It wasn’t Aaron Rodgers’ best statistical game, but chalk it up as another road playoff victory on the growing resume’ of the young QB. Bears QB Jay Cutler played terribly, and was yanked in the third after suffering a “knee injury,” giving way to Todd Collins, perhaps the worst backup quarterback in the league. Needless to say, after a few gangly, errant throws, Collins quickly begat 3rd stringer, and rightful 2nd stringer, Caleb Hanie. Hanie’s performance was cute, but he was largely stifled by the smothering Packers defense.

With the win, the Packers are NFC Champions and have earned a Super Bowl berth for the first time since Super Bowl XXXII, a loss to the John-Elway-led Broncos. For young fans like me, whose oldest Packer memories dates back to about 94/95, the victory signifies a return to greatness. The Packers will face the Pittsburgh Steelers, who dismantled the New York Jets last night in the AFC Championship game. The Packers last played the Steelers late last season, an epic shootout that ended in heartbreak with a Ben Roethlisberger game winning touchdown pass.

GB – 10:50 – Aaron Rodgers 1 yd TD run – At the 1-yard line, the backfield resembled a short-yardage TD from last week’s divisional game, with defensive nose-tackle BJ Raji lined up as a fullback and extra blocker. But instead of a hand-off up the gut, Rodgers rolled out to the left on a play action, found the angle, and hustled to the pylon. Credit coach Mike McCarthy with some degree of trickery or reverse psychology, and a risky play-call executed to perfection. GB 7 – CHI 0

GB – 11:13 - James Starks 4 yd TD run – From four yards out, Starks pinballed his way toward the goal line, reaching out at just the right moment to break the plane of the end zone. GB 14 – CHI 0

CHI – 12:02 – Chester Taylor 1 yd TD run – After Caleb Hanie found his nerve, and consequently his throwing rhythm, the Bears found themselves 1 yard away from the score. They called upon former Viking Chester Taylor, who was acquired for just such an occasion. Simple, concise, touchdown. GB 14 – CHI 7

GB – 6:04 – BJ Raji 18 yd INT/TD – Yes, you read that right. Deep in their own territory, Bears QB Caleb Hanie tossed up a nice, fluffy loaf of bread, and a hungry BJ Raji, who had quietly backed off the line and dropped into coverage, nabbed the interception, and chugged his way to a touchdown. He then donned Rodgers’ invisible belt, and proceeded to celebrate in his own unique way. GB 21 – CHI 7

CHI – 4:43 – Earl Bennett 35 yd TD catch – Hanie delivered a well placed zinger into coverage down the near sideline, and WR Earl Bennet took care of the rest. A little delay from Bennet – not quite a stutter-step – and the WR quickly froze and shook off the Packers secondary, trotting in for the score. GB 21 – CHI 14

This post appears courtesy of the Daily Dope Sheet. Click for more Packers!

WST Podcast 1.18.11 Part 1

Duration: 21:45

Topics:

• A look back at Aaron Rodgers and Packers’ perfect performance in Atlanta last Saturday.
• Packers vs Bears NFC Championship preview

• What factors are key to a Packers victory?

• What match-ups will be key?

• Is Soldier Field’s poor condition a cause for concern?

#52 Clay Matthews is the best selling jersey for the Green Bay Packers. As such, it’s easy to forget that there are a few other linebackers on the roster. In fact, since the starting lineup imploded due to injuries, there are even more names to know than ever before.

LB Desmond Bishop has been hanging out in the Packer clubhouse since he was drafted by the team in the 6th round of the 2007 draft (192nd overall). His role prior to this year was fitting for a 6th rounder – sub packages, and a steady backup. But Bishop was thrust into the  starting role in week 5 when veteran LB Nick Barnett went down with a season-ending wrist injury. Bishop started the remaining 12 games at inside linebacker and left no doubt that he was a capable Packer. Bishop capped his season with 103 tackles, 75 solo, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 interception. The interception was against Brett Favre and Bishop took it to the house for a touchdown, earning him some serious brownie points with Packer fans.

This week, the team showed it’s gratitude by signing Bishop to a four year contract extension worth a reported $19 million. This leaves Green Bay with some interesting roster decisions to be made at the inside linebacker position. When Nick Barnett returns, he’ll be due $6 million as a 30 year old player who has spent a year away from football activities. Similarly, LB A.J. Hawk will be due a whopping $11 million next season. That’s a pretty standard contract for a first rounder, but Hawk’s failure to meet the high expectations associated with his draft status, especially when compared to fellow first rounder LB Clay Matthews, is certainly a talking point for the payroll department.

This offseason will answer all of these questions. The only sure thing so far is that Desmond Bishop will be a Packer for at least 4 more years.

LB Erik Walden wasn’t even a Packer to begin the NFL’s 2010 campaign. He was signed in the waning days of October to serve as fresh meat for a linebacking corp that had been through the grinder. After spending a lot of extra time with LB coach Kevin Green, Walden bumped his play from average to special with his standout performance against the Chicago Bears in the final game of the season; a playoff clincher. DDS originally gave Walden credit for 2 QB Sacks on Bears slinger Jay Cutler, but official stats now indicate Walden is credited with 3 sacks in the game. He served as a “spy,” keeping tabs on the nimble Cutler, and keeping the running game in check as well. He logged 11 tackles, 10 of which were solo.

For his stellar performance, the NFL has named Erik Walden the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. From out of work, to league recognized for wonderful play, DDS congratulates #93 Erik Walden on being named NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Good show, chap!

The Bears signing of Mike Martz shows one thing. That they are desperate to improve their team. Who wouldn’t want to? The Bears traded away two of their first round picks for a quarterback that was a total disappointment.  Jay Cutler threw the most interceptions out of any QB (26) and finished with an un-impressive quarterback rating of 76.8.  Who knows? Maybe Cutler had a bad year due to the lack of talent that surrounds him (other than Greg Olson and Johnny Knox). Or maybe Cutler was glorified by his time in Denver.  Maybe Cutler really isn’t that good. Spending 2 first round picks was a very high investment that did not pay dividends. To exacerbate the Bears position even more, they traded away their highest pick in the upcoming draft for Gaines Adams, who died shortly after. RIP.
Thirdly, Matt Forte, who had a solid rookie season, pretty much did the opposite in this 2009 season with only four total touchdowns. It looks to be that Forte had a fluke of a rookie year.
With all of this in mind, it seems that the Bears only chance at success will either be shown in beneficial free agent pick ups or changes in personnel.  So far Chicago has taken the latter approach. The Bears just signed one of the extremely aggressive Mike Martz, who may in fact make the team better for quite a few reasons.
1. Lovie and Martz have a great relationship. The two were very successful in St. Louis together and Martz’s offense was once named “The greatest show on turf.”
2.  The rest of the receivers are almost sure to put up bigger numbers.  While Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, and Johnny Knox are nothing like Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, and As-Zahir Hakim, I would say that those receivers should be able to be larger threats than they were under Ron Turner.

3. Martz could utillize Greg Olson and make him a big difference maker.

While all these are reasons the Bears could improve, it is my theory that Bears will still suck.  A team can have the best personnel in the world, but if there’s no talent to back it up, then there will be no chance at victory.  I believe a safe prediction can be that the Vikings will once again be the only threat to the Packers in the NFC North…. Unless the Bears sign ‘out of this world’ free agents.

1)  The unstoppable force against the immovable object.
The 49ers bring Frank Gore, who is rushing for 5.2 yards per carry, to Lambeau against a stubborn Packers rush defense that ranks 4^th in the NFL.

To date the Packers have shown impressive performances against the likes of Adrian Peterson (3.0 yards per rush in the two games against the ViQueens), the Cowboys running back trio (61 yards), as well as stout efforts against the Bears, Lions, Bucs and Browns.

If the Packers are able to take away the 49ers run game, it will force one of the worst quarterbacks in the league, Alex Smith, to throw the ball more.

2) Will lightning strike twice for San Francisco?
Last week against the Bears, the 49ers forced Jay Cutler to throw 5 INTs. They did this by taking away the run and forcing the Bears to become one-dimensional as Cutler threw the ball 52 times.

In one of the ugliest games of this year’s NFL season, the 49ers won 10-6 solely because of all the turnovers. Even though A-Rodge doesn’t throw picks like Cutler, if the 49ers force the Pack to stop running the ball, Rodgers will be taking hits all day, resulting in another ugly game.

If Green Bay is able to keep some balance however, it will be a long day for the 49ers’ secondary, who will be missing its best player, Nate Clemens.

3) Bringing the heat on D.
Against Dallas last week, the Pack forced Tony Romo to run for his life. After a terrible performance against Tampa Bay the previous week, the defense rebounded by recording a season-high 5 sacks and countless pressures on the Burlington, WI native.

The 3-4 defense looked like the defense that we thought we would eventually see. The question is: Was that just a one-week aberration, or has Dom Capers realized that blitzing is essential to the Pack’s success?

Also, will having Aaron Kampman back in the lineup help or hurt? His replacement, Brad Jones, did a great job of pressuring the QB and covering the flat last week. We’ll find out Sunday how the D responds.

4) Me, because I’ll be at the game!

Go Pack!