Packers vs. Steelers

On this Christmas Eve, here are photos from Sunday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lambeau Field. Above is the scene from our hotel window in the morning. It began snowing at about 3:00 a.m. and would continue all day and night.

Some snow accumulation.

Like the old newsrooms you see on television, our hotel has the times in each U.S. time zone, themed to an NFL city team.

More snow accumulation.

Here’s the procession of fans heading toward Lambeau Field along Armed Forces Drive.

They shoveled out Lambeau Field on Friday and Saturday, but the big snow on Sunday left the fans’ feet sitting in snow during the game.

Setting up the Packers’ bench area.

It must have been cold sitting in the new South end zone seats with the wind blowing in their faces. There was almost no wind in our North end zone location. The ribbons on the top of the goal post uprights were hang in straight down for pretty much the whole game.

LB coach Kevin Greene chats with a fan.

K Mason Crosby was out early as all kickers do — testing the turf and conditions.

Some Steelers trying to keep warm during warm-ups.

Cleaning the ice and snow from around the bench area.

Green as he chats with a fan behind the bench area.

LS Brett Goode snaps to P Tim Masthay, who holds for Crosby.

CBS camera man all bundled up, as is his camera.

QB Aaron Rodgers watches the players on the field along with injured WR Randall Cobb.

Ever wonder what the phones on the sidelines are connected to? Well, now you’re going to find out. The one on the left here goes to the person upstairs representing the league. The one on the right is labeled “offense” and goes to the offensive coaches.

The left phone here goes to the defensive coaches up in the booth, while the right one goes presumably to the press box, and is used for reporting injuries.

Lastly, the left one here goes to the opposing sideline, while the right one goes to the AV (audio-visual) Room.

A group of Packers comes out for their pre-game warm-ups.

QB Matt Flynn, still starting in place of the injured Aaron Rodgers, gets in some throws to QB Scott Tolzien along the Packers’ sideline.

Some of the defensive secondary players on the field.

Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger and his offense down in the North end.

Tolzien chats with WR Jordy Nelson.

CB Micah Hyde talks to the referee as he awaits the opening kickoff.

The Packers’ offense gets its first chance with the ball.

RB Eddie Lacy takes a handoff from Flynn.

Roethlisberger gets the Steelers’ offense ready to go.

Back on offense, RB James Starks is in to replace Lacy.

Flynn attempts a pass.

Everyone is all bundled up, crammed into their seats, and getting covered with a light dusting of snow as the game goes through the first quarter. People are more “bulky” in the winter with all of the warm clothing on. It is advantageous to get there early and stake out your “rear end space.”

LB Clay Matthews and S Morgan Burnett await the snap from the Pittsburgh offense.

LB A.J. Hawk and CB Sam Shields corral Steelers’ RB Le’Veon Bell.

Roethlisberger in the shotgun.

The Steelers about ready to score in the North end zone.

The Pittsburgh defensive line attempts to get ahold of Lacy. 

Flynn also working out of the shotgun formation.

The Packers’ bench area, seen through the constantly falling snow.

Steelers’ huddle.

Lacy gains some more yardage.

Flynn has a timeout conference with Head Coach Mike McCarthy.

Lacy comes to the stands to do a “Lambeau Leap.”

Workers use leaf blowers to remove snow from the yard lines and the hash marks. 

Hyde waits for another kick.

Looking South — down the field from our vantage point.

Lacy gets another handoff.

Flynn throws to the outside.

The ball is on the one yard line, and we are awaiting the snap of the ball.

And FB John Kuhn certainly scores!

Roethlisberger throws on the run.

Players warming up on the bench.

Nelson gets some yards after the catch.

Sadly, this was the final score.

Fans make their way out of Lambeau.

Somebody has some cleaning up to do.

We stayed Sunday night as well, and before leaving town we took some more photos. This is the Training Camp facility, which does not have all this snow in August.

The practice fields fences are covered with tarps once the season starts to guard against spies. This is the Ray Nitschke Field.

Looking up Armed Forces Drive towards Lambeau.

The Clarke Hinkle FIeld is also covered to avoid snooping eyes.

Official Packers plow!

There is no place like Green Bay.

Numerous businesses around town have company names based on the Packers.

The Donald Driver statue outside the Titletown Brewing Company (where we had lunch) looks wintery. We hope you’ve enjoyed these photos from what may be our last trip to Titletown for a while. We made a total of twelve trips to Green Bay this year, and it’s 208 miles each way. That’s almost 5,000 miles traveling to the best city in the world in one year. Yep, it‘s all worth it.