Packers vs. Eagles: 10 Players to Watch for in Wild Card Matchup
It's getting close to this Wild Card matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles. This is the second such meeting this season at Lincoln Financial Field.
The snow is settling in, temperatures are dropping and the players are gearing up for what could become an ugly battle between the two teams.
But on these two teams, who are the players viewers should watch for on Sunday?
The Eagles' Offensive Line
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A huge key in this game for the Eagles will be the blocking. When Michael Vick gets time, he decimates anything and everything in sight.
If they let Vick take hits and feel the pressure that the Packers are sure to bring, he will create those mistakes.
From more than just a "protect Vick at all costs" standpoint, LeSean McCoy is going to be huge in this game. The Packers' run defense is ranked 18th in the league in rushing yards allowed. "Shady" can have a huge game if the line opens up those holes to let him shake defenders in the open field. McCoy is deadly when given space; he is too fast to catch and too quick to get a hand on.
2010 Stats
50 sacks allowed and one injured quarterback in Week 1
Clay Matthews
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Clay Matthews was big Week 1 versus Philadelphia with seven tackles and three sacks. He has been a one-man wrecking crew out on the field this season.
The Packers will look to blitz or have Matthews keep an eye on Michael Vick. If anyone on the field can stop Vick, it will be the proclaimed "Claymaker."
Matthews has anchored the defense on his way to a possible Defensive Player of the Year nomination and has certainly earned it playing on a Packers defense that has suffered numerous injuries to its linebackers, including Matthews himself, who has missed a game this season.
If Matthews can help shut down the Eagles offense and give the Packers offense some breathing space, it'll be interesting to watch Vick try to fourth-quarter-comeback his Eagles out of this one.
2010 Stats
54 tackles (60 total), 13.5 sacks, one interception, one interception returned for a touchdown, two forced fumbles
Eagles Secondary
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The Eagles have to shut down the Packers' receivers in this game. It's a well-known fact that Packers have no legit running game. The Packers' receivers are deadly in yards after the catch. When given the opportunity, the receivers will dangle you and leave you out on an island.
If the Eagles' secondary can shut down the Packers' high-powered passing game, Philadelphia could run away with this game in embarrassing fashion.
Aaron Rodgers will pick and pick at every mistake the secondary makes, but if the secondary can contain great receivers Greg Jennings and Donald Driver, say hello to Brandon Jackson attempting to run up the middle.
2010 Stats
15th in NFL in passing yards allowed (216.8), 20 interceptions, two forced fumbles, two defensive touchdowns
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Charles Woodson
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Charles Woodson will be all over the field come Sunday.
When he isn't covering DeSean Jackson, he's going to be blitzing Michael Vick. When he isn't blitzing Vick he's going to cover Jackson.
He needs to step up this game. He hasn't put up "Woodson numbers" this year, but stats don't tell the story. Woodson has been lights out this season and has shut down and anchored this defense all year long.
Woodson is key to stopping the passing game to let the Eagles' running do the talking. If he can shut down Jeremy Maclin and Jackson this weekend, Vick will be in for a long day.
2010 Stats
76 solo tackles (92 total), two sacks, two interceptions, one interception returned for a touchdown, five forced fumbles
Eagles Special Teams Returners
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The Eagles haven't really had any sort of success returning the ball outside of DeSean Jackson this season, but the Packers' special teams are so bad and so unbelievably porous that anything can happen.
Jorrick Calvin and Ellis Hobbs on the kick return are keys to give Vick a shorter field as he goes up against the stingy Packers defense. If they break free and get Vick a starting position like that, then the chances of Philly winning this game go way up.
They need to break it out this week against Green Bay. It's going to be tough enough on Vick and McCoy as it is, so they need to give them a short field.
2010 Stats
62 kick returns, 1,272 kick return yards, 20.5 avg, 0 kick return touchdowns
38 punt returns, 404 punt return Yards, 10.6 avg, one punt return touchdown
Packers Special Teams
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Honestly, I can't bash them enough. Outside of Tim Masthay, who has been great the last few games, the coverage has been horrid, and the fact that Mason Crosby has missed a kick from 29 yards out scares me.
The Packers' special teams returners have returned zero kicks and punts for touchdowns and average 7.9 yards on punt returns and a solid 20.1 yards on kick returns.
It will most likely come down to the kicking game, and Crosby has been solid outside of two missed kicks under 39 yards. Crosby is a great kicker, going 22-of-28 this season, but he has had his moments in years past.
If Masthay plays like he did last week and can pin the Eagles deep in their own territory, the Packers can say hello to Atlanta next weekend.
DeSean Jackson
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Watching that game against the Giants, I knew it would come down to the play of DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick. Jackson is too good of a player to just turn away from him and focus solely on Vick.
DeSean can harm you on two out of the three aspects of football: special teams and offense. He is as deadly as they come with his blazing speed. If they focus on Vick with the great Woodson blitzing, whoever covers Jackson will be the key.
The Packers' special teams unit has been atrocious this season, to put it nicely. If offensive lineman Dan Connolly can run back a kick return to inside the 10 (a play that STILL haunts my dreams at night), then imagine what the 5'10", 175-lb. DeSean Jackson can do.
2010 Stats
47 receptions, 1,056 receiving yards, six receiving touchdowns
16 att, 104 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown
20 punt returns, 231 return yards, 11.6 avg, one punt return touchdown
The Packers Running Game
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Whether it be Brandon Jackson, James Starks, John Kuhn or Dimitri Nance, the Packers need to establish a running game in order to win this battle.
The Packers have had trouble all year long with the running game and rank 24th in the NFL in rushing yards this season. It's been hard since Ryan Grant went down against the Eagles in Week 1, and no one has really stepped in to be the leading running back.
James Starks has shown sparks of being able to run, and John Kuhn is a great third down and short running back. Brandon Jackson, well, he's been good at warming the seats on the bench this year.
If the Packers want to win, then to the running game they must go. Establish the run and then hit them with the pass.
2010 Stats
421 att, 1,606 rushing yards, 3.8 avg, 11 rushing touchdowns, four fumbles (one lost)
Michael Vick
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It's a no-brainer No. 7 is on this list. Absolutely has to be up here. No one changes a game like Michael Vick does. He can do it all at the quarterback position. You stop the pass, he can run; you stop the run, he will shred you with his passing skills.
Vick wasn't like this before he served time for being a part of a dog fighting ring. Vick is playing different football from his days under Jim Mora Jr. That leads to the question, who will show up come Sunday?
Vick has been banged up this season a lot. He has taken hit after hit after hit and still gets up and plays on Sunday. He's "100 percent healthy" according to him, but you know the wear and tear of the NFL season is grinding on him. How many more hits can he take?
But you can't take away what he has done. Outside of his fourth quarter against the Giants, he hasn't been "Vick-like" the past couple of weeks. He is still an amazing quarterback and the reason why the Packers have to watch him. They have to shut him down; they have to.
2010 Stats
233-of-372, 62.6 completion percentage, 3,018 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, six interceptions
100 att, 676 rushing yards, 6.8 avg, nine rushing touchdowns, four fumbles (one lost)
All that in only about 11-and-a-half games played. Scary good numbers.
Aaron Rodgers
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Like No. 7, No. 12 needs to be watched heavily too.
Aaron Rodgers can tear just about anybody apart. He has blossomed into an elite quarterback this season. He is proving his doubters wrong and has had a Pro Bowl-like season (although he won't make it, sadly).
Like Vick, Rodgers can run too. Maybe not as fast, but he can scramble and has been known to scramble. He is actually second on the Packers in rushing, which shouldn't shock anyone considering the Packers' best runner this season was Brandon Jackson.
He learned from the best, and now after last season's disappointing ending in the playoffs, Rodgers is ready to go for this week's rematch with Philadelphia.
2010 Stats
312-of-475, 65.7 completion percentage, 3,922 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns, 11 interceptions
64 att, 356 rushing yards, 5.6 avg, four rushing touchdowns, two fumbles (one lost)
Prediction
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Of course I'm a little biased here, so take it for what's it's worth (although I hold no hatred or dislike for the Eagles—only Freddie Mitchell's hands on 4th-and-26).
The Packers have a dominant defense and offense, and so do the Eagles.
But I think this turns into a Week 1 replay and the Packers find a way to shut down Vick and, in doing so, shut down the Eagles.
Packers 27
Eagles 21
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