Review~ what an absolute ass-kicking. While I don’t think San Francisco is THAT good, it may be more telling that the Packers may not be as good as their record suggests…albeit, they’re still 8-3 and destined for the 3rd, 5th, or 6th seed in the NFC playoffs. Should Green Bay win out, they’ll likely get the 2 seed, possibly the 1, but that would be assuming they’d win in Minnesota, which they’ve yet to do since opening that new stadium. Also assuming Seattle and San Francisco would lose twice more (SF would have to lose thrice more).
What was once considered the Packers’ strength; offensive line…was once again relegated to severe weakness. Then again, they were dominated in every phase of the game. The off-putting part of this is Green Bay had 2 weeks to prepare for the biggest game in 3 years and could not have played worse. The defense somewhat kept them in the game for about 1.5 quarters, but all of the 3 and outs were too much to overcome and the D gave away eventually. Credit to San Francisco for being well-prepared and kept their foot down to blast the Packers back to an average to maybe above-avg. team. The next test for Green Bay won’t come until week 16 in Minneapolis, where they’ll likely drop that game too.
Current Standing~ The Packers have an uphill battle (and need some help) to not only get the 1 seed, but just to get a first round BYE. That’s how big that game was last Sunday. Instead of being the 1 seed, the Packers find themselves as the 3 seed and a must-win at Minnesota to just keep that.
As it sits right now here’s the current playoff standings:
1 San Francisco 10-1
2 New Orleans 10-2
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3 Green Bay 8-3
4 Dallas 6-6
5 Seattle 9-2
6 Minnesota 8-3
There’s a monumental matchup next week when the 49ers travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints. The winner will be in the driver’s seat for the 1st seed, until the 9ers travel again to Seattle, in week 17 for a rematch with the Seahawks—whom delivered SF’s only loss.
All in all, SF seems like the class of the NFC along with Seattle and possibly New Orleans. The Packers have a chance to solidify themselves up there if they were to win out and garner a BYE. San Fran likely has 2 losses coming, but that would mean Seattle needs to find a way to lose 2 more too, assuming the Packers win out- otherwise there’s no hope for the 1 seed. However, should the Packers win out (finish 13-3), that would be an incredible 1st season for a rookie Head Coach, and would give the Packers an inside track to the NFC title game. And who knows, if Rodgers and LaFleur forget Adams is on the field, it may not matter because the offense was ROLLING when #12 had no legit weapons, aside from his running back, Aaron Jones.
Preview~ enter a perfect remedy, the New York Giants. The Giants are arguably the 2nd or 3rd worst team in the NFL. The Giants rank 30th in turnover differential with -11 and their defense isn’t any better, ranking 29th in points given up: 28.0/game. The Packers can key on sensational running back, Saquan Barkley (#26) and force rookie QB Daniel Jones (#6) into beating them, which there should be no way in that happening.
After getting a couple of interceptions and/or strip sacks, the Packers should punch in and capitalize on short fields for much of the day and hang at least 31 on this team. All gearing up for another easy test against the other crap team from the NFC East, the Washington Redskins.
Packers 34
Giants 17
Season: 6-5
Overall: 49-30
sportsjudgejury 