PACK IS BACK AFTER BYE WEEK

 

Wounded Lions Playing for Pride

 

The much needed mid-season hiatus for the Green Bay Packers is over and it’s back to prepare for the meat of a schedule the results of which will determine the fate of the 2012 Pack. The break could not have come at a better time; the Packers needed the time to simply try to recover from some of their injuries. The last time Green Bay had so many bodies on the IR was the Super Bowl season of 2010. The Pack got hot when they needed to, put together a string of 6 season ending ‘must-win’ games and ultimately ran the table. They didn’t lose again until late last year. This year has been a much different story with the up and down play early on. The Pack has reeled off 4 straight and are looking to keep the ball rolling against the Detroit Lions who have fallen from the sudden rise last season.

The list of the walking wounded reads almost like the starting lineup. Greg Jennings (abdominal tear and surgery), Clay Matthews (hamstring), Andrew Quarless (knee), Sam Shields (shin), Charles Woodson (broken collarbone), John Kuhn (hamstring) are not expected to be ready for the Detroit Lions this week. Mike Neal, Jerel Worthy and Jordy Nelson are expected to play after their collective injuries. Already IR’d players include Desmond Bishop, D.J. Smith, and now RT Bryan Bulaga and OLB Nick Perry  join the list with a hip injury sustained against the Cardinals while T Derrick Sherrod has yet to be able to return from last year’s gruesome broken leg.

The Packers face a Lions team that can only be described as desperate and win-starved on Sunday. Standing at 4 -5 the Lions can ill afford another loss having already dropped 3 in the division (2 to Minnesota and 1 to Chicago). One more and it’s sayonara to the Motor City Kitties and time to start polishing the golf clubs. Both teams clearly know what is at stake – the Packers hold a 1-0 record within the division and with 4 of their next 5 and 5 of their next 7 games against their NFC North rivals their playoff fate is in their own hands. Thanks to a loss to the Texans the Bears lead over the Packers are now one game behind 7 -2 Chicago and the other loss by the Bears came courtesy of a thrashing by the Packers.

The Lions have their backs against the wall and this could be the dreaded ‘trap game’ for the Packers. The Lions are in danger of falling completely out of the playoff hunt and a loss to Green Bay would make it all but impossible to recover and make a stretch run. Last year’s renaissance has become this season collapse in the Motor City as Detroit has gone downhill all year. With the surprising Vikings bolting out of the gate the Lions have no soft teams against whom they could get fat. Their future is now.

Don’t think for a second that Mike McCarthy has not hammered that point home to the able bodied left to carry the Packer banner intro battle. The Lions will come in mean, hungry and relentless as they throw the kitchen sink at Green Bay with no compassion for the Packers woes. QB Matthew Stafford has been healthy most of the year but All Pro WR Calvin Johnson has been held to a stunningly low output this year. With only 2 TD’s Megatron has not dazzled with the scoring plays of years past and that has only added to the Lions woes.

The paucity in the Lions running game has put more pressure on Stafford and as teams double and triple team Johnson neither Titus Young nor Nate Burleson has jumped off the page to bail out Stafford. While Stafford is spreading the ball around much more this season the Lions have declined from last year’s rise to respectability. RB Jahvid Best has not played and recently returned Mikel Leshoure has run for 400 yards this season. RB’s Joique Bell and Kevin Smith have been less effective at running the ball than the Packers backs after Cedric Benson went down with a foot injury. Through the first 9 games Detroit has had only 1 100 yard game and Leshoure ran for exactly 100 against Tennessee in an overtime loss.

The Lions are still victims of their own collective lack of discipline. Head Coach Jim Schwartz sets the tone and the Lions follow blithely along. Penalties and mistakes have hurt the Lions cause badly. All Pro 2^nd year DT Ndamukong Suh has not stomped on anybody’s arm – yet – but has only 14 tackles to his credit. While Suh and fellow Defensive Linemen Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch played well with Suh and Avril each collecting 4.5 sacks and Vanden Bosch 3.5, the same cannot be said of the rest of the Detroit D. Their defensive backs have been shredded by the likes of Jake Locker (Tennessee), Christian Ponder twice (Minnesota) and Alex Smith (SF). The Lions have not shown the ability to stop anybody through the air this year. Trying to do that against a Packers team that is missing some of its key components won’t be any easier.

The Lions offensive line has allowed 17 sacks and Stafford has only a QB rating of 85.4 to go with his 2,700 yards passing this year. Too often the Lions have played well between the twenties only to have a game and victory slip from their grasp. Stafford has been a gamer all year but it’s a safe bet to say the Lions talent level around him beyond Megatron isn’t enough to keep the wolves from the door.

The game against the Packers will have the Lions fired up. Any game in the division nowadays will do that but there has been a tad more animosity between the 2 teams in recent history. The Lions mugged and clawed and stomped their way through the NFL last year and came up short in the playoffs against the New Orleans Saints. That was then; this is now.

The Lions have not taken the next step forward this year. Seeing the Vikings pass them has to be embarrassing and facing the Pack now will only add salt to the wound. The Lions will do everything they can, legal and otherwise, to try to gain some sort of edge. Containing Green Bay’s receivers is the first order of business, and the Lions haven’t exactly shined in that department.

Aaron Rodgers will have to do without Bryan Bulaga at RT for the rest of the campaign. T.J. Lang will slide over from his LG spot and Evan Dietrich Smith will take his place. Lang is also hurting with a wrist injury and the Packers have reached the saturation point of injuries at the offensive line and linebacker positions. Any more dings and Green Bay will run out of players to field. Jordy Nelson may play, and rising star Randall Cobb will be targeted both by Rodgers and the Lions defense.

James Starks has shown a little giddy up in his step since returning from his turf toe injury, all he has to do now is to not fumble his chances away. He lost one and McCarthy promptly sent him into the corner with a dunce cap. Now McCarthy will impress on him just how important ‘ball security’ really is. Starks has the ability to pound out the big yards that Alex Green could not, and if Starks can justify his place on the field his presence would do much to aid the cause.

DE Mike Neal had another in a long succession of in season injuries and he should be back. When he’s able to get on the field Neal can contribute and has played better than expected this year with 2 sacks. Neal adds size and some much needed muscle to the D Line and takes some pressure of the linebackers who will be without Clay Matthews for a bit. Fortunately Erik Walden has been playing well of late and now someone else gets a shot – Frank Zombo or even Desman Moses. Even Jamari Lattimore may be pressed into service. One time preseason beast Vic So’oto is back, signed away from the Raiders, and at the pace at which the Pack’s backers are dropping Dave Robinson may get a call.

One Packer linebacker who has stayed on the field all year has been A.J. Hawk and he is quietly having one of the best seasons of his career. Hawk leads the D in tackles and has been far more proficient at chasing down the run and has been seen ball hawking in pass coverages.

Against Detroit the task is right in front of the Packers. Contain Johnson, limit Stafford’s outlets, keep the run inside and not let Detroit’s Nasty Boys get to Rodgers. Rodgers will extend a few plays but don’t look for him to try to run too much. After getting a serious whack against the Lions that put him out with a concussion Rodgers needs to stay healthy to give the Pack a fighting chance.

In a season already marked by significant losses to personnel it is looking like 2010 all over again. The Lions come out in a flash and disappear just as quickly. Once Rodgers gets the offense untracked the air will be filled with footballs until the ground game can take over. It is statement time, and the Packers make theirs in this contest.

 

 

 

 

  GREEN BAY 31 

 

 

 

 

  Detroit 17