Aaron Rodgers Hacking Away The Chip

A famous quote uttered by Forest Gump describes how I feel about Aaron Rodgers. "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what's you're going to get"

That quote sums up the quarterbacks in the NFL.  Some of them are can't miss prospects out of college, only to fall flat on their faces while others are disregarded in the draft only to prove every team wrong for not drafting him earlier.  People questioned what kind of quarterback would Aaron Rodgers be with all the pressure and after his dominating display on Saturday, we have our answer. Epic.



It's amazing to put into perspective how lucky we are as Packer fans. The Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, and Denver Broncos still haven't replaced their franchise quarterback, which for some has been over a decade.  The Packers have had the most difficult transition with all the Favre drama each year and Rodgers shook it off like a college kid getting rejected by a much better looking girl at the bar. But after reading what Bill Simmons wrote watching Rodgers cheer actively against Favre, I knew he had the biggest chip on his shoulder.  Aaron wants people to forget that #4 even existed at hallowed Lambeau Field.

Rodgers has been building on his legacy, but he exploded onto the national scene Saturday night.  Rodgers looked like the best player in the NFL.  It's too bad the MVP voting does not take playoff performance into account because Rodgers would be the hands down winner.  Last night, I witnessed a game I will tell my kids about when they ask about what it was like cheering for Aaron Rodgers.  On most passes after completetion, I began to laugh because I couldn't believe every throw was being made, none were being dropped, and the Packers looked like a force that couldn't stop by no one..  The stats that Kevin Seifert, the NFC North blogger provided in his column were stunning against a standard rush and on third down.  Rodgers made an entire secondary look like the Freshman team at Wauwatosa West.

He played a good game against Philadelphia, an out of this world performance in Atlanta, what is the next act of this play?  I doubt he will bow out against an NFC North rival Jay Cutler.  By all means, Rodgers wants to do this for the Green Bay Packers as a team, but that chip isn't officially off until he raises the Lombardi Trophy in Dallas.

The Divisional Picks.

This could be one of the better divisional rounds with all four rematches from the regular seasons, and two games with hated rivals. I will be missing Sunday games with work, which leads me to my first DVR football day.  I will probably know who wins before the games end, but that's okay.  Here you go with the picks. 

Saturday 

Baltimore at Pittsburgh- In my opinion, this is the best rivalry in the NFL because these teams hate each other, but still have respect for one another. The Ravens impressed me with their beatdown of the Kansas City Chiefs after trailing 7-3 at halftime. The big news today though was Ray Rice caught the stomach virus, which could be a factor and we all know the flu sucks. It will be interesting to see if Rice plays or even contributes. I still don't trust Joe Flacco as much as I do with Ben Roethlisberger.   

People forget how good Big Ben is in the playoffs.  He has two Super Bowl rings already, and has a true deep threat in Mike Wallace.  The Ravens aren't that great against the pass, and I am willing to bet Wallace has at least one touchdown.  The one that pulls me towards the Ravens is the weak Pittsburgh cornerbacks. Bryant McFadden gets picked on all the time, and Anquan Boldin had two pretty solid games against the Steel Curtain.  I am torn on this one, and when that happens, you take the home team by three. PITT 23-20 (OT)  

Green Bay at Atlanta- The Packers are receiving a lot of hype in the last week as they were with Philadelphia but it still scares me.  A must for the Packers is to come out and hit the Falcons in the mouth in the first quarter. The Falcons haven't played a meaningful game since New Orleans further you can argue that game still didn't matter much because they knew Carolina was up next.  This leads us to their last important game on Thanksgiving weekend against The Pack.  If the Packers have a solid first quarter say a 10-0 lead or like a 14-3, this will be a Packer victory.  

Atlanta is a very good team when they have the lead.  They are not built as a quick strike offense that can score touchdowns at will. The Dirty Birds need to ride Michael Turner and long exhausting drives to win this game. In no way can Matt Ryan carry this team throughout the game.  For some reason ESPN fails to mention... Matt Ryan hasn't won a playoff game! Granted, it's just one game but that's the same thing with Aaron Rodgers but whatever. The Falcons are very poor against the pass and every good quarterback has done very successful against them. The Packer offensive line will be the key to this game, if they are great this could be a rout.  But it's a road playoff game so you expect to be close, and that's what I see.  GB 27-21  

Sunday 

Seattle at Chicago- I cannot believe people are buying the Seattle hype. I know this is Jay Culter's first playoff game, which scares me than becoming a part of the Human Centipede. I will be interested to see how he handles himself, but trust me, he will do enough to beat Seattle.  Here's the thing, the Hawks do have the momentum, but they went 2-6 on the road. In addition, Matt Hasselback looked the best he has in three years last week against a weak New Orleans secondary. Not to pile it on like my name is Clay Bennett, but Marshawn Lynch will not do anything against the second-best rush defense. They have four of the best tacklers in the front seven.     

Now that I am on fire like Reggie Miller at MSG, you mean to tell me that Russell Okung, the rookie left tackle has to stop Julius Peppers?! Child please.  I have a feeling we see Clipboard Jesus by the third quarter. To finish off why the Bears will win by large margin, the Seahawks are in the bottom tier at stopping the run and Matt Forte, if Mike Martz allows it, will run wild. The Saints weren't able to balance the run and pass leading to their defeat. The Bears will do it and win handily.  CHI 31-10

New York Jets at New England- People are pumped about this one because the consistent shit talking going on throughout the week.  While the Ravens-Steelers let their play do the talking, the Jets-Pats do not carry that same credence. If I am the Jets, I will take the Packers game plan from a couple of weeks ago. Just use their running game as much as possible, and try to control the clock to keep Tom Brady off the field.  But I keep coming back to Mark Sanchez's noodle arm.  I tweeted last week "Mark Sanchez blows" and "Glad to see the Jets figured out Sanchez has a noodle arm."  He isn't okay, I really think he is hurt. 

Another quick prediction is that Brady will go over the top on Antonio Cromartie in the first five plays of the game and if it's a touchdown, the rout could be on. Most people think this will be a blowout, but I honestly see a close game to the very end with Brady leading a last second drive for the win over Cromartie.  NE 31-28  

-Charlie.

My Drinking Buddies as NFL Playoff Teams: NFC

You really thought that I would go a whole week without talking about the playoffs?  CMOOOON MAAAAN   Of course, I would talk about them more except 45 hours at Office Max leaves me no time to blog.  Hopefully this gets done before the game starts on Saturday afternoon, but if not... suck it I don't care.  Here we go...

NFC:
1.) Atlanta Falcons- Grandpa Dan: The reason my friend and member of Snakes R Us makes it as the Falcons is because he is the most conservative 22 year old drinker you will find in Wisconsin. Does he get drunk? Absolutely, but have I ever seen him do something stupid when drinking? Not really, no. It's just like the Falcons. Sure they win a ton of ball games, but do you ever hear someone talk about how good Matt Ryan is?  Not really.  I told him this and the 'no lights' performance came out meaning he hates this title, which means awesome things to come.

2.) Chicago Bears- Fant: This really makes a ton of sense for a variety of reasons. First of all, he is a FIB (one of my favorites though). Second, he is about as unpredictable as the Bears. You never know what you are going to get with him. I always brace myself when I go out with Fant because it wouldn't shock me if I ended up in Eau Claire County Jail. He also has a bit of a tempter sometimes, a lot like Jay Culter getting mad when timeouts are wasted.  Fant also has that quizzical look on his face like Lovie Smith when he has reached blackout stages. 

3.) Philadelphia Eagles- The Ginger: Don't worry Pat this isn't you, it's my friend Bails. He is a couple years older than me, but he could easily out drink me plus parties like he is a fresh 21 year old. Bails had a revitalization in his career a lot like Michael Vick, and both have been awesome to be a part of.  The Ging didn't kill dogs though so that is where the comparison ends. We have had enough rowdy times during sporting events to consider us tough enough to beat us Philly fans. 

4.)  Seattle Seahawks- B-Squared:  Some of you might see this as a shot at my friend Bert but it's not. No, I just don't remember many times where him and I really did some damage together on a Friday night. He gets comfortable and watches the History Channel on Friday night instead of getting faced with his boys.  This is the college equivalent to having a 7-9 team in the playoffs.  I am done talking about it, the only reason I am not raging on it more is because Seattle has been through a lot as a sports town, they need hope.

5.)  New Orleans Saints- Yours truly:  I chose the Saints because I see them as one of the flashier teams in the 2011 playoffs. I like to think that I am a good dresser, and care about my self image when I head out on a weekend night thus flashy. The Saints have that flashy aspect by the way they play football by chucking the ball up and down the field.  The Saints also have Who Dat, I created S.E.C. and brought STEEEEVE calls to Eau Claire, this fits and I'm done talking about myself

6.) Green Bay- Schac Attack:  Schac who is a frequent commenter on the blog is my choice for the hallowed Packers. The reason is we do not drink enough together.  Whenever we do, it's a great time and it's a strong force like the Packers performances against the New York Giants, and Minnesota Vikings. But it doesn't happen enough, leaving us at inconsistent points of our career. A lot like the Packers struggles against Detroit and Washington.  Also he gets this spot, just because I still remember watching the Pack with him as young'ns and he took it more serious than me, hard to do. 

-Charlie.