Green Bay Packers: 5 Key Questions Prior to NFC Championship Game

Can the Green Bay Packers limit the big play?

For all the grief that Mike Pettine receives, his MO as a defensive coordinator is limiting the big play. And the Packers have been very good at doing so this season. However, they’ll be up against Tom Brady, who has Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, and Scotty Miller at receiver, and he loves to take his shots downfield.

Brady’s 1,233 deep passing yards — which are passes of at least 20 yards in the air — rank second and only nine yards behind first place Rodgers. His 11 touchdowns are the third most, and his deep ball passing rate of 14.9 percent ranks third as well.

On the previous slide, I said that Brady is very good at getting the ball out quickly, which he is if the defense gives him the easy completions. But he also loves to take his shots downfield, and if the Packers give him the opportunity, he is going to try to capitalize.

Does the Week 6 outcome have any bearing on Sunday’s game?

This is a question that I feel is being discussed a lot this week, so I decided to address it as well. And to put it simply, the answer is no.

If we look at the Green Bay Packers’ body of work this season, their performance in Week 6 is clearly the outlier. Since then, their offensive line has been the best unit in the NFL by ESPN’s pass blocking and run blocking win rate metrics. They finished the season as the most productive offense in football, Rodgers just doesn’t turn the ball over, and the defense is playing much better than they were the first time these two teams met.

Also, a perfect example of why this doesn’t matter is the Buccanneers. They lost to New Orleans twice during the regular season, including a 38-3 butt-kicking at home. But they still went on the road last week in the Divisional Round and won the game.

So no, what happened in Week 6 means absolutely nothing.