Packers
Start Fast
A hallmark of this Green Bay Packers team this season has been fast starts. After a few early-season stumbles, the Packers have usually taken the lead early in their home games. Sometimes they take huge, insurmountable leads. Other times, like Sunday against the Patriots, they take just enough of a lead to dictate the flow of the game. The fast starts help the defense put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. It also gets the crowd at Lambeau Field pumped up.
Build Lambeau Advantage
The Packers have not had the kind of home field advantage that intimidates opponents in the last few years. Losses in the playoffs and big games had made Lambeau Field seem almost hospitable to opposing teams. This year, for this team, things seem different. The Packers are beginning to make Lambeau into a scary place to play again. Ask any of their opponents this season, even the ones lucky enough to play competitively past halftime. As the Packers push for a No. 1 seed and home field advantage in the playoffs, the Packers have two more chances to put up scary numbers.
Falcons
Pressure Rodgers
To stop the Packers, you have to stop quarterback Aaron Rodgers. If he is calm in the pocket, he can make the Packers offensive attack work against almost any defense. The Packers have plenty of offensive weapons, and Rodgers is quick enough in diagnosis of the defense that he can get the ball where it needs to be. Pressure him, and you can slow that process down. Making Rodgers uncomfortable is easier said than done. You can’t just blitz him. Rodgers is actually better against the blitz, since it takes one defender out of coverage. As the Patriots showed, not blitzing doesn’t work if you can’t get pressure on Rodgers with your front four.
Expect a Shootout
The Falcons simply have to expect to score 30 points. They have to come into this game expecting Rodgers will have some success on their defense. If quarterback Matt Ryan and his offensive weaponry can keep up, the Falcons can stay in this game. If they can’t, they may face the fate of some of the teams that have been blown out by the Packers at Lambeau Field this season.
Extra Points
Must-see Matchup: Julio Jones vs. Tramon Williams
Falcons receiver Julio Jones is a big, fast target for quarterback Matt Ryan. He’s coming off a big day. Last Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals Jones caught 10 passes for a career-high 182 yards. He also eclipsed 1,000 yards for the second time in his career. Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson, who faced Jones in college, talked up the fact that he could shut Jones down. It didn’t happen. The Packers, who may be without the services of Sam Shields, will have to find a way to shut Jones down. That responsibility may fall onto veteran cornerback Tramon Williams. Williams has shut down big-time receivers in the past, but Shields has taken the primary receiver most of the season.
Hot Seat: Mason Crosby
It wasn’t an easy night for kicking footballs. The cold temperatures certainly hindered Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski. He missed a 47-yarder late in the game against Green Bay. Packers kicker Mason Crosby also had a miscue. He missed a 40-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter. Of course, Crosby also made four field goals in the game as the Packers’ red zone offense stalled against a good Patriots defense. Crosby has been nearly automatic since a slump in 2012. With the cold weather hitting early this year, Crosby needs to make sure misses are kept rare, especially at Lambeau Field where the Packers are competing for home field advantage in the playoffs.
Hot Streak: Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers is so good it is sometimes hard to distinguish his cold streaks from his hot streaks. It is pretty fair to think that Rodgers has been on a roll since the Packers returned from their bye week four games ago. Rodgers has 32 touchdowns this season and only 3 interceptions. His 118.6 quarterback rating is the best in the league. He just came off a game where he out-dueled Tom Brady. Rodgers has played well enough this season that he may be the leading candidate for the MVP award, which he also won in 2011.
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