Packers Look to Push Russell Wilson to 0-4 at Lambeau, Breakdown/Prediction for NFC Divisional Game

The Pack is back baby. After clinching the 1st round bye in another walk-off FG against the Lions (and giving me an anxiety attack/roid rage) Green Bay is back in action against the Seattle Seahawks. It seems we play the Seahawks every season in some type of meaningful game and this year is no different. Russell Wilson looks to shake off his 0-3 record at Lambeau, here are his stats as per Pro Football Reference:

Yikes. 3:6 TD to INT ratio, 200/YPG, 8 sacks, and 57% completion rate to go along with 137 yards rushing. What that tells me is the Packers were able to get major pressure on Wilson and cause him to take risks and take sacks (which is typical for his career) but also create with his scrambling ability. If the Packers can create havoc on the D-Line (and let's be honest they will) it should be a long afternoon for the Seahawks and Wilson, not to mention he has "Beach Mode" Marshawn Lynch and some dude named Travis Homer as the feature backs in the offense.

Key Injuries:

A lot of big games names popping up on the final injury report ahead of Sunday's game. I can't imagine anyone of these guys missing the game. Iupati is a key loss for the Seahawks and their already shaky line. Kenny Clark, as I mention later on, would be a killer loss for Green Bay so hopefully he can fight through the pain.

Match-up Breakdown:

First off, I die a little everytime I have to watch this nuclear bomb of a game. What an absolute sickening game as a Packers fan. Between the Rodgers red zone turnovers, Bostick fumble, and FG's from the one inch line, you would have thought the Packers took the Seahawks money line. One thing was made abundantly clear, Wilson is too good and too resilient to give the slightest opening to, when you have a chance to put him away you have to do it. You can't kick FG's, you can't. You need 6 against this guy. Even when you think he's dead, he comes back like the Walking Dead to rip your heart out.

Let's take a look at the last time these teams met at Lambeau back in 2017 and in my opinion, the way the Packers need to play to get to the NFC Championship game. Disruptive up the middle with Daniels, pressure on Wilson all game, short quick passes (spreading the wealth as well), and the ability to mix things up. This was a pretty brutal offensive game but the Packers controlled the hell out of the ball in the 2nd half and really didn't let Wilson make any impact plays. Balance and control are key when playing this team.

Finally, last year's Thursday Night game. Another brutal loss for the Packers and one that essentially killed the season. This was a massive game for the Wild Card and the Packers once again let the Seahawks hang around. One major thing when you look at this game, which shouldn't surprise a single Packers fan, the complete lack of balance on offense. Aaron Jones rushed the ball 11 times. 11. Now the Packers were on fire in the 1st half, mainly because the Packers were able to mix it up enough to keep Seattle off-balance. What happened in the 2nd half? 5 drives, 4 punts, 1 FG and drives of 6, 3, 4, 7, 3. Yikes. The Seahawks brought the house regularly and Green Bay gave the Seahwaks offense a TON of chances. As a result, the Packers lost another bang-bang game they should have been able to put away.

Packers Short/Intermediate/Middle Passing Game

Let's take a look at the keys for the Packers Passing Offense and what they need to do to control this game. Aaron Rodgers played one of the worst games of recent memory Week 17 vs. Detroit. He went 27/55 for 323 2 TD's and an INT. Now that doesn't look awful, but, if you watched the game Aaron was super inaccurate. Now while the WR's did a good job of getting open, the timing was clearly off. Now if you look at the charts from McCown last week and Jimmy G in Week 17 you will see where they attacked the D. Almost the exact opposite of Rodgers the last 2 weeks, over the middle and short to intermediate. The Eagles and 49ers had no problems moving the ball against this defense in the passing game and found themselves with plenty of opportunities. The biggest difference? Touchdowns. The Eagles couldn't score a TD to save their life last week and it cost them. Green Bay needs to punch the ball and get the ball out quick and early. If they can go back to the short pass game to Aaron Jones that should draw LB help and open up the hashes for Adams, Lazard, and Graham. I have no problem taking shots down field but Green Bay needs to draw the Safeties up and get those 1-1 match-ups on the outside.

Kenny Clark

Now I know this is from 2017 but the concept is the same. Mike Daniels absolutely wrecked the Seahawks gameplan and was a menace to society that game. Kenny Clark needs to do the same thing Sunday. Force Wilson to move straight back and allow the pocket to collapse right around him. Now it will be up to Pettine to mix up the reads, move the D-Line around, bring pressure from everywhere to keep Seattle off-balance but we need Clark to be the player he has been the 2nd half of the season. Let's get to work big fella.

Tyler Lockett/Jaire Alexander & Kevin King/D.K. Metcalf

Man, what a fun match-up this is going to be. Metcalf is the reason, hands down, why the Seahawks are playing this weekend. Well that and the fact the Eagles had to wheel out McCown in his wheelchair to lead the offense. Nevertheless, Metcalf was awesome in that game. The sealing catch on 3rd where he babied the DB then chucked the deuces at the crowd was legendary. As we take a look at the NextGen Stats charts, he and Lockett torched the Eagles, which, I'm sure the North Central WR's could do, but still. Wilson is not afraid to throw it up for either guy so there will be a lot of exciting plays down field.

When looking at the King/Metcalf match-up, a lot of that battle will be on the line of scrimmage and with the safety help over the top. King is as physical as they come at the Corner (and can get him in trouble sometimes) and will have his hands full with the specimen that is D.K. Metcalf. The real question is can he contain him enough at the line to force the timing to be off and give the safety the opportunity to help over the top. King is very capable of hanging with Metcalf on some of those 50/50 balls but he can't get burned off the line like he sometimes has a tendency to do.

On the flip side, Lockett and Alexander figures to be a battle of quickness and route control. Jaire is more than talented enough to keep up with Lockett the problem is he likes to take big risks as well. Can he contain Lockett and prevent the big play? Can he shadow him all over the field? Lockett is the safety valve for Wilson and it seems those are the times Jaire is causing just that little bit of timing disruption or just getting enough of the ball to break up the pass. Jaire doesn't have to be perfect, he just needs to be clutch in the big moments.

Prediction/Expert Analysis:

Packers: 24

Seahawks: 14

Packers -4.5. I love the Packers at home and I believe this is the best match-up for them. It's no secret the Packers have been inconsistent stopping the run this year. The Seahawks literally pulled a guy out of retirement (I'll be it Marshawn is still a savage) but they have struggled running the ball the last few games. The Seahawks rely on the deep ball and Russell Wilson's play-making ability The Packers are ferocious at getting after the QB (which isn't much different than past years) BUT they also contain the pocket which they have not been able to do previously. The Seahawks O-Line is pretty beat up as well so I see Wilson taking some chances which is where Green Bay's secondary thrives.

When you check the other side of the ball Green Bay should be able to move the ball all game. The one thing Green Bay never had against Seattle was a consistent run game, now they do. The one question remains with Rodgers and the pass game, can he spread the ball around and find people over the heart of the field. This screams Jimmy Graham and the type of game he typically makes a difference in. The blueprint is out there from the last 5-6 games Seattle has had, don't beat yourself and punch the ball in the endzone. Rodgers is going to step up huge here and get us to another NFC Ship. #GoPackGo #GoPackGo

OH.

AND.

No way I wasn't putting this in.