by MIKE HART, Staff, Packer Plus , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Soon there were a lot of gasps of disgust. Kind of like what happens when you plop down big chunks of legal tender to see Diamond and he doesn't deliver, "Forever in Blue Jeans."

It didn't take long for the Diamond faithful to figure out that the Packers did not deliver.

Very soon it was: Love on the Rocks.

The team that was so good against the Bears watched the Saints come marching in and go marching right over them.

We interrupt this column while the Saints line up for yet another extra point.

When it was time for some Packers to step up and be heroes, all that surfaced were some zeros.

You want zeros, we've got zeros. Here's the Rogue's Gallery:

* Bob Sanders. The Green Bay defensive coordinator didn't coordinate much of anything. Drew Brees passed wherever he wanted to, whenever he wanted to. B-Dawg's flag Football team could have offered more resistance.

Brees was 20 of 26 for 323 yards and four touchdowns as New Orleans tied a club record for points scored and touchdowns (seven) in a game. In some instances, he had so much time he could have flown to Milwaukee and joined Diamond on stage to belt out a song or two then flown back to New Orleans and still completed the pass.

"He was on fire coming into the game, and we didn't cool him off any," said Packer coach Mike McCarthy. "It was disappointing. I don't really have much to say about our defense."

Good enough. Besides, the play of Sanders' unit spoke volumes. And it broke the ugly meter.

All Colonel Sanders cooked up was Green Bay Fried Secondary. It was a recipe for disaster.

* Atari Bigby. In Atari Football 2008, the defensive back has no clue. And on short passes to the receiver, the defensive back stands in Statue-of-Liberty formation and guards nobody. In the end, the receiver takes the liberty of striding into the end zone after 70-yard plays.

"I don't think I'm ever supposed to cover two guys," explained Bigby. OK, then. Well try guarding one of them next time, dude.

* Derrick Frost. His first effort was a 24-yard Howitzer. As it turned out, Brees had to take the Saints only 41 yards for a touchdown after that boot. So Frost did his part to keep Brees' stats down.

Frost ended up with four punts for a 33.5-yard average. If you're scoring at home, he can't kick inside or outside.

* The Packers' cobbler. Nick Collins blew out a shoe while in pass coverage and subsequently surrendered a touchdown. Maybe the Packers need to consider holding mandatory minicamps for cobblers.

* Aaron Rodgers. During the second half, he looked like someone that had OD'd on gumbo at intermission. Viewers at home were confused since his play resembled the last guy to wear No. 12 - T.J. Rubley.

* Tony Kornheiser. As expected, his drooling over Brett Favre picked up where John Madden's drool left off.

"Aaron Rodgers, every time he goes out, he competes against the other quarterback and he competes against Brett Favre," Kornheiser said. "There is not only Drew Brees to worry about, there's Favre, too."

The only thing more idiotic than that statement was the way Green Bay played pass defense. Besides, Rodgers shouldn't worry about Favre. He should only worry about throwing to guys wearing the same color of jersey that he has on.

Thus, the Packers looked like a bunch of turkeys well before the holiday. And they got the stuffing knocked out of them as a result.

But it's never as bad as it seems. They're still five games ahead of the Lions.

A big turkey

CBS' Thanksgiving fare will be difficult to digest.

The network's marquee matchup pits the mighty Titans against the lowly Lions.

All this means is that family members will be forced to talk to each other instead of watching the early game.

Some people simply cannot stomach having the Lions on the Turkey Day menu. Here are a few slices of commentary on what some people think will be turkey of a game:

Fox pregame funnyman Frank Caliendo, the pride of Waukesha, doing his Donald Trump puppet: "I haven't seen this big a mismatch since Julia Roberts married Lyle Lovett. That game should give tryptophan a run for its money."

Mike Ditka for ESPN: "We need to put two teams on every Thanksgiving who are competitive. We all stuff a turkey on Thanksgiving. That doesn't mean you have to stuff that turkey down our throats."

Fighting words

The Jacksonville Jaguars didn't pack much punch Sunday . . . before, during and after their game with the Minnesota Vikings.

During the week leading up to the fray, Jacksonville's Troy Williamson, a former Vikings receiver, was ready to rumble with Minnesota coach Brad "The Chiller" Childress.

"We can meet on the 50-yard line, and we can go at it," Williamson crowed.

Williamson still holds a grudge against "The Chiller" for disciplinary actions the coach took against him while he played for the Vikings. He was so eager to get a piece of "The Chiller" that he offered to fight him with his hands tied behind his back. You can't make this stuff up.

Inquiring minds begged Childress for a response and wanted to know how his weight and reach matched up with the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Williamson.

"Do you need my reach? I'm not like a woman; I'll give you my weight. It's 190 pounds of twisted steel and rompin', stompin' dynamite," Childress said. "Is that enough humor for you?"

"The Chiller" got the last laugh, however. Williamson didn't surface at the 50 or anywhere near the coach. He was listed as inactive because of a groin injury.

When queried about Williamson after his Vikings decked the Jaguars, "The Chiller" said, "I think he was known to be inactive when he was beating his gums."

Another bad exchange

Joe Pisarcik's date with infamy lives on . . . and on . . . and on.

In fact, the 30th anniversary of his memorable mishap was last week. That's right, Pisarcik became an unwitting celebrity on Nov. 19, 1978.

He was quarterbacking the New York Giants to an apparent victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, running out the clock, when he fumbled a handoff to Larry Csonka. Eagles defensive back Herman Edwards recovered and returned the ball 26 yards for a touchdown that gave Philadelphia an improbable victory.

Every now and then, Pisarcik signs autographs at shows with other retired players. But the fans never forget.

Pisarcik recalled one bad experience: "There was the guy who just walked up to me and said, 'You're the guy who fumbled the ball! You're the guy who fumbled the ball!'

"I told him, 'When I was your age, I was the starting quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. What are you doing?' "

As luck would have it, Pisarcik works on Wall Street these days, trying to sell bonds.

"Yeah," he said, "there's another fumble."

VineLines

Jets receiver Jerricho Cotchery on Brett Favre's reputation as a butt-slapper: "You have to watch out for him because you may be stretching out or something, and he just comes out of nowhere." . . .

New York Jets nose tackle Kris Jenkins on Favre: "I get the luxury of playing with somebody who's almost my dad's age. I was watching him when I started growing my adult teeth. When my mom starting to help me walk, he was on the field playing." . . .

Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press: "Another good thing about the Lions not being on TV: I took advantage of the informative infomercials that Channel 2 showed instead to join the Hair Club for Men and order a Jack LaLanne juicer. Oh, and a colon cleanser, which sounds like just what the doctor ordered for Lions fans."

From Packer Plus wire, Internet reports and other news sources. Send e-mail to mhart@journalsentinel.com

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