In just a few days, the Green Bay Packers will square off against the Philadelphia Eagles in the wildcard round of the NFC playoffs. It's a fitting way to cap off a turbulent 2010 campaign for both squads. The two teams met in the first week of the season - a 27-20 Packer victory at Lincoln Financial Field. Much has changed since then. Due to a myriad of injuries in title town, Green Bay's roster only loosely resembles the lineup in week 1. Out east, the Eagles have also needed to adjust. Having spent the entire offseason building the team around QB Kevin Kolb, it's been QB Michael Vick who has seen most of the starts. Ironically, all that began on opening day, when LB Clay Matthews delivered a walloping sack on Kolb, knocking him silly and forcing Michael Vick under center. The rest, as the cliche' goes, is history. Michael Vick's redemption song has been music to the ears of Eagles fans all year long, as his crazy legs and improved pocket passing have typically kept defenses on their heels, Green Bay included. In order to come up with the win, and advance to the divisional round of the NFC playoff tournament, the Packers will need to neutralize the Eagles' many athletic threats. This includes, but is in no way limited to Michael Vick...
QB Michael Vick: His strengths are well advertised. He is without a doubt one of the most athletic players in the NFL. As a fundamental QB, his game is much improved since his days with the Atlanta Falcons. Whether it's the tutelage of Andy Reid, Donovan McNabb, or the penal system, Vick is now completing 62.6% of his passes, and has curbed the interceptions that marred his Falcons stat sheet. His passer rating this season was 100.2 - over 20 points higher than his previous career average. On the ground, Vick is as dangerous as he's ever been. His ability to go from 0-60 in an instant, sometimes gaining upwards of 30 yards at a time, has given defensive coordinators fits all year. But as daunting as it sounds, the key to stopping Michael Vick is pressure, specifically from the left side. Vick, a left-handed thrower, has struggled when forced to scramble to his right side. He either throws a poor pass, or takes off running when there may not be a lane for him to do so. Packers CB Charles Woodson spent much of last week's Bears game blitzing the QB. Look for the game plan to be similar on Sunday. The word of the day is "pressure."
RB LeSean McCoy: A thousand yard rusher in just his second season, McCoy excels at making defenders miss, and then gunning it. He's shifty and quite fast and will pose a real challenge for Green Bay's rush defense, which ranks 18th in the NFL. With the Packers depleted defensive line, they've been playing a lot of nickel coverage, leaving just 2 defenders on the line. If oft-injured linemen Cullen Jenkins gets the nod, look for a beefier line bent on collapsing the pocket. However, with Jenkins questionable, the Pack may have to rely on their linebackers to keep an eye on both Vick and McCoy, which could translate to big plays for either Eagle.WR
's DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin: This WR duo represents a big threat. They're collective speed, and good hands allow for big plays at any point. Maclin is the lesser of two evils, but worth noting nonetheless. He had 10 touchdowns on 70 receptions this season, and is very dangerous with space. DeSean Jackson is a whole different animal. A former teammate of QB Aaron Rodgers at Cal, he's small, agile, and painfully quick. While not putting up big receiving numbers, it's on special teams where Jackson really makes his name. Think Devin Hester, but smaller and faster. Rendering the return game moot will be a tall order for punter Tim Masthay and the special teams unit, but given last week's stellar outing against Hester and the Bears, it looks like the Packers are well prepared for that task.
TE Brent Celek: At 6-4 and 255 lbs, Celek has deceptive speed. Slow out of the gate, he accelerates and separates well, and averaged 12.2 yards per reception this year. While only scoring 4 touchdowns this season, he has deadly fundamentals and has never fumbled the ball. He's also a qualified blocker. It will be important not to let Celek sneak into the open field.Defense represents the real weakness for Philadelphia. The Eagles allowed 31 passing touchdowns this season, which ranked 29th in the league. A young secondary, and a banged up CB in Asante Samuel, has spelled big play disaster for Philadelphia all season long. If the Packers are to be successful, they will need to continue this trend. None of this will be possible, however, without the play-action game. The Eagles defense ranked 15th in the league against the run, giving up 110.4 yards per game on the ground. Packers coach Mike McCarthy has said that, when it comes to the ground game, it's not about yardage, but rather attempts. Namely, as long as you show that you are committed to rushing-attempts, the opposing defense will have to respect that possibility. With Philadelphia's average-at-best run defense, it's plausible that RB's Brandon Jackson and James Starks could reach that magic number of 4+ yards per carry, but as long as they each have about 15 attempts, the long bomb will remain an imminent threat in the Packers arsenal.
No comments:
Post a Comment