Packers game

[Tainthappening]

Well... the week is here.

Have seen Seahawks play a couple of times this year. At times Seahawks OL liked like the worst in the league and other times (like last week) a really good unit. Russell Wilson appears to be moving very well again... good for Seahawks, bad for all the opponents. Rawls looks very shifty and dangerous right now.

Packers healthier on defense (except now Clay is very limited) than they have been most of the season and playing better. However, now Rodgers has a bad hamstring so he is very limited in extending plays/getting out of the pocket (most sound somewhat familiar to Seahawks fans).

Packers really need this game to make playoffs... but I think Rawls makes the difference in close game through start of 4th and Seahawks win this one by 10 or so. Packers defense may wear down.

Best to your team no matter the outcome and hoping for no injuries to either side

 

[MrS]

If we can take advantage of the weakbpass D we could win big. Thats a big if though.

 

[JMR]

On top of Mathews being banged up, isn't GB also without Nick Perry (leading sacker) and a NT who was suspended? And I hadn't heard the news about a sore hammy for Rodgers.

The Pack seem like they're getting back on track a bit after losing 4 in a row, but this is probably a tougher test than their 2 recent wins. Seattle OL has played at an acceptable level for the most part with the normal starters in there, especially with RW's mobility back to near 100%. It was garbage @ TB, but the most important (and best) player was out and I really think it fouled it all up.

The big IF for Seattle going into this one, of course, will be how the back end holds up w/o ET. The front 4+ will have to help out by putting heat on the QB to minimize his chances to take those deep shots to challenge the backup.

I would be supremely confident if this was played in Seattle, but it's tough to go into Lambeau and win in Dec. I wonder when the last time GB was a home dog -- Hawks currently favored by 3, which is just weird to see.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

A 75% healthy AR is still very dangerous. The backfield is going to have to play lights out and maybe a few more blitzes should be dialed up is AR does have a hammy injury and his mobility is limited. Our o-line needs to be good so RW can exploit GB's secondary and hope Rawls can put up another great performance.

 

[NWPATSFAN]

A 75% healthy AR is still very dangerous. The backfield is going to have to play lights out and maybe a few more blitzes should be dialed up is AR does have a hammy injury and his mobility is limited. Our o-line needs to be good so RW can exploit GB's secondary and hope Rawls can put up another great performance.

I don't know watching AR a couple of weeks ago he had all day in the pocket and couldn't hit the side of a barn with an oar. Last week he seemed to snap out of his funk a little

 

[Uhsplit]

I think Seattle shows up and takes this game. GB has its back up against the wall and could win if Seattle doesn't play at a high level.
Good luck and no injuries

 

[Logicallylethal]

@Tainthappening - Aaron Rodgers is my favorite QB outside of Russell and Peyton.

I'm curious to know from a GB fan's standpoint how much Rodgers has changed the past two years.

I know his numbers have recovered and he's back on pace for like 39 tds and only 9 ints (which is crazy to think that's a "down year" for him) but to me he's not the same Rodgers anymore

When Rodgers was Rodgers he was averaging 8.2, 8.4, 8.7, even 9.2 yards per attempt. He was hitting vertical passes and quick strikes constantly and doing it with such precise accuracy.

The Rodgers now is down to 6.8 this year and 6.6 last year. Has Rodgers lost a bit of zip on his throw or are receivers just not getting open deep?

 

[Tainthappening]

On top of Mathews being banged up, isn't GB also without Nick Perry (leading sacker) and a NT who was suspended? And I hadn't heard the news about a sore hammy for Rodgers.

Perry has a "significant" hand injury McCarthy said. Unsure what exactly that means.. but he may be out as well.

Pennel is the NT suspended for 4 games, but he already served 4 game suspension and will only impact depth if injuries during game IMO.

Of all the injuries, Rodgers is the most significant in my opinion. If he cannot scramble or extend plays as he typically can, will be more of a sitting target for Seahawks pass rush.

 

[packerzrule]

Perry has a "significant" hand injury McCarthy said. Unsure what exactly that means.. but he may be out as well.

Pennel is the NT suspended for 4 games, but he already served 4 game suspension and will only impact depth if injuries during game IMO.

Of all the injuries, Rodgers is the most significant in my opinion. If he cannot scramble or extend plays as he typically can, will be more of a sitting target for Seahawks pass rush.

report is that he broke multiple bones in one of his hands

 

[Tainthappening]

@Tainthappening - Aaron Rodgers is my favorite QB outside of Russell and Peyton.

I'm curious to know from a GB fan's standpoint how much Rodgers has changed the past two years.

I know his numbers have recovered and he's back on pace for like 39 tds and only 9 ints (which is crazy to think that's a "down year" for him) but to me he's not the same Rodgers anymore

When Rodgers was Rodgers he was averaging 8.2, 8.4, 8.7, even 9.2 yards per attempt. He was hitting vertical passes and quick strikes constantly and doing it with such precise accuracy.

The Rodgers now is down to 6.8 this year and 6.6 last year. Has Rodgers lost a bit of zip on his throw or are receivers just not getting open deep?

Hard to say... I do not have all the answers.. could be a combination of things.

- Jordy has always been a go to target. He started out slow this year coming back from injury, he is looking better each week. Rodgers places a lot of confidence in him being able to make the play.
- There is no running game after Lacy injury early in the season. Made Michael helps to fill that void going forward.. he had 2 carries his 1st week and 11 last week.

- My personal opinion...
- Puts a lot of preparation into games... has to have confidence in receivers he throws to... do not think it was there much of last year for a few players (and still not there with Janis). Therefore opportunity has to be nearly perfect for him to throw that receiver the ball.
- Can be very guarded about personal matters... if there is anything to this story about not talking to family since Dec 2014, something outside of football may be distracting him (he may not even be aware it is)

Still think he is easily top 10 QB and Packers most dangerous "weapon", but agree not playing to level he has in the past.

 

[dude82]

It looks like it's gonna be relatively cold and snowing for the game on Sunday. That always makes the game more interesting. Both teams have played in worse conditions, so it shouldn't be a huge problem, but footing could be an issue if it snows.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

I don't know watching AR a couple of weeks ago he had all day in the pocket and couldn't hit the side of a barn with an oar. Last week he seemed to snap out of his funk a little

That's a good point AR has been inconsistent so who knows which one we'll see.

 

[LambeauLegs]

Perry has a "significant" hand injury McCarthy said. Unsure what exactly that means.. but he may be out as well.

Pennel is the NT suspended for 4 games, but he already served 4 game suspension and will only impact depth if injuries during game IMO.

Of all the injuries, Rodgers is the most significant in my opinion. If he cannot scramble or extend plays as he typically can, will be more of a sitting target for Seahawks pass rush.

The injury report sounds worse than it is. Peppers is the replacement for Perry so that is no big deal he has been having his reps limited this year so he is good and strong at years end. Rodgers has had the strained hammy since the Eagles game and has been doing fine and he has said it has improved each week. Pennel is no real loss as he did not play much. Compared to 3 or 4 weeks ago when we were missing the top 3 corners and 3 starting linebackers the current defense with just missing #1 Shields is a blessing.

The Packers pressure on the QB is 7th in the league with 30 sacks only 1 less than the great Seahawk defense with 31. The Packers rush D is 9th in the league which is 5 spots better than the Seahawk run D. The difference use to be in the D backfield when we had the 4th, 5th, and 6th corners in the game and they were getting lit up for passing TDS as the Packer D ranks rather poorly in allowing passing TDs because of top 3 corners being out for so long.

If we look at the last 5 games the most recent two with Rollins and Randal back the #2 and #3 corners the passing yards against was 254 and 202 and only 2 passing TDs allowed. The 3 weeks before that when they werent in there was weeks of 281, 295, and 375 and had allowed 8 passing TDS. The back end of the defense is much better now and the D line should be able to keep pressure on Wilson. That is the only part of the D that has not had injuries so hopefully Daniels, Guion, Clark, Lowrey, and Jones will keep doing what they have been doing and with a weaker Seattle O line the odds will be better that they can.

So with an improved secondary and being able to keep pressure up front with a home game in the cold not on artificial turf it will be harder than many think to put up 40 points on the Packer D. Most have the Pack D written off though.

 

[seattlefan75]

I am very concerned about Earl Thomas not being our safety man that guy literally is what makes this defense so hard to throw on he covers so much of the field we casn pretty much take it to the bank that Rodgers will be throwing bombs that way testing out Terrell. The packers defense is banged up but the hawks offense is still trying to find itself so that almost cancels out. The only thing I like about this game is that the packer really dont have a run game so they will have to rely on rodgers throwing it a ton and speaking from perfect knowledge if christine michael is the one running the ball we can just wait for him to trip over himself and not get any huge gains.

 

[Logicallylethal]

Hard to say... I do not have all the answers.. could be a combination of things.

- Jordy has always been a go to target. He started out slow this year coming back from injury, he is looking better each week. Rodgers places a lot of confidence in him being able to make the play.
- There is no running game after Lacy injury early in the season. Made Michael helps to fill that void going forward.. he had 2 carries his 1st week and 11 last week.

- My personal opinion...
- Puts a lot of preparation into games... has to have confidence in receivers he throws to... do not think it was there much of last year for a few players (and still not there with Janis). Therefore opportunity has to be nearly perfect for him to throw that receiver the ball.
- Can be very guarded about personal matters... if there is anything to this story about not talking to family since Dec 2014, something outside of football may be distracting him (he may not even be aware it is)

Still think he is easily top 10 QB and Packers most dangerous "weapon", but agree not playing to level he has in the past.

I'll go even as far as saying he's still top 5. There's Brady and Brees then after that it's a toss up with Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers. I'll still take Rodgers over Matty Ice. He has the Julio Jones factor. I think you give Julio to Rodgers and his numbers are drastically better. Ryan struggles getting Julio in the red zone, Rodgers would get Julio 15+ tds every year easy.


I was just rewatching this game today, mostly to revisit how great AP was that year, but also to analyze 2012 Rodgers with this year's Rodgers. And it's crazy because Rodgers still has a great arm but 2012 Rodgers just had a different zip on the ball. And every ball was just perfectly placed. Rodgers throws early in the year were just slightly off even when there was no pressure.

I think since then he has adjusted and come to grips with the fact that he no longer has 100-105 mph fastball. It's still 95 and at times touches 98 but the slight difference in the NFL makes a difference. I compare it to the adjustment Felix Hernandez had to go through. He was also a flamethrower for most of his career but recently his fastball has dipped down to low-mid 90s but he has adjusted and learned to be a better pitcher.

I think that's what Rodgers has done in the past 4-5 games. He has adjusted. The offense is methodical now as opposed to the quick strikes and vertical shots. They're also using the short passing game as a supplement to the lack of a run game.

It'll be interesting to see if Rodgers will test our secondary deep without Earl in there.

 

[JMR]

The Packers rush D is 9th in the league which is 5 spots better than the Seahawk run D.

The Packers have given up about 7 fewer rush yards per game, but the ypc is not as good as Seattle's -- 3.6 vs 3.8. Fairly equal overall stats.

So with an improved secondary and being able to keep pressure up front with a home game in the cold not on artificial turf it will be harder than many think to put up 40 points on the Packer D. Most have the Pack D written off though.

I don't think I've seen any Seattle fans in here (or elsewhere) say they think we are going to score 40 points in this game.

 

[blstoker]

The Packers rush D is 9th in the league which is 5 spots better than the Seahawk run D.

I wouldn't read too much into the top 10 ranking - as the Packers benefited from a very weak running schedule to start the season - and haven't been nearly as good at stopping the run in recent weeks. Facing Jacksonville (22), Minnesota (32), Detroit (29) and New York Giants (31) the first 4 weeks is a great way to look like a great run defense. Since then, the Packers have allowed 118 yards per game, 4.6 ypc and 8 touchdowns (which numbers would put them at #26).

If Seattle's run offense from the last 3 weeks (170+ ypg) is what goes to Green Bay, they should make that #9 run defense look like it Carolina's defense last week. The weather could affect the passing games - and if it does to any extent, I would say that I believe the Seahawks run offense is better equipped to handle it that Green Bay's.

Green Bay will be facing it's 3rd straight top 10 defense, and they've won the last 2, so it's by no means a shoe in for Seattle to win, even if the game weren't @ Lambeau. Personally, I think that if the team that went to New England shows up - Seattle wins, but if the one that went to Tampa (or Arizona) shows up - Green Bay wins. Seattle has been too inconsistent for me to be confident in predicting any game's outcome with any real certainty or confidence.

 

[JMR]

I wouldn't read too much into the top 10 ranking - as the Packers benefited from a very weak running schedule to start the season - and haven't been nearly as good at stopping the run in recent weeks. Facing Jacksonville (22), Minnesota (32), Detroit (29) and New York Giants (31) the first 4 weeks is a great way to look like a great run defense. Since then, the Packers have allowed 118 yards per game, 4.6 ypc and 8 touchdowns (which numbers would put them at #26).

If Seattle's run offense from the last 3 weeks (170+ ypg) is what goes to Green Bay, they should make that #9 run defense look like it Carolina's defense last week. The weather could affect the passing games - and if it does to any extent, I would say that I believe the Seahawks run offense is better equipped to handle it that Green Bay's.

Green Bay will be facing it's 3rd straight top 10 defense, and they've won the last 2, so it's by no means a shoe in for Seattle to win, even if the game weren't @ Lambeau. Personally, I think that if the team that went to New England shows up - Seattle wins, but if the one that went to Tampa (or Arizona) shows up - Green Bay wins. Seattle has been too inconsistent for me to be confident in predicting any game's outcome with any real certainty or confidence.

Pretty much by definition, this is not the same team that went into Tampa or Arizona because of the key players who were out @ TB and because of the much better health of RW now than in the AZ game. The O has put up 20+ in 5 of the last 6 games, with the lone exception being the TB game with the OL getting demolished w/o Britt. The stinker in Tampa is a clear outlier when you look at the surrounding games and the overall performances with RW's health nearly back to normal and either Rawls or Prosise being on the field.

 

[Great Dayne]

I don't know watching AR a couple of weeks ago he had all day in the pocket and couldn't hit the side of a barn with an oar. Last week he seemed to snap out of his funk a little

He's been doing more check down charlie stuff with an occasional long pass instead of a bunch of bombs and holding onto the ball for an hour. I

 

[Great Dayne]

I'll go even as far as saying he's still top 5. There's Brady and Brees then after that it's a toss up with Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers. I'll still take Rodgers over Matty Ice. He has the Julio Jones factor. I think you give Julio to Rodgers and his numbers are drastically better. Ryan struggles getting Julio in the red zone, Rodgers would get Julio 15+ tds every year easy.


I was just rewatching this game today, mostly to revisit how great AP was that year, but also to analyze 2012 Rodgers with this year's Rodgers. And it's crazy because Rodgers still has a great arm but 2012 Rodgers just had a different zip on the ball. And every ball was just perfectly placed. Rodgers throws early in the year were just slightly off even when there was no pressure.

I think since then he has adjusted and come to grips with the fact that he no longer has 100-105 mph fastball. It's still 95 and at times touches 98 but the slight difference in the NFL makes a difference. I compare it to the adjustment Felix Hernandez had to go through. He was also a flamethrower for most of his career but recently his fastball has dipped down to low-mid 90s but he has adjusted and learned to be a better pitcher.

I think that's what Rodgers has done in the past 4-5 games. He has adjusted. The offense is methodical now as opposed to the quick strikes and vertical shots. They're also using the short passing game as a supplement to the lack of a run game.

It'll be interesting to see if Rodgers will test our secondary deep without Earl in there.

I would say accurracy in some of the earlier games has been vary un-Rodgers like. As for Arm strength the dude is as strong as ever and before the hamstring injury he was running as well as ever. Now that he's not chucking bombs downfield every other play and taking what the defense gives him he is developing more chemistry with the WR's and not holding onto the ball for an hour. The Philadelphia game on the road was the best I've ever seen him play