The Lass Word: The Opponent I Want No Part of in the Playoffs

Trains of thought: 

Now that the number one seed has been achieved, Packer fans can focus on taking a harder look at the path to the Super Bowl.  Who will they have to beat?  What is the toughest match-up?  What is the one team you really don’t want to play? 

Doubtless many of you would say you don’t fear any team, that the Pack is dominant and shouldn’t have any trouble with anyone in the NFC.  You could be right.  But Green Bay matches up differently with various contenders, and some of the match-ups are certainly more problematic than others. 

I feel pretty confident about playing the Rams.  Green Bay has already shown they can beat them, especially at Lambeau. I’m not a great believer in Matthew Stafford.  Somehow, Stafford always got a pass for all those bad seasons in Detroit.  It was always somebody else’s fault.  But he has to bear some of the blame.  Stafford is awesome when he gets hot, but he has a penchant for making the big mistake in big games.  He can’t carry a team when he has to.  I don’t think he’s the missing piece for taking LA to the Super Bowl.  The Packers also seem to be able to come up with a blocking strategy that keeps the likes of Aaron Donald, Leonard Floyd and Von Miller from wrecking the game. 

I’m not terribly concerned about a return engagement with the Tampa Bay Bucs.  I have to believe this would be the opponent that would most motivate the Pack.  Surely they would want to avenge last year’s conference championship game.  They played the Bucs tougher than Kansas City did in the Super Bowl, and really should have beaten them.  Their loss was largely due to self destruction.  Tom Brady is smart and accurate and clutch, but at least he can’t run, something that gives Green Bay a lot of problems, as with Baltimore’s Tyler Huntley. 

Speaking of QB’s who can run, what about a rematch with Arizona and Kyler Murray?  I’m not worried.  They are a warm weather team coming to, what should be, a frigid Lambeau.  We’ve already beaten them at their place without our three best receivers, all of whom would figure to be back.  The 49ers?  Certainly not if Garoppolo is still out.  Even with him, I would only fear George Kittle pulling a Mark Andrews-type performance against us.  The Eagles?  They might try to wear the Packers down with their running game.  Not sure they are good enough to do that. 

Here’s an intriguing possibility.  What if the Saints get in, and wind up winning a first round game, and head to Lambeau?  What a great opportunity that would be to see just how far Green Bay has come from that opening day debacle in Jacksonville.  I suspect the result would be drastically different, particularly with Jameis Winston out.  I would actually look forward to the sweet revenge. 

The one match-up I don’t feel good about, the team I really don’t want to see in the playoffs, is the Cowboys.  Who would know better how to prepare his team for a game at Lambeau than Mike McCarthy?  Who would be more motivated to get his team up to prove Green Bay made a mistake when they let him go? I know many Packer fans have a low opinion of McCarthy, but I am not among them.  He’s a good coach whose relationship with his star quarterback in Green Bay went sour, and it cost him his job. 

 Dak Prescott, though he has struggled a bit lately, is the complete package.  Smart, mobile, strong arm, and with something to prove to his doubters.  He has more passing yards than Rodgers and the same completion percentage. The thought of CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper, Cedrick Wilson and Dalton Schultz running around downfield gives me pause.  The Cowboys have an O-line good enough to neutralize our pass rush. If the Packers play back, Dallas has the one-two punch of Zeke Elliott and Tony Pollard to pound on you. 

This is a team the Packers would have to outscore, and there’s a good chance they could do that, as the Cowboys currently rank no better than nineteenth in total defense.  (Green Bay is eleventh.) But still, I’d rather not play them.  The seeding order of two through four in the NFC remains fluid going into week eighteen.  If nothing changed after this weekend, Dallas would be the four seed.  That means, if there are no upsets in the wild card round, the Packers would play the Cowboys in the divisional round.   

►  Playing the starters against the Lions is probably the right call, but it sure makes me nervous.  I will hold my breath after every play that I don’t see somebody in green and gold get helped off the field.  I’d actually prefer to see Jordan Love quarterback the whole game to see if there’s any improvement from his start against the Chiefs.  But I get it. That would mean a three week layoff for Aaron Rodgers, and that’s likely too long. 

►  The Vikings are nuts if they fire Mike Zimmer.  He’s been more effective than anybody else in the division at crafting defenses to stop Aaron Rodgers.  Going into Sunday night’s game, he was the only coach in the NFC North to have at least a .500 record against the Pack at Lambeau Field.  The Vikings carried a two game win streak against Green Bay into that game.  He is not the problem in the Twin Cities.  His team has been destroyed by injuries.  Zimmer’s a good coach.  He needs a quarterback who can win close games. 

►  I can’t figure out where all this speculation as to where Russell Wilson is going to play next year is coming from.  He’s not going anywhere.  Seattle is not trading him.  This is all media-driven false narrative. 

►  Pro Football Weekly reporter Hub Arkush’s comments about Aaron Rodgers not being deserving of the MVP award are going to backfire.  Arkush said this week he will not vote for Rodgers because of his vaccination controversy, calling him “a jerk”.  Since then, Arkush has been widely criticized across media outlets for judging the Green Bay quarterback on things other than his performance on the field.  None of the other 49 voters will want to be accused of the same thing, so they will stay focused on game performance, which heavily favors Rodgers.