This could wind up being an epic football game at Soldier Field tomorrow afternoon in blustery cold weather.  I would have it no other way.  The Packers and Bears split this season with each team winning on their home field.  That would seem to favor the Bears but the Packers are super hot right now.  The Packers have already slain the Falcons and Eagles on the road during the playoffs so they will go for the trifecta tomorrow afternoon in Chicago.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Packers have the ball:  Make no mistake, the Packers are going to come out throwing the ball tomorrow.  If the Packers’ O-Line can keep DEs Julius Peppers & Israel Idonije out of the backfield, Rodgers will torch the Bears’ secondary.  The Packers will likely run a lot of 4 WR sets with Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson and James Jones spreading out the Bears’ secondary which will give Rodgers a lot of options.  The Packers will also challenge the Bears’ front seven on the ground by giving the rock to rookie RB James Starks just enough to keep the Bears’ D honest.

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears are likely going to try to feed the ball to Matt Forte both on the ground and out of the backfield in the passing game.  ILBs Desmond Bishop, A.J. Hawk and NT B.J. Raji will be the guys most responsible for trying to stop Forte.  If they can stop Forte and force the Bears to pass the ball, the Packers are going to be in business.  WRs Devin Hester, Johnny Knox & Earl Bennett don’t scare Packers’ corners Tramon Williams, Charles Woodson and Sam Shields one bit.  The Bears have been throwing more to the TEs as of late so safeties Charlie Peprah and Nick Collins are going to get challenged.  If Clay Matthews can get in Jay Cutler’s face, he will make some big mistakes tomorrow.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 20, BEARS 14

The Packers have been an offensive machine so far in the playoffs and 27-year old QB Aaron Rodgers has a huge hand in that.  Rodgers has completed 49 of 63 passes (77.8%) for 546 yards with 6 TD passes and 0 INTs (134.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 5 times for 17  yards (3.4 ypc)  so far this post season.  The Packers hope that Rodgers will continue to roll tomorrow afternoon at Soldier Field.  It won’t be easy though as the Packers only scored 27 points in two games against the Bears with each team winning one game.  Rodgers completed 53 of 73 passes (72.6%) for 545 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs against the Bears during the regular season.  He also carried the ball 9 times for 41 yards (4.6 ypc) with a TD run against the Bears.  The Packers need Aaron Rodgers to rise up and thump the Bears tomorrow to get them to the Super Bowl in Dallas.

The Packers have an outstanding trio of corners and they are all bringing their A-Games during the post season.  It all starts with 34-year old, future Hall of Famer, Charles Woodson.  Woodson has 12 tackles and a sack in two playoff games.  He was the spy who dealt with Michael Vick against the Eagles and the Falcons just didn’t want to challenge him at all.  Woodson is still on top of his game and he might just get a pick against Jay Cutler tomorrow.  27-year old CB Tramon Williams is taking his game to a brand new level of greatness in the playoffs.  He has 5 tackles, 3 interceptions (79 return yards) and he has scored on a pick six.  Williams intercepted Michael Vick’s last pass to seal the deal against the Eagles.  23-year old, undrafted rookie CB Sam Shields (Miami, Florida) has been the nickel back for the Packers this year and he has been outstanding too.  He has 7 tackles and 1 pass defensed in his first two playoff games.  He has outstanding speed and he plays like he thinks the ball is his any time it’s in the air.  This trio of CBs is likely to give Bears’ QB Jay Cutler fits tomorrow as he completed 37 of 66 passes (56.1%) for 389 yards with 1 TD pass and 3 INTs against the Packers this year.

24-year old ro0kie RB James Starks got off to a very late start to his rookie year due to injury.  He played in only 3 games during the regular season for the Packers in which he carried the ball 29 times for 101 yards (3.5 ypc).  Starks also caught 2 passes for 15 yards (7.5 avg) during the regular season.  But in the playoffs Starks has been a workhorse for the Packers.  In the Packers’ first two playoff games, Starks has carried the ball 48 times for 189 yards (3.9 ypc) and he also has caught 2 passes for 9 yards (4.5 avg).  The 6th round pick out of Buffalo appears to have fresh legs right now and he’s giving the Packers more balance on offense, making them even more difficult to deal with.  The Packers hope that Starks has a good game tomorrow, because if he does, the Packers will be in the Super Bowl.

The only real blip on the screen for the Packers yesterday was when Eric Weems returned a kickoff 102 yards for a TD to give the Falcons a very short lived 14-7 lead in the second quarter.  It was all Packers from that point on as Aaron Rodgers had a playoff game for the ages.  Rodgers completed 31 of 36 passes for 366 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 13 yards (6.5 ypc) with a TD run.  James Starks had to fight for every yard he got last night as he led the way on the ground for the Packers with 66 yards rushing on 25 carries (2.6 ypc).  John Kuhn made some big plays in this game for the Packers as he carried the ball 2 times for 5 yards (2.5 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 14 yards (7.0 avg) with a TD reception.  WRs Greg Jennings (8 rec, 101 yards), Jordy Nelson (8 rec, 79 yards, TD), Donald Driver (6 rec, 76 yards) and James Jones (4 rec, 75 yards, TD) all had big games for the Packers in the passing game last night.  The Packers finished up with 96 yards rushing on 31 carries (3.1 ypc) and they also completed 31 of 36 passes for 346 yards as they had possession of the football for 38:19.

The defense was electric for the Packers last night as they sacked Matt Ryan 5 times while harassing him all night long!  CB Charles Woodson (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit) and LB Desmond Bishop (6 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) led the way for the Packers’ D last night.  OLB Clay Matthews was a force, as usual, with 4 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 2 QB hits.  CB Tramon Williams put one of the final nails in the Hawks’ coffin when he picked off a Matt Ryan pass which he returned 70 yards for a TD on the final play of the first half.  He finished with 1 tackle, 2 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  The Falcons finished up with 45 yards rushing on 14 carries (3.2 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 29 passes for 141 yards.

The Packers will move on to the NFC Championship to play either the Chicago Bears or the Seattle Seahawks on the road next weekend.

This will be a rematch of one of the better games of the year.  The Packers were beat 20-17 by the Atlanta Falcons back on November 28th in Atlanta.  The Packers played good enough to win there but in the end the Falcons were just a tad better.  I think the result is going to be a tad different this time around.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Packers have the ball:  Rookie RB James Starks gave the Packers’ offense balance in last weekend’s win over the Eagles.  The Packers are going to need Starks to play well again this weekend which would help slow down the Falcons’ pass rush a bit.  If the Packers O-Line can keep Falcons’ DE John Abraham out of the backfield, Aaron Rodgers is going to have a HUGE game.  Rodgers threw for 344 yards in the first meeting between these two teams and he might will probably be great again tomorrow.  The Falcons don’t have enough good DBs to cover Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, James Jones and Jordy Nelson tomorrow. 

When the Falcons have the ball:  NT B.J. Raji and inside linebackers A.J. Hawk and Desmond Bishop are going to have their hands full tomorrow night with stopping Michael Turner’s inside power runs.  OLB Clay Matthews is going to be coming after Matt Ryan all game long and the Packers are hoping that he can force Ryan into making some mistakes.  CBs Tramon Williams and Charles Woodson will probably try to man up on Roddy White & Michael Jenkins and they should have success slowing them down.  The safeties will have to be very careful with TE Tony Gonzalez who still makes a lot of plays over the middle of the field.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 30, FALCONS 27

The Packers outplayed the Eagles on both sides of the ball but they didn’t put the Eagles away until Tramon Williams picked off a Michael Vick pass in the end zone on the Eagles’ last play.  Aaron Rodgers was very efficient in this game moving the ball around to 9 different receivers.  He completed 18 of 27 passes for 180 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 4 yards (1.3 ypc) in this game.  Rookie James Starks had a HUGE game for the Packers today!  Starks carried the ball 23 times for 123 yards (5.3 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 9 yards (4.5 avg).  Brandon Jackson only carried the ball 3 times for 10 yards (3.3 ypc) but he also caught 2 passes for 27 yards (13.5 avg) with a TD grab.  John Kuhn only rushed for 1 yard on 3 carries (0.3 ypc) but he also added 3 catches for 33 yards (11.0 avg) today.  Donald Driver (5 rec, 56 yards), James Jones (1 rec, 9 yards, TD) and TE Tom Crabtree (1 rec, 7 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Packers today.  The Packers finished up with 138 yards rushing on 32 carries (4.3 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 27 passes for 171 yards as they had possession of the ball for 32:00.

CBs Charles Woodson (6 tackles) and Tramon Williams (4 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) led the way for the Packers’ D in this game.  The Eagles finished up with 82 yards rushing on 21 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 36 passes for 270 yards.  The Packers will move on to take on the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome next weekend.

This should be a great football game this Sunday.  Without the Packers, no one would have likely seen Michael Vick much this year.  In the season opener, Packers’ LB Clay Matthews drove Kevin Kolb’s face into the dirt forcing him to leave the game with a concussion.  The rest is history as Michael Vick is the likely runner up to Tom Brady as the NFL’s MVP this year.  The Packers won that game 27-20 in Philly.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Packers have the football:  The Eagles are going to blitz Aaron Rodgers a lot in this game so the O-Line is going to have to keep him clean if he’s going to have success throwing the ball.  The Eagles have an excellent pair of corners in Asante Samuel and Dimitri Patterson and they will likely be covering Greg Jennings and Donald Driver.  That won’t matter though as Aaron Rodgers backs down from no one.  The Eagles don’t have a lot of depth at corner meaning that James Jones & Jordy Nelson will likely make huge impacts in this game.  Brandon Jackson & John Kuhn will likely take some shots on the ground against a Eagles’ D that is allowing 110.4 yards rushing per game and 4.2 yards per carry.

When the Eagles have the ball:  This is Clay Matthews’ kind of game as he will be chasing Michael Vick all around the field.  The Packers must keep Michael Vick in the pocket which is where he’s least effective.  A.J. Hawk, Desmond Bishop and NT B.J. Raji need to control the middle of the field and stop Vick and Lesean McCoy from getting yards running there.  The front seven will likely have to deal with McCoy pretty much on their own because the secondary is going to have their hands full with Jeremy Maclin, DeSean Jackson, Jason Avant and Brent Celek.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 28, EAGLES 20

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers offense put up a ton of points against the Arizona Cardinals defense, but it wasn’t enough.  The Cardinals defense was able to come up with the play of the game when Karl Dansby grabbed Rodgers’ fumble before it even hit the ground and scurried 17 yards into the endzone to win the game.  It sure was an exciting game, with both quarterbacks putting up monster numbers in what would become the highest scoring postseason game in NFL history.  Rodgers came out and was intercepted on the first play of the game, but boy did he bounce back.  He finished with 422 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception on 28/42 passes.  Down 17-0 after the first quarter, Rodgers slowly got the Packers back in the game, trading touchdown passes with Cardinals’ quarterback Kurt Warner throughout most of the game.  He opened up the 4th quarter with 2 touchdowns, which finally evened the game at 38-38.  After another Warner touchdown, Rodgers came right back and tied the game with under two minutes that eventually sent the game into overtime, where the unfortunate game-losing fumble occurred.

The Packers’ defense really let the team down in this game, even though the Cardinals were expected to score a lot of points.  Kurt Warner did pretty much whatever he wanted in the passing game, going 29/33 for 379 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Warner is a great quarterback, but the Packers should have been able to keep him under a  88% completion percentage.  Even more discouraging is that they gave up 156 rushing yards to a Cardinals team that has not run the ball well this year.  Aaron Rodgers has proven he is a top quarterback in this league, but the Packers need to give him a better offensive line and a stronger defense for him to make a Super Bowl run anytime soon.

The Green Bay Packers took it to the Arizona Cardinals in their 33-7 victory last week, but I wouldn’t expect another blowout for the Packers in their rematch this weekend in the NFC Wild Card game. The Packers stuck with Aaron Rodgers and most of the other starters for the majority of the game last week, while the Cardinals played their reserves for most of the game.  They will be going up against a Kurt Warner led Cardinals’ offense, which can be very explosive at times.  They only average 93 rushing yards per game, so the Cardinals are a pass-heavy offense.  Warner helped the Cardinals make it all the way to the Super Bowl last season, and he is a very good quarterback.  He threw for 3,753 yards with 26 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, while completing 66% of his passes.  He has some great receivers, including Larry Fitzgerald, so the Packers’ secondary is going to get challenged a lot.  Warner is old and slow though, so he is not very mobile.  If the Packers can close in on Warner and collapse the pocket, it will make things very difficult for Warner to make plays and it could cause some turnovers.

Aaron Rodgers has proven he is an elite quarterback, now he has to prove it in the playoffs.  Rodgers was sacked 50 times this season though, which is a big cause for concern going into the playoffs.  If the offensive line can hold up, then Rodgers will have a good game. He will need Ryan Grant to give him some support in the running game, which Grant should be able to do against a Cardinals defense that gives up 113 rushing yards per game.  This game will be a lot closer than last week’s game, but I think Rodgers is a great quarterback and will prove it in this game with a win.

PREDICTION:  Green Bay Packers 27, Arizona Cardinals 24