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With eleven days to go before the Pats play again, discussion about the Patriots is starting to dry up. The biggest news over the next 72 hours will be the first round of the 2010-11 NFL playoffs, so I'm going to go ahead and start four threads on each of those games now.
#6 Green Bay Packers (10-6) at #3 Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)
Sunday January 9 at 4:30 p.m. EST on FOX
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will announce the game on TV
Ian Eagle, Trent Green and Laura Okmin will do the radio broadcast
Philadelphia is currently favored by 2½ to 3 points
Over under is from 46 to 46½ points
The Money Line has the Packers +120 to +130; Eagles -140 to -150
Edit: Final results from the poll on the front page of PatsFans.com:
76% thought the Packers would win, 24% thought the Eagles would win.
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Looking forward to watching this game on Sunday afternoon here in Denver. Gonna be a close one. My gut tells me GB will prevail but don't count out Andy Reid in the 1st round his record is amazing.
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Ticketholder since 01'
Teams have figured out Vick and blitzing him is the key. Perfect matchup for a Dom Capers defense.
Yes but Reid will have him practicing against that type of defense all week. It will be interesting to see if he learns and doesn't revert to old scrambling for his life Vick rather than the new pocket passer Vick.
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Fan since 85'
Ticketholder since 01'
I think this is the best wildcard matchup in a while, really looking forward to this one. The eagles go as far as Vick takes them and he needs to be able to operate back there when the defense dials up the heat. If he can't adjust the eagles are one and done.
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"Whoever said, 'It's not whether you win or lose that counts,' probably lost." -Martina Navratilova
"We'll pick the blitz up," Vick pledged, smiling as he walked away from a session with reporters after practice yesterday. "It ain't hard."
The Vikings, who sent cornerback Antoine Winfield on delayed corner blitzes to strafe Vick, were particularly successful.
"I think everybody took a look at that film and really critiqued it and tried to figure out what we can do to get better," Vick said. "I'm almost 100 percent sure that we'll get the same looks [from Green Bay]. It might not be exactly the same, but in some way, shape or form, it'll be similar. We have to be ready for it."
The Packers like to bring Charles Woodson off the corner, several Eagles noted. "The Packers do the same blitz, and they're better at it," wideout Jason Avant said.
Whether it's Woodson or linebacker Clay Matthews, or both, Vick knows the book now says to blitz him, hit him, give him less time and space.
"Pretty much, that's what it's going to be," Vick said. "They're going to come after you, they're going to try to get you rattled, get you off your square, but that's football. You just have to be ready for it . . . Defenses, they have coaches, too, professional coaches that do a great job of scheming. They've just been beating us a couple of times. We found a way to fix it and we're just moving on."
Not to change the subject, but if Green Bay wins by coming up with a totally different game plan on defense, then this quote should be forwarded to every member of the media who complains about the Patriots limiting access to their players, and the players being robotic with their answers to questions from the press.
One other tidbit from that column: kicker David Akers and strong safety Quintin Mikell are the only Eagle players remaining from their Super Bowl 39 team.
There were a dozen disconnects in that Tuesday night game between the Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings, and the 7-10 split stood out in many ways. The inability of Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson to read each other's mind, the essence of success between a quarterback and a wide receiver in the modern NFL, was as bad as it had been all season.
The wideout needs to see the blitz pressure coming at his quarterback and adjust his route accordingly. The quarterback needs to read the nature and the positioning of the pass coverage and vary his throws as a result. The calculations each of them makes need to be precise and nearly instantaneous.
The problems in that Minnesota game were not only between No. 7 and No. 10, between Vick and Jackson, but because their connection has been so spectacular this season, their inability to connect on that night was also especially prominent. That there needs to be a repair if the Eagles are to have any shot in their wild-card playoff game against the Green Bay Packers is beyond obvious.
The Vick-Jackson partnership has defined the season in many ways, for better or worse. When it is there, the results are stunning and the Eagles always win. When it isn't there, the outcome of the game is more of a coin flip. In the Eagles' six losses this season, Jackson didn't play in two of them and had 30, 19, 26 and 32 yards receiving in the other four. In their 10 wins, he had five games with at least 98 yards.
Sunday against the Packers, it just seems as if the connection must be restored. This is an Andy Reid/Marty Mornhinweg game in many ways. They must scheme their way to a significant early lead in this one or the odds really shrink for the Eagles. They must get Jackson going in a big way.
Theirs is an interesting dynamic. Jackson and Vick did endure a tense moment or two in the locker room after that Chicago loss, and Vick was quoted the day after Jackson's penalized plunge into the end zone that he didn't think the showboating was such a good idea.
But the truth is that their games are made for each other, and they both know it. Jackson needs time to run away from defenders (which he does like few others) and Vick buys time with his legs (which he does like few others). It is lightning when it works.
This week, it needs to work.
Wow, sports writers openly wanting the home town team to win - imagine that!
I love Dom Capers as a defensive coach. I was so excited when we brought him in, but his impact was never really felt. I love his defensive scheme and I think he will give Vick fits. He will throw a whole bunch of different looks at Vick, mix coverages, and get into some exotic blitzes. He'll have Vick off balance all day.
Philly will play right into Green Bay's hands with the way they refuse to consistently run the ball. Capers can just keep dialing up a bunch of different things. This Packers secondary is big and physical enough to get good jams on Desean and Maclin at the line.
I expect Green Bay to win and I currently like them to get to the SB in the NFC. I know they'd have to do it all on the road, but I love that defense, and they've got a QB and an offense that can get hot quick and score in bunches.
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MIAMIHURRICANES NEW ENGLANDPATRIOTS
John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, & Patrick Patterson
NFL Wild Card: Packers at Eagles
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