Packers @ Patriots - Preview

[jmt57]

'Tuck rule' still a nightmare for Woodson - CSNNE.com - Danny Picard

"You know, I've had that flashback more times than I would like," said Woodson in a conference call on Wednesday. "I catch that game on classic football channels sometimes. That's a bad memory for me. But, you know, it is what it is."

It Is What It Is | Welcome back to your nightmare Charles Woodson

“Yeah, he did steal my ring and I’m still waiting around to get mine,” Woodson said tongue-in-cheek during a conference call Wednesday to the New England media. “In college he’s a guy that worked hard. You knew he’d be good but who knew he’d be where he is now?”

Woodson was Brady’s teammate when the two were at the University of Michigan in the late 90s. Woodson played for Oakland when the Raiders visited old Foxboro Stadium during a snow storm in Jan. 2002 and appeared to be on the brink of making the AFC Championship before the strip sack and loose ball was awarded back to the Patriots in the famous ruling made by referee by Walt Coleman.

“I’ve had that flashback more times than I would like,” Woodson continued. “I catch that game on classic football channels. That’s a bad memory for me but it is what it is. This week, we’re just going to concentrate on trying to get this win, whether it snows or not.”

Here’s the kicker: Snow, heavy at times, is the early forecast for kick-off Sunday night at Gillette, just something else to cause more sleepless nights between now and then for Woodson.

 

[MustaphaM0nd]

One other thing you guys could see on Sunday that has given some teams trouble is the Packer's famous Psycho Defense.... originally created because they were running out of healthy D-lineman... its 1 D-lineman, 5 LB's and 5 DB's. The 5 linebackers will roam around the line of scrimage before the snap, trying to disguise who'll be rushing the QB and who'll be dropping into coverage while confusing the O-line on who they'll be blocking.

I'm sure BB will have your team ready for it, so Capers might not pull it out of his bag of tricks.

Pats have been using the 1-5-5 Prowl defense for a while.

My observations of the Pack from outside:
-Desmond Bishop has been a beast in place of Nick Barnett, but he's vulnerable in coverage. That is the weak link we're gonna attack in the passing game.
-Sam Shields is FAST. Like stupid fast. Nick Collins and Charles Woodson are 4.3x guys, and he has a gear which they don't.
-Meriweather is gonna be up top on Jennings all day. He's too good at getting open, and Arrington can't doesn't have the hips to cover him close.
-Their O-line isn't very good at pass protection. I see us playing a lot of this game in 4-2-5 nickel, with Tully/Cunningham/Moore as rush ends. If McCourty doesn't dress, we'll see combinations of Sanders/Chung/Page/Meriweather out there instead of a 3rd corner.
-Looks like the best way to attack them through the air is with the tight ends, which should open up the running playbook.

Most sundays I like the Pack, but not this sunday.

 

[DaBruinz]

One other thing you guys could see on Sunday that has given some teams trouble is the Packer's famous Psycho Defense.... originally created because they were running out of healthy D-lineman... its 1 D-lineman, 5 LB's and 5 DB's. The 5 linebackers will roam around the line of scrimage before the snap, trying to disguise who'll be rushing the QB and who'll be dropping into coverage while confusing the O-line on who they'll be blocking.

I'm sure BB will have your team ready for it, so Capers might not pull it out of his bag of tricks.

Capers learned that line-up from Belichick..

 

[NewFeep]

Demolishing the Packers Sunday virtually assures making the last 2 games meaningless tune-ups for the real season, the playoffs. Patriots will come out with all guns blazing this Sunday!

 

[slash83]

Demolishing the Packers Sunday virtually assures making the last 2 games meaningless tune-ups for the real season, the playoffs. Patriots will come out with all guns blazing this Sunday!

So if Pats win this Sunday they clinch the #1 seed ?

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

So if Pats win this Sunday they clinch the #1 seed ?

NO.

If the Pats win and the Steelers win then NE clinches the division (and I think a bye as well, but not 100%)

If the Pats win and the Jets win then NE clinches above the steelers (if both are wc or div winners) but doesn't clinch the division.

 

[alvinnf]

Demolishing the Packers Sunday virtually assures making the last 2 games meaningless tune-ups for the real season, the playoffs. Patriots will come out with all guns blazing this Sunday!

Wow, you got us demolishing the Pack and playing meaningless tune-ups. Lucky us or lucky you?
This game will be a struggle. My crystal ball has seen the blueprint. Run it, and keep running it. Have a good QB and convert some 3rd downs. Now the Pack might be missing their leading man, but they will be forced to lean heavily on the run. I see the Pack leading early in this game and running often. Because you have to if you want to beat NE. No one has been patient enough to stick with it. The Pack is forced to.

Whistlin' past the graveyard....

 

[AzPatsFan]

I have often thought that Belichick's teams turn in bad performances against rookie QBs. It is because he doesn't have a "book" on the newcomer, so the excellence of his Coaching and game plans are nullified, to a degree.

As the injuries pile up on the Defensive line and in the secondary, there is the possibility of an upset by a pretty talented club with a rookie QB unknown.

Ironically, I feel more assured of a victory if Aaron Rodgers were to play.

 

[ATippett56]

ESPN Countdown Daily Accuscore:

Countdown Daily AccuScore: GB-NE - ESPN Video - ESPN

 

[jmt57]

Wow, you got us demolishing the Pack and playing meaningless tune-ups. Lucky us or lucky you?
This game will be a struggle. My crystal ball has seen the blueprint. Run it, and keep running it. Have a good QB and convert some 3rd downs. Now the Pack might be missing their leading man, but they will be forced to lean heavily on the run. I see the Pack leading early in this game and running often. Because you have to if you want to beat NE. No one has been patient enough to stick with it. The Pack is forced to.

Whistlin' past the graveyard....

True, but hasn't one of the Packers biggest problems this season been their running game, both at RB and OL? They're one of seven NFL teams averaging less than 100 yards rushing per game and also less than 4.0 or fewer yards per carry. The early season loss of Ryan Grant really hurt them.

Who's going to effectively run for them? Brandon Jackson is averaging 3.8 yards per carry, John Kuhn is 3.5 and James Starks is 3.4 after running for 8 yards on 6 attempts last week.


I'm with you on getting over confident and all, but it's difficult to envision the Packers running the ball well. Jackson had one good game, against the Redkins. Other than that the only other game he ran for more than 60 yards was when he averaged 3.5 ypc and ran for 63 yards in week one.


If the Packers are going to win, it's with Jennings, Jones and Driver against the Pats secondary. Even with the Pats banged up on the DL, I doubt they will run the ball often or effectively. The concern is the Green Bay passing game, not their running game.

 

[BrewCity Cheesehead]

I didn't realize the 1-5-5 defense was used by anyone else... I stand corrected. Thats what I get for not watching enough AFC games.

 

[MassPats38]

I didn't realize the 1-5-5 defense was used by anyone else... I stand corrected.

It may have been used before, but a team has to have the personnel to make it work. The Packers have the linebackers needed to make it go while most other teams don't. Otherwise, this defense is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[goheels22002]

Best D in the league. This will be a huge test for the Pats offense as well as they are playing. They have the pass rush that can pose a problem for TB.

I agree rest McCourty if his ribs are hurting.

The Packers do not have the best D in the league, particularly if you look at their opposition. In most statistical areas the Packers are in the top half of the league and solid. But when you play the Bills, Detroit twice, the Bears, the Niners, the Vikings while in chaos, the Jest, the Cowboys in chaos, a good defense will rack up solid stats. The most impressive performance was a loss at Atlanta where they held Matty Ice to 20 points.

The difference here is that there are impressive players at all three levels but overall this looks like another 28-30 points for the Pats and whether the Packers offense can keep up. If the Packers get takeaways, which this group can do, it'll be a game. If the Pats take care of the ball Sunday night it will be a nice start to the Christmas season.

 

[denverpatsfan]

The Packers do not have the best D in the league, particularly if you look at their opposition. In most statistical areas the Packers are in the top half of the league and solid. But when you play the Bills, Detroit twice, the Bears, the Niners, the Vikings while in chaos, the Jest, the Cowboys in chaos, a good defense will rack up solid stats. The most impressive performance was a loss at Atlanta where they held Matty Ice to 20 points.

The difference here is that there are impressive players at all three levels but overall this looks like another 28-30 points for the Pats and whether the Packers offense can keep up. If the Packers get takeaways, which this group can do, it'll be a game. If the Pats take care of the ball Sunday night it will be a nice start to the Christmas season.

Good points but I think this D is still better than the Jests and Bears who are frauds IMO. Packers have some real talent on D and a great coordinator in Mike Nolan.

How has Brady & BB fared against Nolan's defenses in the past. That's something that should be researched.

 

[sevengables_2207]

Good points but I think this D is still better than the Jests and Bears who are frauds IMO. Packers have some real talent on D and a great coordinator in Mike Nolan.

How has Brady & BB fared against Nolan's defenses in the past. That's something that should be researched.

Isn't Dom Capers the Packers Defensive Coordinator?

 

[denverpatsfan]

Shoot Capers or Nolan?? My bad it is Dom Capers.

How have TB & BB fared against Capers coached defenses then.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Patspsycho]

Good points but I think this D is still better than the Jests and Bears who are frauds IMO. Packers have some real talent on D and a great coordinator in Mike Nolan.

How has Brady & BB fared against Nolan's defenses in the past. That's something that should be researched.

Bears D aren't frauds. 3 or 4 drops that should have been interceptions, and Urlacher was in the right place at the right time most of the time.

Their problem was they came out running and expected us to do the same, because after all, it's snowing and who in their right mind would dare pass in a snowstorm in their house in Chicago. They were not expecting to get attacked up the middle and to get slugged in the mouth with sophisticated blocking schemes in that kind of weather.

 

[jmt57]

I didn't realize the 1-5-5 defense was used by anyone else... I stand corrected. Thats what I get for not watching enough AFC games.

That's understandable. We're in the same boat with NFC teams, so your insight on the Packers is much appreciated.

Actually the Pats don't use it all that often - though they have used it on occasion for several years now. You're far more likely to see them go with two linemen, for an extra safety or maybe a third corner.

 

[patchick]

I see the Pack leading early in this game and running often. Because you have to if you want to beat NE. No one has been patient enough to stick with it. The Pack is forced to.

Along these lines, I think the key for the Patriots is getting a DL or two healthy. If both Warren and Brace are out, they'll be hard pressed to put together a decent front against the run.

 

[BradyManny]

Bears D aren't frauds. 3 or 4 drops that should have been interceptions, and Urlacher was in the right place at the right time most of the time.

I personally wouldn't call those drops - those were tips and tough interceptions. They got their hands on it, but they were not routine catches in any sense, particularly in that weather, with that wind/snow.

That said, I agree with the overall point. Personally, I thought the Bears defense did the best job against our offense out of any team since Cleveland. Granted, that may not say much. We moved the ball, sure, but they held us in check in the redzone - which is huge.

The Bears have the formula that Brady talked about recently - zone defense with ability to create pressure with 4. Brady said that kind of D is the hardest to play against, and referenced a certain traumatic game that we should not mention - and I think its true. When you can drop 7 in coverage and apply pressure routinely, you have a huge advantage. Most teams cannot do that.

Green Bay - by all accounts - has as good, or perhaps even slightly better - a defense then Chicago. Rodgers or not, this game is not going to be easy by any stretch.