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Some of McCarthy’s decisions have led to many questions about whether they will help or hurt the Packers from here on out

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has a track record that speaks for itself:

73 wins

37 losses

.664 winning percentage in regular season

5-3 record in playoffs including a Super Bowl Championship

Two appearances in the NFC Championship game

Three NFC North division titles

Not bad, right?  Even by the sky-high standards of the Green Bay Packers and their fans, those numbers exude success.  But McCarthy has become somewhat of an intrigue lately.  As we know, he calls the offensive plays for the Packers during games.  He has done so since his arrival in Green Bay.

At times, especially this season, he has had fans and analysts alike scratching their heads with some of his decision making.  Now, I realize that he gives quarterback Aaron Rodgers some freedom to alter the play at the line if Rodgers sees something he thinks he can take advantage of.  It’s hard to say exactly whether some of these offensive failures were McCarthy calls or Rodgers check-out’s.  Whichever is the case, McCarthy is responsible for all of it as head coach.  Read more... (1219 words + 3 images, estimated 4:53 mins reading time)

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Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears:

My unfitered game day running blog post of comments, observations and first impressions.

Inactive for Packers today: 

21 DB Charles Woodson
44 RB James Starks
56 LB Terrell Manning
80 WR Donald Driver
84 TE D.J. Williams
87 WR Jordy Nelson
98 DE C.J. Wilson

Inactive for Bears today:  

12 QB Josh McCown
26 CB Tim Jennings
54 LB Brian Urlacher
58 LB Geno Hayes
69 DT Henry Melton
80 WR Earl Bennett
99 DE Shea McClellin

Game Notes:

Clay Matthews returns to the field today, a huge boost for the Packers’ pass rush. Matthews had 3.5 sacks in the first game against the Bears.

Tim Jennings being out for the Bears is as big, if not a bigger loss than Urlacher being out.

With a win today, Green Bay would clinch their second straight NFC North Title.

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Mike McCarthy Pregame Show on 620 WTMJ:

Due to some “technical difficulties” WTMJ didn’t have tape of McCarthy’s interview with Wayne Larrivee. But here are some things MM supposedly said.

Matthews will play and they will monitor his progress. Expect him to be a major contributor.  Read more... (893 words + 3 images, estimated 3:34 mins reading time)

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Well, here we are.  It’s Bears week and the Green Bay Packers have a chance to clinch another NFC North divisional title with a win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.  These are the types of matchups that the schedule makers and NFL hope for this late in the season.

When earlier this year it seemed that the Packers would be facing seemingly insurmountable odds to surpass the Bears in the North, all of the chips have started to fall into place.  The Bears have lost four of their last five games and are staring at a good possibility that their playoff chances will be reduced to a wild card chase.

Should the Bears lose Sunday, the Packers could clinch the division win and that is the only way Chicago can get into the postseason.  Should the Bears win, the Packers can still control their own destiny and win the division by simply winning their last two games.

There has been some jarring in the media between both teams with some subtle and some not-so-subtle barbs.  Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall acted like he didn’t know how to pronounce Packers cornerback Tramon Williams’ name and said that none of the Green Bay defenders should take any credit for severely limiting him in the teams’ first matchup.  Packers tight end Jermichael Finley commented that the Bears defense may be better off without the “slow” and future Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher, who is out with a hamstring injury.  Read more... (1975 words + 3 images, estimated 7:54 mins reading time)

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Around the NFC North in week 15

It’s already the NFL’s week 15 and let’s cut to the chase in the NFC North.  This is a week that most Packers fans had circled on the schedule as soon as it came out.  Is there a more intense week in the Packers universe than “Bears week”?

The Green Bay Packers travel to Chicago to take on the Bears in this highly-anticipated game that will be the marquis matchup not just in the NFC North, but in the NFL.

The Packers can clinch their second straight North division title with a win.  The Bears would re-enter the divisional race as a strong contender should they emerge victorious.  The early line this week favors Green Bay by three.

The Minnesota Vikings will travel to St. Louis to take on the Rams.  This ends up being an interesting game because neither of these teams wants to go away quietly this year.

The week is rounded off by the Detroit Lions visiting the Arizona Cardinals in the “futility bowl”.  Nothing more than pride is on the line in that contest.

Let’s dive into the matchups and the storylines alike.

Green Bay Packers (9-4) at Chicago Bears (8-5)

Because of the major playoff implications, I’m leading off with this matchup and will go more in depth with this game.

This game has changed shape immensely in the past month.  What was being billed as possibly one of the biggest game on the NFL schedule this season has turned into somewhat of a last stand for the Bears.  Read more... (1908 words + 3 images, estimated 7:38 mins reading time)

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Vikings or Bears?

With many NFC North divisional games approaching, I thought this might be a good opportunity to ask an intriguing question about this weekend’s matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears:  Who do most Packers fans typically want to win this game?  Let’s pretend that we’re in the land of make believe and that the natural answer of “neither” is not an option.

Listen in using the player below or download the podcast from the Packers Talk Radio Network on Itunes.

Bear Down or Skol Vikings??

It would seem logical to think that the largest determiner is “which scenario helps the Packers most?”  Obviously, the Bears are closest to the Packers in the divisional standings so it would seemingly benefit Green Bay more if the Vikings were to win.  The Bears are the better team of the two as long as they have a healthy Jay Cutler at quarterback.  They pose the bigger threat to the Packers’ chances of winning the division and with no guarantee of a wild card spot, getting into the playoffs at all.

Another argument could be made that the Vikings are already having a much better season than most thought and the Packers don’t want to have to contend with a hot Minnesota team when they finally meet in two weeks.  Minnesota is still over .500 and has shown that they can play with any team on any given day.  I cite their impressive win over the San Francisco 49ers earlier this season who, at the time, were undefeated and playing better than any other team at that point.  The Vikes have also swept the Detroit Lions already this season.  Read more... (798 words + 3 images, estimated 3:12 mins reading time)

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Mike McCarthy’s Packers have historically fared well after the bye week

With no Green Bay Packers football this weekend, I turned my thinking to the rest of this regular season.  As was mentioned in Marques Eversoll’s column, the Packers’ remaining schedule after the bye week appears to be another tough road ahead.

Featured are most of their divisional matchups with a rematch of last year’s playoff game against the New York Giants mixed in.  They also have a sneaky week 15 home game vs. the Tennessee Titans to round off the AFC portion of this year’s slate.

I started pondering how head coach Mike McCarthy’s Packer teams have historically fared after the bye.  Here is a quick glance, including this season’s first half:

*Totals do not include 2012 season  Read more... (640 words + 3 images, estimated 2:34 mins reading time)

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