It’s game day in Green Bay in January with freezing air temperature and a devoted fan base ready to watch the Seattle Seahawks come get wrecked in a stadium they have had trouble winning in lately — Lambeau Field. The only thing sweeter than watching the Vikings being eliminated from the playoffs yesterday… is watching the Packers win at Lambeau to continue their Super Bowl run.
With the Vikings’ defeat, combined with the Titans’ victory over the Baltimore Ravens, the AFC side is now down to Titans, Chiefs, and Texans. The Packers just need to overcome the Seahawks and the 49ers, who defeated them handily this season, to go up against AFC’s best. However, one thing that probably excites us all, is the fact that Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are no longer contenders this season.
The opportunity is ripe for QB Aaron Rodgers to lead to Packers to another Super Bowl to end a season that has already surprised even the most optimistic of observers. Today is the day for Brian Gutekunst’s lavish off-season spending on the defense to shine and keep Seahawks QB Russell Wilson from establishing any sort of rhythm. The Smiths and Adrian Amos have a massive spot light on them to perform in this game.
A Few Things You Should Know
Green Bay is 6-1 in the divisional round of the playoffs when playing at home
The last playoff game between Packers/Seahawks was the NFC Championship in 2014 which resulted in a Seattle win in overtime 28-22
The All-time record between the Packers and Seahawks at Lambeau Field is 9-1
The Packers remain mostly healthy with the following listed as Questionable: DL Kenny Clark, DL Tyler Lancaster, FB Danny Vitale, and RB Dexter Williams
Weather Forecast:
Statistical Comparison – Packers vs Seahawks:
League Rankings:
Injury Reports:
Game Information
Who: Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks
When: 5:40 PM (CT)
Where: Lambeau Field — Green Bay, Wisconsin
Television: NFL on FOX — Joe Buck / Troy Aikman
Radio: WTMJ – Live Feed
Click Here to Download the Dope Sheet – Packers vs Seahawks [PDF]
This game is going to come down to the Packers pass rush. Packers were first in the NFL in pressure rate at 33%. Russell Wilson had the fourth lowest yards per attempt under pressure at 4.8. If there was an area he struggled, it was under pressure. I think the offense will be ok in this game, and do just enough, and the defense carries them if they do win.
I’m with you on the pass rush theory. I think most QB’s will struggle under pressure.
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I also believe that the defense will likely have to be a deciding factor in the games outcome. But considering the high draft picks through the years devoted to the defense, coupled with the defensive free agent spending spree (all at the expense of the offense) maybe after all these years it’s the defense’s turn.
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Although i’d like to say that Rodgers make’s a statement and decides the game, i can’t. I can’t because when i do i have visions of (off throws) dropped passes, receivers slowing up,etc. I’m sure Seattle will focus on Adams and will slide a safety to help cover him. Hopefully that helps open up the field for Jones,Williams and Lazard in the pass game, maybe even Jimmy. Send MVS out as a deep threat, but they have to go to him 2 or 3 times to keep the threat real, hopefully he can come down with one.
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One thing is certain…i’m going to enjoy the game, win or lose (house money). I always (feared) worried about the team embarrassing themselves to the highest degree in big games under the watch of McCarthy, Capers and Ted for good reason.
I still worry, but i worry far less under LeFleur and Pettine.
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Lets hope for a great, hard fought game through 4 quarters that does our Packer team and Packer Nation proud!
lol. Kurt Warner now back tracking on his predicted Seahawks victory from earlier in the week on the Dan Patrick Show. What a joke! Now predicts Packers will win. Are you sure Kurt? Are you “experts” now getting scared that your 4th Super Bowl favorite, the Chiefs are about to go down and don’t want to look clueless again?
Don’t look now…24-21
Chiefs…8 plays..3 TD’s
lol, unreal man.
Now more Packers are questionable with the flu including Bulaga.
Also, I am concerned that the Seahawks have knocked out 3-4 quarterbacks this season and injured one more though he came back in to play.
If the hawks had Carson and penny available I would pick them as my super bowl favorites at this point..however they lost thei identity when those two went down.
Unless metcalf goes straight vintage giants plaxico (which could happen) Seahawks dont have much of a chance.
Man did I love watching Pete Carroll throw a tantrum at the end there. Especially after another terrible Fail Fumble at the beginning of the game.
Dear Matt LaFleur,
Thank you sooooo much for putting the look of pain on whiny bitch Pete Carroll’s annoying gum chomping face. After Green Bay was absolutely hosed on the fumble call, the refs gave GB a TD and a 1st down as payback for his years of bullshit calls and celebrations. And please ask the refs WTF is additional footage after you say a call stands? We have never heard that before today. Thank you for playing Aaron Jones too, he’s pretty good.
No matter what happens next week, that fucker Carroll couldn’t whine his way yo a W this time.
Signed,
All Packer Fans
to a W I mean.
Winning ugly, again. I guess we’ll happily take that… But playing like that we will get steamrolled by the 49ers. Damn! Defense took the second half off. They couldn’t get off the field. Offense didn’t help either, going three-and-out quickly and often, further gassing our defense out. Our runs – inside or outside- got stonewalled time and again. So, I’m OK with not handing it off to Jones under the circumstances, which is hard for some people to grasp. “See? When we handz it of to Jonez zirty timez we winz”. But seriously, in the running game our OL was getting beaten like rented mule. And we also had a couple of hiccups in pass pro, where a delayed blitzer would be on an unblocked path to level Rodgers. And what’s with those bootlegs that invariably resulted in throwaways?? We lucked out on those 3rd downs, but getting to 3rd and long repeatedly is not a consistent way to 1st downs. In fact, those lucky throws were vintage-Rodgeresque. Adams played a great game, and dare I say, our victory is entirely due to SEA not finding a way to fully clamp down Adams. Kumerow had a bad drop, but saw few targets. Molasses Jimmy made his share of drive-saving catches, and Kumerow and Sternberger had nice blocks for Jones in the first half. Allison caught one of the drive-saving passes as well.
The illness that spread in the locker room may account for the players being tired by the 3rd qt, desperately clinging on to the early lead. Otherwise, the shorter practices instituted by MLF are consistent with less soft-tissue injuries due to overtraining, but can also mean players can’t sustain four quarters worth of playing time.
Our guys looked morally defeated, with SEA having all the momentum and the killer mentality, with us just going through the motions. Had we not gotten the last lucky 1st down, Wilson would have scored on our beaten defense, that bad we were playing and that high was SEA’s morale.
Wow
Wow. Maybe don’t watch next week, eh?
Yea….way too many 3rd and longs, most 6 yards or more. But lets give some credit to converting 9-14. Call it lucky if you will…i’ll call it getting the job done. We may or may not win next week, but you enjoy the ride. I’m still of the belief that this is a learning season. If this defense can improve a bit, and Rodgers gets some additional talent on the outside, this team is on the come up back to being legit contenders. Feels funny to say that from a team that is 14-3 this season. I’m just happy that, except for a weak 3rd quarter, this team stepped up and i’m proud of them.
Are the folks in the production booth told to get the cameras on Pete? Are they paid off? Jeeeezus please. He gets more face time than any other person involved in one of these games. In any NFL game! I am so glad to see this win just for the look of disappointment on that gum smacking face.
It is a fumble, but an inconclusive recovery? Additional footage? What the hell is going on here?
Great win. Never in my wildest dreams of August would someone have convinced me we’d be watching the Packers in the NFCCG. This is cool. In the other thread I posted that we’ve been down the road already with SF. Hopefully the motivation from that loss gets them to play their absolute best. I have no illusions, 12 is still always looking for 17 way too often and all those other problems already mentioned by others in the course of the last several games. But here we are.
Wait until next week when Mike Shanahan gets face time every other play.
That dude STILL irks me from SB 32. Maybe he has some sort of super bluetooth device to weigh in an assist his kid.
Well….when you lose, that face time goes down to zero, in a hurry.
But hey… there’s something not even the 9ers can take away. This was a nice 2014NFCCG payback! Look at it this way: SEA has already beaten the 9ers once. I’m sure they thought they could leave GB with the W to think about SF again, as they had already beaten them, plus a possible meetup with the Chiefs. But somehow we stood on their way, and they will watch the CG on ESPN.
I called it pretty close. Called a 6 point victory (won by 5). Wilson would beat them for big plays with feet, but just not enough. I watch these Seahawks, and Wilson in particular, and can’t help but think the Packers and Rodgers a while back. Wilson has talent at receiver, but that’s about it. Wilson is probably the the MVP in the league, he creates so much of the offense despite a poor offensive line. The defense isn’t all that great. That is this league, it is incredibly difficult to sustain excellence. Let’s be honest, if the Seahawks don’t have Russell Wilson and have a league average QB, they probably don’t make the playoffs. Hats off to him for his play tonight.
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I have harped on Jimmy Graham and called for him to be taken off the field several times, questioning what exactly he brings to the offense. He got it done tonight in some big spots. He is limping to the finish line of his career, and wouldn’t be surprised if he retires after the season. He did come up fairly big tonight, and for that, I do have to give respect. Also, I felt that was the best game Rodgers has played in months. Came at a good time. I kind of wish he wouldn’t have brought it up post game, but he was right, what was Davante Adams thinking going out of bounds on that third down reception? That was a ballsy play that I didn’t necessarily love, but LaFleur put a lot of trust in Rodgers and it paid off, because if that throw isn’t completed, we may very well be talking about a defeat right now. Great team win though, even though the defense faltered for a a quarter. They got it done when they needed to.