Holiday Double Issue

It was less than perfect. While the Packers are still technically perfect, their performance was anything but over Tampa Bay.

This is the conundrum that faces the Packers every week. No matter what it is becoming a no-win situation. If they win, they were supposed to win. Lose? Well, that’s altogether out of the question.

And as the final chunk of the season shapes up the schedule is one that certainly favors the Pack as they chase perfection. They can be excused a bit if they were looking ahead to a short week and the big Thanksgiving Day showdown with Detroit. Detroit was doing the same thing and almost gave one away to Carolina in the process.

Aaron Rodgers had yet another big day but looked off. But comparing Rodgers against his contemporaries is not always accurate. Rodgers can be compared in a sense to hockey’s Wayne Gretzky in that the only measurable barometer that means anything is against himself. In his heyday Gretzky was so far in front of his closest competitors that season in and season out he could only gauge his performance by how he had done in seasons past.

Rodgers is entering that lofty stratosphere himself. A few of Arod’s tosses were off target, at the feet of or even behind his receivers. His interception toss looked bad until it is measured against Rodgers and only Rodgers. It’s not like Arod threw the worst pass in history. It was behind James Jones, off target, and hit a Buc right in the breadbasket. The Packers have come to depend on one thing - Aaron Rodgers just doesn’t make that kind of boo boo. So when he does, it is big news. Even Jones seemed stunned, unable to react immediately to bring his man down. But with Rodgers’ freakish accuracy this year the pick was not of the norm. We’re no longer talking Brett Favre where the inevitable pick is expected. Rodgers expects more from himself and we have come to do so as well. It is worth mentioning that while Rodgers had, by his standard, an off day (for him), he still finished with a slew of TD passes and another QB rating of 114.1.

Give the Bucs some credit. They’re young and hungry and knew they would need everything they had plus a little more if they were to have any hope of taking down Green Bay. Josh Freeman had a good day, not counting his back breaking interceptions. Pretty good. Kinda good. Okay… just good, maybe not quite so good. After all, he only made a couple mistakes.

Therein is the essential problem teams have in playing the Packers. They come in knowing they will give up points to Green Bay. They come in knowing the Packer D will give some points right back. They come in knowing if they are to have any chance they will have to roll the dice and gamble. The onside kick that failed not once but twice speaks volumes of the Bucs and Head Coach Raheem Morris’ mindset. It won’t be enough to just play the Packers – we’re going to have to somehow try to steal some points somewhere. Just don’t screw it up, the Packers will make you pay through the nose for it. And they made the young Bucs pay.

Mike McCarthy, Dom Capers and every Packer knows this too. Watching other teams play the Packers is some days like watching a cat play with a mouse. The mouse ALWAYS thinks it has a chance.

Until the cat gets tired or bored or annoyed, and then WHAP! With the swipe of a paw it is instantly over. So it was with the Buccaneers.

Freeman brought the Bucs to within 2 points and the Bucs, like the mouse, thought they had a chance. In a certain respect, they did. But it was a fat chance and a slim chance, and Slim had already left to go start the car. Then the cat’s paw came down. WHAP!

Watching this version of the Packers there is a point where anyone tuning in can almost feel when the team as a whole punches the clock and gets serious. A 21 – 19 squeaker suddenly gets blown as wide open as Jordy Nelson streaking down the sideline. Rodgers earlier errant tosses? Pish posh. A gem of a rainbow nestled in Nelson’s arms for the TD that broke the will of the stubborn Bucs. A final interception thrown by Freeman and what was once a close and entertaining game become yet another W for Green Bay.

So why the concern? LeGarrette Blount’s rumbling, stumbling, bumbling TD romp through no less than 6 Packers was reminiscent of Marshawn Lynch’s playoff gallop from a year ago. Vince Lombardi could be heard from the heavens yelling at the D after this one… “…WHAT THE HELL IS GOIN’ ON OUT HE-YAH?? GRAB! GRAB! GRAB! EVERBODY GRABBIN’ AND NOBODY TACKLIN’!!!!...”    This is a cause for some red faces and an area that will need to be addressed. Blount finished with over 100 yards rushing for the day. So what? The D rises when it needs to and grabs a few more picks or another fumble the kill the Bucs rally. While the Packers give up points and yards they also lead the league in interceptions, and points from turnovers by the D. They have that luxury.

Rodgers, Nelson and crew continue to make playing defense a bit easier for the Packers. Putting the Pack in front and staking the D to a lead and having that D know that the offense is capable of scoring at any and every turn makes the defensive responsibilities less urgent. The Packers have shown resilience and an ability to make a play when they need to and it is a formula that seems to work. One time tested measure of the truly great teams is the ability to come away with a W even when they haven’t played their best.

And that is exactly what the Pack did in this high wire act with the Bucs.

The high wire act will be tested when the testy Lions attempt to take a seat at the big people’s table.

As kids we all played the game what doesn’t belong. Remember? Apple, orange, peach, pear, motor oil… what doesn’t belong here. Now let’s try this on for size – Detroit Lions, Turkey, Thanksgiving, football, Green Bay, Meaningful Game….it almost boggles the mind.

We’re accustomed to seeing the Lions on the tube about the time the pants get loosened and the pumpkin pie is served. It’s just they have not had anything to play for in the past several decades or so on Thanksgiving Day.

The Lions are beat up and they were probably peeking ahead to Thursday in their shootout against the Carolina Fig Newtons. The Lions managed to overcome a shaky Matthew Stafford start to end up dropping 49 on the Panthers, and they needed them in break a late tie, a tie the Lions had to force by coming from behind.

When Calvin Johnson and Stafford are on they are unstoppable. But unlike Rodgers Stafford has a propensity for spraying the ball all over the field and badly missing his receivers. Yes, he can get it done. He has yet to do it in a big game, and this one would certainly qualify.

No need to trumpet the defense of the Lions. Led by Ndamukong Suh the Lions will bring a ferocity into the trenches with a mission to get after Rodgers. The Packers line play has been uneven of late and will be tested in the Dome in Detroit. RG Josh Sitton has played well at times but will have his hands full against Suh in the middle. That one is the game within the game worth watching, and it will be nasty. Sitton is every bit as tough and as nasty as Suh is, and these two may suspend holiday cheer to see who is tougher, and it won’t be for the fainthearted.

Since the Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz had his famous meltdown with the 49ers Jim Harbaugh the Lions have more resembled the old Philadelphia Flyers Broad Street Bullies than a football team on the rise. Playing with emotion has not served the Lions well, and the fiery Schwartz has no one to blame but himself. His team has become a mirror of its coach: explosive, ill tempered, uncontrolled, and over aggressive. The Lions have hurt themselves more than they have helped themselves with penalties and emotion.

And now they get to face off against Green Bay, a divisional foe and obstacle in their path to the playoffs.

The Lions are hurting at running back with Jahvid Best still out and Jerome Harrison done for the year with injuries. If the Lions want to play a shootout it only helps the Packers cause for two reasons. 1- no team can match the Packers firepower. 2 – the Packers D has more of an advantage against the Lions offense than the Lions D will have against the Packers offense. RB James Starks came away from Tampa Bay with a strained knee and is questionable. But there is too much on the shelves in Green Bay. Ryan Grant is healthy and rookie Brandon Saine may be forced into spot duty, and of course burgeoning folk hero John Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn has become a factor in the red zone again.

Look for the Lions to bring it in this game. This one has been circled on the schedule since the Kitties blew out of the gate at 5-0. Yes, Virginia, Detroit is for real. This time there aren’t a bunch of stiffs just hoping to get in the way. This game means a lot to both teams, and Detroit has a greater sense of urgency now with Chicago having caught them from behind. And with the 49ers at 8-1 they are breathing down Green Bay’s neck. The challenge will do the Packers well. It has been a while since they have had to face a good test, and now is as good a time as any. Both teams peaked ahead to this game last week and with good reason.

There will be points scored both ways. Can Rodgers keep up his superhuman streak? Will Green Bay’s offensive line be able to hold off the surging Suh? How accurate will Stafford be? Can Clay Matthews disrupt the Lions passing game? How will Detroit handle the Packers 5 wide set?

This is the biggest game of those that remain on the Packers schedule, and winning it will go a long way to running the table. A loss for the Packers is not a disaster, while a loss for Detroit seriously crimps their playoff plans. The Packers could use a little challenge. They have shown their ability to rise to meet their biggest ones and have, along the way put together the longest winning streak in franchise history. What we are witnessing is history in the making.

There will be points scored in this game. It is going to go back and forth. Much like Ali/ Frazier these two will stand toe-to-toe and slug it out.

And as has been the case all year in the end the Packers simply have too much for the Lions offensively to overcome. In a terrific battle the packers remain unbeaten while the Lions earn some respect, but not quite seat at the table. Suh and Co. will get to Rodgers, but look for GB’s ballhawks to change the game by snagging a couple wayward tosses by Stafford. Johnson has a big day, but Rodgers closes the case in his MVP campaign. The best players shine in the biggest game, and Rodgers knows how to do that. This one will go the whole 15 rounds.  The Lions are coming, but they are not quite there – yet.

Enjoy the slugfest with your pumpkin pie.

  GREEN BAY 34 

  Detroit  30