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Packers WR Greg Jennings is rising after Sunday’s game.

For the last three years, I’ve always been confident whenever the Packers play because they had the best player on the field.

No matter who the Packers were playing, what the score was, or how slow the Packers started, I always felt good because I knew that Aaron Rodgers played for Green Bay and would probably find a way to win the game. He was the best player on the field and the best player on the field typically comes through and leads his team to a win. Not always, but usually.

When the Packers play the Vikings in the playoffs on Saturday, Rodgers will not be the best player on the field. That title will belong to Adrian Peterson, and it scares me.

The Packers are better than the Vikings in almost every facet of the game. But as long as Peterson is carrying the ball, the Vikings will have a shot. I shouldn’t be nervous about Saturday, but I am. And it’s all because of Peterson.

Hopefully, for at least one night, Rodgers regains his best-player-on-the-field championship belt. Rodgers can then worry about getting the Packers to another Super Bowl and defending his best-player-on-the-field title next season.

On to the stock report:

Rising  Read more... (866 words + 1 image, estimated 3:28 mins reading time)

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Packers CB Tramon Williams needs to step outside his comfort zone and tackle Adrian Peterson if the Packers want to win on Saturday night.

People usually think of toughness as some intangible trait, something that can’t be measured by an actual set of skills or statistics. People also use the word toughness as an adjective, a cliche to just throw out there when they really can’t explain why their favorite team can’t make a tackle, catch a pass or win a game.

I hate using words just to use words. Words mean things. And if you use a word, it better mean something.

If the Packers want to avoid another one-and-done in the postseason and beat the Vikings on Saturday, they need to get tougher on defense. Here’s what toughness means in the Packers’ case:  Read more... (618 words + 1 image, estimated 2:28 mins reading time)

• Doing things you’re not comfortable doing. This is for Tramon Williams. I know you’re not comfortable tackling. Maybe it’s your shoulder, maybe it’s something else. Either way, you need to get tougher and tackle. Packers fans applaud your toughness when you clamp down on Calvin Johnson or Brandon Marshall. That’s great. But you’re a No. 1 cornerback. Playing the other team’s top receiver is what you’re supposed to do. True toughness comes when you take on Peterson and bring him down before he reels off another big gain on your side. Teams win championships when players do things they’re not comfortable doing and do them well.

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Packers will be chasing Adrian Peterson once again

Prior to this season, the Packers have had some success against Adrian Peterson. From 2009-2011, they’ve had at least one game where they held Peterson to under 100 yards rushing. In November of last year, their 31st ranked defense held Peterson to 51 yards. So it is possible.

Over the years, when Peterson has hurt the Packers, it’s been by bouncing runs outside after drawing everyone in. That was never more evident than today’s game.

The Packers’ defensive line actually did a very good job clogging up the middle. Raji, Pickett, Wilson, Worthy, et al caused Peterson to have to stop and look to bounce outside. When the Packers have had success stopping Peterson, there have been players outside waiting for Peterson. In last night’s game there was mostly no one.

Correction. In a few cases, Tramon Williams was there, but it was still like having no one.

All week, Mike McCarthy kept talking about how their focus was on stopping Peterson. Supposedly, they spent an unusual amount of  time in practice (for this point in the season) on tackling drills.

I really thought defensive coordinator Dom Capers would have a special plan for Peterson today.  I was sorely disappointed.  The entire Packers’ defense kept getting sucked inside, showing little positional integrity. Capers played it like Peterson was just another running back. Despite all the talk, there was nothing special for Peterson.

So what should the Packers do?  Read more... (643 words + 3 images, estimated 2:34 mins reading time)

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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)

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Packers Offensive Lineman Don Barclay

After stepping in for an injured TJ Lang at right tackle in last week’s game against the Vikings, Packers rookie Don Barclay is suddenly the subject of many questions.

Even before the Vikings game, there were calls by many to move Lang back to left guard and insert Barclay at right tackle (all without ever having seen Barclay play a single meaningful offensive snap in the NFL).

Either these folks knew something we didn’t, or blind luck shall be given the credit, as Barclay stepped in and did an adequate job. Adequate meaning he didn’t do anything fantastic, but he also didn’t do anything horrible. For his first game ever, a solid performance.

For some fans, this is enough to anoint Barclay the Packers starting right tackle for the rest of the season in place of TJ Lang, there in place of Bryan Bulaga. And so the questions start…

Packers fans have a seemingly endless unquenched thirst for information about every guy in a Green & Gold uniform -even undrafted rookie free agents no one has ever heard of before.

And that, in a sense, is why we’re here. To provide you, the insatiable Packers fan, with volumes of minutiae about your beloved Packers players.

So without further ado, we present to you Don Barclay:

Don Barclay, 6’4″, 310lbs, West Virginia University

Barclay is from Cranberry PA, about an hour outside of Pittsburgh. He was deemed too big for Pop Warner football, and didn’t start playing until just before High School.  Read more... (955 words + 3 images, estimated 3:49 mins reading time)

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The best way for the Packers to stop Adrian Peterson on Sunday was their 18-play drive in the fourth quarter.

The Green Bay Packers went on an 18-play, 73-yard drive that consumed 11 minutes to start the fourth quarter and bury the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

When the marathon drive was over, the Packers led 23-14 with 4 minutes to play. There was little hope that poor Christian Ponder could lead a miracle comeback for our Helga-horned neighbors to the west.

The Packers held the ball for so long on that drive because they looked to move the chains on third down instead of trying for the big play. On this drive, it was better for the Packers to be the tortoise than the hare.

Normally, I’m all for the Packers going deep on third down. They have the personnel to do it.

But it hasn’t been working and you can only bang your head against the wall for so long.

Let’s take a closer look at the third down plays on the game-clinching drive:

Third and 8 on GB 28
Here comes the rollout and inevitable toss 30 yards down the field, right? Wrong. Greg Jennings runs an in-route and gets just enough for the first despite juggling the catch. Nice call and a good decision by Rodgers.

Third and 2 on GB 44
Rodgers was flushed right and managed to run past the marker. It looked like he wanted to launch one downfield, but thought better of it.  Read more... (807 words + 1 image, estimated 3:14 mins reading time)

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Want to sound like an expert during the Packers – Vikings game? Whether you’re watching with friends, on a live chat or tweeting to the world, you want to sound like you know what you’re talking about right?

Hopefully, you’ve done your homework during the week, but if you’ve been lax or life just got busy – no worries. Below are some resources for you to quickly get up to speed.

All it will take is a little last-minute cramming and you can sound like an NFL analyst. Well, maybe you don’t really want that, but at least you can impress your friends and be able to accurately make fun of the NFL analysts. Read up and then enjoy the game!

Packers vs. Vikings Dope Sheet – Essential reading to get all the background information on this game.

5 Things to Watch – The quintessential “5 things” post comes to you each week from Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com.

Packers Predictions – Your weekly predictions from our panel of Packers writers at AllGBP.com.

JSOnline.com game preview – Essential reading.

NFL Films Game Preview – For you visual learners out there…

Fantasy Football view – A look at the game from a Fantasy standpoint from Acme Packing Company.

Ryan Pickett – Unsung Heroe – With Adrian Peterson looming, a feature on the Packers main run-stuffer from Rob Demovsky at Packersnews.com.  Read more... (331 words + 3 images, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)

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