Tuesday 6 December 2011

The Green Bay Packers - Perfect season or Playoff success?

The undefeated Green Bay Packers, currently having a 12-0 season, are the first team in the NFL to qualify for the playoffs, but now there is a question that needs to be answered. Should they risk going for a perfect season? Or should they play it safe and aim for playoff success?
It's coming to the stage of the season where the top teams of each of the eight divisions in the NFL are starting to qualify for playoff positions.
The Green Bay Packers, currently sitting top of the NFC North Division, the NFC Conference and the top of in the NFL, kept their perfect season intact and qualified for the playoffs in their last game, when they defeated the New York Giants at the MetLife stadium in a close game, 38-35, thanks to a last minute Matt Crosby field goal last Sunday.
With their current run of form, home field advantage is looking a certainty, so the Packers must be considering resting some of their key top players in order for playoff success, right?
Well, if you watch the Packers regularly, or even if you watch or read any NFL news, you should know that first-string Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been a key player towards their success, with 37 passing touchdowns for over 3,844 yards and a QB rating of 125.3 this season.
Aaron Rodgers - Green Bay Packers Quarterback
Now with a place in the playoffs guaranteed should he be rest and replaced by second-string Quarterback Matt Flynn till the end of the regular season in order to guarantee that he is injury-free for the post season?
Achieving a perfect season won't be an easy task either. With four games left against the Oakland Raiders, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears, who are all still with a shot of reaching the playoffs, it won't be a walk in the park.
However, three out of the four games the Packers have remaining will be played at Lambeau Field, the home stadium of the Packers, which they have made into a fortress this season, winning all of their five games there, scoring 195 points and conceding only 93 points.
So if the Packers decide to stay with Rodgers and he was to get injured in some way, could the Packers be reliant on their defence if Flynn isn’t up to scratch?
The Packers defence has had 23 interceptions this year with four of them being returned for touchdowns. They have also had 26 sacks and forced eight fumbles this season.
But, these defensive statistics aren’t competing with other teams’ defensive statistics in the NFL such as the Baltimore Ravens, currently with 41 sacks and 16 forced fumbles this season.
To conclude, should the Packers go for a perfect season or playoff success? Well, if I was Mike McCarthy, the current Head Coach of the Green Bay Packers, I would play Rodgers and go for a perfect season because the possibility of achieving such an achievement is too good to be missed. It’s something this team has never achieved before and the opportunity may never come round again.


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