Welcome To Armageddon, Packers v. Bears

This week has been horrible. It's bitter cold in Wisconsin and time is moving like molasses. The only good thing is I reunited with Water Street in Eau Claire, but other than that it sucked. Everyone just wants Sunday to get here. People are confident, nervous, and overall just pumped for the game.  As a young 22 year old who has no real worries in life, I care about this game way too much.  This is the most important game of my Packer fanhood.



The first meaningful Packer game I can remember was the 95 NFC Championship. The Packers headed to Dallas only to get their asses kicked by Big D and from then on, I hated Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin.  The next year winning the Super Bowl was an awesome experience, I remember it well but still didn't know enough about football to appreciate how great the victory was for some people.  For fan bases in Cleveland, Detroit, and other cites, they just want to get to the Super Bowl. For me, having the chance to see my team in the big game for a second time in my life is a great thing to be thankful for win or lose.

I know it will not sit well if the Packers lose. I am not going to give you a Dan Gilbert-esqe rant if they do lose because it's not worth my energy. But I will be upset, mad, and wish people weren't so cocky this week heading into the game on the social media networks. I can't deal with uninformed fans if the Packers do lose this game because they will probably blame McCarthy or somehow Thompson. This is one of the many reasons why I am not watching the game at a bar, I need to be home with my closest friends who know football and love football to understand how meaningful this game is, instead of an excuse to get drunk on a Sunday.

On to the game, it will be an interesting battle because you have the Bears who have caught all the breaks this season and developed a pretty good team with a wildcard at quarterback. Jay Cutler is the next Brett Favre in terms of the way he plays football. By no means does Cutler have Favre's personality, but the way he plays football is exactly like Favre. You never know what you are going to get when watching Cutler. I remember ESPN's Steve Young saying, 'When Jay is good, he is one of the best quarterbacks, but when he is bad, he is one of the worst, there is no inbetween with Jay.' I completely agree with that statement.

I know already that the Packers will not be able to run the ball on the Bears. They have shut down most teams rushing the football this season, only allowing a 100 yard rusher twice in the middle of the season. I hope that Mike McCarthy doesn't abandon the rushing game though, he needs to bang that drum even if it's not working, who knows they could catch some breaks. Additionally, they should do a lot of dink and dunks with flare routes and screen plays. They cannot throw the ball the entire time, it will not win them this football game.

Aaron Rodgers had his breakout game, finally getting the national attention he deserved. But the question now is, people expect him to have that same swagger, can he? I personally think so. As I said earlier today in another post, you don't lose how to be clutch and live in the moment, some people have it, others don't. Rodgers is loving every aspect about being in the playoffs, and people talking about him like he is the next best thing yet he knows there is always a next step to being considered a great quarterback. He played great against the Bears in Week 3, and the health of Chris Harris would worry me if I were a Bears fan.

At the end of the day, Mike Martz will try to outsmart Dom Capers and it will fail.  Martz has a smug attitude where in his mind, he is better than everybody else. I can see him forgetting that Matt Forte, a top ten running back is in his backfield and rely on Cutler more than he should. Capers did a great job the first two games against the Bears harassing Cutler so I do not see why it will stops on Sunday. The Bears offensive line is nearly as bad as the Steelers and in the postseason, you really can't hide it.  

This game will be like most playoff games, a roller coaster.  It will have its highs and lows throughout the game. But remember fans, win or lose this has been one hell of a ride already for the Green Bay Packers. They win the game 21-17.

-Charlie.