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Rodgers in a baseball cap and waving a celebratory towel would be a welcome sight on Sunday. Green Bay can clinch a playoff bye with a win

Here we are in week 17 and another season is nearly in the books.  The Green Bay Packers end their regular season schedule with a trip to Minnesota to face the Vikings.  A few years back, the NFL changed its schedule making such that the last week of the season would be a divisional game for all teams.  This was in the hopes that the games would be meaningful and teams wouldn’t rest slews of their starters in preparation for the postseason.

The NFL has gotten its wish this year and with this game.  Each team has something on the line.  The Vikings need to win to secure a playoff spot.  The Packers can clinch the second seed in the NFC with a win.  Should the Vikings win, the Packers can still gain the #2 seed with a San Francisco and a Seattle loss.

Last week’s format was a success so I’m going stick with a “Keys to the Game” theme.  Let’s see what will likely determine the outcome of tomorrow’s contest.

Vikings Running Back Adrian Peterson

I feel like a broken record with the thoughts I share about Peterson but given the season he is having, they bear some repeating.  According to ESPN, Peterson has 1,898 yards in 15 games.  102 yards shy of 2,000 yards, an accomplishment only six other running backs can claim.  Peterson is also 208 yards shy of the 28 year-old and all-time single-season rushing record set by Eric Dickerson in 1984.  Read more... (1953 words + 3 images, estimated 7:49 mins reading time)

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The Packers need to bear down on Johnson this Sunday and keep him from running free

I’m going to depart a bit from the usual Key Matchups format because the Tennessee Titans are an unfamiliar opponent of the Green Bay Packers and also due to the injuries on both sides.

We will return to our regularly scheduled “Key Matchups” next week when the Packers visit the Minnesota Vikings to round out the 2012 regular season.  For this week, it’s more of a “What to Watch For”.

Titans Running Back Chris Johnson

Johnson gets hidden, sometimes even forgotten, in Tennessee because they are one of the smaller markets.  And let’s be honest, the Titans have been very forgettable the past four seasons.  But 1,200 yards and five touchdowns is nothing to overlook this week for the Packers.

Johnson had a 94 yard touchdown run in Tennessee’s Monday night’s dismantling of the New York Jets.  With that run, Johnson set a new NFL record with six career touchdown runs over 80 yards.

He’s still a very good running back and clearly has the ability to break a long run at any time.  Green Bay struggled to contain another great running back three weeks ago when Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had a long scoring run and ran wild all day.  Read more... (1430 words + 3 images, estimated 5:43 mins reading time)

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Last week’s Packers Drive Rewind highlighted how a seven-play drive that featured all running plays buried the Lions. Watching it made you want to pound your chest and yell. Loudly.

This week, we’re going to stay with the tough-guy theme and highlight how the Packers defense stood tall with a goal-line stand after Ryan Grant fumbled.

The Situation
Third quarter. Packers 21, Bears 7. Grant just fumbled away a chance to blow the game open. The Bears are on the Packers’ 5-yard line after a 53-yard pass interference penalty against Morgan Burnett.

The Result
Matt Forte can’t get in the end zone on three straight runs and a touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffery on fourth down is nullified by offensive pass interference. The Bears settle for a field goal.

Play 1: Forte up the middle for 4 yards

Ryan Pickett gtets stood up by Chris Spencer, but doesn’t get erased from the play. Forte ends up basically running back toward Pickett and getting swallowed up by the big guy. Forte had James Brown pulling to the outside. Morgan Burnett and Sam Shields do a nice job of setting the edge. However, I wonder if Forte would have had better luck following Brown to the outside and taking on Shields near the goal line instead of running back into the teeth of the Packers’ defense?

Play 2: Forte up the middle for no gain

 Read more... (586 words + 1 image, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

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Can Aaron Rodgers keep the offense on a roll against the improved Rams?

There is nothing wrong with Aaron Rodgers. I repeat: there is nothing wrong with Aaron Rodgers.

Any doubts about issues the Green Bay Packers may have been having on offense were silenced permanently last Sunday as Rodgers threw a franchise record-tying six touchdown passes as the Packers shredded the NFL’s best defense in a 42-24 win over the Houston Texans.  The win moves the Packers back to 3-3 on the season and helped alleviate any concerns fans may have had about the direction of the team.

The Packers now move on to face the St. Louis Rams, who also stand at 3-3 and are one of the league’s more improved teams.  That said, this is a game the Packers should win and really have no business losing.   The Packers lost to one of the league’s best teams in the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, but have lost to the Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks* as well. (* is citing the controversial ending to that infamous game).

They’ve beating the Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints and Texans who all are considered some of the better teams in the NFL

Can the Packers get above .500 for the first time all season and finally beat a team they should have no problem beating?

Scouting the Rams  Read more... (1154 words + 1 image, estimated 4:37 mins reading time)

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Packers’ Best Nose Tackle: Ryan Pickett

Ryan Pickett had a whale of a game against the Houston Texans.  Their Pro Bowler center, the 6’4″ 290lb Chris Meyers, was no match for Pickett. Double teams were no match for Pickett, except when he got chop blocked (more on that later).

The best the Texans were able to do against Pickett was keep him on the line of scrimmage. There was no knocking him back off the line. There was no  getting bounced back and forth between two blockers. These are things I’ve witnessed too much from BJ Raji.

Nothing against Raji, but he is not your prototypical nose tackle that is content with eating blockers and stuffing inside running lanes. Perhaps it’s the Packers’ own fault for also playing him at DE and letting him get a taste of pass rushing glory. To my eyes Raji is a lot more interested in trying to get to the QB than doing what a nose tackle’s primary job is.  I also think he doesn’t always bring that rabid dog intensity I like from my defensive linemen.

The Packers held Arian Foster (averaging 106 yards per game coming into the Packers contest) to 29 yards in 17 carries – 1.7 ypc average. If you don’t think a big reason for that was Ryan Pickett, you need to go watch the game again. There were no running lanes for Foster between the tackles. He scored two short yardage touchdowns, both by bouncing the play off tackle to avoid a hard charging Ryan Pickett.  Read more... (531 words + 3 images, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

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I think it’s time to do a Hobbjective Analysis on a group that has always been overlooked: linemen.  I’m guilty of it myself; line play is very complicated and nuanced and I will be the first to admit that I don’t know very much about it; if you want to see what sort of technicians and athletes these guys truly are, I highly recommend you check out the “Word of Muth” column over at Football Outsiders (one of my favorite columns by the way).  Nevertheless, I personally think that while Aaron Rodgers throwing 6 touchdowns probably was a big factor as to why the Packers were able to clobber the Houston Texans, I think the defensive line deserves even more credit than Rodgers in winning the game for the Packers.

The Situation: It’s 11:44 in the second quarter with the Packers taking the early lead in with a 14-0 advantage.  Early in the game the Texans had curiously attempted to get their offense started with a pass-heavy strategy but ended up with quarterback Matt Schaub running for his life.  By the time the second quarter rolls around, it appears as if the Texans have abandoned this idea and go back to their bread and butter strategy of getting good down and distance situations with All-Pro RB Arian Foster, and setting up the play action pass with QB Matt Schaub and All-Pro WR Andre Johnson.

   Read more... (1147 words + 4 images, estimated 4:35 mins reading time)

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Packers WR Jordy Nelson caught three TDs against the Texans on Sunday nigh.

The Packers were 2-3 entering Sunday’s game with the Texans and all of Wisconsin was befuddled.

“I thought this was supposed to be a cakewalk to the playoffs,” Packers fans said. “What the heck is wrong with my Packers?”

Week-to-week overreaction is common in the NFL. After a loss you think you’re team is worthless. They’re finished. Done. No good. Time to start preparing for the draft.

After a big win, there’s hope. You’re team is back on track. They finally played with some pride. Mistakes were corrected. Players stepped up. The machine got rolling again.

Truth is, it’s hard to judge teams on a week-to-week basis this early in the season, especially this season. I swear every team is 3-3 like the Packers now are. With the exception of the Falcons (maybe), no team really seems ready to step up and say, “Hey, we’re going to dominate the leage. Good luck trying to slow us down.”

For us Packers fans, our hopes should not have been dashed after losing to Indianapolis last week. And while we’re all wound up about beating the Texans on Sunday night, we shouldn’t be overly excited and think everything is roses back at 1265 Lombardi Ave., either.

The Packers entered Sunday night’s game against Houston with several questions lingering over them. For one night at least, they answered those questions.

Emphatically.  Read more... (698 words + 1 image, estimated 2:48 mins reading time)

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