Wild Card Weekend Game Day Thread(s)

Maybe the thing that's hardest to understate is that he (and Big Ben as well) made the 2nd ranked Packers D look like the Lions D.

And that's a legitimate 2nd ranking as well. Not a Redskins-type inflated ranking.2nd in Yds allowed, 26th in scoring. GBs D is solid, but before we put the pedestal up too high let's consider the teams they faced this year: Lions-2X, Bears-2X, Rams, Browns, Bucs, 49ers, Seahawks, Cards (with playoff seeding locked up). That's 10 games against some poor offensive teams. When they played teams that could score: Bengals - 31, Vikings - 30, Vikings - 38, Dallas - 7 (warms my heart), Ravens - 14 Steelers - 37.

2nd in Yds allowed, 26th in scoring. GBs D is solid, but before we put the pedestal up too high let's consider the teams they faced this year: Lions-2X, Bears-2X, Rams, Browns, Bucs, 49ers, Seahawks, Cards (with playoff seeding locked up). That's 10 games against some poor offensive teams. When they played teams that could score: Bengals - 31, Vikings - 30, Vikings - 38, Dallas - 7 (warms my heart), Ravens - 14 Steelers - 37.Interesting. I'll do some research to see why there's such an abnormal discrepancy between yards allowed and points allowed because the two generally correlate pretty well. I can guarentee you that the second rating in yardage is not an empty ranking, but certainly the quantity of 30 point games allowed is quite alarming. But again, it doesn't seem to be supported by long clock-consuming drives. I'll come back to this.

2nd in Yds allowed, 26th in scoring. GBs D is solid, but before we put the pedestal up too high let's consider the teams they faced this year: Lions-2X, Bears-2X, Rams, Browns, Bucs, 49ers, Seahawks, Cards (with playoff seeding locked up). That's 10 games against some poor offensive teams. When they played teams that could score: Bengals - 31, Vikings - 30, Vikings - 38, Dallas - 7 (warms my heart), Ravens - 14 Steelers - 37.Figured it out. Three main reasons: 1) the Packers have a poor punting game that puts their defense in poor situations where only a few yards against can result in points. 2) The Packers rank 6th overall in points against per drive (http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestats). That's a pretty good rate stat, even if they face more drives in the second half of games than the average team due to a quick strike offense and having the luxury of protecting a lead. 3) the Packers give up a disproportionately high percentage of touchdowns to field goals. A lot of this is just bad luck. If you only let a team onto your half of the field twice in an entire game, but they score both times, that's a better performance than allowing them deep in your territory four times, but holding them to all field goals. But it's more points. It could also speak to a situational defense issue.

I'd say they are the second, or perhaps third best defense in the NFL. The Jets are clearly head and shoulders above them at number one, and once you consider who they have played, I don't think they are head and shoulders above Baltimore and Philadelphia, and even Carolina and San Francisco. But If I had to pick one of those defense, just subjectively, I'd go with either the Eagles or the Packers this year.

5 TDs and 4 incompletions is just mind-boggling. Especially when a) he didn't have Boldin and b) the Packers have Charles Woodson. And I don't think Leinart is a bad QB but the gap between him and Warner is staggering.

It's crazy to think we may have never witnessed any of this if Trent Green hadn't gotten hurt and forced Warner into action. Just makes you wonder about all the 3rd string/practice squad QBs over the years that might have been in the same boat

That's a great point Smoot. Had Green not been hurt it is unlikely we would have seen Warner. I forgot about that. The amazing thing about that was how he just came in a lit it up. Instead of a drop off because Green wen down there was an upswing because Warner was in.

That's a great point Smoot. Had Green not been hurt it is unlikely we would have seen Warner. I forgot about that. The amazing thing about that was how he just came in a lit it up. Instead of a drop off because Green wen down there was an upswing because Warner was in.

And not to mention it took Green himself until his 6th year to get his shot

5 TDs and 4 incompletions is just mind-boggling. Especially when a) he didn't have Boldin and b) the Packers have Charles Woodson. And I don't think Leinart is a bad QB but the gap between him and Warner is staggering.

It's crazy to think we may have never witnessed any of this if Trent Green hadn't gotten hurt and forced Warner into action. Just makes you wonder about all the 3rd string/practice squad QBs over the years that might have been in the same boat

Agreed. What if NE didn't keep 4 QB's the year they drafted Brady and he started 4th on the depth chart? What if Bledsoe didn't get hurt the next year?

What if Green got hurt with Collins as his backup instead? One can only wonder.

Figured it out. Three main reasons: 1) the Packers have a poor punting game that puts their defense in poor situations where only a few yards against can result in points. 2) The Packers rank 6th overall in points against per drive (http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestats). That's a pretty good rate stat, even if they face more drives in the second half of games than the average team due to a quick strike offense and having the luxury of protecting a lead. 3) the Packers give up a disproportionately high percentage of touchdowns to field goals. A lot of this is just bad luck. If you only let a team onto your half of the field twice in an entire game, but they score both times, that's a better performance than allowing them deep in your territory four times, but holding them to all field goals. But it's more points. It could also speak to a situational defense issue.
It's good to flush things out from our different perspectives.

I disagree with thefirst bolded point, at the end of the day the only thing that matters is points. One scenario you give up 14, the other 12. That's often the difference between a W & L. Over the course of a season, luck is factored in equally for all teams so I'd take that out of the equation. But your point about situational defense is the first place I'd look (Red Zone/Goal Line D).

GB's D is definitely a top 10 overall D, but not great.

Sam Bradford = could be the next kurt warner

Of all the NFC teams playing now i hate to say it but i think the Cowgirls will be the team to beat. It seems they are the only team left that plays defense. aahh the pain!!