AllGreenBayPackers.Com

The Green Bay Packers defeated the Chicago Bears 10-3 last Sunday at Lambeau Field to lock down a wild card berth for the second consecutive season.

The Packers enter the playoffs as the number six seed, but in a conference that features a 7-9 division champion, any team could come out of the NFC and head to Super Bowl XLV.

The first stop for the Packers on the road to Dallas is in Philadelphia for an encore match against the Eagles. In the first game of the regular season, the Packers beat the Eagles 27-20 after knocking then-starting quarterback for the Eagles Kevin Kolb out of the game and giving Michael Vick the opportunity to write one of the great comeback stories in NFL history.

Looking back at that game, the Packers had the Eagles well under control until Vick came into the game. He nearly led the Eagles back, but a couple well-timed sacks stopped the comeback just short and the Packers held on the victory.

With an entire week to game plan for Vick, will the Packers fare better against the elusive Eagles quarterback?

Breaking down the Eagles

Vick carried the Eagles this season. You can’t argue any other way.
In a season where coach Andy Reid was under the microscope after dealing Donovan McNabb away within the division, Vick played brilliantly and leads an incredibly explosive offense. With Vick’s dual running and passing threat, the Packers will have their hands full with No. 7.  Read more... (1372 words + 1 image, estimated 5:29 mins reading time)

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The Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants 45-17 last Sunday to set up what is basically a “win or go home” game against the Chicago Bears this Sunday at Lambeau Field.

The Packers can still make the playoffs with a Giants loss to the Redskins and a Buccaneers loss to the Saints if they lose to the Bears, but the Packers and their fans know the best way for them to take care of business is do beat their arch rivals and not rely on other teams for help.

The Bears, meanwhile, have wrapped up at least the No. 2 seed and in theory could get home field advantage should the Saints and Falcons both lose and they beat the Packers. Atlanta plays the Panthers, so that scenario is incredibly unlikely but again “any given Sunday.” You never know.

Breaking down Da Bears

The big, no HUGE, question is how long Bears coach Lovie Smith will play his starters. If he is anything like mentor Tony Dungy, the odds are they will play very little in a meaningless game. That said, when Smith took the Bears job he swore that beating the Packers would be his number one priority so the Packers could see the Bears first unit for a good chunk of if not the entire game.  Read more... (1300 words + 1 image, estimated 5:12 mins reading time)

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I hoped to file a couple of posts this week examining the play of Bryan Bulaga and the Green bay Packers playcalling, but then I realized it was almost Christmas, so I proceeded to buy presents and hang out with my family.

Instead of a full-blown analysis, I had to go with some quick thoughts and notes. The playoffs start Sunday, folks. It should be interesting.  Read more... (547 words + 1 image, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

• The Packers’ run game showed some promise against the New England Patriots, but lets not confuse the 2010 Packers with the 2009 Jets. The Packers will go as far as Aaron Rodgers’ arm takes them, not Brandon Jackson’s legs. By all means, Mike McCarthy should try and establish the run early against the Giants. But he shouldn’t handcuff himself into sticking with it for too long if it’s not working. The Giants’ defensive backs are slow. The Packers receivers have a clear advantage and that needs to be exploited.
• What about the Giants pass rush? Getting the ground game going will help slow down the pass rush, but so will short passes. If the Packers can’t run the ball, McCarthy needs to mix in plenty of quick passes, screens and high-percentage throws. The Packers offense has moved the ball every time they’ve reverted to using more short passes. The problem has been punching through to the end zone.

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It was Ugly. Detroit Lions 7, Green Bay Packers 3. Aaron Rodgers goes out with a concussion and is likely out this week.

That’s all I am going to say about last week as that game just raises the blood pressure of ALL of Cheesehead Nation. Lets move on.

This Sunday the Packers travel to Foxborough to face the red hot New England Patriots on a nationally televised Sunday night game.

The past two weeks the Patriots embarrassed the Bears in Chicago in a snow storm and the Jets at home.  Two of the supposed elite teams in the league were beaten senseless by likely NFL MVP Tom Brady and a defense that is maturing faster than most thought.

Now the Patriots get to face an already depleted Packers squad who now has to go with an untested backup at quarterback.

Will McCarthy’s men fall to their knees before the almighty Patriots or will they put up one last valiant effort with their playoff hopes on life support?

Breaking down the Patriots

It all starts with Tom Brady.

Two years removed from major knee surgery, Brady looks like he did during the Patriots near-perfect season of 2007 and without Randy Moss.

With Deion Branch and Wes Welker leading the way, Brady is on a streak of 19 TDs to ZERO interceptions.  The man is playing lights out right now.

That said, he’s never faced a defense like the Packers’ who lead the NFL in defensive touchdowns.  Read more... (1160 words + 2 images, estimated 4:38 mins reading time)

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As the Green Bay Packers prepare for the Detroit Lions, lets take a quick look back at last week.

The defeated the 49ers by a score of 34-16 to move to 8-4 on the season and remain one game back of the Chicago Bears in the NFC North.

Aaron Rodgers continued his hot streak throwing for 298 yards and 3 TDs and rookie running back James Starks made his much anticipated debut gaining 74 yards on the ground giving the Packers some hope in their lackluster running game.

This week, the Packers head back out on the road to face the 2-10 Detroit Lions at Ford Field.  The Lions are coming off a hard fought loss to the Bears, falling by a score of 24-20.

As easy as it has been to overlook the Detroit Lions the last few years, they can’t be ignored any longer. This is a big trap game for the Green Bay Packers and from what they’ve told local media, they know it too.

Breaking down the Lions

Sam Shields summed up the Lions perfectly this week when he said “2-10 record….10-2 talent.” Indeed, these are no longer the Matt Millen Lions.

Despite the poor record, the Lions have been competitive in nearly every game they have played in including a near-win over the Packers at Lambeau Field earlier this season.  Throw in the fact they’ve done this without quarterback Matthew Stafford and it makes it all the more impressive.  Read more... (1106 words + 1 image, estimated 4:25 mins reading time)

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Did you know the Green Bay Packers play the Detroit Lions Sunday? With all the talk about the Packers vs. New England Patriots game on Dec. 19, it seems that most people have already chalked up Sunday’s game against the Lions as a Packers victory.

The people that do realize the Packers play the Lions this week are using one of my least favorite phrases to describe the contest: Trap game.

Loosely defined, a trap game occurs when a good team plays a bad team the week before playing another good team. In this case, the trap game concept assumes the Packers are thinking about playing the Patriots instead of focusing on the Lions. This will cause the Packers to play poorly and maybe lose to the lowly Lions.

I think the trap game concept is just a simple way to let a team that lost off the hook. Sometimes a bad team comes together and plays well enough to knock off a superior opponent. And sometimes a good team, for whatever reason, plays terrible against a foe it should beat.

In either case, all of the credit or the blame should go to the two teams that actually played the game, not a third team that had nothing to do with anything.

The Football Outsiders did a study in 2007 and concluded that the entire concept of trap games was a myth. The Outsiders defined a trap game as any game against a sub-.500 opponent slotted between two games against opponents who, on the season, posted records above .500 (this definition means that Sunday’s game against the Lions would not be a trap game, but anyway…).  Read more... (596 words + 1 image, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)

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Last week the Green Bay Packers fell on a last second field goal, losing to the Atlanta Falcons 20-17 and snapping the Packers’ four-game winning streak. Now the San Francisco 49ers, fresh off of a Monday Night win, come to Lambeau hoping to pull an upset.

While the Atlanta game was by no means a devastating loss, the Packers now likely will not get home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs although they still can get the number two seed and a first round bye should they be able to wrestle the NFC North from the Chicago Bears.

This week, the Packers return home for the first time in four weeks to face the “underachieving” San Francisco 49ers.

I use quotation marks there because somehow the 49ers are only a game out of first place in their division despite their record of 4-7.  That’s how bad the NFC West is this year. A 7-9 record could be enough to make the playoffs.

If the Packers want any motivation, it’s that. They could end up sitting at home for the playoffs with a 10-6 record while a team at 7-9 gets in.

There’s a major problem with that logic, but that’s a debate for another day.

Breaking down the 49ers

For the first time since Week 1, the Packers face a dual threat quarterback in 49ers starter Troy Smith.  Since taking over for Alex Smith (no relation), Troy has provided a spark to an offense that badly needed one.  Troy Smith’s running ability added a whole other dimension to an offense that already featured two talented pass catchers.  Read more... (1068 words + 1 image, estimated 4:16 mins reading time)

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