi-

dence in the world in his abilities. I have all the confidence in the world in the person.”

The offense wasn’t immune to the rash of retirements, with stand-out right tackle Anthony Davis surprisingly calling it quits. Age-less left tackle Joe Staley has been excellent, as usual, and guard Alex Boone joins Staley to form a top-notch left side. Second-year center Marcus Martin has been terrible, and journeyman Erik Pears hasn’t adequately replaced Davis.

While Kaepernick and the pass-ing game have been inconsistent, the running game is the team’s strength. Second-year running back Carlos Hyde, an Eddie Lacy-sized 6 foot, 235 pounds, is among the league leaders with 262 rushing yards and 4.9 yards per carry. Kae-pernick is averaging 6.0 per carry on the types of scrambles and read op-tions that have destroyed the Pack-ers in the past. Green Bay knows it must contain Kaepernick by playing disciplined defense.

“I think we have a better under-standing of how teams are trying to attack us, so with that, our job responsibility has a premium on that,” Packers nose tackle B.J. Raji

said. “Whatever your assignment is, particularly in this game, you want to do that. You don’t want to improvise or get fancy against an offense like this. History has shown us it can get ugly if you try to do your own thing.”

Special teamsRookies have energized these

units. Ty Montgomery is a reason why the Packers rank fourth in av-erage starting field position follow-ing a kickoff return. For the 49ers, Australian import Jarryd Hayne returned a punt 37 yards last week. Green Bay kicker Mason Crosby has 274 career field goals, three be-hind Ryan Longwell’s franchise re-cord. His counterpart, Phil Dawson, has the best field-goal percentage in NFL history among kickers with at least 300 attempts (84.1 percent).

CoachingMcCarthy, in his 10th season,

is closing in on his 100th career regular-season victory. Including playoffs, he is 104-55-1. Tomsula re-placed Jim Harbaugh after spend-ing the past eight seasons as the Niners’ defensive line coach.


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Packers NotebookBy Green & Gold Express Staff

Kaepernick outplays Rodgers head-to-head

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, with the best passer rating in NFL history and two MVP awards on the mantle, hasn’t been outplayed very often in his career.

He has been outplayed by the quarterback he’ll be squaring off against on Sunday at San Fran-cisco, Colin Kaepernick.

In regular-season and playoff games against the 49ers in 2012 and 2013, the Packers went 0-4 and Rodgers threw eight touch-downs with three interceptions for a rating of 96.0. Kaepernick started both playoff games and the 2013 regular-season opener. The 49ers won all three of those games, with Kaepernick throw-ing six touchdown passes (and running for two more) and two interceptions for a rating of 101.3.

This year, Rodgers looks very much like a player who could win back-to-back MVPs. With 10 touchdowns and no intercep-tions, he is just the second quar-

terback in NFL history with 10-plus touchdowns and no picks in the first three games. He has completed 73.6 percent of his passes — an impressive rate for

a player who ranks third all-time with a career rate of 66.0 percent.

Kaepernick, on the other hand, looks like a quarterback whose career has stagnated. In

2012 and 2013, Kaepernick threw 31 touchdowns and 11 intercep-tions. The Niners went 17-6 dur-ing his regular-season starts, with a berth in the Super Bowl in 2012 and a trip to the NFC Cham-pionship Game in 2013. In 2014 and the start of 2015, Kaepernick has thrown 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, with the Niners going 9-10. In consecutive road losses to Pittsburgh and Ari-zona, the 49ers were outscored 90-25. Against the Cardinals last week, Kaepernick threw for just 67 yards with four interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. His rating was just 16.7.

Return of the read optionDuring the Packers’ Week 2

win over Seattle, Seahawks quar-terback Russell Wilson sparked a third-quarter comeback with the read option. It’s the same scheme Kaepernick killed the Packers with in the 2012 playoffs, when he rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

At 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, Kaepernick is bigger than most

running backs and probably fast-er, too. He’s averaged 6.0 yards per rush this season and for his career.

“He’s a two-dimensional guy,” Packers linebacker Julius Pep-pers said. “He can run it and throw it. That always makes it a little tougher, and his size — once you get to quarterbacks that big, it’s hard to get them down once you get there, so all of those things make him difficult to defend.”

Strength vs. strengthWith 127.7 yards per game and

4.2 yards per carry, the Pack-ers have a top-10 rushing at-tack. Even with a less-than-full-strength Eddie Lacy last week, the Packers topped 100 rushing yards by halftime against Kansas City.

That unit will be tested by the 49ers, who have stopped the run even after the offseason retire-ments of inside linebackers Pat-rick Willis and Chris Borland. In a Week 1 victory over Minnesota,


Eddie Lacy runs through a Kansas City defender during Monday night’s victory. The run game will be vital in finding success against a physical San Francisco team.

SEE NOTEBOOK, PAGE 11


Kaepernick blocks out chatter about his worst game49ers’ QB has played well against PackThe Associated Press

Opposing defender Tyrann Ma-thieu went off about how San Fran-cisco’s simplified passing game made it clear where Colin Kaepe-rnick’s throws were going in Sun-day’s 40-point, four-interception loss at Arizona. The quarterback’s worst game as a pro prompted plenty of people to question his game and all that work he put in with Kurt War-ner over the offseason in the desert, or even call for his job.

“That’s not really something I’m concerned with. I have confidence in myself as far as being able to go out and help this team win,” Kaepe-rnick said Wednesday. “What other people think of how I play and how I go about things really isn’t some-thing I worry about.”

As for the Honey Badger’s post-game comments about how the Cardinals thrived against the pre-dictable offense, Kaepernick insist-ed he hadn’t even heard about it.

“We’re not running a high school offense, but we have core concepts

that we stick to and a lot of them we didn’t even get to because of the situation of the game,” wideout Tor-rey Smith said. “They made some great plays, put us in a tough spot right away.”

Kaepernick won’t alter his ap-proach, either, aside from find-ing ways to adjust on the fly when necessary.

“We go out, we run our plays. We have play designs for a reason. It’s not going outside our offensive scheme to try to make a play,” he said.

Kaepernick watched the game film Sunday and Monday, and he now gets a chance against unbeat-en Green Bay (3-0) at home Sunday knowing that two of his best per-formances have come against the Packers. He has taken off out of the read option to burn the Packers and passed his way to wins in the rival-ry, too. Even beaten them in a deep freeze.

“He’s a dynamic player,” Pack-ers coach Mike McCarthy said. “Obviously we’ve had some issues

with him in the past.”Kaepernick acknowledged he

has to “have quick answers” when under pressure to get rid of the ball and make good decisions to avoid costly mistakes like the ones against the Cardinals.

“Straight up fact is we’ve put ourselves in position for two weeks now you haven’t seen our offense,” coach Jim Tomsula said. “That was a bad game, when we talk about our passing game right there. One of my concerns right now is not that our quarterback and our confidence level in those areas is going to go down the tubes.”

Tomsula said players returned to work Tuesday still frustrated about what happened, but had snapped out of it as the day went on and everybody’s attention turned to the tall task that is the Packers.

“What do you want me to tell you, there’s no frustration? I’m not going to lie to anybody,” Tomsula said. “That all better be in the right place or one game leads into two games, leads into three games, leads into four games.”

As far as Kaepernick being an-

gry, frustrated, or whatever other emotion might come to mind, he doesn’t have time to dwell on any failures — however magnified the mistakes might be.

“I’m not too big on feelings. Feel-ings aren’t going to help me win a game,” Kaepernick said Wednes-day. “I’m focused on doing what I can to help this team win.”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick has struggled so far this season, but he has a history of good games against the undefeated Green Bay Packers, who travel to San Francisco this week.


All systems full throttle for 3-0 PackersIf you are one of those

Green Bay Packers fans who is constantly on the lookout for the other shoe to drop, there was plenty to fret about over Monday night’s win over Kansas City.

The Chiefs carved up the Packers’ defense in the fourth quarter!

The Packers got called for 12 penalties!

Not only that, there was the … uh … well, if you’re a sky-is-falling devotee, sorry, but there wasn’t much else.

Three games into a season smattered with question marks, it just doesn’t get any better than what has transpired for the Packers.

Aaron Rodgers has demonstrated what the first three weeks of an MVP season looks like. Wide receivers Randall

Cobb and James Jones have admirably filled the void left by the loss of Jordy Nelson.

The special teams con-tinue their 180-degree turn-around from last year’s postseason debacle — Ty Montgomery is averaging more than 31 yards per kickoff return — and the offensive line is opening holes for running backs Eddy Lacy and James Starks.

Much credit for the fast

start has been given to the Packers’ offense, with good reason. Rodgers has thrown 10 touchdown pass-es and no interceptions. The Packers have fumbled just twice in three games, and one of those was by their own defensive player after an interception.

Despite the super-effi-cient play of Rodgers and the entire offense, it’s the defense that has provided the greatest cause for optimism.

For the second straight week, the defensive line won the line of scrimmage against a good offense and shut down a premier run-ning back. Last week it was Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch being held to 41 yards on 15 carries. On Monday night, the Packers repelled the Chiefs and their feature back, Jamaal Charles, who ran for just 49 yards.

As was the case in the win over Seattle, it was the defense setting the tempo early on, shutting down Kansas City on successive possessions and allowing the offense an opportunity to open up an early lead that soon turned into a nice cushion.

The Chiefs were behind 14-0 before they got their first first down — on a pen-alty. They did put together two scoring drives in the fourth quarter, but both scores came at garbage time, well after the game was decided.

The defensive stand-outs were sundry: Nick Perry, Jayrone Elliott and Joe Thomas all had sacks and quarterback hurries against Kansas City. Clay Matthews played with his usual abandon, disrupting plays before they have a chance to develop and cov-

ering the flats with agility and dispatch.

For the year, Matthews, Julius Peppers and defen-sive tackle Mike Daniels have seven sacks between them.

If there is anything better than a 3-0 start to a season, it’s a 4-0 start, and in that vein it is heartening to note that a trip to San Francisco is not what it used to be.

The 49ers, last seen getting their entrails raked by Arizona, are down. They have given up 90 points over their last two games — not a terribly encourag-ing statistic with the high-octane Packers coming to town.

San Francisco did win its opener, 20-3 over Min-nesota, and this is further encouraging in that the Vikings are thought to be the Packers’ biggest chal-

lengers in the NFC North.A realist, having seen

the well-oiled Packer machine in gear for the past three weeks, may look at the remainder of the schedule and wonder which of the opponents have a shot at knocking off the Packers.

The textbook answer is, of course, any of them. Realisti-cally, the games to circle are the ones at Denver, at Caro-lina and at Arizona. Dallas could give the Packers some trouble at Lambeau Field if Tony Romo comes back from his injury.

But those games are weeks down the road, and with the season unfolding the way it is, there is no point wishing time away.

Veteran sportswriter Gary Seymour’s column appears weekly in the Leader. To contact him, send an email to [email protected].

Gary Seymour




WRDavante AdamsJames Jones

LTDavid Bakhtiari Don Barclay

LGJosh Sitton Lane Taylor

CCorey LinsleyJC Tretter

RGT.J. Lang Josh Walker

RTBryan Bulaga Don Barclay FB

John Kuhn Aaron Ripkowski

WRRandall Cobb Ty Montgomery

QBAaron Rodgers Scott Tolzien

RBEddie Lacy James Starks

CBTramaine BrockDontae Johnson

LOLBAhmad BrooksCorey Lemonier

SSAntoine BetheaJaquiski Tartt

LILBNaVorro BowmanShayne Skov

RILBMichael WilhoiteNick BelloreFS

Eric ReidJimmie Ward

CBKenneth AckerKeith Reaser

RDEQuinton DialTank CarradineROLB

Aaron LynchEli Harold

DTIan WilliamsMike Purcell

LDE Glenn DorseyTony Jerod-Eddie

TERichard Rodgers Kennard Backman

THE DEPTH CHARTPackers vs. 49ers

RCBSam Shields Quinten Rollins

ROLBJulius Peppers Mike Neal

FSHa Ha Clinton-Dix Micah Hyde

SSMorgan Burnett Sean Richardson

MLBNate Palmer Jake Ryan

LOLBClay Matthews Nick Perry

DEMike Pennel Datone Jones

NOSEB.J. Raji Josh Boyd

DTMike Daniels Bruce Gaston

LCBCasey Hayward Damarious Randall

BLBJake RyanClay Matthews

LGAlex BooneIan Silberman

LTJoe Staley

RBCarlos HydeReggie Bush

QBColin KaepernickBlaine Gabbert

TEVernon DavisVance McDonald

WRTorrey SmithDeAndrew White

FBBruce Miller

RGJordan DeveyBrandon Thomas

CMarcus MartinNicholas Easton

RTErik PearsTrent Brown

THE DEPTH CHARTPackers vs. 49ers

WRAnquan BoldinQuinton Patton


the Niners held Adrian Pe-terson to 31 yards on 10 car-ries. In a Week 2 loss to the Steelers, Pittsburgh was limited to 3.4 yards per car-ry. Through three games, San Francisco has allowed 98.0 rushing yards per game and 3.72 per carry.

“I think the (Pack-ers’) running game has always been good,” 49ers coach Jim Tomsula said. “They’ve obviously added some pieces with Lacy and (James) Starks. Those guys are hard-running jesses. There’s good sche-matic to it.”

A super trip?Sunday’s game will be

played at Levi’s Stadium, the 49ers’ 2-year-old sta-dium that was built at an estimated $1.3 billion. The stadium will host Super Bowl 50. So, could this be the first of two games there this season?

The Packers have got-ten off to a super start, which is just what Mc-Carthy wanted after start-ing 2-3 in 2012 and 1-2 in

the previous two seasons. They are one of seven teams that are undefeated through Week 3, with a signature win over Seattle highlighting the early-sea-son resume.

“A win at San Francisco, I would say we complete the fast start,” McCarthy said. “The first quarter of the sea-son is the focus, so getting to 4-0 would get that.”

It’s Backman timeThe Packers placed

veteran tight end Andrew Quarless on injured re-serve/designated for re-turn on Wednesday, mean-ing he’s out until at least the Thanksgiving game vs. Chicago. That leaves the Packers with two tight ends on the active roster: second-year starter Rich-ard Rodgers and sixth-

round pick Kennard Back-man, who was inactive for the first three games.

“I’ve definitely made strides,” Backman said. “I feel like I’ve been getting better each day just prac-ticing and being around and still being here and doing everything that ev-eryone else is doing. That also gives me confidence, as well.”

NOTEBOOKFROM PAGE 5


Around the NorthDETROIT (0-3) at SEATTLE (1-2)Monday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

OPENING LINE — Se-

ahawks by 9

RECORD VS. SPREAD —

Lions 0-3, Seahawks 1-2

SERIES RECORD — Se-

ahawks lead 7-5LAST MEETING — Lions

beat Seahawks 28-24, Oct. 28, 2012

LAST WEEK — Lions lost to Broncos 24-12; Seahawks beat Bears 26-0

AP PRO32 RANKING — Li-ons No. 25 (tie), Seahawks No. 8

LIONS OFFENSE — Overall (27), Rush (32), Pass (12)

LIONS DEFENSE — Overall (27T), Rush (20T), Pass (26)

SEAHAWKS OFFENSE — Overall (18), Rush (5), Pass (27T)

SEAHAWKS DEFENSE — Overall (3), Rush (17), Pass (2)

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — First meeting since 2012 in Detroit, game decided on Titus Young’s touchdown catch with 20 seconds left. Se-ahawks won seven of final eight that season after loss to Lions. … Lions committed seven turn-overs in last game in Seattle in 2009. … Lions trying to avoid first 0-4 start since 2010 when they started 0-4 and finished 6-10. … QB Matthew Stafford tied for second in league with 82 pass completions but has passer rating of 78.7. … Lions

rank last in rushing at just 45 yards per game. Broncos only other team averaging less than 60 yards rushing per game. … WR Golden Tate returns to Se-attle, where he spent his first four seasons. Tate was Se-attle’s leading receiver in 2013. … WR Calvin Johnson is seven catches shy of tying Herman Moore for most in franchise

history. Moore had 670. … Li-ons have forced six turnovers in three games, tied for sixth in league. … S Glover Quin had interception last week and has picked off pass in six of past nine games dating back to last season. Quin has 13 intercep-tions since start of 2013 sea-son, tied for most in NFL with Cleveland’s Tashaun Gipson

and Seattle’s Richard Sherman. … Seahawks are 13-2 in prime-time games under Pete Carroll. Only losses 2012 at San Fran-cisco and Week 2 this season at Green Bay. … Seahawks with nine-game win streak in Mon-day night games. … QB Rus-sell Wilson is 4-0 with nine TDs and no interceptions in Monday night games. … Status of RB Marshawn Lynch in question after hamstring injury vs. Bears and playing just in first half. … Rookie RB Thomas Rawls rushed for 104 yards on 16 car-ries in Lynch’s absence; first Seahawks running back other than Lynch to rush for 100 yards since 2012. … TE Jimmy Gra-ham had seven catches and TD last week vs. Bears after hav-ing just one catch in Week 2 at Green Bay. … Seahawks up to No. 2 in NFL pass defense after allowing 48 net yards through air to Bears. … DE Cliff Avril played first five seasons with Lions before signing with Se-ahawks before 2013 season. … LB Bobby Wagner leads team in tackles with 26. … Seahawks one of three teams without in-terception through three weeks.


Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate (15) carries the ball as wide receiver Calvin Johnson (81) blocks against the Denver Broncos during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday.


Winless Bears undergoing rebuilding phaseThe Associated Press

Construction helmets might seem more appropri-ate for the Chicago Bears after all the personnel trans-actions over the last week.

The roster going into Sunday’s home game against Oakland (2-1) will look far different than it did last week against Seattle.

Pass rush specialist Jar-ed Allen has been traded and two other players are gone, too, with the team off to a 0-3 start.

“That’s kind of like what it is right now — there’s a lot of construction going on,” tight end Martellus Bennett said.

After the Bears traded Allen to Carolina for a con-ditional draft pick, they dealt 2013 second-round pick Jonathan Bostic to New England for a draft pick and then cut safety Brock Vereen, a fourth-

round draft pick in 2014.All three had been ac-

quired by former general manager Phil Emery, who was fired after last season,

and the moves leave the Bears looking very much like a team in transition.

On a team with several key players without con-

tracts for next year, such as running back Matt Forte and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, the winless start and shakeup by manage-

ment hasn’t seemed to have distracted the players too much.

“We concern ourselves with the game plan and preparing for the team that we’re playing that week, and all that other stuff — trade rumors, trade talk — that’s for (media) to worry about,” linebacker Lamarr Houston said.

Some players suggested the moves could have a posi-tive effect.

“I think the organization is doing every single thing possible to make the team better,” Bennett said. “I mean, there’s a lot of hic-cups right now, but that’s what happens when there’s a lot of change happening.”

Safety Antrel Rolle said the message sent is benefi-cial to young players.

“You’re going to find out if guys want to go out there and fight as if we’re 3-0 and you’re going to find out the

guys that are going to put it in the tank,” Rolle said.

With Houston proving he can play linebacker af-ter suffering a torn ACL last year, Willie Young ap-parently healed from a torn Achilles, and both Pernell McPhee and Sam Acho also at outside linebacker, the Bears had depth at Allen’s position.

Bostic had a series of mi-nor offseason and in-season injuries, and never got on the field with starters at in-side linebacker with Shea McClellin and Christian Jones starting.

The lineup might have changed without those moves this week, anyway, because nose tackle Jeremi-ah Ratliff might return from a three-game suspension for violating of the NFL sub-stance abuse policy. Quar-terback Jay Cutler could return from a hamstring injury.


The Chicago Bears will take the field with a new look this week after trading Jared Allen and Jonathan Bostic and cutting Brock Vereen.


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Griffen leads Vikings in sacks and the locker roomThe Associated Press

Everson Griffen matured enough from an unsettling start to his career that the Minnesota Vikings were confident enough to hand him a hefty new contract last year that kept him off the free agent market.

This season brought the latest evidence of Griffen’s growth: His teammates chose the defensive end as one of the four captains for 2015.

“He cares an awful lot about the Vikings, he cares a lot about this organization and he cares about being a good football player,” coach Mike Zimmer said. “I bet you three years ago or whatever he prob-ably wouldn’t have gotten the most votes.”

Griffen, now, has become a lead-er of this team: not only in sacks but in the locker room, too.

“I’ve been waiting for this all my life,” Griffen said, adding: “I’m not going to say that I knew I was going to do this, but I did know because I know what type of guy I am.

“When you have people believing in you and coaching staffs believing

in you and players believing in you, it just makes you that much more passionate and makes you want to go out there and give them that

much more of your effort.”Linebacker Chad Greenway,

who shares the captaincy with Griffen, quarterback Teddy Bridge-

water and running back Adrian Peterson, was in the middle of an-swering a reporter’s question last week about the tenacity of the de-fense when he began unprompted to praise Griffen.

“He’s just changed the approach of being the leader. He’s stepped up and taken huge strides in that as-pect,” Greenway said. “I think a lot of times that chip he always carries on his shoulder really kind of falls on the D-line, and they’ve been playing like that the last few weeks.”

Griffen tied for ninth in the NFL with 12 sacks last season, his first as a starter after getting a five-year contract worth as much as $42.5 mil-lion with $19.8 million in guaranteed money. The commitment raised eyebrows around the league, given Griffen’s part-time status at the time and his not-so-recent trouble off the field.

Even Griffen later acknowledged the fame and fortune came too fast for him to handle it well. Twice in a three-day span in Los Angeles, the winter after his rookie season, Griffen was arrested for unruly behavior.

The Vikings stuck by him, though, and really won him over when his mother died suddenly in 2012. His disinterest in testing the market last spring was one sign of the strides he’s made since he left USC one year early and was drafted in 2010 by the Vikings in the fourth round.

Griffen, who’s tied this season for fifth in the NFL with three sacks, is still a goofball of sorts, a boisterous kid at heart whose voice is often one of the loudest in the Vikings locker room.

The earnestness he puts to-ward his responsibilities within the defense, though, becomes clear during regular sessions with re-porters when he cites coach-speak clichés: reading his keys, executing the calls and staying hungry, for starters.

After an embarrassing season opener at San Francisco by the Vi-kings (2-1), Griffen was one of the most vociferous self-critics of that performance, vowing to lead the bounce-back. There he was, after a decisive victory Sept. 20 over De-troit, sounding like a coach again.


Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen has earned the trust of his teammates and was named a team captain this season.


Team StatsGREEN BAY PACKERSPASSING ATT COM PCT YARDS TDA. Rodgers 91 67 73.6 771 10RUSHING ATT YARDS AVG LONG TDLacy 32 140 4.4 16 1J. Starks 39 129 3.3 35 0A. Rodgers 16 74 4.6 15 0A. Harris 2 17 8.5 16 0Cobb 1 12 12.0 12 0R. Rodgers 1 11 11.0 11 0RECEIVING NO. YARDS AVG LONG TDCobb 20 245 12.3 29 4Jam. Jones 12 219 18.3 52 4D. Adams 9 92 10.2 25 0R. Rodgers 8 65 8.1 20 1T. Montgomery 6 51 8.5 17 1Lacy 5 55 11.0 26 0J. Starks 5 30 6.0 19 0Quarless 2 14 7.0 7 0INTERCEPTIONS NO. YARDS AVG LONG TDElliott 1 2 2.0 2 0Cl. Matthews 1 42 42.0 42 0Shields 1 15 15.0 15 0SACKS NO.M. Daniels 2.5Peppers 2.5Cl. Matthews 2.0Elliott 1.0N. Perry 1.0J. Thomas 1.0Neal 0.5Raji 0.5PUNTING NO. YARDS AVGMasthay 10 451 45.1KICKOFF RETURNS NO. YARDS AVG LONG TDT. Montgomery 6 189 31.5 46 0Ripkowski 1 0 0.0 0 0SCORE BY QUARTERS 1 2 3 4 TOTTEAM 31 16 17 32 96OPPONENTS 6 17 24 21 68

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERSPASSING ATT COM PCT YARDS TDKaepernick 91 59 64.8 567 2RUSHING ATT YARDS AVG LONG TDC. Hyde 54 262 4.9 18 2Kaepernick 23 138 6.0 14 1M. Davis 14 20 1.4 5 0Hayne 6 16 2.7 9 0Re. Bush 2 8 4.0 8 0RECEIVING NO. YARDS AVG LONG TDBoldin 12 112 9.3 15 1G. Celek 8 79 9.9 20 0Ve. Davis 8 109 13.6 43 0C. Hyde 7 42 6.0 11 0To. Smith 7 131 18.7 75t 1Patton 5 32 6.4 9 0M. Davis 3 9 3.0 5 0Bl. Bell 2 11 5.5 11 0B. Ellington 2 5 2.5 4 0D. White 2 18 9.0 10 0Hayne 1 7 7.0 7 0V. McDonald 1 5 5.0 5 0INTERCEPTIONS NO. YARDS AVG LONG TDAcker 1 0 0.0 0 0T. Brock 1 26 26.0 26 0SACKS NO.A. Armstead 1.0Bethea 1.0N. Bowman 1.0Carradine 1.0A. Lynch 1.0Tartt 1.0PUNTING NO. YARDS AVGPinion 13 594 45.7KICKOFF RETURNS NO. YARDS AVG LONG TDD. White 6 142 23.7 30 0Jerod-Eddie 1 11 11.0 11 0SCORE BY QUARTERS 1 2 3 4 TOTTEAM 0 17 3 25 45OPPONENTS 22 38 9 24 93

NFL Stat LeadersSCORING, NONKICKERSPoints1. T. Benjamin · CLE 301. J. Charles · KAN 301. Fitzgerald · ARI 304. Cobb · GB 244. D. Freeman · ATL 244. Gronkowski · NE 244. Jam. Jones · GB 244. Ju. Jones · ATL 249. De. Hopkins · HOU 2010. Blount · NE 18

SCORING KICKERSPoints1. Gostkowski · NE 352. Jos. Brown · NYG 343. Hauschka · SEA 304. Crosby · GB 284. Tucker · BAL 286. M. Bryant · ATL 277. McManus · DEN 268. Gano · CAR 238. Janikowski · OAK 2310. D. Carpenter · BUF 22

LEADING PASSERSRating1. A. Rodgers · GB 135.42. Dalton · CIN 121.03. Brady · NE 119.64. C. Palmer · ARI 117.85. T. Taylor · BUF 116.16. Roethlisberger · PIT 113.1

7. Mariota · TEN 109.28. D. Carr · OAK 102.49. Rivers · SD 100.510. Romo · DAL 98.8

LEADING RECEIVERSYards1. Ju. Jones · ATL 4402. An. Brown · PIT 4363. Smith Sr. · BAL 3494. A. Green · CIN 3355. Fitzgerald · ARI 3336. K. Allen · SD 3157. Gronkowski · NE 3088. A. Cooper · OAK 2909. Edelman · NE 27910. B. Marshall · NYJ 272

LEADING RUSHERSYards1. A. Peterson · MIN 2912. Forte · CHI 2763. C. Hyde · SF 2624. L. Murray · OAK 2485. Bernard · CIN 2356. J. Charles · KC 2317. Chr. Johnson · ARI 2198. De. Williams · PIT 2069. J. Randle · DAL 20310. A. Morris · WAS 199

YARDS FROM SCRIMMAGETotal1. Ju. Jones · ATL 440

2. An. Brown · PIT 4363. A. Peterson · MIN 3704. Smith Sr. · BAL 3495. Forte · CHI 3456. A. Green · CIN 3357. Fitzgerald · ARI 3338. D. Lewis · NE 3259. L. Murray · OAK 31610. K. Allen · SD 315

INTERCEPTIONS1. Lowery · IND 21. Talib · DEN 21. M. Peters · KC 21. Mathieu · ARI 21. Darby · BUF 21. P. Brown · BUF 21. Quin · DET 21. Norman · CAR 21. Ji. Smith · BAL 21. Thurmond · PHI 2

SACKS1. Ja. Smith · TB 4.02. Jam. Collins · NE 3.52. Donald · STL 3.52. Ware · DEN 3.55. Griffen · MIN 3.05. J. Houston · KC 3.05. Cha. Jones · NE 3.05. D. Morgan · TEN 3.05. Quinn · STL 3.05. J. Watt · HOU 3.0

Injury ReportPackersWR Davante Adams, ankleT Bryan Bulaga, kneeS Morgan Burnett, calfWR Randall Cobb, shoulderCB Demetri Goodson, hamstringDE Datone Jones, headRB Eddie Lacy, ankleLB Mike Neal, groinTE Andrew Quarless, kneeS Sean Richardson, ankleFB Aaron Ripkowski, shoulderLB Jake Ryan, hamstring49ersCB Kenneth Acker, backG Alex Boone, shoulderLB Navorro Bowman, personalRB Reggie Bush, calfTE Vernon Davis, kneeWR Bruce Ellington, ankleS L.J. McCrayy, hipTE Vance McDonald, knee

NFL ScheduleSunday, Oct. 4N.Y. Jets vs. Miami at London, 9:30 a.m.Houston at Atlanta, 1 p.m.N.Y. Giants at Buffalo, 1 p.m.Oakland at Chicago, 1 p.m.Kansas City at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.Jacksonville at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.Carolina at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.Philadelphia at Washington, 1 p.m.Cleveland at San Diego, 4:05 p.m.St. Louis at Arizona, 4:25 p.m.Minnesota at Denver, 4:25 p.m.Green Bay at San Francisco, 4:25 p.m.Dallas at New Orleans, 8:30 p.m.Monday, Oct. 5Detroit at Seattle, 8:30 p.m.(Byes: Tennessee, New England)

NFL StandingsNATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCENorth DivisionTeam W L TGreen Bay 3 0 0Minnesota 2 1 0Detroit 0 3 0Chicago 0 3 0East DivisionTeam W L TDallas 2 1 0N.Y. Giants 1 2 0Washington 1 2 0Philadelphia 1 2 0South DivisionTeam W L TCarolina 3 0 0Atlanta 3 0 0Tampa Bay 1 2 0New Orleans 0 3 0West DivisionTeam W L TArizona 3 0 0St. Louis 1 2 0San Francisco 1 2 0Seattle 1 2 0

AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCENorth DivisionTeam W L TCincinnati 3 0 0Pittsburgh 2 1 0Cleveland 1 2 0Baltimore 0 3 0East DivisonTeam W L TNew England 3 0 0Buffalo 2 1 0N.Y. Jets 2 1 0Miami 1 2 0South DivisonTeam W L TIndianapolis 1 2 0Jacksonville 1 2 0Houston 1 2 0Tennessee 1 2 0West DivisonTeam W L TDenver 3 0 0Oakland 2 1 0San Diego 1 2 0Kansas City 1 2 0

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