Bringing the Punch
Weeks without football are like a barren wasteland.
A Review of Football by Alex Davis
Playoff Edition
Sunday Playoff Games
Green Bay Packers @ Philadelphia Eagles:
This game is a rematch from Week 1 of the regular season in which the Packers won a 27-20 victor. In that game Eagles starting QB Kevin Kolb received a concussion early in the game and was replaced by Michael Vick who nearly led an Eagles comeback. The Packers clearly hadn't been game planning for the much more mobile Vick and were burned by his scrambles many times. This time however the Packers will have the luxury of a season's worth of film on Vick with a full week to prepare. Expect Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers to frequently bring pressure from the left side to force Vick to bail out to his right. Vick is left handed and often struggles with his accuracy when forced to roll left.
Runs, throws, brings excitement
The Packers are blessed with a great athlete and pass rusher in Clay Matthews, (3.0 Sacks in the previous meeting between the teams) who they can use to hound Vick all day with a strong rush. The Packers may also frequently use Charles Woodson on corner blitzes to bring a superior athlete who can more nearly match Vick's tremendous foot speed to pressure Vick. The Packers defense is also blessed with good corners in Tramon Williams and Woodson who can hold up in single coverage on the Eagles talented receivers. Expect frequent plays where the Packers bring a strong blitz with the front seven and play man to man behind with FS Nick Collins playing center field. Collins is one of the best coverage safeties in the NFL and he is a ball hawk in the secondary. He will attempt to prevent any deep throws from being completed to Eagles big play receiver DeSean Jackson and to take advantage of any poor throws forced by the Packers pass rush. The Eagles should attempt to run the ball with talented RB LeSean Mcoy in order to slow down the pass rush. Green Bay NT B.J Raji and LB's A.J Hawk and Desmond Bishop will be instrumental in stopping the run so others can rush the passer. McCoy will also be important as a check down receiver against the blitz, if he can make the Packers pay by taking short quick passes for long gains against the blitz the Packers will be forced to rein in their pressure in order to stop McCoy. The Packers offense is going against a suspect Eagles pass defense, so the Packers defense does not need to shut out the Eagles, it just needs to prevent big plays and force a few turnovers, and QB Aaron Rodgers and his dynamic receivers such as Greg Jennings will do the rest.
Aaaron Rogers one of the most successful QB's in the past 2 seasons
Baltimore Ravens @ Kansas City Chiefs
This matchup will turn on whether or not the Ravens can shut down the explosive Chiefs RB Jammal Charles and make QB Matt Cassel beat them through the air. Charles is averaging a truly incredible 6.4 yards per rush on the season, which is second only to the great Jim Brown for best all time. Charles has incredible speed and vision, and is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. The Ravens certainly have shown themselves to be one of the best run defenses in the NFL and they will need MLB Ray Lewis and massive NT Haloti Ngata to come up big in this game. If Charles is able to have some success QB Matt Cassel can hit WR Dwayne Bowe for big gains off play action. However, Cassel has not yet shown the ability to win a game with his arm if the running game is shut down, outside of Bowe the Chiefs have very few reliable pass-catchers, and if the Ravens can shut down the run they can double cover Bowe with a Corner and future Hall of Fame Safety Ed Reed and dare Cassel to try and beat them.
It has been awhile since the Chiefs rode in to the Playoffs
The Ravens offense has been wildly inconsistent this year, and they need to have a solid day for the Ravens to be successful. The Ravens need to establish RB Ray Rice early in the game in order to open up the Chiefs defense to big passing plays. Ravens QB Joe Flacco has an excellent deep arm, and success in the running game should allow him to hit some big plays down the field. If the Ravens can build an early lead they can force the Chiefs out of their comfort zone and to abandon the run game prematurely. If the offense can generate an early lead, the Ravens defense should be able to clamp down and ride that lead all the way to victory.
Flacco relies on pass protection by Oher whose story was told in "The Blind Side"