Anyone watching the Green Bay Packers’ 25-22 overtime win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon needed either two Advils or two IPAs immediately after.
Depending on how you process such madness.
What a bizarre finish.
All that truly matters is that Mason Crosby drilled the 49-yarder to win it and the Packers are 4-1. But on this episode of the Ty & Bob Pod, we try to make sense of it all. Davante Adams continued his weekly annihilation of NFL secondaries, Randall Cobb made the play of the day and what about De’Vondre Campbell? The linebacker signed off the street continues to be the playmaker the Packers desperately need right in the middle of their defense.
We dive into Campbell’s surreal background on this episode. (I actually got to know him well in Atlanta for this profile that ran at Bleacher Report.)
Campbell did not merely slip through the cracks in the pros to wind up in Green Bay — that’s been the story of his life.
Nobody even wanted Campbell out of high school. He didn’t even get a questionnaire from a Division III school, let alone visit a powerhouse. His three coaches in high school never sent his tape out to colleges, so a 13-sack senior season went virtually unnoticed. His team stunk. He was a lost prospect in the state of Florida.
The only reason he got a shot at a JUCO in Kansas was his performance in a postseason all-star game.
His football career should’ve ended right there in Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College when Campbell suffered a severe — an extremely severe — concussion. A simple conversation with friends would trigger a ringing in his head and, five minutes later, Campbell would forget the conversation entirely.
Campbell missed the entire football season but stayed at Hutchinson because he knew moving back to Fort Myers could mean a life of selling drugs.
And that concussion proved to be a blessing in disguise, giving Campbell three years of eligibility once he got to the University of Minnesota. Of course, once he got to college, he could’ve lost his mother. She suffered a heart attack and needed to be rushed to the hospital. This, after surviving breast cancer earlier in life.
All details are on the pod.
As always, Bob provides his “Rating the Packers” series right here. Starting around the 17-minute mark, he begins by putting Adams’ unbelievable 2021 season in historical perspective and details how the team’s No. 1 receiver dominated a very good Bengals defense.
Just how difficult was Cobb’s reception to set up Crosby’s game-winner? Bob doubts that some of the best receivers in team history would’ve even entered that part of the field.
Dean Lowry and Kenny Clark were both excellent up front, again.
What’s going on with the kicking operation? Bob breaks it all down to a science. The answer may surprise you.
And we dive into our two-part series at Go Long on ex-Packers quarterback Don Majkowski. He’s paying for a lifetime of hits.
Thank you, everyone, for making this podcast part of your life. We’d love it if you shared with a friend. Miss a previous episode of the podcast? They are all archived at GoLongTD.com right here.
Bob McGinn’s Football Awards
(maximum is 5, minimum is one-half)
RECEIVERS: 4 ½
OFFENSIVE LINE: 4
QUARTERBACKS: 4
RUNNING BACKS: 4 ½
DEFENSIVE LINE: 4
LINEBACKERS: 4
DEFENSIVE BACKS: 3
KICKERS: 1
SPECIAL TEAMS: 2
OVERALL: 4
STARS OF THE WEEK
One. Davante Adams, WR
Two. Dean Lowry, DL
Three. Randall Cobb, WR
Ep 7: Embrace the insanity