Green Bay

The Green Bay Packers are attempting to sign Ron Jaworski, and a team official said yesterday that the former Eagles quarterback had responded to the team's initial offer with a proposal of his own. "We've heard back from him and he's interested in Green Bay," said Tom Braatz, the Packers' executive vice president of football operations. "They've made a counter offer on the contract and it's a matter of trying to put a deal together. " On his radio show on WIP-AM, Jaworski yesterday confirmed that he had made the counterproposal, and said that another team had expressed interest in him. "This morning there was an offer from a team that hasn't even been talked about," Jaworski said without revealing the team's identity.

A cheer went up along the length of the Chicago bar as the score of the Packers-Vikings game was announced. Then Slats Grobnik pointed an accusing finger at me and said, "Now, ain't you sorry for all those rotten things you said about the wunnerful city of Green Bay?" You must be thinking of someone else. I've always thought of Green Bay as one of the garden spots of America. "Don't try to deny it. You wrote that people who live in Green Bay think the most fashionable clothes they can wear is red long underwear.

GREEN BAY, Wis. - For Eli Manning and the New York Giants, Lambeau Field has become a familiar launching pad. After beating the Green Bay Packers at home for the second time in four years, they only hope this trip ends the same way - at the Super Bowl. Manning threw for three touchdowns and the Giants shocked the Packers, 37-20, in an NFC divisional playoff game on Sunday. Manning threw for 330 yards, sending the Giants to San Francisco for the NFC championship game next Sunday night.

Generally, you left scratching your head. Sometimes the calls seemed wrong. Others, the plays were not so bright. Unquestionably, the whistles and flags flew yesterday with an alarming frequency. The Eagles incurred 12 penalties for 115 yards, by far the most penalties and yards suffered since Andy Reid became head coach last season. It is the most penalties and yards since they took 15 for 140 in Arizona on Nov. 2, 1997. Like that frustrating day in Tempe, they were not happy about the calls in Green Bay. "It was ridiculous," said free safety Brian Dawkins, who was flagged for defensive holding when, he said, he was nowhere near the play.

The biggest smile in the Eagles' locker room following yesterday's 20-17 win over Green Bay belonged to owner Norman Braman. This was the game everyone had talked about since the NFL schedule was released in the spring, the game in which Reggie White would come back to haunt Eagles management - more specifically, Braman - for the decision not to re-sign him. When the dust and the verbiage finally settled yesterday at Lambeau Field, White...

ASSUMING THE Green Bay team that shows up plays to the level of the Super Bowl favorite everyone is touting, this game isn't too hard to figure. The Eagles are young and talented, but for now, the young part is more what you notice. They have shown no sign so far of being ready to handle this big a challenge. Funny things happen in openers, and Andy Reid had an awful lot of success against the Brett Favre-era Pack; the Eagles have won six of the last seven meetings if you include the playoffs, the only loss lately that 2007 opener when the return game sabotaged a strong effort.

Andy Reid did most of the raising of his family in Green Bay. This weekend will not serve as a family reminiscence. "I have a lot of friends there. Acquaintances," said the Eagles head coach, who spent 1992-98 as a Packers assistant. Big deal. "I will do the best I can possibly do to handle this as a business trip," Reid said. "If I want to go back for pleasure, I'll save that for the family vacation during the summer. Right now, I will limit the distractions and focus on the game.

Green Bay had a lead, lost it, tied it up again and . . . Well, it's been that kind of season for the Packers. Paul Edinger kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired, giving Minnesota a 20-17 win last night over host Green Bay. The Eagles hope the Packers (2-8) will continue their season of futility when they visit Lincoln Financial Field next Sunday afternoon (4:15, Fox). After struggling mightily since quarterback Daunte Culpepper was lost for the season, the Vikings put together a solid showing behind backup QB Brad Johnson (18-for-30, 196 yards)

Logan Vander Velden sensed it was time. The Wisconsin-Green Bay senior knew his team needed a lift in the final minutes of the Mid-Continent Conference tournament finals. "I looked up and there were about three minutes left and I hadn't done anything. And I said, 'I've got to step it up.' I felt I had to take over a little, and some of my shots began to fall," Vander Velden said. His final shot with 12.2 seconds left did fall, and it was the one that counted most. He hit a drive to the basket, was fouled by Mario Bailey on a block and converted a three-point play that put the Phoenix on top. Gary Grzesk added a pair of free throws after Kenny Williams missed a three-pointer.

A Philadelphia sports institution skipped town yesterday. Reggie White, the ordained minister who is the most prolific pass-rusher in National Football League history and the biggest prize in the free-agent market, agreed to a $17 million, four-year contract to play in pro football's smallest city - Green Bay, Wis. For the once-proud Packers, there is the hope that White will lead them back to glory. For the Eagles, the loss of the NFL's premier defensive end opens a gaping hole in the front four and creates a huge leadership vacuum.

(x-Subject to change) Wednesday, Sept. 5 Dallas at N.Y. Giants, 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9 Indianapolis at Chicago, 1 p.m. EAGLES at Cleveland, 1 p.m. St. Louis at Detroit, 1 p.m. Miami at Houston, 1 p.m. Atlanta at Kansas City, 1 p.m. Jacksonville at Minnesota, 1 p.m. Washington at New Orleans, 1 p.m. Buffalo at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m. New England at Tennessee,...

INDIANAPOLIS - Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has won the 2011 Associated Press NFL most valuable player award in a landslide. Rodgers earned 48 votes to two for New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in balloting by a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. The Packers star is the first Green Bay player honored since Brett Favre concluded a run of three straight seasons as MVP in 1997. "It means a lot to be recognized as a consistent player and contributing on my team," Rodgers said.

I still can't get over the fact that the No. 1-seeded Green Bay Packers got smoked at home by the New York Giants in the NFC semifinals, and I have no stake in the Packers nor do I even care about the city of Green Bay or the state of Wisconsin. I really can't get over the fact that Packers fans seem to have already gotten over the loss. See, I come from a city that takes defeats hard. If the Eagles had been the No. 1 seed in the conference playoffs with a sparkling 15-1 record and then gotten whupped by a team that just barely made the tournament, I don't think many fans here would have been sane enough to pass so much as a driving test.

Divisional Playoffs SATURDAY NFC: San Francisco 36, New Orleans 32 AFC: New England 45, Denver 10 SUNDAY AFC: Baltimore 20, Houston 13 NFC: N.Y. Giants 37, Green Bay 20 Conference Championships SUNDAY, JAN. 22 AFC: Baltimore at New England, 3 (CBS3) NFC: N.Y. Giants at San Francisco, 6:30 (Fox29) Super Bowl SUNDAY, FEB. 5 In Indianapolis Teams TBD, 6:30 (NBC10)

GREEN BAY, Wis. - For Eli Manning and the New York Giants, Lambeau Field has become a familiar launching pad. After beating the Green Bay Packers at home for the second time in four years, they only hope this trip ends the same way - at the Super Bowl. Manning threw for three touchdowns and the Giants shocked the Packers, 37-20, in an NFC divisional playoff game on Sunday. Manning threw for 330 yards, sending the Giants to San Francisco for the NFC championship game next Sunday night.

GREEN BAY - This is a story about a team that struggled and scratched and clawed its way through the regular season. The team had ups. It had downs. It got hot at the right time, made the playoffs on the final week of the season and rode a wave of momentum into the postseason. This was the Packers' story a year ago; now it's the Giants' story. The Giants stunned the defending champion Packers yesterday with a dose of their own momentum medicine in a 37-20 victory at Lambeau Field, reminding the NFL-watching world that it's not about who's best for 16 games - it's about who's best at the end. The victory earns the Giants a trip to San Francisco to play the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.

Defense wins championships, or so the saying goes. But several playoff teams still alive entering this weekend defy that old maxim, while the 8-8 Eagles watch from home despite having a defense that finished eighth in yards allowed and, more importantly, 10th in points. Only three defenses alive entering the weekend were better in those categories. Meanwhile, the Packers and Patriots rank 32d and 31st in yards allowed and won the top seeds in their conferences. Somewhere, Buddy Ryan is probably swearing.