Seattle Week

Impressive that Rodgers rating is so high despite having 4 playoff losses. 

Article on mid-season adjustments to Packer defense. MM appears to have handled it just right.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/green-...-the-packers-defense

 

In Seahawks country this week for work and it is unbelievable the level of confidence they have in their team and how nobody thinks the Packers have a chance. 

I keep hearing all of these references to the game 1 beat down but are Seattle fans truly that obtuse?

No Sherrod or Brad Jones, Lacy isn't concussed, Dahvante Adams replaces Boykin as the #3, and the last time I checked Packer killer Percy Harvin isn't on the Hawks roster. 

Rodgers isn't 100% and that sucks but I have a feeling GB is going to play all out and give these fools a run for their money

What Tschmack said. Seems like the Falcons had similar arrogance before that showdown. Unlikely we'll beat the Hawks down like that, but Rodgers has a pretty good record with a chip on his shoulder.

 

Maybe the Home Opener loss was just a "Rope-A-Dope." I'll always remember the fierce look Ali had on his face when he sensed Foreman was ready and he came off the ropes and just started pummeling him.

Audio:

Ian Furness Show with Doug Farrar

(start at 2:48 to skip all the pleasantries and get to the relevent discussion.  Everything after 19:00 is also fluff.)

Posted Thursday, January 15th 2015 @ 6pm

 

The writer for Sports Illustrated joined Ian and Puck to discuss the NFC Championship between the the Seahawks and Packers, new head coaching positions and the jobs still open.

Can't reccomend this enough.  Well worth the listen. 

 

New on SI: A really long All-22 piece on how the two road dogs can pull off upsets on Championship Sunday http://t.co/F69sVErndL

— Doug Farrar (@SI_DougFarrar) January 15, 2015

Time for the Wizard to grab a rocking chair and do scheme consulting.

But he's still Aaron F. Rodgers.

 

 

That's the X factor

Rodgers excels when he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder and this week it's a boulder

Cue up the "it's not revenge he's seeking - it's a reckoning" mantra

Interesting when you listen to Richard Sherman's comments leading up to the game.  I have never seen him this humble and the amount of praise he's giving  Rodgers and his ability.  That tells me something.  I think 25 knows they are in for a battle.

quote:

Rodgers (7-4 in playoffs)

7-4 after Sunday. 

quote:

I keep hearing all of these references to the game 1 beat down but are Seattle fans truly that obtuse?

Yes.  Yes they are.

Good article. MM not only handled it right, but it seems he saved the season. Without his getting involved and giving direction, we would probably be watching with no stake in it. It seems the players have a lot of respect for MM stepping in when a lot of guys wouldn't want an offensive-minded coach in the D room. MM doesn't get enough credit outside of GB for the job he does.

Bert on Mike & Mike in about 15 minutes.

Let's see ........... a review of all the SURE things that were suppose to happen that didn't:

1) The Titanic was suppose to be unsinkable.  A big enough hole in the hull proved differently.

2) The Germans bragged how the Bismark was suppose to be unsinkable.  Enough torpedoes along it length put in on the bottom on the first voyage.

3) The Baltimore Colts were suppose to walk all over the NY Jets in SB 3.  Yes, before the formal merger, the Colts were in Baltimore and part of the then NFL and the Jets were part of of the AFL.  The only question was by how much would the Colts win by being favored by as much as 17 points.  We all know that turned out. 

4) A quote from a Packer fan co-worker after the Packers 18 penalty game vs the Bears in 2010 - "The Packers will never win a SB with MM as head coach". It is still fun going back and reading his emails.  But that quote was delivered in person. 

 

And now we face 'the Packers have no shot - stay home and don't show up' (my paraphrase).  All I have to say is be careful of what you are so sure of - the reality is usally different.

The Seahawks fans to me are going up on my hate scale almost as much as Vikings fans.  If you read and hear their comments you would think the Packers are the 1976 Buccaneers going up against the greatest football team ever put together. 

You are right this team is so vastly different than the week 1 version it is crazy. They have a pretty darn good defense but that offense just doesn't scare me that much.  Sure Lynch is a beast and Wilson can make plays but who else scares us on offense?  I like our defense in this one as well because I think our CB's can cover one on one with Seattle's receivers and we can stack the box more to stop the run.  Seahags fans think this one will be a blowout but I really expect a close low scoring game that is won when AR hits Cobb in the endzone with under a minute to play.

Thanks to you I was able to avoid him.

I avoid Mike and Mike all the time.  It's not that hard.

It's not just Percy Harvin - people rip on Golden Tate (rightfully so) but he's a pretty decent 2nd option and IMO better than either Baldwin or Kearse.   This years version of the Seattle offense is nowhere near as good as last year. 

Defensively they are still very good but again, they are not on the same level as last season.

Seattle thrives on creating turnovers and sacks and they are built for speed but they have not faired well against teams that line up and punch you in the mouth.  KC and SD and Dallas did just that and SF was competitive they just turned the ball over too damn much.

I am going to be really interested to see what GB does to start the game.   Conventional wisdom says they RTFB but with the pistol look they have a lot of options to change up.   I would also make sure Cobb lines up in the slot and get Chancellor or Wagner or one of those guys to pass defend.   The Seattle D covers centerfield pretty well but can be had on underneath routes and RAC.

If only we had beaten Buffalo. That offensive line is so much better at home.  We would destroy these punks at Lambeau.

I live out here too and I can verify that I have never heard this level of blatant disrespect given to a Seahawks opponent.  The Seahawks are rightfully favored in my opinion, due to the Packers repeated poor road performances this year.  But they aren't even a little bit worried that Rodgers could have a good game and end it all.

Rodgers sucks. He has no chance against the Seahawks.

Rodgers is important, we all know that. But IMO the key is the defense. They have to tackle better and limit Wilson's ability to extend drives. If they do this consistently Packers will win.

Their offense is scarier than people think because of Wilson. He's the Joe Montana/Steve Young of this generation only with better running ability. He's smart and isn't easily pressured. Any other QB on this team, even including good QB's like Rivers or Flacco and this is a below average offense. With Wilson they are scary on every play,

 

The Seattle defense has the best secondary in football and a middle linebacker in Wagner who can take over a game. In week 1 watching Wagner attacking vs. Hawk backing up and piling on it was clear that we weren't in their league. This is a truly scary defense which at almost every position, aside from maybe Mathews and Daniels, is better than our D. 

 

But... we will win this game because Rodgers is the best player on the planet -- one sick calf or even with a herd of sick calves. I think back to at least two examples of Rodgers destroying supposedly invincible defenses and it becomes easier to believe; against SC (with Pete Carroll) at the height of their supremacy, he lost, but completed 23 straight passes. Than in the SB, against the vaunted Pittsburg D, he was slinging pin point lasers to Jordy and Jennings and made it look easy.

 

The NFL is a QB league.

The 4 best QB's are still in the playoffs. 

 

But we have the best onet!!

 

My key factors... 

                           1) O line has to give Rodgers 3 to 4 seconds

                           2) Receivers have to fight through the muggings that the refs will allow.

                           3) keep Hawk a spectator

And Brad Jones

I think this game is won or lost by the Packers' offensive line.  The reality is Rodgers is injured and while he can still outthrow any QB in the league, that's only possible if he remains upright or only tilted a little bit.

And protect the ball Lacy and Starks.  Can't get butter fingers when you start grinding it out.

If you're scared, get a dog

 

MM did save the season by getting involved more with the D.

 

I will say that Brad Jones was replaced as a starter pretty much after game 1 in Seattle. However, the D continued to really struggle.

 

It was not until the bye and after the Saints (yes the terrible Saints) blew us out and Mark Ingram ran for nearly 200 yards that Clay was moved to the middle and Hawk took a seat on the bench.

 

With Barrington and Clay in the middle, the D has improved tremendously. Can't agree more with everyone who hopes to see very little of Brad Jone and AJ Hawk on Sunday.

I sure the hell hope this game doesn't come down to ST blocking for a winning FG.  If that's the case, the entire oline better be on the field.

both Sitton and Lang have returned to the ST line up on kicks

Rodgers will lose this game by himself. Worst QB ever.

Sitton and Bulaga were the two ends versus Dallas.

MM Friday presser. Sound like it was a classic.

@jasonjwilde: #Packers injury report:
Probable: DE Josh Boyd (ankle), RB Eddie Lacy (knee), LG Josh Sitton (toe), QB Aaron Rodgers (calf).

 

@RobDemovsky: McCarthy: Aaron's getting ready to play. Everything's on schedule. 

 

@WesHod: MM on schedule: We'll work here until 2. We'll leave for Seattle at 4 p.m.

 

@RobDemovsky: McCarthy: We will have some work to do on the field (in Seattle tomorrow). Have a couple options based on the weather. Decide in the morning.

 

@RobDemovsky: McCarthy on 7-pt underdogs: We're not allowed to participate in gambling, sign in locker room says. I grew up in a bar, I know how it works.

 

@WesHod: MM: Everybody identifies how important this game is. I'm a fan of real drama. What football gives you. Made-up drama I'm not a fan of.

bottom line, we're screwed. 

http://www.footballoutsiders.c...championship-preview

 

“Here's one thing I didn't mention above, because it applies to both teams on both sides of the ball. The Seahawks this year, on both offense and defense, played better after halftime. The Packers, on both offense and defense, played worse after halftime.”

 

The article from Football Outsiders is interesting, but like most stat-based assessments, it misses the mark way too often. It has value, but without context its just masturbation or propaganda as mentioned by Henry

 

In the quoted statement above, the authors fail to note that in several/many of the Packers games this season, the game was over at halftime. That both the offense and defense shut it down in the 2nd half isn't surprising - except if you only look at stats in a vacuum

 

It also fails to note that in the case of Seattle- they were either behind or still close to their opponents in the 2nd half requiring them to continue to strive for a win till the end

 

2nd half, Seahawks vs Raiders it was 24-17... with 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter

start of the 4th vs Carolina it was... 17-10

start of the 4th quarter vs SF...  10-7

start of the 4th quarter vs Rams... 6-6

start of the 4th quarter vs the lindley-led Cards... 14-6

 

The Packers started fast and obliterated their opponents early and often

The Seahawks struggled early and wore down their opponents late

 

you know, mm is starting to sound a little confident about winning this game, did anybody tell him he's not suppose to do that?

Fuller version of MM presser, from JSO: 

(Injury report) No changes. Everyone is listed as probable, including Eddie Lacy with the knew sore knee from Thursday.

(Rodgers) Aaron is getting ready to play. Looks good. We have some meetings going on, we still have some work in the CRIC we have to do. But everything is on schedule.

(Rodgers has better feel for what he can do on the calf?) I would think so. The specifics of that will be determined with the surface and things like that. It will be important to get on the field in the pre-game and get comfortable.

(What is the schedule for the rest of the day?) We will be working here probably until 2, and then we will leave for Seattle at 4 p.m.

(How does Eddie Lacy feel today) Looks good to me, walking in and out of meetings. He'll be ready to play.

(Still have your walkthrough as usual Saturday in Seattle) Yes. We will have some work to do on the field. We've got a couple of locations we're looking at, you know, based on the weather. We'll have to make that decision in the morning.

(What do you think of the odds - Seattle is favored by a touchdown. Ever use that as motivation? Do you talk about it?) We're not allowed to participate in gambling - there's a big sign outside of the locker room I'm sure you've all read. Trust me, I grew up in the bar business - I understand how this stuff works. But it's really no focus of ours, regardless of where you come out on the spread. We pay attention to the video, and like I said at the beginning of the week, we are very confident in this opportunity.

(What is the mood like now compare to a typical week?) A lot of energy. That's something that builds as your confidence builds as a football team. So, a lot of energy, a lot of confidence. But it is important to keep your process the same. The schedule today is a little different. We started earlier, because of us leaving for Seattle. You try to keep the same type of flow that you go through each and every week. Because at the end of the day its about getting ready to win.

(TJ Lang) He's big for us on the field and in the locker room. He is one of the team leaders.

(The quad) It is a personnel group. We are one player or two different. We use a lot of packages. He doesnt see it as something that flat out failed.

(The schedule of leaving now) Making the adjustment of leaving a day early is a big deal. You want to make the routine as normal as possible. Change isn't always best for a football team.

(Packers low turnovers) Could be good coaching. (He smirks).

(Loose team) It is important to be the way you always are. Change in talk, dress means the flow is off.

(Drama) In classic Mike McCarthy form, he talks about how he isn't in to the fake drama. He likes the real stuff - within the actual game. I will have to give you more on this later. But McCarthy is not wound up or uptight today, he's loose and in a good mood and seems to be enjoying even this (media obligations).

(John Schneider) Very good at what he does. He's passionate. Has a vision and is able to deliver on it and creative.

McCarthy, confident and loose. How often do we hear how a teams personality is an extension of their coach / leaders?

 

 

The more the talking heads pick/praise SEA and the closer it gets to the game the more Carroll will start gripping with the pressure to live up to the expectations.

The Seattle Sphincters, coached by one of the biggest assholes in history

Grantland Preview

I think McCarthy knows something bedwetters don't...