Merry Christmas! Packers Sweep Bears, Clinch Home Field...

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas. I know I did. It's always nice to see the Packers beat da Bears, especially when it's in convincing fashion. And it's even better when that victory comes with home field advantage in the playoffs. Now the road to Super Bowl XLVI goes through Green Bay. Here's my analysis of the Packers' 35-21 victory on Sunday night:

Things I Liked

Aaron Rodgers - He looked sharp again. Throwing for 280+ yards and 5 TDs. It was good to see that last week was a fluke.

Jordy Nelson - Jordy has been consistent this year and it was good to see him step up and grab a couple more TDs. We will need him to be productive to be successful in the playoffs.

James Jones - Jones looked great on Sunday. Grabbing 2 touchdowns and making catches in big spots. I believe this is what my blogging counterpart was thinking Jones would look like at the beginning of the season.

Offensive Line - The offensive line kept Rodgers clean all night. They only gave up 1 sack and it was in garbage time when Matt Flynn was in the game in the 4th quarter. Kudos to them for a great showing against a tough defense.

Special Teams - The coverage unit along with Tim Masthay and Mason Crosby bottled up Devin Hester. It was as if he was wearing Under Armor shoes...

Things I Did Not Like

Defense - The defense gave up over 400 yards again. Against a team with a bad offense who started their 3rd string RB and QB. The tackling was atrocious, there was no pass rush, and aside from 2 INTs the coverage was pretty bad too. I am really hoping that Capers has something up his sleeve to give us a shot in the playoffs.

JerMichael Finley - With the emergence of Tight End prominence in the NFL, there were high expectations for Finley coming into the 2011 season. He has not lived up to them. Coming into the game against the Bears, Finley had 11 dropped passes. I'm sure he recorded at least another 2 on Sunday. I don't doubt that Finley is an elite prospect and has the potential to be the best TE in the game, but he needs to work on his concentration. If he makes the catches that he needs to in big spots, the Packers may have still been undefeated and Finley may have a spot on the Pro Bowl roster. But as it stands now, his contract status is in question, and he is one of the leading players in the league in drops. We need him to step up in the absence of Jennings.

Overall it was a good game. The offense was in sync for the first time in a few weeks. Next week - a meaningless game against the Lions. Will the Packers play to win or rest their starters? That is the question. Go PACK!

Packers Embarrassed by Lowly Chiefs...Fall to 13-1

The first loss of the Packers' season came when nobody was expecting it. We had heard predictions of the Lions being the first and then the Giants and later the Raiders. But none of these were up to the task. No, it was the 5-8 Kansas City Chiefs that welcomed the challenge of facing an undefeated Packers' team. Less than a week after firing their head coach, and starting a recently acquired QB off of waivers the Chiefs looked more prepared, more motivated, and like the better team on Sunday afternoon. The Packers looked flat, unfocused, confused, and sloppy. It was embarrassing. Here's my analysis:

Things I Liked

Tim Masthay - Masthay was the one bright spot in the Packers' debachal of a game in Kansas City. He boomed every punt (he had several opportunities) and one even went for a career best 71 yards!

Things I Didn't Like

Aaron Rodgers - For the first time all season Rodgers completed less than 50% of his passes. He finished with an 80 QB rating. With the exception of the 2 TD drives, he looked nervous in the pocket, out of sync, off target, and had trouble finding open receivers.

Offensive Line - The o-line was beaten up badly. Even before the injuries started, they couldn't protect Rodgers. They opened some nice holes for Ryan Grant to run, but the Packers didn't run the ball that often. Then the injuries started. First Bulaga left witha knee sprain, then his replacement (Derek Sherrod) left for the season with a broken leg. This could be a HUGE problem for the remainder of the season and playoffs. Maybe Mark Tauscher is still available...?

Defense - The defense was not very good. Granted they came up with a handful of goal line stands, otherwise this game would have been even more lopsided, but they made the Chiefs look like a top tier offense. They couldn't tackle, they couldn't cover, and I dont remember them even getting close to Kyle Orton. In reality, the Chiefs have one of the worst offenses in the league and hadn't broken 10 points in over 3 weeks. Pathetic.

Receivers - It seemed like every time Rodgers threw a good pass, the receiver would drop it. And most of them came on 3rd downs. Finley dropped at least 3, Driver dropped 1 and so did Jones, Crabtree, and Nelson. The only player I saw catch all of the passes thrown to him was rookie Randall Cobb. This unit obviously missed Greg Jennings.

I could probably keep going with this, but it's starting to depress me. We're still 13-1 and one more win will give the Packers the 1st seed in the NFC for the playoffs. The season is not over, and if the patchwork offensive line can protect Rodgers at all then I think we will be fine for the playoffs. Jennings should return and this team has good veteran leadership and the ability to motivate itself and rebound from adversity. Up next, the Packers are at home with a chance to sweep the Bears and clinch home-field advantage. GO PACK!

Injury Updates

Greg Jennings- All of Packer Nation let out a sigh of relief when the news broke that Greg Jennings' knee injury is not severe. He is expected to be out 2-3 weeks. I personally see no reason why he should play before the Packers' 1st round playoff game (5 weeks).

Brandon Saine- Saine suffered a concussion against the Raiders and is expected to be ready to play on Sunday at Kansas City.

Ryan Pickett- Pickett is in the same boat as Saine.

Josh Sitton- Sitton is expected to return to practice this week after missing 2.5 games with a knee injury. His status is still in question for Sunday.

Chad Clifton- There is a chance that Clifton could return to practice this week. But I wouldn't get my hopes up. I expect to see Marshall Newhouse and Derek Sherrod split reps again against the Chiefs.

That's all I got. Go Pack!

Packers Stomp Raiders, Easily Move to 13-0...

The Packers quietly moved to 13-0 in the wake of the Bears collapse against the Broncos. The boys in green and gold are 1 win away from clinching home-field advantage. They have already clinched the NFC North Division Title and a 1st round bye. All it will take now is one more victory against either the Chiefs, Bears, or Lions to seal the deal. 46-16 is pretty impressive, here's my analysis:

Things I Liked

DEFENSE - I was shocked to see how well the defense played. True to their form, they picked off Palmer 4 times and forced and recovered a fumble to total 5 turnovers for the game. They also put significant pressure on Palmer, even though they were only able to record 1 sack it was enough to have an effect on the game.

RYAN GRANT - Grant looked like his old self for the first time all season recording 85 yards on 10 carries and 2 TDs. Hopefully he can be consistent and the Packers' running attack will be at full force going into the playoffs.

JORDY NELSON - Jordy has scored a touchdown in every home game so far this season. With Greg Jennings' knee in question, he will be expected to step up even more.

MASON CROSBY - Mason carried his weight yesterday by converting all of his Field Goals. It made me wish i had him on my fantasy team.

Things I Didn't Like

INJURIES - Greg Jennings and Brandon Saine were both injured in the 3rd quarter. Jennings' injury was to his left knee and could be serious. His status is still in question. Saine's looked to be concussion-like and I am not too concerned. I also noticed Ryan Pickett walking to the locker room but don't have any information on that. I noticed that McCarthy quickly pulled Rodgers after that and Matt Flynn finished the rest of the game.

The only other thing I thought i might want to write about here was the offensive line as they gave up 3 more sacks. But I noticed that Derek Sherrod (2011 1st round pick)was getting reps at Left Tackle. So this could end up being a good thing and I will hope for the best on the Packers o-line front. There you have it, my analysis. Next week the Pack travel to Kansas City to take on the now head-coachless Chiefs. GO PACK!

Last Minute Drive Inches Pack Past Giants - 12-0!

In a game that was the most nerve racking since week 1 when the Packers squeaked one out against the Saints, the Packers managed to pull through and crown themselves NFC North Division Champions. It was a sloppy game on both sides of the ball (but more on defense than offense), but the great teams always find a way to win...and the Packers have the look of a great team! Here's my analysis:

Things I Liked

Jordy Nelson - It's becoming common practice for me to include Jordy on this list. He made spectacular catches when other receivers couldn't hold onto the ball, and is becoming not only one of Aaron Rodgers' favorite targets but an elite receiver in the NFL.

Aaron Rodgers - Anyone who had doubts about Rodgers' ability to lead a last minute, game-winning drive was silenced yesterday. Aaron made it look easy, completing 4 of 4 passing to make it an easy game-winning chip-shot field goal for Mason Crosby.

Donald Driver - The old man can still play the game. He was one of the few sure-handed targets that Rodgers had in New Jersey. And he was rewarded with 2 touchdown catches. The second of which was spectacular!

Clay Matthews - In an otherwise under-whelming defensive performance, the Claymaker was the one bright spot. He returned a beautifully anticipated interception for a touchdown, and had a sack/fumble that the Packers recovered at the end of the 1st half to stifle a NYG drive.

Things I Did Not Like

Defense - Wow are they bad!!! I can't believe the Packers have won any games, much less 12 with such a pitiful defense! They can't stop the pass, they can't stop the run, and they can't tackle! It's pretty amazing to watch.

Offensive Line - Granted the Giants have one of the best defensive lines in football and the packers are playing 2 players with less than 10 games of experience on the line, but the showing was not very good. There were no holes for the running backs to run through, and Rodgers was under duress the whole game.

Mason Crosby - I know that Crosby kicked the game winner and that he hasn't had to kick many meaningful field goals this year, but the missed 47-yarder at the end of the 1st half was very makeable and Crosby needs to make that for a few reasons. #1 - it gives the packers more of a cushion going into the 2nd half. #2 - it gives the packers the momentum of being the last to score. and #3 - he's getting paid to make those field goals.

Dropped Passes - Jermichael Finley was awesome and terrible. He had some big catches and good plays and some key drops that killed us. Greg Jennings dropped a couple of key passes as well (I was surprised they ruled the 4th quarter touchdown a catch), and i believe the final total was 6 drops for the whole crew. Unacceptable.

There you have it, my thoughts. Overall, the offense was sufficient. Rodgers posted his first game of the season with a QB rating under 110 (106.2), but I put the blame on the receivers and the o-line for that. I liked Clay's intensity on defense, but the rest of the unit was lacking. I'd especially like to see BJ Raji turn it up a notch. Next up, the Oakland Raiders at Lambeau. GO PACK!

McNabb being released. No, not from prison

A source says that today the Minnesota Vikings will release QB Donovan McNabb. McNabb has been way less than stellar this season. He was replaced early in the year by rookie Christian Ponder.

The rumor mill believes that Donovan's hometown Bears may be a likely destination.

I believe that McNabb is washed up in this league, so he doesn't scare me if he gets picked up by the Bears. However, I would really like the Bears out of playoff contention, simply because I dislike them.