Pack/Queens Lead Up

[MickeyDavis]

Have to move on quickly after last nights debacle. We desparately need Matthews back. Shields would be nice too as would Jennings. Sunday will be 6 weeks since Woodson got hurt and that was his expected amount of time to be out. I haven't heard anything about him being close to coming back though.

Minnesota gets right back in the thick of things with a win.

Pack 31-17.

[FAH1223]

can't lose this one, its a huge game and its at Lambeau

hopefully Percy Harvin doesn't play

[LUKE23]

Must win. Just get the home games and you're in the playoffs, hopefully healthy (or as healthy as we can be).

[Newz]

This game scares me.

We need Clay to get healthy big time.

[FAH1223]

This game scares me.

We need Clay to get healthy big time.

He's probably BEEN healthy but MM wanted him for the last "quarter" of the season.

The hamstring injury he had in 2010 sounded MUCH worse than what he has now. Plus we were winning up until last night's fu*kery.

[crkone]

Hopefully Clay and Jennings are back, and Sherrod can actually play this year.

[eagle13]

The OL is current disaster.
All starters perform better at their normal position therefore return Lang at his preferred LG spot. LT Newhouse will also benefit from having Lang back who he's use to having next to him. We then have 4 guys in normal spots.
Play Barclay (or Datko) at RT with Crabtree staying in next to him or chipping b4 releasing to his route.
Have Kuhn help Newhouse with chip block before runnning route. Because of initial blocking both Crab & Kuhn are available for short pass.

[HurricaneKid]

That doesn't work because you HAVE to help Newhouse who couldn't land a hand on Kiwanuka and has the far more dangerous Jared Allen next week. And you can't double both sides...

[chuckleslove]

Jennings expected to be back:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... -this-week

[crkone]

More 2 TE sets will help alleviate pressure, along with using some WRs close to the T to chip. They have to abandon the deep routes and give Rodgers more targets in front of the safeties. There is plenty of room in the middle of the field. If I was MM, I would have Cobb in the backfield more often too. He is too dynamic from back there and there comes a point where you have to risk injury if you want to reach the Owl.

[Newz]

Peter King dropped us all the way down to 10 in his Power Rankings.

Can't say I really blame him. Hard to be really confident in the Packers when they have sustained as many injuries as they have.

[MickeyDavis]

Sherod will be put back on IR. He's done, at least for this season.

[A Diddy2231]

MM needs to game plan this one with going with max protect every down. Maybe then he can make a in game adjustment if the Vikings are not getting any pressure

[ReasonablySober]

All told they were missing six of eleven starters on defense last night, four in the front seven. Any team is going to get pushed around when that happens. More concerning was the offensive line and backs. They were only missing one starter but looked to be below average at four of the five positions. I liked what TT did in the last draft, but it's time to invest resources in the offensive side of the ball. A center should be #1 provided there's someone there. TE, RB and LT too depending on how you feel about Sherrod.

[emunney]

Moses signed with Finley's loudmouth agent, Blake Baratz.

[crkone]

AP is dealing with a shoulder sprain. Rudolph and Harrison Smith both were concussed. Brinkley sprained his shoulder and Loadholt had knee inflammation.

[raysbookclub]

I would be mildly surprised, given the way the Pack has treated injured guys recently, if Clay plays this Sunday. Much better to have him back at better strength, esp with much less chance of re-aggravation, a week later if there's any question.

I would be really surprised if Sherrod doesn't go to IR. But if Sherrod in fact gets put on the active roster, that would be an awesome development.

Biggest need for the Packers though is to run the ball better. Yeah, having Jennings back will be big, but they just have to get better, somehow, running the ball. Maybe Benson will help, but having better play by the line would help a lot more. The Giants last night, boy, their backs had a lot of room; it would be nice if we could have some of that.

[Flames24Rulz]

The Matthews injury is just frustrating because we were led to believe that it wasn't as serious as his past hamstring injuries. He only ended up missing one full game in 2010 when he had the hamstring issue. I'd be surprised as well if he played on Sunday, so that would mark a third game in a row where he's missed with this injury. This kind of goes along with the Woodson injury, where we were led to believe that he was going to be back sooner rather than later, and now he's probably not going to play for another couple of weeks still. Benson was supposedly progressing along just fine until Silverstein wrote an article last week saying he may need surgery after all.

I just hope we bring some offensive linemen in this week for workouts. That's my biggest concern going forward. If the defense gets Matthews back, I won't be too concerned about that unit. Like it or not, he's the heart of the defense. With him, we can actually get pressure on the QB from him and others. Without him, we can't generate any pressure whatsoever. Two QB hits last night on Eli. The game he missed in 2010 against Miami, I think we generated one QB hit on Henne.

Getting Jennings back will be strong as he's a guy that can actually beat some of the defensive schemes that we have been facing for most of the season. The running game is what it is, but hopefully we start employing more screens and more quick hitters to get more defenses off balance. This is a make or break game. We've been really good at games where we have our back against the wall (New Orleans and Houston), so that needs to continue.

[MickeyDavis]

The Packers will have WR Greg Jennings back this week after a seven-game absence due to an abdominal tear, but there's far less certainty about LB Clay Matthews' return from a hamstring pull.

Matthews has missed two straight games after injuring his left hamstring against Arizona and by the time the Minnesota game rolls around on Sunday, it will have been four weeks since he suffered the injury. But Matthews wasn't really close to playing against the New York Giants and defensive coordinator Dom Capers said he has not been told Matthews will be back this week.

"I think he’s getting closer," Capers said Monday. "I think we’ll have to see how he goes out and works out. I’m not really sure how much they’re going to let him do in terms of going out. I think he probably takes the next step and they evaluate where he is. He’s getting closer."

Capers said there's a legitimate concern about bringing him back too quickly at this time of the year because of the cold weather. Neither the trainers nor Capers want to bring him back only to see him aggravate the injury and miss more time down the stretch.

"I think you have to be careful," Capers said. "It’s like anything, if you go out and you warm up and get that thing warm and it’s cold you have to make sure you keep that thing warm."

As for Jennings, offensive coordinator Tom Clements said it's always good to get a player of his caliber back out on the field.

“Obviously, he’s an outstanding player," Clement said. "Anytime you get an outstanding player on the field, it makes the defense prepare a little bit differently and hopefully we can take advantage of a good player.”

Coach Mike McCarthy was not available to do his usual Monday news conference because of a non-football-related schedule conflict, according to the team. He is scheduled to address reporters late Tuesday afternoon.

[MickeyDavis]

Blunt as always McGinn ratings from the Giants game:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/ ... 44321.html

Slams WIlliams:

Tramon Williams (63 snaps) is becoming a real liability as a tackler. He didn't want any part of Bradshaw on the screen, turning toward Hynoski even though the charging Bradshaw was closer to him. He played patty-cake with Rueben Randle, turning his 6-yard catch into 10. It appeared that at the line Manning was changing the direction of runs toward Williams when it was clear what side he was on. There are tough CBs all over the league who knife in to prevent break-out runs. Not Williams, who isn't fighting to separate from WRs. Even Manning knew the book on Williams and drove a shoulder at him in the open field rather than slide. Future opponents might tailor their ground game at No. 38 once this tape gets around.