My, where should we go for Hobbjective analysis this week? I mean the entire game was essentially a highlight reel for the Packers, and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure how accurate much of the second half is in terms of execution because it’s pretty obvious that the Titans have stopped trying at some point and just want to go home.
One play that I think hasn’t gotten as much attention as perhaps is warranted is Ryan Grant’s first TD in the 4th quarter. The reason why I say this is because it’s one occasion where the Titans should be 90% sure that it’s going to be a run but they still manage to get blocked out of the play.
The Situation: The blowout is almost over at 41 to 0 and the Packers just need to burn 12 minutes as the Titans stopped trying back in the 2nd quarter. To make matters worse, WR Jeremy Ross (he of the “punt, pass and puke” play from last week) rips off a 58 yard return subbing in for an injured Randall Cobb. The Packers start the play off at the 7 yard line. Read more...(1058 words + 7 images, estimated 4:14 mins reading time)
I’m writing this week’s Packers stock report while watching the Seahawks destroy the 49ers. After the Seahawks went up 14-0, my wife said that she hopes the Packers do not have to play the Seahawks in the playoffs.
I threatened to take back her Christmas present for uttering such nonsense. I want to play the Seahawks and I want to play them bad. I want to play them right now. Screw the Vikings. Bring on the Seahawks.
Beating the Seahawks in the playoffs would make me giddy. Every Packers fan should want to play the Seahawks again and beat the s**t out of them.
The Seahawks’ attitude after Fail Mary was a disgrace. Plus, Pete Carroll has always been a disgrace and it would be really sweet to beat him.
A Packers vs. Seahawks playoff matchup is what makes football awesome.
I’m getting all fired up just thinking about it. I need to calm down.
On to the stock report:
Rising
Aaron Rodgers
Welcome back to the rising category, sir. Please stay a while. At least through the first Sunday in February.
Sam Shields Who put a quarter in Sam Shields? He’s like my little nieces and nephews when it’s time to open Christmas presents, all fired up and just attacking everything in sight. This aggression and emotion was nowhere to be found last season. Just like it makes me smile to see my little nieces and nephews tear into their presents, seeing Shields make picks and get to the QB on blitzes also makes me grin from ear to ear. Read more...(550 words + 1 image, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)
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)
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)
Packers Drive Rewind is a new weekly post I hope to do for the rest of the season. That’s the goal, anyway. With the holidays coming up, I might not have time, or I just might forget. You never know.
Anyway, I want to take one key drive from each game and break it down with some film and my own thoughts. I’m not doing this to lecture everyone or prove how much I know about X’s and O’s. I just want to talk football. I did something similar last week.
If you think my observations are off the mark, or you have additional insight to add, please do so in the comments section. We have a lot of very knowledgeable readers on this site and I always enjoy their perspective on some of the more nuanced aspects of the game.
(Note: It’s hard to see numbers on some of the Lions players. My apologies if I mix up a few players.)
Here we go:
The Situation Fourth quarter. Packers 17, Lions 17. Packers ball on their own 41 with 14:49 to play.
The Result The Packers run the ball seven consecutive times, capped by a 14-yard touchdown from DuJuan Harris. The powerful drive appeared to demoralize the Lions and the Packers won 27-20. Packers fans tear off their shirts and start posing like Hulk Hogan.
Play 1: Alex Green runs left for 6 yards
Read more...(1022 words + 1 image, estimated 4:05 mins reading time)
We all knew it was going to happen; with Randall Cobb the Packers got a swiss army knife, he returns kicks, he catches passes, he runs the ball, he slices, dices and even juliennes! At some point, you knew that “Wild Cobb” was going to show up somewhere and the Packers were going to get him to lob the ball (I know they did this last year, but that was more of an option pass). Well apparently the Vikings were the team to get the first shot at some Cobb trickeration and the results were pretty comical at best, but what exactly happened and what went wrong?
The Situation: It’s the 3rd quarter with 6:19 left on the clock and the Vikings are desperately holding onto a 1 point lead. It’s second and five after a five yard Alex Green run and the Packers need to get a touchdown or get into field goal range (though who knows what qualifies for field goal range for Mason Crosby at the moment) in order to keep the game the game close.
The Formation: The Packers come out in a 2-2-1 formation (2WR-2TE-1RB) with WR Greg Jennings (85) split right and WR James Jones (89) in the left slot, TE Tom Crabtree (83) and TE DJ Williams (84) are also aligned in the left slot forming a trips bunch look with WR Jones. On the offensive line, with TJ Lang out, undrafted rookie Don Barclay (67) is out at right tackle, followed by RG Josh Sitton (71), C Jeff Saturday (63), LG Evan Dietrich-Smith (62) and LT Marshall Newhouse (74). Read more...(866 words + 8 images, estimated 3:28 mins reading time)
Morgan Burnett accepted an early Christmas present from Christian Ponder with this interception in the end zone. (Photo from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
This week’s Packers Stock Report features something that’s never happened before in stock report history.
I won’t spoil it in the intro. Read the stock report and let me know your thoughts in the comments section.
NOTE: For expanded coverage, listen to the Packers Stock Report Podcast (links below)…
Rising
Mason Crosby
The struggling kicker made some progress in digging himself out of a very deep hole by nailing three out of four field goals, including a 47-yarder in the third quarter and a 31-yarder that gave the Packers a nine-point lead late in the fourth. This is a major step in the right direction for Crosby. Mike McCarthy has made it clear that Crosby is his kicker and it’s good to see signs of progress.
Morgan Burnett The safeties had a rough time against the Giants and if you just look at tackling against the Vikings, they were bad once again. Burnett had two missed tackles that played a role in Adrian Peterson gaining an extra 122 yards, but I’m still putting Burnett as a riser. Peterson is the best running back of this generation, and I don’t think it’s all that close. Missing tackles on him is frustrating, but it happens. Burnett made up for it by picking off Christian Ponder twice, including an athletic takeaway when guarding Kyle Rudolph that brought back memories of Nick Collins. Read more...(846 words + 1 image, estimated 3:23 mins reading time)
