Official Non-Packer Games Thread

[channtheman]

So Under what scenario(s) could the Packers end up playing the Vikes?

If the Eagles beat the Cowboys, Giants beat the Vikings, and Cards beat us then we play the Vikings. Not sure about other scenarios ,but I know that one.

I think that's the only way we play the Vikings. Right now, it's very likely we play the Cardinals.

If we win, we play the Cardinals guaranteed.

[vince]

The Vikes play at noon, while the Cards/Pack and Eagles/Cowboys play simultaneous late games.

If the Vikings win at noon, the Packers/Cards rematch is assured, so that would make the Packers/Cards late game totally meaningless.

If the Giants beat the Vikes at noon, then the Cards have something very meaningful to play for. They then will have a shot at the 2 seed and a bye with a win (and a Dallas win, who plays at the same time). The Pack would play the Cowboys in the first round in that scenario. If the Eagles beat the Cowboys (and the Giants win at noon), then the Pack would face the Vikes in round 1 (assuming a Packer loss in their late game).

There's no scenario in which the Pack faces the Eagles (or the Saints obviously) in the first round whatsoever.

In a nutshell, if the Giants beat the Vikes at noon, then a Packers/Vikes first round game becomes a pretty reasonable scenario, as both the Cardinals and Eagles will be simultaneously playing for a possible bye in the late games (as would the Cowboys, but they'd need both a win and a Packer win).

The Packers are the only team (other than the Giants of course) with little to nothing on the line in terms of seeding going into the week. The Vikings game will determine if the Cards/Packers game means anything - to the Cards.

[sheepshead]

Cowboys can still get a bye yet as well.

:-/

I'm not sure what that means but the Cowboys can clinch the division with a win over the Eagles. That coupled with losses by the Cardinals and the Vikings will get them a bye.

That was one heck of a sentence still, yet , as well...

[RashanGary]

The Giants are not happy with how their season has gone. They have some pride. They've taken a whole week of NY media pounding.

The Vikings have a short week. They played a physical overtime game against the Bears.

The Giants are going to come in and try to punch Minny in the mouth. It's games like this, when teams are fatigued, that injuries become even more of a concern.

The Vikings are going to have a grudge match for themselves next Sunday at Noon. Best case, they preserve their bye. Most likely they don't get the bye but worst case, they get their asses kicked, get warn down even more and have to go on the road where they've already lost to 3 non playoff teams.

[vince]

Yup. Good point about the Vikes and fatigue. They sure look sapped of energy at this point, and what they had, they may well have spent in the second half last night. They will have their first playoff game at home regardless of what happens this week though.

[Scott Campbell]

Can you believe that the Vikings now need help to clinch a bye. This team was 10-1.

[mraynrand]

The weird thing is that if the Vikes win the early game and Philly wins the late game, the Packers can try to determine who they play. If the Vikes win, AZ has little to play for, and the Packers can 'decide' to return to AZ with a loss or go to MN with a win. You could have a situation (if the Eagles blow out the Cowboys) where AZ and GB are trying desperately to lose to one another! It might look like one of the those late season NBA 'lottery' games of yore!

[pbmax]

Cardinals will have to put their usual effort into this week since they will not know about the availability of the #2 seed until shortly before game time. I'm not sure a #3 seed motivates them, but a bye probably will.

I think there is one scenario where the Pack play the Eagles, but it involves a Eagles - Cowboys tie. And Donovan McNabb knows all about ties.

[pbmax]

In the second half it seemed like they used many more spread formations and used the pass to set up the run.

You know Rodgers said something yesterday that I think really applied to this. The Vikings offense, when it's struggling, looks a lot like the Packers offense struggling with pressure causing problems.

Rodgers said by spreading it out, it makes the defense more "vanilla". I think a smart QB who's in tune wiht his offense knows there is only so much a defense can do when there are 4 or 5 wide receivers. Both Favre and Rodgers are smart QB's. When the offense is in a more traditional set, defenses can really disguise coverages and that killed Rodgers early in the season. It was killing Favre early in this game.

When they spread it out with good weapons and a really smart QB, I think it becomes very hard for a defense to stop. And I agree, the Vikings are better off spread 4 wide (maybe Shiancoe as the 4th) and Peterson in the backfied. Favre was picking them apart when he had it spread out.

Its not just the spread. He mentioned Finley specifically.

Neither team has a dominant OL anymore; GB's is probably weaker. I think both teams create matchup problems when they spread things out. Without Al Harris it becomes harder for GB to defend that set. But I still think the Vikings coaching staff thinks it should be using the run to set up the pass. I'm not sure the OL is dominant enough to go with that mojo.

The odd thing is, the run first scenario is what everyone expected and saw for the first three weeks of the season and it looked like it was going to work. After the Packer game, where they focused on Peterson, things tipped back to the passing game.

It has been Favre's offense for 2 1/2 months now. Peterson isn't the featured player. I wonder what caused the Vikings to revert back to the original plan, at least in the first half. Was it Brett's rough patch, the weather or the Bears D?

[TennesseePackerBacker]

Cardinals will have to put their usual effort into this week since they will not know about the availability of the #2 seed until shortly before game time. I'm not sure a #3 seed motivates them, but a bye probably will.

I think there is one scenario where the Pack play the Eagles, but it involves a Eagles - Cowboys tie. And Donovan McNabb knows all about ties.

The Vikings loss nixed that. We have no chance to play the Iggles. It's looking like 80/20 we play the Cards. But, as someone said, if the Queens lose we could have a real shot at playing them first round.

edit: We also have a chance to play the Cowgirls. If they win, Vikes lose, and we lose.

[pbmax]

Cardinals will have to put their usual effort into this week since they will not know about the availability of the #2 seed until shortly before game time. I'm not sure a #3 seed motivates them, but a bye probably will.

I think there is one scenario where the Pack play the Eagles, but it involves a Eagles - Cowboys tie. And Donovan McNabb knows all about ties.

The Vikings loss nixed that. We have no chance to play the Iggles. It's looking like 80/20 we play the Cards. But, as someone said, if the Queens lose we could have a real shot at playing them first round.

edit: We also have a chance to play the Cowgirls. If they win, Vikes lose, and we lose.

Check out this: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/playoffs...om&16=55045525

If the Packers lose, Eagles-Cowboys tie and Minnesota wins, we play the Eagles 3 vs. 6.

[TennesseePackerBacker]

Cardinals will have to put their usual effort into this week since they will not know about the availability of the #2 seed until shortly before game time. I'm not sure a #3 seed motivates them, but a bye probably will.

I think there is one scenario where the Pack play the Eagles, but it involves a Eagles - Cowboys tie. And Donovan McNabb knows all about ties.

The Vikings loss nixed that. We have no chance to play the Iggles. It's looking like 80/20 we play the Cards. But, as someone said, if the Queens lose we could have a real shot at playing them first round.

edit: We also have a chance to play the Cowgirls. If they win, Vikes lose, and we lose.

Check out this: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/playoffs...om&16=55045525

If the Packers lose, Eagles-Cowboys tie and Minnesota wins, we play the Eagles 3 vs. 6.

I could've sworn I went thru all the scenarios earlier. My bad, I stand corrected.

[gbgary]

wes welker out with a knee.

[gbgary]

massive snow-game going on in buffalo...beating indy at the moment 14-7

[red]

massive snow-game going on in buffalo...beating indy at the moment 14-7

man, i wish i could get that game

i love snow games