NFC Division Weekend

The NFC Division Weekend features a pair of rematches...Seattle won @ Chicago in Week 6 with a 23-20 final...Green Bay lost @ Atlanta 20-17

Seattle Seahawks @ Chicago Bears

When the Seahawks have the ball...

Mike Williams and Pete Carroll all smiles at USC

WR Mike Williams is a great story for 2010...last NFL action was in 2007, but he was re-united and it feels so good with his USC Coach Pete Carrol ...just 2 Regular Season TD's, but he led the team with 68 catches and 751 yards...in last week's stunner that eliminated New Orleans he caught 5 passes - one went for a TD...in the Week 6 win @ Chicago Williams had QB Matt Hasselbeck will be looking to spread the ball throughout guys like Williams, Ben Obomanu, and veteran Brandon Stokley...the running game has Justin Forsett and Marshawn Lynch...Lynch gave Seattle that memorable TD run vs New Orleans last week, and Forsett ran for a 6.7 yards per carry average in the Week 6 Bears game (his Reg Season average was 4.4)...throughout the Regular Season the Seahawks running game ranked 2nd or 3rd from the bottom...to go with a poor running game Hasselbeck threw 17 INT's and only 12 TD's...it all added up to a bottom 5 overall Offence, but they exploded for 400+ total yards last Saturday...

Bears great D-Line allows Urlacher and Briggs to attack

This Bears D is Top 10 in most Defensive categories including #2 vs the rush (90 yards per game) and #4 for points allowed (17 points per game)...on the D-Line Julius Peppers (Pro Bowl) and Israel Idonije (8 sacks each) occupy enough of the O-Line to allow great LB's Brian Urlacher (Pro Bowl)and Lance Briggs (Pro Bowl) to be aggressive...the Secondary is a group that accounted for 21 INT's, and the D as a whole forces a lot of fumbles...This D has a goal of 3 turnovers per game and that is how they are coached...for years the Bears have been great at INT's and at stripping the ball from ball carriers/wide receivers...the CB's to cover Williams and Obamanu will be veteran Charles Tillman and former Colts player Tim Jennings...D.J. Moore will cover any 3rd WR...this D knocked Favre into retirement, and the only drama for me in this game is what broadcast booth will the Bears knock Hasselbeck into as he will surely retire and become a broadcaster after this game

When Chicago has the ball... 

Lovie/Cutler/Martz needed each other to rejuvenate their careers

The Bears O was an up and down unit in 2010...the #'s are pedestrian, bad even...bottom 10 in most categories...QB Jay Cutler threw 23 TD's (good, not great) but was picked off 16 times (bad) and sacked 52 times (yikes)...In the Week 6 game vs Seattle he went down 6 times, but he did throw for 290 yards (0 TD...0 INT)...what is concerning is that his completion percentage vs Seattle was a brutal 43%...The thing here is this is the 3rd different system in as many years for Jay so we knew there would be time needed for him to adapt to this Mike Martz system (a TOUGH system to learn and master...it will take some time)...things have been better lately for the O, and with more and more understanding of the system things will only get better and better for Chicago in the short, and long term...Surely an infusion of talent on the O-Line, and in the WR group is needed for Chicago in the off-season, but some pieces are in place already...WR Johnny Knox led the team with 51 catches (tied with RB Matt Forte) and 960 receiving yards...his 5 TD's tied him for team lead with TE Greg Olsen...Know had a very impressive 18.8 yards per catch (by far #1 on the team)...Knox and Olsen will be the focal points of the passing game with WR Earl Bennett contributing too...Martz runs plays where he has Cutler throw short/quick passes to Forte which are basically their version of running plays as Martz likes to get Forte the ball in open space as he may not be a traditional RB who can bring success by pounding it into the D-Line every carry...veteran RB Chester Taylor will get playing time too...of course the dynamic Devin Hester will return kicks, and the Bears do try to get him touches on O too

Earl Thomas has played well as a rookie

No team in these playoffs allow more yards per game than do the Seahawks...when they get beat they get slaughtered...Seattle has lost 9 games this season and their average margin of defeat is an amazing 21 points...very often teams score on this D, and keep scoring...witness these #'s by weak Offences - 38 points for Tampa Bay...40 points for San Francisco...33 points for Oakland...31 points by Denver...This is a unit led by LB's Lofa Tatupu and David Hawthorne, but has little depth...the unit is middle of the pack for forcing fumbles, and had just 12 INT's...the Secondary has veterans Lawyer Malloy and Marcus Trufant to go with great rookie Earl Thomas...the pass rush is brought by Raheem Brock and Chris Clemons...some talent here, but not a ton


Green Bay Packers @ Atlanta Falcons

When the Packers have the ball...



Greg Jennings doing a Lambeau Leap

 This Packers O is Top 10 in the NFL in numerous categories...The unit is led by QB Aaron Rodgers who gets major production from Pro Bowl WR Greg Jennings and Pro Bowl LT Chad Clifton...the running game lost #1 RB Ryan Grant in Week 1 and never really found a steady and productive replacement...rookie James Starks ran for 101 yards in all of the Regular Season, but against Philly he romped for 123...If the Pack are really going to get that kind of a contribution in the running game then this O will put up points...the passing game is strong...Rodgers and Jennings, plus the ageless Donald Driver, and against Philly 9 different players caught a pass from Rodgers...despite losing to this Falcons team in Week 12 Rodgers passed for 344 yards and hit 8 different players...the #1 rusher that day was Rodgers with 51 yards and a TD, but RB Brandon Jackson had just 26 yards on 10 carries...either Jackson or Starks will have to produce vs the Falcons, but the Falcons D is more vulnerable to attack through the air so look for a big day from Aaron Rodgers...



 This Falcons D allowed 105 yards per game on the ground (10th best in the NFL) and allowed just 18 points per game (5th best in the NFL)...Pro Bowl DE John Abraham (pictured here) is the only pass rush threat...Abraham had double-digit Sacks for the 6th time in his career this season...ILB Curtis Lofton is very good...CB Brent Grimes (not related to Frank Grimes) and former Texans CB Dunta Robinson will both be heavily tested vs the Packers...the Secondary was Bottom 10 as far as yards allowed through the air, but the team did get a very impressive 22 INT's...on Saturday I will be looking at SS William Moore as a guy who needs a big INT...the Week 12 game vs Green Bay was a W, but the D was torched through the air...a key on Saturday will be containing Packers WR Greg Jennings...Jennings burned most teams this season, and Week 12 was no exception as he burned the Falcons for 119 yards on 5 catches...


When the Falcons have the ball...

#2 Matt Ryan has all eyes on him as the leader of this O

QB Matt Ryan has an impressive 20-2 record at home in the Dome...Ryan threw for 3,705 yards with 28 TD's vs just 9 INT's, and had a career high QB Rating of 91.0 during his Pro Bowl 2010 season...WR Roddy White also was named to the Pro Bowl and he is a stud...2010 was White's 4th straight season of 1,150+ yards, plus for the second straight season he had double-digit TD catches...Veteran TE Tony Gonzalez is in the 14th season of his Hall Of Fame career, and he again was named to the Pro Bowl...FB Jason Snelling and WR Michael Jenkins also contribute...as far as the running attack goes, enter Michael Turner...after injuries slowed his 2009 season Turner rebounded this season to get 1,371 and 12 TD's this season and was also named to the Pro Bowl...in the Week 12 matchup vs this same Packers D Turner ran for 110 yards and a TD at a very impressive 4.8 yards per carry...Atlanta is middle of the pack in most Offence categories, but they combine all their pieces to still be able to average 26 points per game (5th best in the NFL)...the Falcons scored 47 TD's and the Packers got 46

Clay Matthews is a MONSTER

This Packers D is very good...Top 5 in several categories including #2 in points allowed per game at just 15.0...There are 3 Pro Bowl studs on this unit...2nd year OLB Clay Matthews had 13.5 Sacks...The defending Defensive Player Of The Year CB Charles Woodson had a career high 92 tackles this season...FS Nick Collins was named to the Pro Bowl for a third straight season...ILB's A.J. Hawk and Desmond Bishop each had 100+ tackles this season...remarkable production form those 2...on the D-Line B.J Raji and Cullen Jenkins give the Packers their pass rush from guys not named Matthews...the Secondary has Tramon Williams and Charlie Peprah to go with Woodson and Collins...the Packers 24 INT's were 2nd in the League...

AFC Divisional Weekend preview is below... craig.ballard@hotmail.com