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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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After Sunday afternoon’s 30-20 victory by the Green Bay Packers over the St. Louis Rams, I listened to Jason Wilde’s weekly appearance on ESPN Wisconsin’s radio show “Pack Attack.” The conversation immediately dove into a debate between Wilde, Bill Johnson, and Homer about the effectiveness of Alex Green’s rushing attempts. While he made 20 rushing attempts the entire game, Green only netted 35 yards for a 1.8 yards per carry average. His longest run was for 15 yards.

On one side of the debate was Jason Wilde, who maintained that making the attempts to run the ball was more important than their overall yards per carry. He posited that the defense’s linemen would have to account for a run, even if it wasn’t for significant yardage. That means they couldn’t just “pin their ears back” and go after the quarterback each down.

Opposing this idea was Bill and Homer, who both insisted that Green’s yards per carry was unacceptable and would need to get better in the future to ensure offensive success. They claimed that if the running game isn’t making traction, then the defense doesn’t really have to worry about it, period. (Jason Wilde eventually called them “stubborn” in their opinions.)

So which matters more – yards per carry or total rushing attempts? This really piqued my interest from a statistical standpoint, and I decided to head over to Pro-Football-Reference.com to being my research. My sample data was all games (regular season and postseason) within the past ten years (2002-2011) that matched the rushing criteria below.  Read more... (1438 words + 1 image, estimated 5:45 mins reading time)

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Jordy Nelson vs Rams – Picture by Rick Wood, JsOnline.com

Green Bay Packers vs. St. Louis Rams:

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

Inactive for Packers today:

• LB D.J. Smith
• LB Nick Perry
• CB Sam Shields
• WR Greg Jennings
• DT B.J. Raji
• OL Greg Van Roten
• RB Johnny White

Inactive for Rams today:

Game Notes:

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Mike McCarthy Pregame Show on 620 WTMJ:

Big Win: The best part is we were able to play a complete sixty minutes and excelled in all three phases of the game. Easily our best performance of the year.

Moving forward:   Consistency is a big part of our business. We’ve been able to do that in the past. it’s time for this 2012 team to do the same.

B Jones / Hayward: They both have practiced hard and are ready to go. Jones is extremely consistent and dependable and he has had a great week of practice. Casey keeps getting better with each opportunity. the game will dictate what we do but I look for both of these guys to play an important role.  Read more... (1020 words + 3 images, estimated 4:05 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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Jordy Nelson will be a focal point of the Rams defense

The Packers head to St. Louis to take on the Rams this Sunday.  Both teams are 3-3 and seem to match up evenly on paper.  Let’s take a look at the key matchups this game will bring.

Rams CB Cortland Finnegan vs. Packers WR Jordy Nelson/Randall Cobb

Finnegan has been a good free agent pick up for the Rams and is reunited with Jeff Fisher, who was Finnegan’s head coach in Tennessee.  According to ProFootballFocus, Finnegan has been targeted 40 times this season and averages just 8.8 yards/catch.

I have Finnegan matched up on both Nelson and Cobb because Finnegan is likely move over to the slot in the Rams’ nickel package.  Packers QB Aaron Rodgers passed just 29 times in last year’s game so depending on how many 4-5 wide sets the Pack use will determine who Finnegan lines up on.

In last season’s matchup between these teams, Nelson had just 2 catches but the most memorable was a 93 yard catch and run on a slant for a TD.  Of course, St. Louis didn’t have Finnegan or this same quality secondary.  Whoever Finnegan is blanketing will definitely be earning every ball caught.

With the Rams secondary needing to respect Nelson, Cobb and James Jones, one of the three should put up some good numbers.  My bet is on Cobb as it’s just plain dumb to leave Nelson one on one, even against the trusty Finnegan.  The Rams can only offer so much help over the top so they will have to pick their poison.  Read more... (1116 words + 3 images, estimated 4:28 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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