My Drink of the Week - Green Bay Packers Apple Cocktail

Holy Week 4. Down go Buffalo, Green Bay, Los Angeles (Rams) and Detroit from the ranks of the unbeatens with all four making the case to win the game. New England and Kansas City remained unbeaten (both rather luckily in this Barkeep’s opinion) while San Francisco couldn’t lose as they didn’t play. Clippy is back so the guys show is back on point. Thank God. In case you missed this week’s edition which included a riveting chugging beer contest, you can catch it here:

Let’s get into Your Barkeep’s Week 4 in Review: ​

Nick Chubb (CLE)
Have a week, Nick Chubb. Your drinks are on me. After Baltimore delivered some bulletin board material to Cleveland this week about who the best team in the AFC North was, Chubb planted the Browns firmly on his back and galloped his way to what should be AFC Player of the Week honors. Additionally, it moved Cleveland to the top of the AFC North standings after a quarter of the season, which is where I expected them to be. As I said three weeks ago Browns fans, it’s a long season. Cleveland is going to ride or die not only with Baker Mayfield but also with Nick Chubb. Seems like both are hitting their stride at the same time.
Blitzed Stats: 20 carries 165 yds, 3 TDs; 3 rec 18 yds

Jameis Winston (TB)
Two weeks ago I was kicking Jameis out of my bar and making jabs at him for stealing crab legs. Today, I’m buying his drinks. He put an absolute thrashing on what is “supposed” to be one of the best and most talented defenses in the league to the tune of 55 points. In their house. I’m as shocked as anyone to see that Jameis led them to the win even though a pick six late in the game nearly derailed his otherwise superb outing. Is this finally the Jameis Winston the Buccaneers expected when they drafted him 1st overall? Perhaps Bruce Arians is a QB whisperer after all. I’m sorry Jameis. This week’s tab is on me.
Blitzed Stats: 28 for 41, 385 yds, 4 TDs 1 INT

Buffalo Bills Defense
I know Buffalo lost but check out these stats. 18 for 39, 150 yards and 1 INT for a QB rating of 10.3 (or 48.9 depending on which you use). Include one intentional grounding that was actually called and an additional three or four more that weren’t. You just experienced one of the worst games ever, if not THE worst ever, for Tom Brady. Buffalo’s defense showed up and made TB look bad. They made the entire New England offense look bad. If it weren’t for the five turnovers and the blocked punt returned for a touchdown, the Bills would be sitting atop the AFC East. I can tell you this though- that loss was not on the Buffalo defense who no longer is flying under the radar as one of the league’s best. What a waste of a brilliant defensive effort. The Bills will be a scary team if the offense ever figures it out.
Blitzed Stats: 11 first downs, 5 of 18 on 3rd down, 224 total yards, 9 points given up

Josh Allen (BUF)
The expectation was that Allen was a guy who needed to develop and grow. This is year #2 for a quarterback that seems to have sky-high potential. But this was simply not a good game. His decision-making cost the Bills this game, and nearly two others (NYJ and CIN). There comes a point when the growing needs to stop and the fine-tuning needs to begin. This is a talented Bills team and he doesn’t need to win the game by himself. Simply put, he was awful when all he needed to be was OK and the Bills would have won. That being said, if he wasn’t injured, I still think he would have somehow pulled out a miracle on that last drive for the win.

Kirk Cousins (MIN)
27 for 36 for 233 with no TDs and no INTs doesn’t necessarily scream for someone to be kicked out of my bar. However, if you watched that game you cringed at Cousin’s performance the same way you probably have for the first four weeks of the season. Mr. Guaranteed Money isn’t performing up to standards and Skol Fans are getting restless. 13-3 two years ago seems like forever ago, doesn’t it? I hear Case Keenum is back on the market.

NFL Referees
How do you eject a player from one game for a helmet to helmet hit, while allowing a player in a different game to stay in for the very same thing? There is clear favoritism towards certain players in the NFL and it’s become egregious in nature as to how blatant the favoritism is. If you want to create rules to protect players and the integrity of the game, it needs to be called fairly across the games for everyone. Its been getting worse and worse for some players while others are protected at all costs. This has to end.

10 Things I THINK I Think After This Week

1: There is a distinct difference in who is protected and who isn’t in calls by NFL referees. See: Tom Brady and Josh Allen. See above.
2. Another week, another several injuries to sideline big names in the NFL. Trubisky being the biggest name this week. Teddy Bridgewater, Mason Rudolph, Luke Falk and Chase Daniel are now NFL starting QBs.
3. If other teams were watching, the Bills gave every team in the NFL the blueprint on how to beat New England. Follow it. Now.
4. I still feel bad for Dolphins fans.
5. I’m starting to change my mind about the Colts. They’re really inconsistent.
6. Melvin Gordon shouldn’t automatically be given the starter’s role. Eckler has earned it through commitment.
7. I’ve been spelling Mahomes with an L in his name for the past three weeks. I’m sorry. Its Mahomes. He’s still the best quarterback in the league and KC still doesn’t have an L either.
8. New Orleans has proven they are not just Drew Brees. They have that Kamara guy and their defense is really good too.
9. Nick Chubb makes the Browns run. Literally and figuratively.
10. There’s a lot of really bad teams this year. Too bad for the Redskins, Bengals and Cardinals that the Dolphins are really REALLY bad. ​

My Drink of the Week:
Green Bay Packers Apple Cocktail

The past couple weeks I’ve been picking on the teams that could use a drink based on their performance from the previous week. This week I’m choosing a game from Week 5 that piques my interest as being a Game of the Week. The 3-1 Packers travel to Dallas to take on the 3-1 Cowboys and this game always promises to be entertaining. Both teams were undefeated but suffered their first losses of the season. Neither team wants to go to 3-2 so this game should be competitive on both sides of the ball. Seeing as the NFC North is a little more competitive, the Packers need this win a little more so this week the guys will be drinking a fall-inspired whiskey cocktail- the Green Bay Packers Apple Cocktail.

2 ounces Irish whiskey (Michael Collins)
1 ounce sour apple schnapps
2 ounces white cranberry juice
Garnish: apple slice 
Blitzed Build: Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a martini or rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with an apple slice.

Dallas is a team that some are picking for the Super Bowl. They are talented on both sides of the ball and play especially well at home. That being said, the NFC North is a competitive division. Detroit is better than people expected, Chicago is the reigning division champs and returns that stingy defense and Minnesota is still a very talented team, if they can actually figure out their offensive mess. Green Bay needs this win to stay afloat in the division. Hopefully, some of the cheeseheads out there in Blitzed Nation can enjoy this delicious cocktail before, during or after (if necessary) this big matchup in Dallas during Week 5.
Blitzed Barkeep’s Prediction: Green Bay 30 Dallas 27

That’s all for now Blitzers. I’ll be back again next week with my Week 5 review of the guy’s show and what they’ll be drinking next. As always, remember to always take Brady’s name in vein, tip your bartenders on the way out and if you’ve had too much to drink, give your keys to a friend. ​

Author

The Blitzed Barkeep is the official Blitzed Football bartender and a huge Buffalo Bills fan. Find him on Twitter and ask for a drink recommendation here.