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The Packers defense, grinding out another win on Sunday night. (Photo from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Like many of you who are reading this, I had to go out and shovel snow before the Packers game on Sunday night.

Notice how I said shovel. Not blow or push with a skid loader. Shovel.

I refuse to get a snow blower. I’m 31 years old. I’m more than capable of operating a shovel. I see way too many men under the age of 35 using snow blowers and skid loaders for snow removal these days. Further evidence of the downfall of society, I say.

A shovel is reliable. You don’t need to worry about it not starting after a blizzard.

A shovel is low maintenance. You don’t have to worry about filling it with gas, changing its oil or taking it in for a tune-up.

A shovel is inexpensive. You can pick up a good snow shovel for a couple bucks at just about any store.

A shovel is a great teaching tool. If you have kids, making them shovel snow builds character.

A shovel can be used as a weapon if someone attacks you, or if a Bears fan starts talking trash.

The Packers are a team of shovels right now. We all want them to be the latest fancy model of snow blower, but they’re not. And that’s just fine.  Read more... (665 words + 1 image, estimated 2:40 mins reading time)

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Packers DL Ryan Pickett made some stylish plays on Sunday against the Lions.

Kevin Seifert had the following headline on his ESPN NFC North Blog post following the Packers 24-20 win over the Lions on Sunday: “Packers: Substance of 2012 > Style of 2011.”

Kevin went on to write how the Packers grind-it-out victories over the last five weeks might be more impressive and have them better prepared for the postseason than the string of blowout wins they had en route to a 15-1 finish in 2011.

For the record, I agree with Kevin. His post was spot-on. I just didn’t care for the headline.

The Packers had plenty of substance in 2011. You don’t go 15-1 on style alone.

And the Packers have had plenty of style so far in 2012. It’s just a different style than what we saw last season.

To casual football fans, style means long passes, beautiful catches, ankle-breaking runs and exciting punt/kick returns. Those are the plays that make Sports Center and go viral on the Internet.

The more hardcore football fans appreciate those types of plays as well, but also find plenty of style in other areas of the game.

To me, this third-and-goal play from Sunday highlights the type of style that hardcore fans appreciate and the type of stylish play that the Packers have been coming up with over the last five games.

A touchdown there gives the Lions a 7-0 lead and the Packers young and beat-up defense probably hangs its head a bit. Who knows where the game goes from there.  Read more... (531 words + 1 image, estimated 2:07 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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Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers celebrate after a Tom Crabtree TD against the Arizona Cardinals.

Coming into the season, there were a couple stretches that appeared difficult on the Packers’ schedule.

The first tough part of the Packers’ schedule began on opening weekend, while the second challenging stretch figured to be coming out of the bye week.

In week one, the San Francisco 49ers came to Lambeau Field and controlled the game from the kickoff, as the 49ers’ stout defense completely shut the Packers down. The Packers were 0-1, and the schedule didn’t get any easier.

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The Packers were, again, playing at home in week two. This time, against a hungry and much-improved Chicago Bears team. Tramon Williams caught as many passes as Brandon Marshall, and defensive coordinator Dom Capers continued his dominance against Jay Cutler, confusing the Bears quarterback into four interceptions and a 28.2 passer rating.

Now back to .500, the Packers traveled to Seattle to play the Seahawks on Monday Night Fotoball. The Seattle crowd was, as usual, extremely loud, helping the Seahawks blow past the Packers’ offensive line for a season-high eight sacks. We all know how the game ended–the Packers won the game…except they didn’t.  Read more... (1304 words + 4 images, estimated 5:13 mins reading time)

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Around the NFC North in week 9

Week 9 brings us to the start of the 2012 season’s second half.  Quick trivia:  Which is the NFL’s only division with three teams over .500?  You’re correct if you guessed the NFC North.  Let’s dive into the matchups around the division this week.

Chicago Bears (6-1) at Tennessee Titans (3-5)

The Bears are rolling, the Titans are not.  About the only thing in Tennessee’s favor this week is that it’s a home game.

The Bears narrowly escaped with a home win over Carolina while Tennessee came up just short against the Indianapolis Colts in overtime.  As the saying goes, good teams find a way to win and Chicago keeps doing it week after week.  They find themselves alone in 1st place atop the NFC North.

Tennessee has had solid play from backup QB Matt Hasselbeck in place of injured Jake Locker.  Hasselbeck will start Sunday against the Bears.  Unfortunately, Hasselbeck is the only Titans player who has played well consistently and the team has not been able to string consecutive wins together.

Titans RB Chris Johnson has flashed some of his vintage self lately, but not enough to put the team on his back.  The Bears are giving up a stingy 77 yards/game rushing and Johnson will be the focal point of their defensive game plan.  Read more... (1779 words + 3 images, estimated 7:07 mins reading time)

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Around the NFC North in week 7

Let’s take a look at the matchups at hand in week 7 and around the NFC North.

Detroit Lions (2-3) at Chicago Bears (4-1)

The Chicago Bears come off their bye week and host the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football.  The Bears will have had 15 days rest and since their last live action.  Chicago has not lost at home this season and have won two of the last three matchups vs. the Lions.

The Lions are coming off an overtime win at Philadelphia in which they tied the game late in the 4^th quarter to force the extra frame.  The win ended a three-game losing streak.

This game has the makings of a good heavyweight fight.  The Lions bring in the 2^nd ranked offense to face the Bears and their 3^rd ranked defense.  The Lions have the NFL’s 2^nd most potent passing attack, averaging 319 yards/game while the Bears are giving up 225 passing yards/game.  The Bears are surrendering just over 65 rushing yards/game while the Lions offense averages just over 99 yards/game on the ground.

If the Bears plan to shut down the run and force Lions QB Matthew Stafford to throw it, they will need to get pressure on Stafford and try to bait him into throwing a few up for grabs.  They should have their chances.  In a single game this season, Stafford has attempted as many as 51 passes with his fewest being 32.  As many attempts as he has had, Stafford is not finding the end zone with much consistency.  He has zero multi-TD games this season.  Read more... (1310 words + 3 images, estimated 5:14 mins reading time)

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Around the NFC North

We head into week 5 and thus begins the 2nd quarter of the 2012 season.  A season that has already brought plenty of interesting story lines in the NFC North.  There’s the 3-1 Minnesota Vikings who have decisive wins against San Francisco and Detroit Lions on the road to at least raise the question of whether or not they can contend.

The Chicago Bears continue to roll with a big win on Monday Night at Dallas and not-so-surprising are the antics of Bears QB Jay Cutler on the sideline.

The Lions, who were thought by many to be strong contenders in the division have underwhelemd so far and limp into their bye week on a 3 game losing streak.

The reigning divsion champion Green Bay Packers seemingly turned things around last week with a tough win at home against the still-winless New Orleans Saints and evened their record at 2-2.

With the Lions off this week, let’s look at the upcoming games for the Vikings, Packers and Bears

Tennessee Titans (1-3) at Minnesota Vikings (3-1)

The Vikings return home to face the Tennessee Titans after handing Head Coach Leslie Frazier his first divisional win since taking over the team late in the 2010 season.  Hard to fathom:  1^st divisional win in almost 2 years!  But that’s how much the Vikings had fallen off since their NFC Championship game appearance after the 2009 season.  Read more... (2170 words + 3 images, estimated 8:41 mins reading time)

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