The Lone NFC North Survivor.

It is hard to remember a Packer game that felt tremendously nerve-wracking. It probably would have been the Wild Card round game against Philadelphia in 2010.  Super Bowl definitely had some nerves, but it did not come to the end of the game. Same goes for against Chicago in the Championship round. This game felt like my heart was coming out of my chest, and I knew by the end of it, I would either be as happy as I have been in 2013 with a suffering year as a Wisconsin sports fan or it would be just another notch on a horrible year to live in the state of Wisconsin.

While the first half featured a lack of scoring, a touchdown-fumble and an uncharacteristically bad Aaron Rodgers, the second half felt like how the game should have been going for the whole thing. A complete shootout where defense was not allowed. Green Bay's rushing defense could not stop a nosebleed letting Matt Forte run wild. Jay Culter could not have been more efficient, and did not make that one mistake everyone in the state of Wisconsin expected to happen. It is not like Packers were struggling on offense either, they were moving the ball but still found themselves down one with six minutes left after Mike McCarthy failed to go from two after an Eddie Lacy touchdown.

Usually, I am completely behind the advanced metrics crew, but here's where I disagree when it comes for going for two. If Packers defense could have made a stop, I feel like it is easier for Mike McCarthy to go for two. The reason he decided to go for one was to preserve a chance to tie up the game again if Chicago were to score another touchdown. That would not have been the case had Green Bay failed to go for two. I recognized the idea the final drive would not have been like pulling teeth with a rusty wrench yet still to call it ridiculous to go for the extra point is being a little of a extremist.

At six minutes and change left, I did not know if it would be the last drive of the game for Green Bay. When McCarthy went for it on a short fourth down from their own 22, I realized this would be it. Do or die for Green Bay for the entire season. I also began thinking about how McCarthy would be killed by the advanced metric community and the local pinheads calling into radio stations. John Kuhn found a way to the first down. Green Bay faced another short fourth down, and passed the ball to Jordy Nelson where he caught it for six yards. Packers moved slightly into Bears territory but once again, found themselves with a third straight fourth down....

People were ready to come down on Rodgers talking about how bad he looked out there, the refusal to run the football and once again, the age-old narrative that he cannot close out big games. He steps out of the pocket escaping Julius Peppers (Great, great block from John Kuhn) and he found Randall Cobb wide open down field. I could not believe it. I wanted to run around the house like I just won the lottery, but I had such a head rush from standing, it physically caused me to sit down but I had a massive smile on my face before grabbing another beer knowing Chicago had 38 seconds left with a quarterback with a huge arm and two massive wide receivers.

Thankfully, Brandon Marshall had a key drop at Green Bay's 30 and Cutler throws an interception to Sam Shields as he shorts a pass intended for Alshon Jeffery. Packers somehow is in the playoffs and are in the mix with their full arsenal back in action on offense. Game is on and who knows how this story ends.

It feels like 2003 more than anything else where Green Bay kept having inexplicable moments to keep them alive meaning Tramon Williams will have a walk-off interception and then I will cry in the divisional round. Let's hope half of that is true. San Francisco poises a huge challenge for Green Bay, but right now, it is still time to enjoy one of the most improbable NFC North division crown.

Charlie.  

Sportandfashion-news Packer Preview: Packers vs. Bears

I have to be honest with everyone, I did not want to have a chance at winning the division at the beginning of the week. People will call that stupid. People will call that dumb. But honestly, I was emotionally spent. I could not take it anymore. Someone asked me for my thoughts on the game and I could not tell them because the whole thought exhausted me at the beginning of the week.  When a team puts you through the meat grinder for two months, you get broken down. Does this make me a bad fan?  To some, probably but I had enough of watching Matt Flynn bungle opportunities and MD Jennings miss tackles, I just wanted closure. But things can change in an instant and it did with the return of Aaron Rodgers. 

My mood changed on an instant. I started thinking about ways Rodgers can help Green Bay move past the Bears and get into the playoffs where they might have a chance even if with all that has went wrong with the season. The classic and maybe the only classic scene of Al Pacino in The Godfather Part III sums it best for me.  The season had pulled me back in with Rodgers, and I became elated as he would be going up against a struggling Chicago Bears defense. Green Bay still needs to commit to a balanced attack on Sunday with easing Rodgers back into place and a heavy dose of Bash/Slash as my good friend Seth likes to call our running back tandem. 

Mike McCarthy needs to look at some of his previous game plans to start out with Rodgers on Sunday. The short passes he used with Flynn should be utilized greatly in the first quarter of the game. There is no real reason for Rodgers to be in seven-step drops to start the football game off.  In the second through fourth quarter, this all goes out the window. Maybe even wait until halftime, but McCarthy needs to stick to a Santorum-style playbook for the first quarter. Although what the hell do I know, Mac might show off his elephant nuts and call a four vertical route first play of the game with Rodgers hits Jordy Nelson in stride with McCarthy doing the DX chop down the field. While I feel like this is a complete joke, I could totally see it happen minus the DX chop. 

No matter what the play calling is like in the first quarter, there needs to be a consistent commitment to run the football. Chicago cannot stop the run. Eddie Lacy decimated this defense the first time around. James Starks got into a mix slightly as well. These two guys needs to be prominently featured throughout the game. Not only will this keep the defense rested, but it makes for the playaction beauties we have seen from Rodgers in the past. I do hope Starks sees some time on Sunday with Lacy's ankle being a little iffy, I do not want to see a workhouse load from Lacy. This offense figures to have a big game on Sunday in all facets of the game.   

Even with Rodgers returning, this is not a cakewalk for Green Bay. Chicago is still a potent team despite their defensive struggles this season. People can point to the Philadelphia game or giving up 24 points to Cleveland.  There is also a ground swell about Jay Cutler's record against Green Bay which is 1-8 if you have not heard enough talking heads discuss it.  The fact of the matter is for Chicago to win this football and steal all the Rodgers excitement, they need two things to happen - Matt Fore to be a factor and Cutler to limit his mistakes as much as possible.  

The one thing it seems like no one is talking about from last week's Philadelphia game is how poorly Forte played in both running the football and pass-blocking. Now, we can all have bad games, but could he be a little burned out from the season?  Forte has 267 carries already for the season which is the most since his rookie year in 2008 when he carried the ball 316 times. He did not look sharp against an average Philadelphia team, and he will need to be the x-factor on Sunday for Chicago to win this football game. One place where Forte can really take advantage is the flats. Green Bay's lack of tackling makes Forte lethal out there, and he could have a big game just being the safety valve for this Bears team. 

The other way Chicago wins this football game is for Cutler to play within himself against Green Bay. In his last two years, Cutler has four touchdowns to seven interceptions versus Packers' defenses with a marginal quarterback rating.  He tends to make inexplicable errors at the wrong time when playing Green Bay. It seems like once one thing goes wrong for Cutler, everything else just crumbles like a house of cards. That cannot happen on Sunday. With Rodgers in there, the assumption would be Green Bay's recent rash of turnovers will disappear meaning Chicago will have limited opportunities to score thus Cutler cannot be Mr. Hyde if they want to win this football game.

While I do think people are treating this like Green Bay is winning it no matter what and that makes me nervous, I still think the Packers come out victorious in this one. Rodgers will not have an iconic performance out there, but I do think he plays a large part in Green Bay winning. It will come more from a spirited game from the two running backs as well as the secondary playing well enough to help Green Bay out in a cold weather shootout. Green Bay 35 Chicago 31  

Charlie.  

NFL Liquor Cabinet Week 15

For the entire NFL season, we will be breaking down the rest of the NFL not named Green Bay by looking at it like a liquor cabinet. Why did we choose this method? I like to booze and it makes things really easy to determine what's great, average and poor. 

ED Note: I realize there is no need to recap everything coming from the NFL this week because there were some meaningless games along with some meaningless finishes. This is why the Liquor Cabinet is a little shorter than it usually is during the week.  

TOP SHELF
Jamaal Charles makes an MVP Case - NFL always needs new things to talk about especially when it comes to Most Valuable Player. Peyton Manning will probably get it, but Jamaal Charles could win Offensive Player of the Year. Charles deserves it for the season he is currently having right now. The Texas product rushed for 1,181 yards with eleven touchdowns and has 655 receiving yards with seven touchdowns. Although many of the receiving numbers come from Oakland with Charles having 195 yards of receiving with four touchdowns. All on screens. CLASSIC Oakland. Charles definitely has the numbers to at least give Manning a run for his money.  If he has two massive games to finish out the year, it will only help his case.

Justin Tucker earns new fans in Chicago and Detroit - Monday Night Football got their big game, but this game was pretty damn ugly. Baltimore's kicker Justin Tucker has been the best Special Teams player in the AFC this season, and probably guaranteed himself a trip to Hawaii. He became the first NFL kicker to make a field goal in the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's with the 61 yard field goal being the game-winner. Tucker single-handily beat Detroit by himself with six field goals. Baltimore did not have a touchdown. Ravens are winning in the weirdest ways possible.

How legit is Miami? - Given all the bullshit they have been through this season, Miami is still very alive in the playoffs. They need a Baltimore loss and they need to keep winning. Miami needs to beat Buffalo on the road and New York Jets at home. They could easily make it to 10-6.  They might not be a playoff team this year if Baltimore wins out, but they can be a true contender to the AFC East crown for the coming years. Miami feels like they are one or two more pieces from being a real good team in the AFC that can win playoff games. On Sunday, that was the first good Miami crowd in the last five years, maybe overreacting, but it feels like they have been struggling forever yet the fanbase finally saw hope last week.

MIDDLE SHELF
The forgotten great game - Due to Green Bay Packers comeback, everyone forgot about Arizona-Tennessee during the same time slot. Arizona took a 34-17 lead in the fourth quarter only to see it dissolve in the final three minutes of the game leading Tennessee to tie up the game and force overtime. Once again, Ryan Fitzpatrick's Turnover Spectactular struck again in overtime leading to a Jay Feely field goal. Arizona is still very alive in the playoff hunt and even more so with New Orleans losing meaning they could be in the Wild Card position if Arizona does the unthinkable and beats Seattle in the Pacific Northwest.

Jay Cutler's big second half leads Bears - Cutty returned to the field against Cleveland. Some people worried about the Browns defense against Cutler, and they were right at the beginning with two interceptions, one being in the end zone and the other a pick-six. Chicago quarterback played a hell of a second half leading the charge for this Chicago team in a must-needed victory. This also saved head coach Marc Trestman questions as to why Josh McCown was not out there which is ideal for him and this team moving forward in the next couple of weeks.

AFC is hot garbage - I said it last week and I will say it again, AFC is not a good conference. All of the top three teams lost in the playoff seeding and why two of the top three in the NFC lost as well, I promise you it is different. The reason being is Denver fell to San Diego on Thursday meaning both teams knew the door was open and they decided to shut it because why not, right?  I guess what upsets in whatever sport it may be football, basketball, golf, baseball, etc. I want to see a team or an individual win whatever they are doing instead of backing their way into a championship or first round bye. Hopefully, one or two teams seize the AFC by the balls.

BOTTOM SHELF
Who should be concerned more: Philly's defense or road Saints? - I am going to hedge this answer right here. If New Orleans loses to Carolina next week, my answer is the Saints especially if they have to go to Green Bay or Chicago in round one. New Orleans' road struggles is pretty well-documented, but it could get real nasty if they fall to Carolina on Sunday meaning they will play a game in likely sub-zero temperatures. Philadelphia's defense reared its ugly head on Sunday. They have been good for the last six weeks, and looked like the old version of themselves. I feel like I will have a better answer to this question after next week.

Mike Shanahan is trying to get fired on-site - I would love to try to explain Shanny going for two at the end of the game attempting to win the football game. It is not like this is some David versus Goliath matchup here rather two really poor football teams. Shanahan wants to be fired. He is not going to step down, I can guarantee that. Further, he will continue to do dumb shit in the coming weeks to see what puts Dan Snyder going off the ledge. I, for one, will be entertained to see what he continues to do try and pull off.

New York Giants are back baby! - Remember when people were talking about New York making a comeback for the playoffs? They were 4-6 at the time and now they are 5-9 meaning they have lost three of their last four. They put up a pathetic effort against Seattle including Eli Manning had five interceptions meaning he is only five away from 30. Let's dream the dream.

Charlie.