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After the “Fail Mary” in September, the Packers could play the Seahawks again in the playoffs.

After defeating the Minnesota Vikings last week, the Green Bay Packers are two wins away from Super Bowl XLVII.

If the Packers defeat the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night, they’ll move on to the NFC Championship. Who and where they’d play would be determined Sunday afternoon when the Falcons and Seahawks square off in Atlanta.

If the No. 1 seed Atlanta Falcons win, they’ll host the NFC Championship at the Georgia Dome. But if the Seahawks win, then the winner of Saturday’s Packers-49ers game will host the NFC Championship.

(Now would be a good time to mention that I fully expect this Saturday’s game against the 49ers to be a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire matchup that could go either way. The purpose of this post is not to overlook a good 49ers team, but rather, to look at (what could be) the next game on the Packers’ schedule.)

A rematch with Seattle would surely result in an amped-up Lambeau Field crowd, hungry for revenge after what happened on Sept. 24. But a rematch with Atlanta would mean the Packers, a team built for a fast track, would be playing indoors with a chance to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl.

This begs the question…

Would you, as a fan, rather see the Packers host the Seahawks at Lambeau Field or have them play the Falcons in the Georgia Dome?  Read more... (1506 words + 1 image, estimated 6:01 mins reading time)

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With two more regular season games to go, here is an update on the Packers’ playoff situation:  Read more... (362 words + 1 image, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

• The Packers have already clinched the NFC North. They will be in the playoffs, guaranteed at least one home game and no worse than the fourth overall seed.
• If the season ended today, the Packers would be the third seed and host the sixth-seeded Vikings on wild-card weekend. That’s likely not going to hold up since the Packers play the Vikings in week 17. The Vikings also could win their next two games and still miss the playoffs.
• The Packers can move up to the second seed if they win out and the 49ers lose once. The 49ers are at Seattle this week and host Arizona in week 17.
• Whether the Packers move up to the second seed, or stay at No. 3, a second-round matchup with the 49ers looks likely. If the Packers are the third seed and win their first-round game, they would travel to San Francisco. If the Packers are the second seed and the 49ers win their first-round game as the No. 3 seed, San Francisco would visit Green Bay.
• The Packers can get the first seed if they win out and the Falcons lose their last two games.
• If the Packers stay the third seed, it’s very likely that their first-round game will be against a wild-card team from the NFC East or the Bears.

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"The Playmaker"

It was just a week ago that Jermichael Finley was upset about not being thrown the ball enough in the Denver game. Here were his comments:

“For sure, they took me out of the game. I don’t know what I came out with, but hopefully we can go back and dial something up for the double teams. We’ve got to have something for it. We’ll have to go back, not being selfish or nothing, but go back and dial up something so you can get your playmaker the ball in games like that when it’s close.”

From reading that quote, one would think that he was totally ignored in that game. Not having seen the game live, it’s certainly the impression that I had. But looking at the game stats told a different story. Finley had been targeted 6 times but caught only 3 for completions.

Fast forward to the Falcons game, which I did see live. Finley appeared to me to be a big part of the game plan. He was thrown to 7 times and caught 4. He did not always display the excellent hands he possesses. In fact, Finley had a particularly egregious drop at the goal line just before the second half, which cost the Packers 4 points. Here it is:

Five out of the seven times Finley was thrown to in the Atlanta game, it was on a third down. Here’s the breakdown:  Read more... (558 words + 3 images, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

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Photo: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Green Bay Packers used 25 unanswered points, including touchdown receptions from receivers James Jones and Greg Jennings, to stun the hosting Atlanta Falcons, 25-14, and improve their record to 5-0 in 2011 with an 11th straight win overall.

Here are five observations from the game:

1. Bouncing back

There simply aren’t many teams in the NFL that could have rebounded the way the Packers did after falling behind 14-0. The Falcons had steamrolled them on both sides of the ball through the first quarter, amassing 125 yards and holding the ball for over 10 minutes. A second 10-play drive led to another Falcons’ touchdown following Ryan Grant’s first fumble in over 300 touches. And after seeing your starting left tackle hobble off the field while your starting right tackle is on the sidelines in street clothes, other teams might have just packed it in on the road. But the Packers slowly got their offense back on track. Despite settling for two field goals in the first half,  it looked as if the offense gained confidence marching down the field on those two possessions.

The Packers defense held serve, and going into the half down just 14-6 was a huge boost after such a disastrous start. Remember, Sunday night was the first time the Packers had been down by 14 or more points in a game since 2009. They faced that adversity well against the Falcons, which is always something Mike McCarthy stresses. By overcoming all those potential road blocks, the Packers’ 25-14 win was undoubtedly the team’s most impressive of the 2011 season.  Read more... (1629 words + 1 image, estimated 6:31 mins reading time)

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Green Bay Packers tackle Bryan Bulaga (ankle, knee) was a no-show at Friday practice, which would seem to indicate that second-year player Marshall Newhouse will get his second career NFL start at right tackle on Sunday night against the Atlanta Falcons.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said on Thursday that Bulaga’s playing status for Sunday was riding on whether or not he go during today’s practice.

This came from McCarthy’s post-practice press conference yesterday:

“If (Bulaga) doesn’t practice tomorrow he’s not going to play. That’s where we are with Bryan. He’ll see the doctor tomorrow morning, just like we always do.”

If we are to believe McCarthy at his word, and there’s no reason not to, then Bulaga will be inactive on Sunday night and Newhouse will start.

You would have considered an injury to one of the tackles as a catastrophic break heading into the season, but Newhouse has been better than expected in the two games he’s appeared. The Packers weren’t forced to deviate their offensive gameplan in Chicago after Bulaga left with ankle and knee injuries, and the two sacks that Von Miller created last week didn’t fall directly on Newhouse’s shoulders. Newhouse was beat on one, but Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers did him no favors by running into the sack. On the other, a blown screen play resulted in an easy take down of Rodgers after the Broncos diagnosed the screen.  Read more... (400 words + 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

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Sunday’s dismantling of the Vikings was the Packers most enjoyable win in a long time. The game has already been adequately covered on this blog, so in an attempt to get Packers fans re-focused on the rest of the season, I thought I would take a look at the bigger picture in the NFC and try to figure out where the Packers fit and how they stack up against the other top teams in the conference.

I’ll start with a basic set of NFC power rankings. From there, I’ll break down the top six teams with a focus on how they match-up against the Packers. This is not a predictions piece (I learned my lesson the last time I tried to make predictions). Rather, it’s an examination of where the NFC stands right now, factors that could influence where it might be at the end of the season, and how the Packers might figure into the whole thing.

By now, the hangover from the win over the Vikings should have worn off. It’s time to get back to work.

NFC North Power Rankings

1.       Eagles

2.       Packers

3.       Falcons

4.       Saints

5.       Giants

6.       Buccaneers

7.       Bears

8.       Redskins

9.       Rams

10.   Cowboys

11.    Seahawks

12.   Lions

13.   49ers

14.   Vikings

15.   Cardinals

16.   Panthers

Eagles  Read more... (1598 words + 1 image, estimated 6:24 mins reading time)

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