The 6-1 Green Bay Packers will be taking on the 5-2 Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night football on NBC. The Packers are coming into this game as healthy as they can be at this point. Safety Darnell Savage is listed as questionable with an ankle injury. He has been updated and will be active tonight. His return will be a welcomed one and should bolster an already impressive secondary. WR Davante Adams remains out with turf toe. He’s expected to make his return next week against the Los Angeles Chargers, per NFL insider Adam Shefter. WR Geronimo Allison will start in his place tonight. LB Blake Martinez is active as well. He is returning from a wrist injury. C Corey Linsley (back) was questionable but has been updated to active for tonight.
As far as Kansas City is concerned, they will be without their starting QB Patrick Mahomes (Knee) backup QB Matt Moore will be his replacement, DT Chris Jones, DE Frank Clark, CB Kendall Fuller, LT Eric Fisher, and OG Andrew Wylie will also be out on Sunday night. This should bode very well for Green Bay from an offensive perspective. The running and passing game will benefit from this. Expect QB Aaron Rodgers and RB Aaron Jones to have big days through the air and on the ground for the Packers.
I expect them to come out with a win here by a score of 35-17.
The Packers ended their season with a thud as they fell to the 49ers 37-20 in the NFC Championship Game.
The Packers were bad in every phase of the game and trailed 27-0 at halftime. They finally got a touchdown only to give one up when the 49ers got the ball. Perhaps their final chance to make it a competitive game was when they trailed 17-0. They had a promising drive going but then a fumble on the snap ended up in a turnover. It just got worse after that. They got some touchdowns in the second half but it was too little too late.
The Packers went 13-3, won their division, and beat Seattle to become one of the final four teams playing. As it turned out, they were not a match for this 49er team. They were blown out in Santa Clara in the regular season and now in the postseason. In order to take it to the next level, they need to add more pieces on offense and defense. Aaron Rodgers is not getting any younger and he needs some proven receivers around him. The defense made some strides this season but they need to get better as well.
There are 12 teams that make the playoffs and 11 of them end their season with a loss. They have rebounded from two losing seasons to become one of the better teams in the league. It’s time to make another leap and become the best team in the NFL next season. They are fully capable of doing that but it will take a lot of work by the front office, the coaching staff, and the players.
The team has given us so many great wins and memorable moments this season and we definitely didn’t want to see it end like this. I had fun writing about the wins and providing my game previews. Thank you all out there for your support. I look for this team to be motivated by failure and to come out looking for something to prove next season. Perhaps these moments will belong to the Packers next year. Take care Packer fans!
The Green Bay Packers are one win away from the Super Bowl, but first they have to take care of the San Francisco 49ers on the road in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday night.
The Packers are playing in this game because of their 28-23 home victory over the Seattle Seahawks while the 49ers won 27-10 at home vs the Minnesota Vikings the day before the Packers won their game. As we all know, the Packers fell 37-8 to the 49ers on the road. The Packers haven’t lost since that meeting.
Jimmy Garoppolo has two Super Bowl rings as a backup to Tom Brady, but he would like nothing more than to write his own legacy. He has a lot of great offensive weapons around him like RB Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida. He also has receivers like Deebo Samuel and Emmanuel Sanders. Arguably none of them are as intimidating as TE George Kittle. The Packers need to find a way to keep the ball out of Kittle’s hands as much as possible and if the ball should land in his hands, they need to tackle him right away. They need to make Jimmy G as uncomfortable as possible back there. They got no takeaways in their previous meeting. I think they need at least a few to win this game.
The offense had their worst performance of the season in the first meeting between these two teams. Aaron Rodgers and the offense moved the ball very well at times vs Seattle. They will need to score touchdowns once again if they are to get past SF. It all starts at the line of scrimmage and the Packers were manhandled there on that Sunday night in late November. They need to give Rodgers time to throw. Aaron Jones and the running game must produce and the receivers need to catch whatever is thrown their way. Jimmy Graham made some plays vs Seattle, including the clinching first down, and it was a first down. Let’s put that to rest. If you are out there, get open and make a play.
The 49ers have won 5 Super Bowls but none since the 1994-95 season. That was one year before the Dallas Cowboys won their most recent Super Bowl. We enjoy making fun of the Cowboys and their fans about how they are stuck in the past. In that case, we should include the 49ers as well. The 49ers were once 5-0 in Super Bowls but that perfect record ended when they lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII, two years after the Packers won their most recent SB.
The Packers and 49ers have met in the playoffs 7 previous times. The Packers hold a 4-3 edge, including a win in the NFC Championship Game at SF in January of 1998. The 49ers were the last road team to win at Lambeau Field in the playoffs.
Matt LaFleur has a sibling coaching on the other team’s sidelines. His younger brother Mike is a passing game coordinator for the 49ers, so it means that one LaFleur will make it to the Super Bowl.
If any of you are wondering how the Packers could possibly win after losing in blowout fashion in the regular season, I thought of 2014 and the Seahawks. Seattle prevailed in a 36-16 rout of the Packers in the opening game of the season. The Packers went there in the playoffs and we all know that they fell short in one of the most heartbreaking losses in Packer history. The point is they had a chance to win a game after being blown out in the regular season. On Sunday, the score will be 0-0 during the opening kickoff. The only thing that matters is what happens during those 60 minutes on Sunday. Whoever is the better team on that day will be the winner and advance to Super Bowl LIV.
Since that infamous Sunday night in Santa Clara, it should have been obvious that the Packers were going to have to face the 49ers once again in order to advance to the Super Bowl this year. Not many people are giving the Packers much chance in this game and that is fine. I don’t care as long as the players and coaches believe. We all put our pants on one leg at a time. I think the Packers will be much better prepared and we will see a competitive game. This is for a spot in Super Bowl LIV. Let’s go out there and shock the world on Sunday.
The Green Bay Packers will play in the NFC Championship Game next week after their 28-23 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night.
In their first home playoff game since a win over the New York Giants in the wild-card round three seasons ago, the Packers drove down the field and scored a touchdown on their opening possession. They added two more scores in the second quarter to take a 21-3 halftime lead. Seattle scored a touchdown in the third quarter but the Packers answered with a touchdown of their own to pull ahead 28-10. The Seahawks scored twice to cut it to 28-23, but the Packers made a key defensive stop and Jimmy Graham caught a pass on third down to move the chains and seal the victory.
My thoughts on the game:
Davante Adams saw a lot of action as he had 8 receptions for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the first one of the game. Aaron Jones got the drive started with a 23-yard run. He didn’t put up monster numbers on the stat sheet but he ran it in for 2 touchdowns. Jimmy Graham had 3 receptions, all resulting in first downs, including the one that clinched the game.
There was controversy early in the game. On Seattle’s first offensive play, Russell Wilson hit Jacob Hollister for a first down but he fumbled the ball as he was going down. The officials ruled him down by contact and Matt LaFleur challenged it right away. After a review, they ruled it a fumble but no clear recovery, even though Chandon Sullivan came away with the ball. That cost the Packers a timeout and a challenge. They stopped Seattle from getting any more first downs but it cost the Packers almost 50 yards of field position.
Despite the controversy, the Packers scored 21 points in the first half and led by 18 at halftime. That is quite a contrast to the slow starts they had in their final 2 games of the regular season. Seattle did a good job making adjustments and scored touchdowns on their first 3 possessions of the second half. Russell Wilson got it done with his arms and his legs.
The Packers really needed their defense to come up huge when Seattle had the ball with 4:54 left and trailing 28-23. After a first down, the Packers stopped Seattle with Preston Smith sacking Wilson on third down. After a punt, the Packers needed first downs and Davante Adams came up with a clutch 32-yard reception to move the chains. Despite the catch, the Packers still needed one more first down to seal the victory and Jimmy Graham got just enough to pick up the first down. It went to review and the first down was upheld. After some kneeldowns, the Packers and their fans were able to celebrate victory.
There are many arguments about whether a bye week helps or hurts a team more. I think the bye definitely helped the Packers in this game.
This was not the Super Bowl or even the NFC Championship Game, but the win still felt great, especially after what happened the last time these two teams met in the playoffs. Many Packer fans were waiting for another chance to play Seattle in the postseason.
This win guarantees the Packers will be in the NFC Championship Game and they will be traveling to Santa Clara once again to face the San Francisco 49ers, who advanced with their 27-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The last time the Packers lost a game, it was to the 49ers in the same venue they will play the title game next week. This is a different game and a different week though. I’m sure the Packers have learned many lessons since that game.
In the meantime, I think we should just celebrate this win for a few days. It always feels good to win and advance in the playoffs, and the further they advance, the sweeter their wins become.
It’s only going to get harder but the Packers are one of four teams remaining and they are two wins away from where they want to be. Unlike 28 other teams, they have a game to play next week. Great win Packers! Let’s keep it going!
