Official Packers vs Rams thread

[PackerFanLV]

Ho

You realize that our offensive line has only given up six total sacks through the first four games, right?

The Rams have a great defense, but they are ranked 26th in the league in run defense.

thnk gawd Rodgers has the gift of scrambling cause if not he would be sacked a lot. He scrambles more out the pockert then sitting in the pocket do to pressure. Honestly Aaron makes our o-line look better then what they are.

 

[Carl]

Packers win 34-22.

 

[ExpatPacker]

SF's defense got to Rodgers all game. St.Louis has the best front 4 in the league. Packers were very effective against KC's pass rush with the quick passes, and with a good dose of Lacy and Starks, I am fairly confident we'll put points up on the board.

Unlike SF however, St. Louis does have an offense. Don't forget that Todd Gurley had a breakout game last Sunday as he literally ran over Arizona. Nick Foles is not a great QB and certainly not mobile, but he can throw. Foles had his best game of the season against the Cardinals. Packer run defense has been very good the last 2 weeks. Now they have to do the same against Gurley.

Packers 27-20.

 

[Brian Demarest]

While ours has been great thus far the Rams boast what I would call the best Dline in the league

I'm a Rams fan come to chat. You guys look like fans that aren't new to winning and are self-assured enough to talk football keeping it real. Not like Cards fans. They were delusional after just 3 wins against bad teams. They actually called the Rams D line OK and secondary terrible. Probably not saying that so much now.

The Rams do indeed sport the best D line in the NFL and I say that with all humbleness. Donald is, and I kid you not, as good as J.J. Watt. Last season's DFROY and Pro Bowler.

Quinn is a monster with Stretch Armstrong moves. We are counting him to take advantage of GB weakness in the tackles. We'll see.

 

[Brian Demarest]

The Rams defensive line is a fantastic unit and with the Packers having troubles at both tackle positions I´m worried about the pass protection. The offense should be able to get some favourable matchups with either Cobb or Montgomery vs. Lamarcus Joyner in the slot or Richard Rodgers at TE being covered by their linebackers (especially as Alec Ogletree won´t be able to play this week). That should allow Rodgers to throw fast, short passes and help out the offensive line protecting him.

That there is a quality assessment. Tree was killing teams and leading the NFL in tackles last I checked. Rams have depth there and talent, nut not like Tree.

Joyner is OK. The rest of the secondary have pretty solid skills with Jenkins being amazing and the McSafties willing to lay out anyone that comes near them.

 

[Brian Demarest]

Vs Seattle and Kc at home I think our off line did fine..

We watch both of those teams. One being our nemesis and the other our brother of a different mother.

Those D lines are not ours. Not even close. Tier 1 vs Tier 3. Seriously. 17 sacks so far against 3/4 top offenses like GB. Well, not like GB, but top 10 in the NFL. 6 sacks on Wilson.

 

[Brian Demarest]

We'll win. Foles is a statue in the pocket, I see us sacking him 4-5 times and causing a turnover or two.

Take the KC, Seattle and SF game, and I think this Rams game falls in between those somewhere in terms of us winning and margin etc.

Yeah, OK, so I'm gonna need you to work Saturday. I think Sunday too.

Foles is very good moving in the pocket. I get that he has a reputation, but it ain't so Vrill. 6 sacks. 1.25 per game. With an o-line with 2 rookies and 1 player in the same position as last season. Dude has been solid.

Seattle? We beat them too. 34-31 and offensive scoring of 27-18. Niners? They retired and are horrible. KC compared to the Rams? Not even close. We can't say we are in the GB league right now and we will be in your house, but the Rams D is off the charts and their O is emerging with Gurley having his first start, 161 combined yards, and Quick yet to play a full game.

 

[Brian Demarest]

You realize that our offensive line has only given up six total sacks through the first four games, right?

The Rams have a great defense, but they are ranked 26th in the league in run defense.

This is a misnomer. Rams play bend but don't break defense. If you look at their rankings, you will not grasp the real picture. You can take small gains all day long. Lots of yards. Lots of plays. Then try to score in the redzone. It's tough. 5 TDs all season against their D.

By the way, the Rams have also taken 6 sacks all season. They handed out 17.

 

[Brian Demarest]

Packers win 34-22.

That's quite possible. GB is a badass team and, at home? ****. Scary scary scary.

But I will note that's the kind of prediction the Hawks, Steelers, and Cards made too.

 

[Brian Demarest]

SF's defense got to Rodgers all game. St.Louis has the best front 4 in the league. Packers were very effective against KC's pass rush with the quick passes, and with a good dose of Lacy and Starks, I am fairly confident we'll put points up on the board.

Unlike SF however, St. Louis does have an offense. Don't forget that Todd Gurley had a breakout game last Sunday as he literally ran over Arizona. Nick Foles is not a great QB and certainly not mobile, but he can throw. Foles had his best game of the season against the Cardinals. Packer run defense has been very good the last 2 weeks. Now they have to do the same against Gurley.

Packers 27-20.

That's an informed opinion. Better than I have of GB. You don't need to be fairly confident, you WILL put points on the board, the Rams will not stop yards or points, just redzone TDs. It's how they roll.

Foles is actually VERY good at moving in the pocket and will roll out and run as needed, but he's not great at it.

Can you stop Gurley? No one knows. That was his first start and he grabbed 161 combined yards, almost all of them in the second half. I say this quietly and with all respect, but dude looks like he could be amazing. Like monster amazing.

 

[Brian Demarest]

So here's a Rams' Fan perspective if you want it:

I am a rabid fan. And that is very hard to be with the Rams. I think there might be 12 of us . I go to all open training camps, sit with very knowledgeable people, and even watch some closed practices from a secret spot. We KNEW the Rams would have a bumpy opening. I think it's fair to say, no one thought the Rams were going to be great in the first 5 games. 2-3 or 3-2 against our very challenging opening schedule was the best I could hope for.

Why? We have a new QB, OC, new O scheme, new o line with 2 rookies and only 1 player in the same starting position, and we were missing Gurley, Mason, and Quick. You can't beat NFL teams with that, but you CAN anticipate.

Defense:

They are badass with a capital BADASS. Forget the stats, the Rams just hound teams and QBs. It's nonstop. Their nickname is Mob Squad, and they earn it every week.

So, why do they not rank? Because the stats don't consider strategy, plain and simple. Rams D has two jobs and they are make the opposing team throw and run for short gains all game long and stop them in the redzone. Want yards between the 20's? Have at them, we will give you more. Lots and lots of yards. Want a TD in the redzone? Better pull out your teeth pulling pliers. They are the best RZ defense around.

IMHO they do this for two reasons. When a team has to make 80 plays a game, every one is a TO opportunity. We will strip, slap, pull, and INT attempt every play.

The second is they bank on redzone D for a lesser challenge for our O. Keep the score low. Seahawks scored, but they didn't do it with their O. They scored 18 with their O. Steelers, with Big Ben, Brown, and Bell, were held to 12. Cardinals did well as an undefeated team and the most prolific scorers in the NFL this season, but it was 1 TD and then all field goals. The stats of their O that we destroyed are many. Still, we struggled.

Special Teams:

The Rams boast an outstanding ST. No one has kicked a punt to TA that I remember since game one when he broke off a TD. They just surrender yards in short punts to keep the ball out of his hands. You MUST be SURE of your ST to punt to him.

I'm hoping they come up with a way to stop the short punts. We need TA this week.

No ST this season hasn't looked bad against the Rams. Cardinals Peterson? Stripped on the first KO return for a Rams TO and TD within 2 minutes of the game starting.

Our Field Goal kicker will kick from the 70 if needed to win, I kid you not, dude is called Greg the Leg for a reason. He practices from the 65.

Our Punter, if not the best in the NFL...na...he is. He almost had a 50 yard average against the Cards and he is a former QB who has missed on 1 trick play in his NFL career.

Offense:

This is where it gets tricky. everything we thought and hoped for is emerging after 3 seasons. Austin is just amazing. His title is WR, but forget that. If he gets the ball, he will eel his way to a big gain every time.

Gurley is unknown. We loved his first start, but it was his first start. 161 combined yards.

Mason and Cunningham are both very good at both the run and receiving. Cunningham is the better receiver.

Britt can be lights out. Quick may be making his first start since his major injury and he can also lights out. They are both very tall, very physical receivers who will fight for the ball.

Foles is probably going to have his best season ever when it all comes together and that's saying a lot. He already holds a fantastic W/L record the last 2 seasons, NFL best ever TD/INT ratio for a season, and a pro bowl with pro bowl offensive MVP. Now he is in the perfect place with the perfect targets. He will air it out to Britt/Austin/Quick and these guys will catch it. It's been a loooooooong time since we've had that.

Weaknesses:

The o line. They get better every week but it's a rebuild.

TE's. Cook could be a massive star, but he drops every damned must catch ball. Kendricks is good bad has been dropping too. Harkey will mess up anyone in front of him but is a third TE, mostly used for blocking schemes, and rarely pass catching.

I hope I added to the conversation and thanks for having me. The best Rams site for info is Rams On Demand Com.

 

[RRyder]

This is a misnomer. Rams play bend but don't break defense. If you look at their rankings, you will not grasp the real picture. You can take small gains all day long. Lots of yards. Lots of plays. Then try to score in the redzone. It's tough. 5 TDs all season against their D.

By the way, the Rams have also taken 6 sacks all season. They handed out 17.

Always good to hear from other fans.

Our Tackles are going to have to play much better then Sunday or Rodgers is going to be running for his life. That said our guard tandem may be the best around so Rodgers tends to have room to step up and move around.

The big mismatch for us is Cobb in the slot. If you guys can't get to Rodgers I'm not seeing a way for you guys to slow him down. Maybe I'm wrong though. Some hometown info on their secondary would be nice.

One more thing though. Bend but don't break and banking INTs or TOs is bad idea against Rodgers and the Packers. This is a team that simply doesn't turn the ball over and if your going to let Rodgers March up n down the field on ya he WILL make you pay..... At times the man really does seem like he's strait out of a video game...... and one with a cheat code enabled. The man's that good when he's on his game

 

[Brian Demarest]

Always good to hear from other fans.

Our Tackles are going to have to play much better then Sunday or Rodgers is going to be running for his life. That said our guard tandem may be the best around so Rodgers tends to have room to step up and move around.

The big mismatch for us is Cobb in the slot. If you guys can't get to Rodgers I'm not seeing a way for you guys to slow him down. Maybe I'm wrong though. Some hometown info on their secondary would be nice.

One more thing though. Bend but don't break and banking INTs or TOs is bad idea against Rodgers and the Packers. This is a team that simply doesn't turn the ball over and if your going to let Rodgers March up n down the field on ya he WILL make you pay..... At times the man really does seem like he's strait out of a video game...... and one with a cheat code enabled. The man's that good when he's on his game

Cobb was my best receiver in FF last season and I traded for him. I love that dude.

Don't count your guard chickens before they've hatched. The Rams are a nightmare for guards, even really good ones. We all know Donald is Donald, and he's just not stoppable, like Rodgers, but the entire line would start anywhere, game one. If GB can hold them up, good on you. Washington did, of all teams , but they had to use 3 TE sets to do it. And I think the Rams learned a hard lesson that day.

The secondary? We lost Gaines for the season and now Tree. Those are huge for us. J Jenkins is among the NFL elite. He WILL shut down any receiver, and I mean ANY receiver, IF he makes no bonehead reads. It's his one big issue, but not at all this season so far. The rest are damn good. Under rated because they don't play on the line and play a bend but don't break D. Solid to the core and willing physical hitters. Huge hitters and turnover players. The key for them is this...IF they ballhawk, they will get owned, and they love to ballhawk. PLAY YOUR MAN and take what you are given Rams! This is NOT a day to play for the turnover, it's the day to shut down the receivers and let the rush worry about TOs.

Rodgers is one of a kind. There is no other. And at home? Please. HOF as if that needed saying.

Can the Rams play bend but don't break with him? I think they can. Call me crazy. Call me Homer. I'm used to it, but I will bet they can hold even the best QB in the NFL to almost all FGs. The trick for GB is DO NOT enter the RZ. It's a desert in there. You don't want to get sucked up into the mothership and **** probed.

If Rodgers turns it over, I'm thinking more strip sacks than INTs. But if the Rams break his consecutive record at home INT record, I will not be surprised at all. This kind of pressure has it's effects.

Lacey worries me more. The Rams have had problems with the running game at times and dude is a hard tackle. With Tree in I would worry less, but he isn't.


I think we all know the consensus will be a GB win. Pretty handily. And I'm not even counting on a win, but I will try to sell you that it is indeed possible. This is a team with many many weapons and none of them get their due.

 

[RRyder]

Cobb was my best receiver in FF last season and I traded for him. I love that dude.

Don't count your guard chickens before they've hatched. The Rams are a nightmare for guards, even really good ones. We all know Donald is Donald, and he's just not stoppable, like Rodgers, but the entire line would start anywhere, game one. If GB can hold them up, good on you. Washington did, of all teams , but they had to use 3 TE sets to do it. And I think the Rams learned a hard lesson that day.

The secondary? We lost Gaines for the season and now Tree. Those are huge for us. J Jenkins is among the NFL elite. He WILL shut down any receiver, and I mean ANY receiver, IF he makes no bonehead reads. It's his one big issue, but not at all this season so far. The rest are damn good. Under rated because they don't play on the line and play a bend but don't break D. Solid to the core and willing physical hitters. Huge hitters and turnover players. The key for them is this...IF they ballhawk, they will get owned, and they love to ballhawk. PLAY YOUR MAN and take what you are given Rams! This is NOT a day to play for the turnover, it's the day to shut down the receivers and let the rush worry about TOs.

Rodgers is one of a kind. There is no other. And at home? Please. HOF as if that needed saying.

Can the Rams play bend but don't break with him? I think they can. Call me crazy. Call me Homer. I'm used to it, but I will bet they can hold even the best QB in the NFL to almost all FGs. The trick for GB is DO NOT enter the RZ. It's a desert in there. You don't want to get sucked up into the mothership and **** probed.

If Rodgers turns it over, I'm thinking more strip sacks than INTs. But if the Rams break his consecutive record at home INT record, I will not be surprised at all. This kind of pressure has it's effects.

Lacey worries me more. The Rams have had problems with the running game at times and dude is a hard tackle. With Tree in I would worry less, but he isn't.


I think we all know the consensus will be a GB win. Pretty handily. And I'm not even counting on a win, but I will try to sell you that it is indeed possible. This is a team with many many weapons and none of them get their due.

Don't under sell our guards. Donalds great but this is a similar argument I've heard from lions fans over the years regarding Suh and Fairley getting to Rodgers l. Sitton is the best guard in the league and Lang is a borderline pro bowler himself with Lynsley also being great at Center. I'm not sayin it will be one sided. But I don't expect either side to dominate.

But Jenkins as elite? I don't know. I'd have to disagree. Good yes but not elite. Still he's an outside CB isn't he? I still don't see any that can slow either Cobb or Montgomery in the slot.

Lacey is defiantly someone to worry about this game. He's getting healthy and should expect a big workload to slow down the pass rush

 

[Deleted member 6794]

That there is a quality assessment. Tree was killing teams and leading the NFL in tackles last I checked. Rams have depth there and talent, nut not like Tree.

Joyner is OK. The rest of the secondary have pretty solid skills with Jenkins being amazing and the McSafties willing to lay out anyone that comes near them.

Cameron Lynch is most likely an upgrade over Ogletree in pass coverage but he´s not as good defending the run or rushing the passer. The Rams secondary is average at best and Joyner is a below-average starter that will be exploited by Cobb without any safety help.

Those D lines are not ours. Not even close. Tier 1 vs Tier 3. Seriously. 17 sacks so far against 3/4 top offenses like GB. Well, not like GB, but top 10 in the NFL. 6 sacks on Wilson.

I agree that the Rams defensive line is better than the Seahawks or Chiefs one but it´s pretty close though.

Want a TD in the redzone? Better pull out your teeth pulling pliers. They are the best RZ defense around.

The Rams defense ranked 12th in TDs allowed in the red zone and 17th in points allowed after week 3. They will probably have improved their ranking after the Cardinals game but it´s far from impossible to score against them inside the 20.

Seahawks scored, but they didn't do it with their O. They scored 18 with their O. Steelers, with Big Ben, Brown, and Bell, were held to 12. Cardinals did well as an undefeated team and the most prolific scorers in the NFL this season, but it was 1 TD and then all field goals. The stats of their O that we destroyed are many.

The Seahawks offense hasn´t been able to score a ton of points this season so far and the Cardinals offense hugley benefitted from playing terrible teams. The Rams defense did an impressive job vs. the Steelers even before Roethlisberger was injured, but trust me you haven´t faced an offense like the Packers one so far, especially at Lambeau Field.

The Rams boast an outstanding ST. No one has kicked a punt to TA that I remember since game one when he broke off a TD. They just surrender yards in short punts to keep the ball out of his hands. You MUST be SURE of your ST to punt to him.

No ST this season hasn't looked bad against the Rams. Cardinals Peterson? Stripped on the first KO return for a Rams TO and TD within 2 minutes of the game starting.

Our Field Goal kicker will kick from the 70 if needed to win, I kid you not, dude is called Greg the Leg for a reason. He practices from the 65.

Our Punter, if not the best in the NFL...na...he is. He almost had a 50 yard average against the Cards and he is a former QB who has missed on 1 trick play in his NFL career.

The Rams special teams have been above average so far but aside of the punt returned by Austin vs. the Seahawks haven´t had any explosive plays anymore. Teams have continued punting to Austin with him averaging 10.5 yards on those returns with two fair catches.

FWIW it´s worth it was rookie David Johnson fumbling on the Cardinals kickoff to start the season.

Zuerlein hasn´t been that great kicking outdoors where he has only made 71.9% of his field goals during his career though. Hekker is an above average punter but once again he´s not the best in the league.

This is where it gets tricky. everything we thought and hoped for is emerging after 3 seasons. Austin is just amazing. His title is WR, but forget that. If he gets the ball, he will eel his way to a big gain every time.

Mason and Cunningham are both very good at both the run and receiving. Cunningham is the better receiver.

Britt can be lights out. Quick may be making his first start since his major injury and he can also lights out. They are both very tall, very physical receivers who will fight for the ball.

Foles is probably going to have his best season ever when it all comes together and that's saying a lot. He already holds a fantastic W/L record the last 2 seasons, NFL best ever TD/INT ratio for a season, and a pro bowl with pro bowl offensive MVP. Now he is in the perfect place with the perfect targets. He will air it out to Britt/Austin/Quick and these guys will catch it. It's been a loooooooong time since we've had that.

Austin is a big play threat but he´s only averaging 49.6 yards per game for his career. Gurley seems like the real deal but Mason and Cunningham don´t put any fear into opposing defenses (they´re averaging a combined 2.6 yards per carry this season). The Rams receiving corps is average at best. Foles is an average QB as well who will never even come to close to repeating his performance in 2013.

Don't count your guard chickens before they've hatched. The Rams are a nightmare for guards, even really good ones. We all know Donald is Donald, and he's just not stoppable, like Rodgers, but the entire line would start anywhere, game one. If GB can hold them up, good on you. Washington did, of all teams , but they had to use 3 TE sets to do it. And I think the Rams learned a hard lesson that day.

I´m quite sure Sitton will be able to handle Brockers one-on-one. This means Linsley and Lang will double team Donald on every single snap. There´s no doubt in my mind that Donald is an All-Pro but trust me that he hasn´t faced a center-guard tandem nearly as good as Lang and Linsley so far this season.

Can the Rams play bend but don't break with him? I think they can. Call me crazy. Call me Homer. I'm used to it, but I will bet they can hold even the best QB in the NFL to almost all FGs. The trick for GB is DO NOT enter the RZ. It's a desert in there. You don't want to get sucked up into the mothership and **** probed.

If Rodgers turns it over, I'm thinking more strip sacks than INTs. But if the Rams break his consecutive record at home INT record, I will not be surprised at all. This kind of pressure has it's effects.

The Rams have allowed an average of 4.54 points on drives in the red zone with five TDs and eight FGs in 13 drives. While that is once again above average teams have been able to score on them.

I wouldn´t rely on Rodgers turning the ball over as he hasn´t thrown a single interception at Lambeau Field since late in the 2012 (!!!) season.

Overall, the Rams are a talented team with an exceptional defensive line and mostly average players at all other positions. The Packers are a superior team and should win this game by more than an score.

 

[Curly Calhoun]

You realize that our offensive line has only given up six total sacks through the first four games, right?

At least some of that may be due to the mobility and pocket presence of #12, no?

#67 has been less-than-stellar as of late.

 

[ExpatPacker]

I just watched the second half of the Rams-Cardinals game and it was definitely a good one. Give credit to the Rams but it's not like the Cardinals were dominated or weren't in a position to win. Rams definitely got away with a fumble that should have been Cardinals first-and-goal, and on the Cardinals' last series they were driving but Palmer missed a couple of fairly open receivers on 3rd and 4th downs to end the drive.

Rams pass rush was definitely impressive, but Palmer wasn't overwhelmed. He did have time. I also thought Foles was very good too. Made some very fine passes. He'll have to play like that for the Rams to have a chance next Sunday. Rams D looks to have great pursuit, but running it right down their throat might be more effective that trying to go outside.

 

[Vrill]

The only thing the Rams have on their entire team that even halfway scares me is their DL. However, Rodgers gets rid of the ball so damn fast that it will limit what the Rams pass rush does. As far as pass rush goes, the Chiefs scared me more than the Rams do. I will say that 3-4 defenses with a pass rush seem to give us more problems than a pass rushing 4-3 front does under Rodgers. Teams like SF and KC always tend to get to Rodgers, and while we have lost to Seattle before this year, they didn't get to Rodgers as many times as SF did.

Hell, Denver's pass rush scares me more than the Rams.

For whatever reason, 3-4 defenses get to Rodgers more than 4-3 D's do. Its always been that way.

But anyway, our offense is frustrating to defend. You can't be overly aggressive against us, especially at Lambeau. Because Rodgers will play a game within a game at the LOS with pre snap hard counts. He'll be trying to draw the Rams DL offsides the entire game and that's when our WR's go deep for free plays. Our entire O are all on the same page with this, our WR's constantly look down the LOS and if someone jumps offsides, Rodgers yells GO and everyone goes deep. Rodgers has absolutely destroyed defenses at Lambeau by doing this. Its exactly why fronts have to be passive while playing us at Lambeau.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

The only thing the Rams have on their entire team that even halfway scares me is their DL. However, Rodgers gets rid of the ball so damn fast that it will limit what the Rams pass rush does. As far as pass rush goes, the Chiefs scared me more than the Rams do. I will say that 3-4 defenses with a pass rush seem to give us more problems than a pass rushing 4-3 front does under Rodgers. Teams like SF and KC always tend to get to Rodgers, and while we have lost to Seattle before this year, they didn't get to Rodgers as many times as SF did.

Hell, Denver's pass rush scares me more than the Rams.

For whatever reason, 3-4 defenses get to Rodgers more than 4-3 D's do. Its always been that way.

Since the start of the 2012 season the Packers have given up an average of 2.6 sacks per game playing against a 4-3 defense while giving up 2.3 vs. teams using a 3-4 scheme.

 

[Carl]

That's quite possible. GB is a badass team and, at home? ****. Scary scary scary.

But I will note that's the kind of prediction the Hawks, Steelers, and Cards made too.

I will note that neither of those 3 teams are as good as the Packers right now.

 

[Vrill]

Since the start of the 2012 season the Packers have given up an average of 2.6 sacks per game playing against a 4-3 defense while giving up 2.3 vs. teams using a 3-4 scheme.

Interesting. I guess my perception was off on this.

 

[rodell330]

Just curious - what position would you like to see addressed?

Inside lb....again.

 

[rodell330]

You realize that our offensive line has only given up six total sacks through the first four games, right?

The Rams have a great defense, but they are ranked 26th in the league in run defense.

We all know a lot of that has to do with Rodgers mobility. Our tackles arnt very strong ... Watch the film . Not knocking them but stating facts.

 

[azrsx05]

I think Rams are a bit too over confident coming off that win against the Cardinals. But they are forgetting they are a team that could easily be 0-4.
They barely beat a seahawks team that is not very good by some stupid decisions on their coaching staff.

They lost to the Redskins and only put up 6 points at home against the Steelers, and couldn't beat a team with out Rothlisberger and a backup who doesn't even prepare for games.

Against the Cards they got bailed out of those fumbles by the refs and the Cards still had a chance to go down the field at the end.

I'm by no means saying this team is a pushover, and will agree that they have a solid defense. But it's a team that is trying to find its identity. I might be biased being a Packers fan, but I think the Rams are going to be getting a rude awakening. Our defense will hold them and we all know what Rodgers can do at home. I think we win 27-17 and that's them scoring on garbage time.

 

[El Guapo]

Thanks for providing us with your perspectives Brian. 95% of the folks on this forum are pretty level headed so you'll get some good back-and-forth. I think that captainWIMM did his usual good job analyzing things.

One part that wasn't addressed much overall was your advice about punting to Austin. I hear you and maybe things will change now that we have a new ST coach this year, but in general McCarthy has never shied away from punting to the best. When Devin Hester was the best and we played him twice per year, we always punted to him and dared him to beat us. It never worked for the Bears. Our STs haven't been a brightspot yet this season, but don't expect us to play scared at home.

I really believe that this will be a classic matchup of two teams with good RBs keeping the ball on the ground. Lacy and Starks will square off against Gurley with Fowles and Rodgers doing what they need to keeping defenses honest through the air.