Review: Packers 27; Bears 10 ~ The entire Packers team, coaches included, looked better than Week 1. However, that comes with a caveat- they did play the Chicago Bears, who are terrible. While it’s still early in the season, there are some things to highlight:

1. Rodgers looked better — he was a bit more in rhythm, seemed like he had control of the game/pace, and cared (always a big one).
2. Offensive Line was “OK,” struggled in run blocking — the run blocking may be seen as a force from last week, but that was aided by the strong running of A.J. Dillon, and especially Aaron Jones. There was plenty of times they were contacted at the line of scrimmage, but managed good gains.
3. Committed to the Run-Game — while the run-blocking was so-so, committing to the run game allowed Green Bay to control the clock, pace, and ultimately the outcome. Jones & Dillon combined for 37 touches (56% of total plays), 237 yards (57% of total yards), and 2 touchdowns.

The defense also held their own, keeping Chicago under 230 total yards (228) and allowing only one 3rd down conversion. Again, the Bears and Justin Fields are terrible, but they at least did their job.

While the Buccaneers are 2-0, they’ve had their own issues. Their offense hasn’t performed near to expectations, especially for a veteran team that’s been together for over 2 years and has been successful at that. Their defense, on the other hand, has been stifling. While I also don’t think highly of Dallas or New Orleans (both of Tampa’s opponents so far this season), they’re both superior to the Packers’ faced foes in 2022.

Since there’s at least some sort of sample size from which to draw, here’s how each team stacks up:

	GB O	(rank)	vs.	TB D	(rank)
Rush	157.0	6th		85.5	9th
Pass	219.0	20th		190.5	8th
Total	376.0	11th		276.0	5th
Pts	17.0	23th		6.5	1st
	GB D			TB O
Rush	153.0	27th		112.0	13th
Pass	158.5	4th		191.5	23rd
Total	311.5	10th		303.5	24th
Pts	16.5	7th		19.5	18th
T/O
Takeaways	1	T-23rd		6	T-3rd
Giveaways	3	T-16th		2	T-10th
Diff.	(2)	T-22nd		4	2nd

While not the best display, you can see each team’s Defense has the advantage over the opposition’s offense, except in rushing. Although, Tampa’s rush D is still solid. With both teams missing key receiving pieces (Bucs: Evans; Godwin; possibly Julio), it’ll fall on Brady & Rodgers to execute the scheme as well as the offensive line to create enough running room for each team’s backs to gain 1st downs. Per usual, turnovers will likely dictate the outcome.

It’s tough to imagine the Packers scoring enough to put Tampa Bay in a must pass position, so I think Tampa’s defense will put them in a position of strength, much like they did last week, keeping the Saints’ score low allowing Brady to make a few big throws in the 4th quarter to win.

Packers 20
Buccaneers 27 (-1.0)

Season: 1-1
Overall: 82-43

Week 1 Review~ It’s better to make predictions based off coin flips than what was shown in week 1. At least that’s how the NFL has trended since teams began sitting essentially all their starters throughout the preseason.

Chicago got a sloppy-weather game and capitalized. They still had to execute on more plays and did just that. The Bears won the turnover battle, along with only committing 3 penalties to San Francisco’s 12, which (usually) ended up being the difference in the outcome. Just goes to show, the better team doesn’t always win, however, the team that wins the turnover battle (unless Quarterbacked by Aaron Rodgers in January) will win.

Green Bay suffered from 2 huge non-plays: the dropped TD by Rookie WR Christian Watson on the game’s 1st play from scrimmage; A.J. Dillon’s stuff on 4th & Goal in the 2nd quarter. The game is likely a different outcome, at least progress, however, you get paid to make the plays, and the Vikings did. The key point to take away from last week was the sheer production from the running backs. Aaron Jones (#33) and A.J. Dillon (#28) combined for 23 touches, 167 yards, and 1 TD. That’s good enough for a 7.3 yards/touch average, which would indicate that they need to touch the ball, far more often.

Preview~ Chicago is coming in with, not only, a head of steam, but a rare opportunity to take control over the entire division with a win (coupled with 2 winnable games following). Green Bay finds themselves in the (not a) “Must Win” department, essentially salvaging Week 1 and setting themselves up for the following 2 weeks against the 2-0 Bucs and 2-0 Giants (in London), in coming weeks.

Bears 21
Packers 30

Season: 0-1
Overall: 81-43

Ask any Vikings fan “What are your expectations for this season?” and it’ll be fake-sounding response about a “deep playoff run,” or “contend for the Super Bowl.” Yet, at the end of the season, they’re all overcome with joy upon the Packers’ inevitable January demise, which tells you everything.

Because Minnesota is the only team to host a Super Bowl every year (each time the Packers visit the Vikings), Za’Darius Smith decided to join them as they’re a match made in Heaven — they share the same dream, Beat Green Bay.

After Minnesota departed with Mike Zimmer, they chose to take the Offensive Coordinator from the defending Super Bowl champion LA Rams. Kevin O’Connell has served as the OC for the Rams underneath Head Coach, Sean McVay, for the last 2 seasons, so he’s been involved in some solid offenses. O’Connell has two of the best skill position players in the entire NFL in HB Dalvin Cook and WR Justin Jefferson. QB Kirk Cousins, while I call him Captain Average, does put up solid numbers over the course of a season, and has had a few good games vs. Green Bay. Let’s see if Joe Berry and the Packers’ D can pick up where they left off last year, with a dominating performance – there’s no reason to think they can’t.

The Packers are still dealing with injuries on the offensive line, and unfortunately with their best 2 linemen…David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins. There’s also another injury that could change things quite a bit: Wide Receiver #1 Allen Lazard. This means Green Bay will feature a combination of Sammy Watkins, Christian Watson, Randall Cobb, Romeo Doubs, and Juwann Winfree. The only ones to even catch a pass in a Packer uniform are Cobb and Winfree.

This means the run game will be even more important, and with the unlikelihood of Bakhtiari and/or Jenkins suiting up, that could prove extremely tough, and let’s not forget Za’Darius Smith signed with Minnesota ONLY to play against Green Bay…

With these injuries, the QB will have to execute, which he’s great at in regular season games, and Matt LaFleur will likely lean on the legs of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon.

If the Packers win the turnover battle and are able to run the ball, they should prevail.

Packers 27 (-1.5)
Vikings 23

Season: 0-0
Overall: 81-42

Recapping the off-season, quickly, There were 3 main things the Packers did since the choke vs. San Francisco.

1. Trading Davante Adams
2. Moved on from team leader, Za’Darius Smith
3. Major restructuring of current players to fit the cap

The return on Adams should be quite helpful, fairly soon too. Drafting Quay Walker (22nd overall from UGA, pick from LV). Then using the 2nd round pick from Las Vegas to package it in a trade to Minnesota to move up in the 2nd and draft WR Christian Watson (North Dakota St.).

Za’Darius Smith has made some headlines the last 2 days, essentially talking about his entire reason for signing with Minnesota was to beat the Packers. Really shooting for the stars there 🙂

All of the cap restructuring, while clever, can really come back to bite the team as that money will eventually count against the cap. For example, Drew Brees is counting $11,500,000 against the Saints’ cap this year, and he has been gone for two seasons now. It’s coming Packer fans, so be prepared, and even more of a necessity to WIN NOW.

As I covered in my last entry, the season predictions will look a bit different this year, but the same process was used.

I have the Packers finishing 12-5, taking the 3rd seed in the NFC. The Buccaneers taking the 1 seed and San Francisco taking the 2nd. Again, these are essentially all guesses, but let’s have a look:

Wild Card

Packers beat the defending champs at Lambeau Field. The Rams come in as the 6th seed and fall to a tough, balanced Packers team in a great game on the first weekend of the NFL Playoffs.

Divisional Round

Being the 3-seed, the Packers will travel to the 2-seed San Francisco 49ers. Aaron Rodgers will finally finish off San Fran in the postseason and advance to his 6th NFC Championship game in his career.

Championship Round

On Championship Sunday, the Packers will travel to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL to take on the Tom Bradys. Unfortunately, Green Bay will come up short, probably on a missed Field Goal, losing by 1 or 2 so that the blame can be deflected from the actual issue…once again.

In this matchup in Glendale, AZ, the Buffalo Bills will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is a matchup of 2 of the best 3 teams in the NFL. I believe the Packers have the best roster in the NFL. However, this is Josh Allen’s time and he’ll bring a Lombardi Trophy to Buffalo, well-deserved and that city has thirsted for one. It’d be a terrible time to be a folding table.

To keep (any) integrity with picking/predicting, one should reflect on passed selections.  For my season predictions, I went through the entire schedule grid for each team, picking each winner thus counting it as a loss for those other teams that, well, lost.  In doing so I correctly selected 10 of the 14 playoff participants.  I missed three in the AFC: Pittsburgh; Cincinnati; Las Vegas.  I only missed one in the NFC: Philadelphia.

As for the Super Bowl, I had Cincinnati finishing last in the AFC North with a record of 4-13.  The Los Angeles Rams were picked to go 9-8, get the 6^th seed and lose to the 3^rd seeded Packers at Lambeau Field in the Wild Card round. 

Speaking of those Green Bay Packers, I missed their overall record by 1 game, concluding 12-5 (instead of 13-4, although if needed, they likely win Week 18 and go 14-3).  I missed by 2 seeds.  The odd thing is I did have them losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round- had I gone back and looked prior to the matchup, I still likely pick the Packers in my weekly pick, but that’s a pretty close hit.

All in all, I fared better than I initially thought once the playoffs commenced and especially once the Super Bowl match up was determined.

I’ve been close before on picking Super Bowl participants, but this year was filled with much parody – it’s resulted in us living in a world where “Going For It” or “All In” carries more weight than every before…oh, and Matthew Stafford is now a Super Bowl Champion.  Very odd.

What does the typical Super Bowl champion resemble?  Let’s take a dive into what it takes to win a World Championship.  Since the NFL has 2 to 3 different timelines, let’s use the most-recent one; Free Agency (1993 season). 

Year	SB Champion	Off	Def	Pt. Diff.	Seed
1993	Dallas Cowboys	2	2	2	1
1994	San Francisco 49ers	1	6	1	1
1995	Dallas Cowboys-2	3	3	2	1
1996	Green Bay Packers	1	1	1	1
1997	Denver Broncos	1	6	1	4
1998	Denver Broncos-2	2	8	2	1
1999	St. Louis Rams	1	4	1	1
2000	Baltimore Ravens	14	1	2	4
2001	New England Patriots	6	6	7	2
2002	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	18	1	2	2
2003	New England Patriots-2	12	1	1	2
2004	New England Patriots-3	4	2	1	2
2005	Pittsburgh Steelers	9	4	5	2
2006	Indianapolis Colts	3	23	9	3
2007	New York Giants	14	17	13	5
2008	Pittsburgh Steelers-2	20	1	5	2
2009	New Orleans Saints	1	20	1	1
2010	Green Bay Packers-2	10	2	2	6
2011	New York Giants-2	9	25	19	4
2012	Baltimore Ravens-2	10	12	11	4
2013	Seattle Seahawks	9	1	2	1
2014	New England Patriots-4	4	8	1	1
2015	Denver Broncos-3	19	4	10	1
2016	New England Patriots-5	3	1	1	1
2017	Philadelphia Eagles	3	4	1	1
2018	New England Patriots-6	4	7	5	2
2019	Kansas City Chiefs	5	7	4	2
2020	Tampa Bay Buccaneers-2	3	8	4	5
	Avg.	7	7	4	2

Since the beginning of the 1993 NFL season, the eventual Super Bowl Champion has ranked 7^th in scoring offense, 7^th in scoring defense, 4^th in point differential, and has had an average postseason seed of 2^nd – a bye.

Including this season, 70% of Super Bowl champions had a bye from the wild car round, which makes sense for two reasons: 1. Better teams earn a bye; 2. A full game less chance to be eliminated.

Again, the most indicative ranking of team strength is the point differential ranking; 4^th.  Including the 2021 season, 66% of eventual champions, or roughly 2 of every 3 are ranked 4^th or better. 

How does Green Bay compare?  The Packers have ranked 7^th or better in scoring offense 18 times.  The defense has ranked 7^th or better on eight occurrences since 1993.  The opportunities have been there for the Packers to capitalize on their True Team Strength, yet this has led to heartbreak after countless heartbreak.  Green Bay has lost on the final play in the postseason 8 times since the 1998.

What does this all mean?  The Packers have had a “good enough” defense to win more than 2 Super Bowls in this time frame, assuming Quarterback is as important as everyone says it is – meaning either the Quarterbacks Green Bay has had since 1993 aren’t nearly as good as many have claimed OR the position really isn’t that important.  It can’t be both, or can it?

Adding yet another season-ending gut punch to Packer Nation’s ever-growing inventory of sickening playoff losses, this one might be the tipping point for Packer fans on their desire to keep Aaron Rodgers as starting quarterback.

Like most (all) fan bases, this one will likely continue to overreact as well.  Maybe its deserved. 

Game Recap~ I won’t cover the obvious (special teams or Rodgers’ missed read on everyone not named Adams) in detail.  I will cover just how great the Defense was and why that should be cause for optimism moving forward, regardless of who’s under center in 2022. 

Defense~ before San Francisco’s final drive before the end of the 1^st half, they had a total of -15 yards.  Yes, you read that correctly NEGATIVE FIFTEEN YARDS OF TOTAL OFFENSE.  Then, once they actually put a drive together, Adrian Amos came up with a clutch interception on the GB 4-yard line.  The Packers gave up a total of 212 yards of offense.  106 passing yards on 11/19 passing to only 4 different pass catchers.  It seemed like Jimmy G was under duress the entire game, and he was, yet took less sacks (4) than Rodgers (5) for less yards (24 v 29). 

The eye test tells the story that Green Bay’s defense dominated, while Aaron Rodgers and the Packers did not take what San Fran was giving them.  Which would’ve netted them 21-31 points and an easy win when coupled with Joe Barry’s defensive gameplan – even with the special team blunders. 

I think that’s enough, after having 7-8 days to settle, let’s review the season.  From last week’s article, the “true strength” showed the Packers were the 5^th strongest team in the NFC, and that just may be more accurate than their 1 seed. 

While this was one of Green Bay’s strongest teams, and (arguably) their best chance at reaching a Super Bowl (keep in mind the goal is to win the Super Bowl, not just get there), the Packers squandered another opportunity.  Will this be the off-season to make the final change(s) to completely overhaul the roster since their last World Championship?  Maybe, some have been calling for that for some time…now is the time (again). 

If you want an optimistic view of watching the games as a Packer fan, think of it from a realist’s perspective: Better to have lost in the Divisional round than in either of the next 2 games; especially the Super Bowl. 

Season: 12-6
Overall: 81-42

With the divisional round getting under way in just a few hours, let’s see how the Packers matchup against the (somehow) feared San Francisco 49ers.  While, as a fan, it’s considered taboo to “take an opponent lightly,” the perception of the Packers is that they’re somehow the underdog when they’ve:

1. Already beaten the 49ers this season.
2. Proved to be the best team in the NFL for the entire season.
3. Have the 1 seed and have only gotten healthier.

Hopefully this gives Green Bay added juice to motivate them to come out and execute.  Since San Fran is coming off a decent win in Dallas, where they tried to give the game away but Dallas had other plans, they have some momentum, but at the same time, their worries outweigh the Packers’.

	SF Def.	GB Off.
Rush	103.2 (7)	111.8 (18)
Pass	206.5 (6)	253.8 (8)
Total	310.0 (3)	365.6 (10)
Points	21.5 (T-9)	26.5 (T-9)
	SF Off.	GB Def.
Rush	127.4 (7)	109.1 (T-10)
Pass	248.3 (12)	219.1 (10)
Total	375.7 (7)	328.2 (9)
Points	25.1 (13)	21.8 (T-13)

As we can see, based on pure yardage, San Francisco has ranked higher all season, and in points both teams are identically matched up.  Which should lead one to believe that’s it’s an even matchup, kind of like their week 3 meeting.  While in my last article, “Re-Seeding the NFC playoffs” the 49ers technically are the 3^rd strongest team in the conference, with Green Bay ranking 5^th.  The item that those rankings doesn’t take into account is pure record of wins and losses; the most important. 

The media is quite focused on WR #19 Deebo Samuel, as well they should be, the Packers feature a better WR (#17 Davante Adams) and actually are better at every single position other than DE, TE, and K.  If the game does come down to kicking, at least Mason Crosby has been there in the past and delivered each time in the postseason.

Oh, and yeah, he kicked a game-winning 51-yard field goal as time expired to beat these same San Francisco 49ers.  However, I don’t believe the game will be that close.

49ers 17
Packers 27

Season: 12-5
Overall: 81-41

The season has come and gone.  While it was the longest season in NFL history, when your team is winning, it sure seems to go by quickly.  While the game was about as meaningless as a preseason game – there’s still some things from it to draw. 

Review~ Week 18 @ Detroit

                Offense: 1^st team offense obviously came into this week to work on timing and a few basic formations.  That first drive, it was apparent, they were going to incorporate Davante Adams as much as they could to get him the Packers single-season receiving yards record, which they should’ve done.  However, they didn’t really get into their true offense until the 4^th possession.  A possession with a nice mix of 4 rushes and 3 passes, totaling 76 yards in 4:26, resulting in an Allen Lazard 29-yard TD.  While it was against the Lions, it should’ve been indicative to most that had Green Bay come into this game “having to win,” they may have put up 6 to 7 touchdowns. 

I also seem to be in the growing minority (oxymoron?) that I still need to see more of Jordan Love before I’m ready to move on from him.  However, that doesn’t mean to pass by a quarterback (whether in the draft or otherwise) should one be available you think could help.  Of the 2 interceptions, one was on him (the last one to seal the game) as he just let it fly, which was better than taking a sack in that situation – the 1^st one (while tipped) hit disappointing rookie Amari Rodgers in the bread basket.  Those two turnovers, coupled with the lost fumble by Juwann Winfree on the Packers’ first possession of the 2^nd half led to a 3-0 turnover advantage for Detroit.  Something not seen by a Packers offense since the Week 1 blasting at the hands of the New Orleans Saints.  Again, this game counts (technically) and should for the final statistics as every team has games like this, but it’s not telling of who the Packers are – at least let’s hope not.

                Defense:  while Adrian Amos stated they practiced all week in preparation for Detroit, and the gameplan was to come out to play well and win, what else was he going to say when asked?  It was also revealing that the defense came out and displayed a very vanilla game plan.  There were 2 goals and one was to “not get hurt.”  While I don’t like that mentality, as that’s a good way to actually get hurt, putting guys in positions to not make plays will result in less collisions and ultimately limit the chances of injury – hence almost no blitzing from the Packers defense. 

The Packers’ defense may not be top 2 in scoring (which has been my claim in order for Aaron Rodgers to hoist a Lombardi Trophy), but they certainly are good enough to win a Super Bowl.

The main stat for the defense, aside from scoring – Green Bay finished T-13^th giving up 21.8 points per game.  That’ll be more than enough for the naysayers to claim “Green Bay’s defense is the issue, yet again.”  While maybe that’s a case, plenty of other teams with far inferior QB-play (allegedly) have won with worse defenses.  Green Bay did take the ball away 26 times to rank T-8^th.  Couple that with them blitzing only 21.3% of the time (25^th) however generating a hurry rate of 11.3% (9^th) which seems to be a direct correlation to Opponent Passer Rating (86.9 to rank 10^th), that’s the encouraging stat line.  While I love running the ball and stopping the run, to win playoff games and ultimately championships it comes down to quarterback play (hence why they’re judged on rings) and making clutch throws at clutch times – the Packers seem to be very efficient in that department, on both sides of the ball.

Wild Card Weekend~ what’s become a Matt LaFleur annual tradition, the Packers will be resting and watching the Wild Card games with no stress to the fans.  Green Bay will face one of 4 opponents: Philadelphia; San Francisco; Arizona; Los Angeles.  As noted in my other article for www.wisportsheroics.com the Packers may not be the strongest team in the NFC, however they do have the best record in the NFL vs. current playoff teams at 5-1, with the sole loss coming at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead with Jordan Love starting in place of Aaron Rodgers. 

To attempt to find the “strongest” team, I’ve alluded to point differential, turnover margin, scoring ranks, etc.  I figured combining all of those ranks and dividing them evenly – while maybe not being the best method – would give a bit more accurate of a depiction of a team other than their record.

		Rush O.	Rush D.	Pass O.	Pass D.	Total O.	Total D.	Pts O.	Pts D.	T/O	Pt. Diff.	Sched.	Avg. Rank.
1	GB	18	10	8	10	10	9	10	13	3	10	22	11.2
2	TB	26	3	1	21	2	13	2	5	6	4	4	7.9
3	Dal	9	16	2	20	1	19	1	7	1	2	31	9.9
4	LAR	25	6	5	22	9	17	8	15	13	6	1	11.5
5	Ari	10	20	10	7	8	11	11	11	4	9	2	9.4
6	SF	7	7	12	6	7	3	13	10	22	12	5	9.5
7	Phi	1	9	25	11	14	10	12	18	16	13	30	14.5

When re-ordering based on the “Avg. Rank,” it would re-seed the NFC like:

1. Tampa Bay
2. Arizona
3. San Francisco
4. Dallas
5. Green Bay
6. LA Rams
7. Philadelphia

The one thing that’s tough to account for is each team’s true homefield advantage.  The Packers went 8-0 at Lambeau this year, mainly because they’re a good team.  They also beat San Francisco and Arizona on the road while besting Los Angeles and Pittsburgh at home.  There’s something to be said for “knowing how to win,” I’m just not so sure that’s measurable, aside from, well…record.

Until we find out Green Bay’s opponent, have fun watching Wild Card Weekend.

Season: 12-5
Overall: 81-41

Review~

Offense: the HB production was solid once again.  The halfback production was very solid.

• #33 Jones: 13 touches; 106 yards
• #28 Dillon: 16 touches; 83 yards; 2 TDs
• Total: 29 touches; 189 yards; 2 TDs. 

That’ll do.  Do that in the postseason, and the offense should have success and keep the defense off the field, while controlling the line of scrimmage. 

Another non-surprising statement, Davante Adams is the best Wide Receiver in franchise history.  While he may not possess the statistics showing so, it’s clear he’s the best mismatch since Sterling Sharpe, and has a superior skill set AND rapport with his QB.  He’s also the best WR in the NFL.  I thought Tirico covered it brilliantly (and I’ll paraphrase) “While Cooper Kupp may win the wide receiver triple crown, the nuance with Adams and Rodgers separates these two from any others.”

The offensive line still needs improvement, but has held its own all season.  They didn’t give up a sack the last 2 games now – and keep in mind they faced Myles Garrett last week and a tough, well-coached Zimmer defense this passed Sunday.  While Bakhtiari and Myers practiced today (Wed, Jan 5^th), who knows if they’re just prepping for the Divisional round game, but there’s hope of possible help coming.  However, they’ve shown to be good enough and not the reason the Packers won’t win the Super Bowl.

                Defense: a very good showing vs. a bad OL & backup QB.  However, we shouldn’t harshly judge them for literally doing their job.  They didn’t generate any turnovers, but did get 2 sacks, held Minnesota to 206 total yards, and most-impressively, held all-world HB #33 Dalvin Cook to 13 total yards on 12 touches.  Absolutely incredible, even with a backup QB.  As my cousin stated (he’s a coach) during the game, “If I’m coaching, Dalvin Cook touches the ball 40 times vs. this run defense.”  That should’ve been the plan, but that’s on them (Minnesota).

Safety #26 Darnell Savage has had a rough few weeks (actually season compared to the last 2 years), but if he’s the “weak link,” the Packers’ D will be ok.  He gave up the TD to Osborne this week, and has been beaten on a few long pass plays this season, but he did have a nice INT vs. Mayfield on Christmas Day to maintain momentum. 

Lastly, #59 MLB De’Vondre Campbell might be a must-sign.  Unless another team gives him stupid money, Green Bay might have to think about retaining him, and yes, that’s with the return of solid MLB #54 Kamal Martin, next year.  Campbell’s play recognition and pass coverage has been absolutely dazzling this season, and has made this defense a top-10 scoring D. 

                Special Teams: it should be pretty apparent that #82 David Moore is the new return man.  He gets away from the ball when it’s too short, doesn’t dance and has the one-cut and go, and experience. 

Mason Crosby (blame me if it fails, I guess) seems to have it figured out.  Like I stated prior, he’s taking a bunch of power off his kicks, but has drilled 9 of his last 10, and made all of his extra points.  Would still love to see him drill touchbacks on every kickoff, but wind is tough to judge from my couch.

Current Standing~

• Seeding: We know the Packers secured the 1-seed, which is amazing, but now must capitalize on it.
• Point Differential: +86 which ranks 10^th in the NFL.  If the starters played ALL of week 18, that might be closer to +100 – +110, which would put them in the top 8.  I’ve since been added as a contributor to Wisconsin Sports Heroics and will expound on that statistic there. 

Matchup~

	GB Def.	(rank)	vs.	Det Off.	(rank)
Rush	109.8	13		111.7	18
Pass	213.7	9		205.8	21
Total	323.4	11		317.5	22
Pts	20.9	8		18.0	28
	GB Def.			Det Def.
Rush	111.1	19		135.9	28
Pass	253.7	9		244.0	25
Total	364.8	12		379.9	28
Pts	26.3	10		27.3	30
T/O
Takeaways	26	7th		16	T-24th
Giveaways	10	1st		23	T-20th
Diff.	16	T-1st		(7)	25th

The Packers hold the advantage in each and every category of this matchup.  The Lions have been playing tough all year, and Dan Campbell (their head coach) has them playing tough…this will be their Super Bowl.  Green Bay will likely have all reserves for the 2^nd half, and likely longer than that, especially if the 1^st string looks great to start. 

Preview~ Green Bay has a chance to get a ton of 2^nd stringers great live snaps vs. NFL competition right before the most-important stretch of the season.  If no one else gets injured, Green Bay can return any or all of the starters that have missed a majority of the season, AND the backups become even more prepared…this could set the Packers up in an ideal scenario heading into the bye week.

Packers 27
Lions 24

Season: 12-4
Overall: 81-40