Who's for real in playoffs ?

PackerDNA

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Well, here we go. We have the seedings, we know who's in. But who's for real, and who's just here to 'fill out the field'? In no particular order, I've grouped the teams.


NFC
Tier 1
- One of these wins The NFC
Seahawks- The defending champs, and obvious favorites. The bye and home field will make them tough to beat.
Strengths-The Wilson/Lynch combo; defense, especially secondary; coaching- well prepared, disciplined.
Weaknesses- Oline is questionable in spots; how big of a loss will Brandon Mebane be?; no big threats in passing game, but still make plays; fast, not big; they don't like it when you get physical with them (see Dallas).

Cowboys-
tremendous talent on offense- arguably best line, explosive, balanced; Romo having best season, Bryant a one man wrecking crew. Defense lacks talent, has weaknesses but has been aggressive and plays well together.
Weaknesses- again, a questionable D that can be exploited at any time; has Murray shaken fumble habit?; mindset- are they ready?

Packers- have best Qb in game, and he's hungry; Lacy has become a difference maker run and pass; Oline has quitely improved become one of better ones in league; one of best 1-2 threats in game with Nelson and Cobb; defense is coming on- the Peppers factor has enabled Capers to do more; Matthews having a great season; deep secondary.

Weaknesses- must strike-and maintain- good balance on offense; Dline is smallish; inside LB; can Oline hold up against bigger and better Dlines?; who steps up if Nelson and Cobb are shut down?

Field Fillers- Cardinals- injuries have ruined, set back an exciting season.
Lions- defense has carried them. Still have character, mental toughness concerns.
Panthers- defense has come on, but too many holes. Still not convinced Newton is a big time QB.

My NFC Seeding- 1- Seahawks
2- Packers
3- Cowboys
4- Lions
5- Cardinals
6-Panthers

I won't spend a lot of time on the 'other' conference; their rep will lose to whoever comes out of the NFC.
1-Patriots-brilliantly prepared every week. Brady/Bellichek combo always makes them a threat.
2-Steelers- Big Ben and high powered offense make them a threat , but too many questions on D, especially on back end.
3-Broncos- loaded with talent, but are they running out of gas? Manning, other key players have been showing age lately.
4-Colts- Too many holes, especially on D. It's the Andrew Luck Show, and not a lot else.
5-Bengals- Ready for prime time yet? Not.
6-Ravens- Still tough, a lot of character guys who have been here before, but in decline. Backed in.
 

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Here's now they've fared during the past month of the season.

Seattle, Dallas, Carolina have all run 4-0 down the stretch. The Packers are 3-1. As are the Lions. Arizona has been the "wheezer" at 2-2; but they are down to their third string quarterback.

Seattle: W at Philadelphia 24-14
W San Fran. 17-7
W at Arizona 35-6
W St.Louis 20-6

Home 2-0, road 2-0. Average ppg scoring 24.0. Average ppg allowing 8.2


Green Bay: W Atlanta 43-37
L at Buffalo 21-13
W at Tampa Bay 20-3
W Detroit 30-20

Home 2-0, road 1-1. Average ppg scoring 28.5. Average ppg allowing 20.2

Dallas: W at Chicago 41-28
W at Philadelphia 38-27
W Indianapolis 42-7
W at Washington 44-17

Home 1-0, road 3-0. Average ppg scoring 41.2. Average ppg allowing 19.7

Carolina: W at New Orleans 41-10
W Tampa Bay 19-17
W Cleveland 17-13
W at Atlanta 34-3

Home 2-0, road 2-0. Average ppg scoring 27.7. Average ppg allowed 10.7.

Detroit: W Tampa Bay 34-17
W Minnesota 16-14
W at Chicago 20-14
L at Green Bay 30-20

Home 2-0, road 1-1. Average ppg scoring 22.5. Average ppg allowed 18.7

Arizona: W Kansas City 17-14
W at St.Louis 12-6
L Seattle 35-6
L San Fran. 20-17

Home 1-1, road 1-1. Average ppg scoring 13.0. Average ppg allowing 18.7
 

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Very good summary. My only problem was you mentioned how the Seahawks are well coached in their preparation and discipline, even though they've committed 38 more penalties for 236 more yards throughout the year than the Packers, who you make no mention of. Also I wouldn't count the AFC out quite so easily either.
 
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Very good summary. My only problem was you mentioned how the Seahawks are well coached in their preparation and discipline, even though they've committed 38 more penalties for 236 more yards throughout the year than the Packers, who you make no mention of. Also I wouldn't count the AFC out quite so easily either.

Seattle is actually the most penalized team in the league.
 

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Very good analysis imho. I think another key for us is McCarthy calling a good game. I hope he is a little more unpredictable. And of course we need to score TDs when close. Both O and D need to be willing to make adjustments, especially during halftime but also during the game.
 

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Cowboys dont impress me for some reason. Maybe I havnt seen them play enough? But this All-powerful O-line, and Romo MVP lobby. It seems to me that the Boys are trying to relive the glory years. They finally got a respectable record, and are now trying to tout the parallels to Aikman and the real all-pro Cowboys O-line of the 90s.

Not the same. Not even close. I will laugh when they get knocked off in the wild card round, after their short stint as the #1 seed. LOL Watch all that hot air Jerry Jones brings to Cowboy stadium, blow right out in a giant fart noise...
 

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www.pro-footballreference.com/teams/dal/2014.htm/
Cowboys dont impress me for some reason. Maybe I havnt seen them play enough? But this All-powerful O-line, and Romo MVP lobby. It seems to me that the Boys are trying to relive the glory years. They finally got a respectable record, and are now trying to tout the parallels to Aikman and the real all-pro Cowboys O-line of the 90s.

Not the same. Not even close. I will laugh when they get knocked off in the wild card round, after their short stint as the #1 seed. LOL Watch all that hot air Jerry Jones brings to Cowboy stadium, blow right out in a giant fart noise...


Dallas could be a mirage or the real deal. How they fare in their Wild Card game with Detroit should be a tell. They are 8-0 on the road this season but only Seattle is a real impress; and they probably caught the Seahawks in sort of a "weak moment."

But only .500 at home? That would concern me if I were a Cowboys fan. That and their defense. Maybe better than last year but only relatively speaking.
 

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Seattle is actually the most penalized team in the league.

You took the words right out of my mouth. There constantly lining up off sides and getting stupid penalties.

If you watch there O-line they hold I mean a lot and also "chop block"
 

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For Real- Patriots, Broncos, Packers, Seahawks, Cowboys.

Not Sure- Steelers, Ravens, Colts, Bengals.

Probably Not For Real- Lions.

Not For Real- Cardinals, Panthers.
 

brandon2348

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www.pro-footballreference.com/teams/dal/2014.htm/


Dallas could be a mirage or the real deal. How they fare in their Wild Card game with Detroit should be a tell. They are 8-0 on the road this season but only Seattle is a real impress; and they probably caught the Seahawks in sort of a "weak moment."

But only .500 at home? That would concern me if I were a Cowboys fan. That and their defense. Maybe better than last year but only relatively speaking.

I see this Dallas vs Detroit game as a huge determining factor of a lot more then just then who we play and who Seattle plays. I could very easily see a "paper trail" on the horizon depending on what happens Sunday.

Coupled with a Carolina win would make it all to obvious.
 
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PackerDNA

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I could have sworn I read a couple weeks ago that our DL is overall the biggest of any team running a 3-4.

Jones-285
Guion-315
daniels-305

And so on. They give size away to most Olines, and tend to get pushed around.
 
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PackerDNA

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Seattle is actually the most penalized team in the league.
You took the words right out of my mouth. There constantly lining up off sides and getting stupid penalties.

If you watch there O-line they hold I mean a lot and also "chop block"

To clear up my point, disciplined in that they're assignment sure both as individuals and as a team, and never panic.
Interesting that a team that's penalized twice as much still wins by 20 + points.
 

brandon2348

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To clear up my point, disciplined in that they're assignment sure both as individuals and as a team, and never panic.
Interesting that a team that's penalized twice as much still wins by 20 + points.

I find it interesting with the QB's they have playing against lately there not winning by 30-40 points.
 
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PackerDNA

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I find it interesting with the QB's they have playing against lately there not winning by 30-40 points.

They're winning, and in dominant fashion. A Seattle fan could find it interesting that we lost to the Bills, or that we had to hang on for dear life against the Falcons. Means nothing now.
 
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I could have sworn I read a couple weeks ago that our DL is overall the biggest of any team running a 3-4.

Jones-285
Guion-315
daniels-305

And so on. They give size away to most Olines, and tend to get pushed around.

The Packers don't have one of the biggest defensive lines anymore after not bringing Pickett and Jolly back and losing Raji to a season ending injury.

BTW weight on the DL isn't an important factor when it comes to stopping the run, it's all about talent. If you're interested in it here's some information I posted about it during the offseason:

https://www.packerforum.com/threads/10-concerns-about-the-2014-packers.53394/page-2#post-561796
 

brandon2348

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The Packers don't have one of the biggest defensive lines anymore after not bringing Pickett and Jolly back and losing Raji to a season ending injury.

BTW weight on the DL isn't an important factor when it comes to stopping the run, it's all about talent. If you're interested in it here's some information I posted about it during the offseason:

https://www.packerforum.com/threads/10-concerns-about-the-2014-packers.53394/page-2#post-561796

Yeah being big up front doesn't necessarily equate to being good up font.
 
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PackerDNA

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Not at all confident that they won't get knocked around by Dallas. Seattle again, either, for that matter.
 

Mklangelo

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Well, here we go. We have the seedings, we know who's in. But who's for real, and who's just here to 'fill out the field'? In no particular order, I've grouped the teams.

Not sure what "for real" means. If by "for real" you might mean, " can go all the way", any kind of speculation like that comes directly from the hind quarters. In other words, from the most respected Pigskin Prognosticator to the guy in his living room, these predictions are pulled from one's ****.

If you pretend to pick a score, you have pulled it from somewhere deeper than that.

As a team, if you got this far, you are this far. Period.

Any Given Sunday...

I'm down on the Packers at home. They can bring Carolina or Dallas. We'll beat either one.

Now on the road, we kinda suck.

I'll do probabilities though. I'll give the Dallas/Detroit game 55/45% in Dallas' favor.

I'm listening to Dallas/Fort Worth Radio 105.3 as I type this and both announcers are digging deep in their arses and they have even brought in a 3rd guy to fill time!

These two teams have met only twice in the last 6 years. 1 win apiece. Both wins came for the home team. To me, this is a history that can be ignored.
 
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