NFC Divisional Playoffs: Rams @ Packers - Saturday, Jan 16th, 3:35PM

[homer]

FYI: NFC Championship is 2pm next Sunday on Fox

[OldHeidelberg]

FYI: NFC Championship is 2pm next Sunday on Fox

 

Allright! Early game again

[PinaMadness]

That was a great game on both sides of the ball. Goff played about as well as he can play but he ain't Rodgers.

 

Bring on whichever old dude wins tomorrow.

 

Yeah no complaints here, pretty much the game we expected. Not sure who I want next week but probably doesn't matter.

 

 

I think I feel better about the Saints. And I'll hope for much colder weather.

 

Cam Jordan doesn't scare me vs THIS OL as much as JPP who can beat you both ways.

 

The Saints do have a ton of talent in that secondary, but...still, I'd rather see them.

 

Either way, it'll be a tough game, but this team should win if they play like they did today minus the two big misses.

I agree. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. I want NO part of the Bucs.

[homer]

I do think the Bucs are better but it'd be VERY satisfying to beat Brady.

[adambr2]

I'm good with either. We probably match up better with the Saints, but they're 12-4 for a reason. Kamara is a real weapon.

 

I'm confident that we aren't nearly as bad against the Bucs as we were at Raymond James.

 

Hopefully the weather is a little...less mild next weekend. Both teams aren't exactly cold weather teams, even if it shouldn't bother Brady.

[wildcat83]

I think the Saints are the more complete team. I want no part of Kamara even in cold weather .

[HiAndTight]

I think the Saints are the more complete team. I want no part of Kamara even in cold weather .

 

 

I think you could make arguments either way. The Buccs throw the ball downfield more...which I actually think suits us just fine. They don't have a Kamara type back.

 

But we're also tackling so much better than we had been and the Saints choke in the playoffs and I don't think Brees is much of a threat any longer.

[OldHeidelberg]

Thinking about it more I fear Brady more than Brees, especially outdoors in the cold. I will hope for the Saints.

[Eye Black]

Regarding Pam Oliver, it isn’t the first time she’s had a similar issue. She has previously shared publicly a struggle in dealing with frequent debilitating migraine headaches since she was 25 years old (link), so I wouldn’t be surprised if that had something to do with it today.

[HiAndTight]

Thinking about it more I fear Brady more than Brees, especially outdoors in the cold. I will hope for the Saints.

 

 

Especially if it's really nice and cold. Right now the early forecast is 25 with 5-10 MPH winds and maybe a little snow. Though I don't know how accurate they can guess this far out.

 

Hopefully, Keke Kingsley will be ready to go next week. I think we missed him today.

 

Also rooting for the Bills and the Browns...which is getting a bit ahead of things, but fans can do that.

[HiAndTight]

Regarding Pam Oliver, it isn’t the first time she’s had a similar issue. She has previously shared publicly a struggle in dealing with frequent debilitating migraine headaches since she was 25 years old (link), so I wouldn’t be surprised if that had something to do with it today.

 

 

Well...if that's what it is, it's pretty impressive she still does the games. I get migraines and I can't do anything other than going into a black room and try and sleep. I get sick, puking, and light and noise is just miserable. I got one at a Packers game and it was the most miserable day of my life...

 

I've never had slurred speech, but I know there are very different types.

[lcbj68c]

The waaaaaay too early 8-day forecast...

 

27degrees and 2 inches of snow for Sunday.

[nodakfan17]

Pam Oliver does not sound well.

 

I hope she’s just cold and there’s nothing else going on.

 

Not her first time slurring. I honestly wonder if she had a stroke. Otherwise she is getting bombed on the job.

 

I noticed it during the first Packers / Bears game at Lambeau, but attributed to the cold. Seeing her twice in that condition concerns me. I’ve always been a fan of hers and hope she’s OK.

 

This may have been her last game since the #2 won’t be needed next weekend. Maybe FOX was aware of the issue, but wanted to let her finish the season? They probably added Kristina Pink to shoulder the reporting load down the stretch.

[PinaMadness]

Pam Oliver does not sound well.

 

I hope she’s just cold and there’s nothing else going on.

 

Not her first time slurring. I honestly wonder if she had a stroke. Otherwise she is getting bombed on the job.

 

I noticed it during the first Packers / Bears game at Lambeau, but attributed to the cold. Seeing her twice in that condition concerns me. I’ve always been a fan of hers and hope she’s OK.

 

This may have been her last game since the #2 won’t be needed next weekend. Maybe FOX was aware of the issue, but wanted to let her finish the season? They probably added Kristina Pink to shoulder the reporting load down the stretch.

I noticed too that Pink did all the updates in the second half of the game after Oliver did the halftime reports so I assumed Fox knew what was going on, but then she did the postgame interviews so now I'm confused again.

[adambr2]

TBH if the Packers were going to have a catastrophic injury, it couldn't have happened at a better spot. There are far worse scenarios than a backup LT with 50 career starts, not to mention they lost him already for 1/4 of the season and dealt with it.

 

I think I would've picked our KR instead.

 

This matchup overall is very interesting though. Strength on strength almost across the board.

- Donaldson vs Lindsley (and Jenkins)

- Adams vs. Ramsey

- #1 Offense vs #1 Defense

- Rams 3 CBs against our Pass defense.

 

With a healthy Goff, this could be a toss-up game. But we would really need to lay an egg to lose (probably worse than Seattle did). Goff played, but only completed 9/19 (Wolford 3/6). 25 passes, 38 run plays (not including 5 QB scrambles). It is obvious they were planning on being run-heavy. Unless Goff makes a big recovery this week, I'd expect much of the same.

 

[sarcasm]I'm not too worried about Josh Donaldson rushing the QB[/sarcasm], but if they line up that Donald guy over Turner or whoever is playing RG, THAT could be a problem!

 

But you're right, this is strength on strength. And while the 49'ers may have been able to beat us without much from their QB, I don't think Geoff will be able to. Not hurt and not in the cold. The best he's likely going to be able to do is throw a lot of short passes to their three really talented WR'ers and hope they can do something after the catch.

 

Very similar offenses so I'd expect a lot of those quick hitters....and I feel really good about Jaire, Sullivan, and King's ability to play those at this point in the season. All three are really playing physical, not to mention Amos and Savage.

 

 

As long as this team comes out with the defensive mindset they did the last quarter of the season...everyone flying to the ball, the really solid tackling, the DL staying in their lanes and not trying to jump inside to get into the backfield, the OLB'ers really keeping the edge...if that happens, it'd take a bad game from Rodgers. I'm not gonna bet on a bad game from #12.

 

 

I think this game will end up looking most like the Bears vs Packers game in the NFCCG where it was a close game, but we controlled the game and they were never really in danger of losing. Maybe we'll score a little more in this game, but I think it'll be a largely unremarkable game that we just kinda control.

 

This prediction is pretty close to being spot on. It was very similar to the Bears game. It felt like we were in control the whole way, but never quite enough to feel like we had put the game away until near the end. I did feel like it could be slipping away in the 4th when our lead was whittled to 7 and we then had to punt on the next series, but no doubt I've been jaded by bad playoff experiences the last decade.

 

I honestly thought the Rams for the most part played about as well as their fans could have expected. Goff played well. Akers played well. Their receivers played well. Aside from the dropped pick before halftime and a couple flags, the Rams didn't really do anything to cost themselves the game. They didn't turn the ball over. They played to their talent level and it just wasn't enough. I'm sure they would have liked to see more out of their defense but an offense as good as what we have in the modern NFL isn't going to be stopped for an entire game when it's in rhythm.

 

I think the most encouraging thing to me is that where we really won this game was in the trenches. That's where we've lost big games the last few years and if we can continue to win the battles there we are going to be tough to beat.