In week five of the season the Green Bay Packers slumped to two wins from five games and had many critics questioning what was lacking in Aaron Rodgers’ play at quarterback.
While their demolition of Houston made headlines, otherwise the Packers had been quietly flying under the radar, putting together a five-game winning streak and making it to the top of their division.
Entering week 12 and with question marks around other contenders, the Packers appear to be playing as well as any team in the league, despite their current run with injuries.
Meanwhile, the New York Giants came into the game with quarterback Eli Manning in his worst form for a considerable while.
With these two dramatically different paths into the game, conventional wisdom pointed to an easy Packers’ victory and the annual writing off of the Giants’ playoff chances. How wrong we were.
The 38-10 scoreline in favour of the Giants indicates a very one-sided game and a dominant display by the New York team, but this is only half true. The Giants were very good and Manning put together his best performance passing in weeks.
The key to the Giants victory was both the performance of the Giants’ pass rush and the ineptitude of the Packers’ defence.
Fundamentally this game was lost by the Packers’ lack of healthy players. Their lack of stability on the offensive line exposed them to the dormant Giants’ pass rush and derailed the Packers’ passing game. Rodgers was not bad at all, he simply was had no time in the pocket.
In addition to the five times Rodgers was sacked, the reigning MVP was forced out of the pocket time after time forcing him to check down to receivers rather than push the ball downfield to exploit the Giants leaky secondary.
This has been a recurring issue for the Packers when they have struggled. Against the Seahawks, 49ers and the Giants, Rodgers has been placed under considerable pressure and rendered ineffective.
The Giants’ success in offense was a direct contrast to the Packers’ struggles. Where the Packers struggled even to maintain a pocket for Rodgers to throw the Giants dominated the line of scrimmage, protected Manning and ran the ball directly at the Packers with a yards per rush average of 4.7, which is even more impressive when considering that the Giants were in obvious running situations for the entire second half.
The Giants were not perfect on offense, if anything they were exceedingly lucky. Two of Manning’s passes were almost intercepted by the Packers early and could have dramatically reshaped the outcome of the game.
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The storyline surrounding the AFC wildcard has naturally focused on the Indianapolis Colts and their inspiring run to the playoffs with head coach Chuck Pagano who is currently battling leukaemia and the fortunes of the Pittsburgh Steelers without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
However with two losses to the Steelers and another likely against the Ravens next week, the Cincinnati Bengals have just tied the Steelers record and could move into the final spot with a victory over the struggling Chargers next week.
The Steelers are imploding without Roethlisberger and continue to lose key players to injury. While not spectacular, the Bengals are a quality team. Offensively quarterback Andy Dalton continues to grow as a passer and fellow second year AJ Green has blossomed into one of the most destructive offensive weapons in the league, one who changes defensive game plans like few other receivers.
Defensively the Bengals are solid at all levels and have an outstanding group of young linebackers. Thanks to the collective weakness of the AFC and the struggles of the Pittsburgh team, the Bengals will be well placed to make a December playoff push for the final wildcard spot.
Staying with the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens again overcame a sluggish performance to defeat the San Diego Chargers and improve their record to 9-2. This is a common thread for the Ravens who seem to be a mediocre team despite their record.
The Ravens victory was encapsulated by the miracle fourth and 29 conversion by Ray Rice that was enabled by one of the worst defensive efforts seen all year. Rice’s play was all effort in contrast to the completely dispirited performance the Chargers gave and reflects the attitude they have had for the past two seasons.
Meanwhile, the Ravens continue to win games unconvincingly against inferior opposition. This is a warning sign for their playoff prospects.
The Ravens seem unable to close games definitively and have had to rely upon mistakes and late defensive stands to win. In this regard the Ravens should be contrasted with the Falcons who seem to find a way to win games late after struggling early.
Where the Falcons have an ability to turn on their best form of late, the Ravens seem to almost always be sunk by their poor second halves. The combination of these two approaches to games should really have their fans concerned. Both teams are poised to be upset late, the Falcons by being dominated early and having the game taken away from them and the Ravens by choking away leads.
These two scenarios seem to be increasingly likely after each game they continue to win unconvincingly.
After performing far better than expected in the place of concussed Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers have found themselves in a quarterback controversy that coach Jim Harbaugh is amplifying.
Over the past seven days Harbaugh has consistently sent mixed messages as to the direction of the team for their postseason run. After Kaepernick’s electric performance against the Bears, Harbaugh stated that the Week 12 starter would be the passer with the “hot hand”. Kaepernick ended up starting Week 12 due to what was said to be lingering issues from Smith’s concussion despite him receiving a medical clearance.
Once again Kaepernick capitalised on his opportunity but despite his performance Harbaugh stated that Smith was the starter but he believed in a rotational approach to the position. These mixed messages that Harbaugh is sending have done little to create any sense of continuity in the 49ers locker room.
Kaepernick appears to be the solution at quarterback into the future but it probably should be Smith to remain the starter into the playoffs based upon his consistency, experience and aversion to mistakes. Expect Smith to start for the Panthers in Week 13 despite Kaepernick’s performances in the past two weeks.
The 49ers victory affirmed two things. Firstly, they are the best team in the NFC despite the Falcons better record due to their all around excellence.
Secondly, the Saints brief run in which they played for a period as the season’s team of destiny is over. At 5-6 and the magic number for the playoffs most likely at nine wins, it seems the Saints will not be able to overcome their abysmal start and make a miraculous run to the playoffs.
With games upcoming against the New York Giants, Atlanta, and Tampa Bay, the Saints will be lucky to get over seven wins.
The Saints should be applauded for their midseason run, but ultimately their defensive ineptitude set the Saints up for failure.
The entire second half approach for New Orleans was to make the playoffs as a wildcard with the full confidence that Drew Brees has the potential to shred any defence.
This method worked for the Giants last season and the Packers in 2010 who entered the tournament hot and ended it with the Lombardi trophy. The difference between these Saints and those previous teams was that both Green Bay and New York had defensive players that could alter games.
The Saints lack of any factors on defence ultimately undermined a New Orleans team that was reliant on Drew Brees to carry this team.
This experience of the Saints should be taken as a warning by Green Bay who if anything rely upon Aaron Rodgers more than the Saints rely upon Brees to win games.
Article link: NFL Week 12: What Happened to the Packers?. Written by hotairitout, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion
