Lions-Giants-Cowboys-Falcons-Patriots

[vince]

I'd say the Packers have solved their issues related to guys getting open/separating downfield through a combination of quick-release passing game plus Jordy getting his legs back, Cook getting healthy and becoming a productive third-down weapon/threat, and Montgomery's emergence as a legitimate dual threat out of the backfield. Now if Adams can stop dropping TD passes look out. Ball security has been consistently good but that'll need to continue obviously.

I think the Packers key to winning in the playoffs this year is avoiding giving up big plays defensively.

Some defensive performance comparisons among NFC playoff teams/contenders...
http://www.pro-football-reference.co...s/2016/opp.htm

Interestingly (to me anyway), the Packers lead all NFC playoff teams/contenders in INT's (16), Takeaways(24) and Sacks (38).

They're tied with DET as the worst defense in yards allowed/play at 5.9.
GB is the league's worst pass defense allowing 8.0 yards/attempt.
They trail SEA, NYG, and DAL in Rushing Yds Allowed/Attempt and are better than the Lions, Falcons and Skins.

They best only the Falcons in Points Allowed.

Only DET allows a higher QB Rating (they're a league-worst 105.0 Rating allowed).
NYG have an NFC best 75.8 QB Rating allowed.

[vince]

I know the giants team a little. Not afraid. I know the Seahawks. Without earl Thomas they're a different team. Not afraid. Atlanta, Washington, Detroit.... Good teams, but not afraid. Dallas? Now that team has me baffled. I don't know that team very well. I don't know that QB. I know what that Rb is about. He's a beast. I don't know that defense or STs. They might be as good as they look. I just don't know. It might be a year too early for a young QB too. We'll see. We have a punchers chance against anyone. The only team I worry is a favorite in a game against the Packers is Dallas and that's mostly because I know very little about them.

Obviously Dallas' o-line manhandled GB's d-line which is a concern IMO. Also, the Packers don't seem to match-up well with Atlanta IMO given Julio Jones' health and Coleman returning to their explosive lineup. I think Kyle Shanahan is the score of the offseason for whichever team hires him. Can't stand his old man but he's put together a diverse and creative - and effective offensive scheme. GB didn't get to Matty Ice in the last matchup like they needed to in order to slow that offense down. That one could be a shoot-out if the Packers get there.

[pbmax]

Cook is a wildcard. Without changing much of the offense, he gives them a third down and red zone weapon that haven't had in years. Plus he is a nightmare matchup one on one.

[Patler]

Cook is a wildcard. Without changing much of the offense, he gives them a third down and red zone weapon that haven't had in years. Plus he is a nightmare matchup one on one.

In some ways I wish Cook had had more of an opportunity to involve himself into the offense. In other ways it is kind of nice having a little mystery involved in how they might use him. Teams don't have an awful lot to go on with respect to Cook in the Packers offense.

[gbgary]

In some ways I wish Cook had had more of an opportunity to involve himself into the offense. In other ways it is kind of nice having a little mystery involved in how they might use him. Teams don't have an awful lot to go on with respect to Cook in the Packers offense.

that's up to mm AND rodgers. cook, like most TEs, runs short routes. Rodgers doesn't look short unless long isn't available. mm will have to call plays specifically for cook to be the first option. with this big-play-or-bust-offense we run that's not going to be very often.

[Guiness]

One way I think the O has improved is a move away from what pb (I think it was him) described as a 'one read then scramble' offense I felt I was watching late last year and early this year. It felt like they were waiting for Cobb to work himself open, and often that was not happening. On D, I don't trust them to bottle up the run...stats said they were doing it early, but Dallas then Tennessee showed how vulnerable they were to power backs.

Will Perry continue to wear the club?

[vince]

Packers are 9-1 this year when holding opponents under 30 points. They're 0-5 when they don't.

The Lions 21st ranked O has scored 30 only twice this year - week 1 vs. IND and week 6 vs. LAR.
They've averaged just under 20 pts./game the last 6 weeks since their bye week and 13th ranked D has allowed just over 20 /game.

Packers 6th ranked O has scored just under 30 pts./game in the same span and 20th ranked D has allowed 22 /game.

[vince]

Packers have climbed all the way up to 12th in the league in red zone scoring efficiency and 3rd in red zone TD's per game.

Ryan Wood authored an article at the end of October indicating they ranked 22nd in RZ efficiency at that time, which was THE major issue for the Packers early point production issues (14th ranked points scored then - now 6th).

[pbmax]

Packers have climbed all the way up to 12th in the league in red zone scoring efficiency and 3rd in red zone TD's per game.

Ryan Wood authored an article at the end of October indicating they ranked 22nd in RZ efficiency at that time, which was THE major issue for the Packers early point production issues (14th ranked points scored then - now 6th).

There were fewer issues this year than last, but red zone was one of the common ones. It obviously helped a great deal when the improved.

[RashanGary]

Lions
Giants
Cowboys
Falcons
Patriots

I gave us a 7.5% chance of winning the SB. Now I'll bump it to 12.5% and it will go up significantly with a win in Dallas. Packers rolling through playoff teams right now.

[RashanGary]

25% chance to win the SB now ��

Damn, we're close to running the damn table!

[King Friday]

It has been an impressive run...but our defense still doesn't inspire much confidence. All the injuries have taken an enormous toll...and the teams left all have MVP-caliber QBs and plenty of weapons for them to use. We hung on by a thread to beat Dallas...which isn't anything to scoff at. Dallas is a damn good team. However, we absolutely dominated the first 20+ minutes of that game...and wound up having to kick two challenging field goals in order to pull it out.

I still don't think this team has enough left in the tank on defense to earn a championship. Matthews and Ha-Ha have been mostly invisible this postseason. Our pass rush just isn't getting the job done, and we don't have enough in the back half for that to continue much longer. Our defense does not need to stop the other offense...but we need to make 3-4 big plays a game that swing momentum.

It has been a hell of a ride and I'm proud of how this team has held together despite all the injuries and obstacles this year. My initial thought going into the playoffs was that going through both Dallas and Atlanta would be very difficult. I figured we had a puncher's chance at grabbing one...but the chances were very slim to get both. I feel slightly more confident now knowing that the one we got was Dallas, because I thought they presented the toughest obstacle for us. However, I don't see Atlanta being that far behind.

That said, Rodgers certainly is capable of winning games almost by himself...but receivers need to stop dropping like flies. His stats playing indoors in the postseason are solid, so no reason to expect anything less than we've been seeing for 2 months now. I give us slightly less than a 20% chance at this point...but if we can eke by Atlanta, then I think the momentum and confidence potentially could swing to our favor...and we likely get Jordy back in some capacity.

[Bossman641]

Rodgers and the offense are going to have to light it up this weekend, with the defense making 3-4 plays and turning td's into fg's. If we can somehow make it to the super bowl it would probably be the healthiest the team has been in weeks.

[texaspackerbacker]

I said before, descending order of difficulty - Cowboys, Falcons, Patriots. If I had quoted a percentage early on, I woulda said about 30-40% at the time we were 4-6 - really - I mean that may be homerish, but this is the Packers we're talking about. As I said back then, is there ANYBODY that would actually be expected to beat them? The doom and gloomers have a couple of more chances to be right, but I'm gonna say 75% we beat the Falcons, and 70% we go all the way and win the Super Bowl. Anybody else got the balls to be an unabashed homer?

[vince]

I hope you're right tex. Falcons offense is far more explosive than Dallas'. Giving up big plays has been the Achilles heel for the Packers D. This looks like a shootout to me. Packers D needs to make a big play or two of its own.

[Pugger]

I hope you're right tex. Falcons offense is far more explosive than Dallas'. Giving up big plays has been the Achilles heel for the Packers D. This looks like a shootout to me. Packers D needs to make a big play or two of its own.

Was Dallas' defense better than Atlanta's?

[vince]

Was Dallas' defense better than Atlanta's?

That's subjective, and I'd say "no" when you look at recent performance trends - although I don't think that's relevant because Rodgers will slice through them all regardless.

[Fritz]

As great as he's been, he's only one guy. It's not quite like basketball, where one guy can carry a team as long as they all play defense.

And nobody's playing defense in Green Bay right now.

[pbmax]

As great as he's been, he's only one guy. It's not quite like basketball, where one guy can carry a team as long as they all play defense.

And nobody's playing defense in Green Bay right now.

Just gotta get in the passing lanes.

[SkinBasket]

The LGCFP communities protest the overly aggressive, testosterone driven sense of masculine forcefulness that has been displayed by the Packers thus far and call for an end to this paternalistic sense of entitlement to domination.

Can't we all just get along?