The NFL’s best quarterback takes on the league’s top defense. Its the Green Bay Packers vs. the Seattle Seahawks for the NFC crown and NFL Playoff predictions 2015 won’t pick chalk. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL TD Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream and debate the NFL and sports.
TODD:
In week one of the season, the Green Bay Packers traveled to Seattle to face the Seahawks with a healthy Aaron Rodgers. They got smoked to the tune of 36-16.
Now, entering the NFC championship game, Seattle is playing even better on the defensive end than it did during the regular season, and Rodgers is so far from 100 percent that he seems genuine in saying he has 120 minutes left in him, as in ONLY 120 minutes left before his body gives way.
Against Dallas, Rodgers hobbled was still masterful. He couldn’t escape and make plays with this legs, but he still made all the throws. That was against Dallas though. Seattle, in Seattle, is the best defense in the league. The Seahawks have playmakers at every level and are even healthier than they were to start the regular season.
I don’t like what I’ve seen from Eddie Lacy to boot. It all adds up to Green Bay doing something it rarely does: struggle on the offensive side.
The problem is, the reverse matchup is hardly in GB’s favor. The Packers defense is hanging on for dear life. DeMarco Murray ran all over it in the divisional round, something that could be easily duplicated by Marshawn Lynch. And Romo, although he didn’t throw very often, was very efficient. His only problem was something that Russell Wilson will be able to avoid, and that was taking pressure and getting sacked.
Where is the edge here for Green Bay? I don’t see one in any facet of this contest. Seattle doesn’t blow people out, but it can win close, handily, if that makes any sense.
Seattle 28 – Green Bay 22
DAN:
Aaron Rodgers was more injured than I ever imagined against the Dallas Cowboys, and yet it did little to prevent him from owning the field. The Cowboys pressured him and he adjusted. He couldn’t run, could barely step up in the pocket, and yet Rodgers adjusted. I’m seriously scared to pick against this quarterback right now.
The 120 minutes comment was telling. Not only did it reveal the seriousness of Aaron Rodgers’ injury, it also was cocky as hell. Rodgers told the world he’ll be playing in the Super Bowl. I’d expect nothing less from the best quarterback in the league, but I too felt as though we were now in on the secret. Aaron Rodgers will probably need offseason surgery, or at least several months off his feet. How can a hobbled quarterback, even the best in the game, defeat the league’s top defense?
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Green Bay does not have a clear edge in this game. They were infinitely better at home than on the road this season. Every one of their four losses came away from Lambeau field. However, what the Packers need to do to defeat the Seahawks is simple; make them one-dimensional.
Green Bay was excellent in the passing game on defense this season, while Seattle was ranked near the very bottom of the league passing on offense. Shut that down. Force the Seahawks to run, something they prefer to do anyhow, then stack the box and make Russell Wilson beat you. He can and he has.
But force him to once again, and put the onus back on the arm of Aaron Rodgers.Wilson is an excellent quarterback, but he can not go pass for pass, drive for drive, with Rodgers. The Green Bay defense is talented enough to pull this off. The key question is whether Rodgers is healthy enough to sustain himself for the full game.
I’m picturing four distinct quarters of football, each a tug of war between these two teams. Green Bay will own the first quarter, pulling ahead early, but holding on for dear life in the second and into the half. The third quarter will be Seattle’s, forcing the Packers to once again come from behind. But Green Bay and Rodgers own the fourth, gritting out another inexplicable victory in what has turned into a fairy tale season for them.
Green Bay 28 – Seattle 27