Dom Capers defense must limit the Jets on the ground for the Packers to have a chance in this game.  With the amount of rotating that may have to take place in the front 7 for this matchup it’s understandable that Al Harris and Atari Bigby will not be activated off the PUP list.  Cullen Jenkins (calf) and Ryan Pickett (ankle) are both questionable for this matchup.  Friday’s practice had Jenkins doing more work so I’d guess he’s closer to returning.  Otherwise expect to see a lot of C.J. Wilson and Jarius Wynn trying to help B.J. Raji keep the linebackers clean.  How much newcomers Diryall Briggs, Erik Walden, and Matt Wilhelm have to play is worth watching.  A.J. Hawk is helping IDP owners with the amount of tackles he’s made in the past month.  Desmond Bishop has played with more discipline this time around.  I don’t want to see either LB forced to cover Keller.  Brandon Chillar is the only linebacker I’d want to the Purdue product.  How much Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams, Charlie Peprah, and Nick Collins have to help in run support is a barometer for how the defense is playing.  If the safeties have to continually come up to help I expect some shots taken down field with Edwards or Holmes.      

The Jets defense is built on their secondary’s ability to play man-to-man coverage.  Darrelle Revis hasn’t played as well this season due to injuries.  However Revis Island can still be no-man’s land.  Antonio Cromartie has played very well since coming to NY.  His coverage skills and ability to play the ball are still in the upper echelon.  Kyle Wilson is an impressive young rookie willing to mix it up in coverage.  Dwight Lowrey sealed the 29-20 victory over the Vikings with a Pick-6 from Brett Favre.  Jim Leonard isn’t physically gifted, but is a solid all-around player. Brodney Pool makes sure nothing gets past him.  The front 7 of their 3-4 brings heat from all angles at any time.  David Harris and Bart Scott make plays in the middle of the defense.  The return of Calvin Pace gives them another pass rushing threat to rotate with Jason Taylor on the outside.  The defensive line is anchored by 325 lb mountain Sione Pouha.  Shaun Ellis is still able to make plays in his 11th season.  I would try to run the ball at Mike DeVito’s side.  Trevor Pryce and Vernon Gholston also rotate in along the line.  Making Ellis, Pryce, and Taylor play against screens is a way to attack these older players.        

Aaron Rodgers smarts and ability to handle pressure are going to be a key to winning this game.  Rodgers is one of the best at beating the blitz in this league.  They can’t afford to not be able to hook up on back shoulder throws again this week.  Bryan Bulaga played much better against the Vikings; however I would expect some exotic blitzes to the rookie’s side.  Donald Driver (quad) was a limited participant in Friday’s practice.  Look for James Jones to take the reps if Double-D is limited on Sunday.  Greg Jennings has a date at Revis Island.  I would like to see the Packers try to spread out the Jets defense to get Jordy Nelson, Donald Lee, and Andrew Quarless into advantageous matchups.  Utilizing Brandon Jackson with perimeter rushes and screen passes would be the way I’d like to see him used.  Jackson 20 times between the tackles doesn’t sound too appealing.  The Jets are a terrific short yardage defense and John Kuhn isn’t a terrific short yardage back.  This area continues to be a problem for the Packers.  A hammer to move the chains is sorely lacking.     

Green Bay is coming off an emotional high of beating the Vikings at home.  New York is well rested off the bye.  We’ll see if the Packers are able to play with the same juice.  New York is beatable, but the Packers are going to have to play a near flawless game.

These moves will hopefully shore up a front 7 that has been dealing with injuries for most of the season.  This could mean an end to T.J. Lang’s time on the D-Line.  How many will be on the Packers long term remains to be seen.  With the Jets physical rushing attack more help was needed in the front 7.  Who gets released when its time to activate Al Harris and Atari Bigby?  My guess is these guys were brought in to help the team get thru the next few weeks.  Whichever player makes an impact may get the opportunity to stay.

Brandon Jackson has played much better in the last 3 contests being utilized in between the tackles and in the short passing game.  John Kuhn as a complimentary piece isn’t exactly what I’d like to see.  Dimitri Nance received more snaps against the Vikings, but hasn’t made an impact with 2 carries for 6 yards.  James Starks was hurt as a senior in college and has been hurt during most of his time in Green Bay.  I’d like to see Ted Thompson put in a claim for Davis.

Jarius Wynn recorded the only sack, but the Packers did come after Favre.  Clay Matthews made his impact felt despite 1 tackle in the contest.  Matthews drew a huge 15 yd face mask penalty from Phil Loadholt on the final drive.  C.J Wilson’s pressure on Favre on Bishop’s pick 6 made the play.  Favre moved to the left and pump faked.  He saw Wilson barreling down from the right side and forced the throw into coverage.  Wilson played a nice game with 5 tackles-3 assists.

Brett Favre completed 16/29 for 212 yards a TD and 3 aforementioned picks.  Percy Harvin had a 17 yard TD run along with 5 catches for 65 yards.  Harvin had 2 other potential touchdowns overturned.  Mike McCarthy was right on with his challenges as a Visanthe Shiancoe TD was overturned.  That drive eventually led to a 28 yard field goal by Ryan Longwell.  Adrian Peterson was his usual beastly self with 172 total yards and a 1yd TD run.  Harvin and Peterson did damage to the Packers in the middle of the field, but weren’t able to snap off long TD’s.

The Packers offense was able to move the ball down the field attacking the seams.  Screens were much more effective in this contest.  The amount of back shoulder throws that weren’t even close was interesting.  Aaron Rodgers completed 21/34 for 295 yards 2 TD and 2 INT.  Greg Jennings caught 6 balls for 74 yards and a 14 yard score.  Andrew Quarless had a 9 yd TD that should have been challenged by the Vikings.  The official was on the backside of Quarless and didn’t see the ball coming out as he fell out of the back of the end zone.  Quarless finished with 2 catches for 16 yards.  He just missed catching a 4^th down fake punt from Matt Flynn.  James Jones snared 4 balls for 107 yards.  Donald Driver sat out most of the contest.  Brandon Jackson had 104 yards combined along with a 1 yd TD.  Green Bay went to the well often against former Packer corner Frank Walker for some big plays.  Walker did however tip a ball in the end zone that was picked off by Madieu Williams.

This was a great win for the Packers organization.  Finally some of the Favre drama can be put to rest because they beat him.  The stupid mental mistakes that often rear their ugly head didn’t show up in this game.  2 penalties for 20 yards was it for the Pack.  One was a 15 yd penalty on Nick Collins for a questionable late hit of Percy Harvin.   Mike McCarthy and his coaching staff deserve a lot of credit for how the team played.  The game plans were solid and the players were ready to play.  Next week the Packers travel to the east coast to take on the Jets (5-1).

AB:  Why doesn’t Brad Childress run the ball more with Adrian Peterson?
Sometimes it seems like Childress forgets that he owns the best running back in the NFL.

ET:  This is a tougher question than it seems. It’s easy to call Brad Childress an idiot for not giving AP the rock 30 times a game since he’s far and away our best player. (Calling Childress an idiot is one of my favorite pastimes.) However, I think they need to get more creative with Peterson’s touches instead of worrying so much about the quantity. Nearly everyone in the building knows a Peterson run is coming on first down–I’d like to see Childress mix it up with a lot more play action and screens to give AP some more space in the open field.

AB: With Moss, Harvin, and Shiancoe do you anticipate Favre having a strong finish to the season?

ET:  I definitely see Favre’s performance improving as the year goes on–after all, it can’t get too much worse. I’ve said dozens of times that it’s unreasonable to expect Favre to even come close to the the numbers he put up in 2009. My main concerns are the interceptions (something I don’t have to remind you about as a Packer fan) and the easy throws that he has missed throughout the first five games. He has overthrown and underthrown some wide open receivers this year (that one to Harvin late in the game against the Jets was especially egregious), something that he just didn’t do last year. If his ancient body holds up (and of course if he doesn’t get suspended for Dong Gate), there’s no reason why he can’t enjoy a solid year with all the weapons he has around him.

AB:  As an IDP owner of Jared Allen, what’s happened to him this season?  Have teams finally figured out a way to stop him or is he dealing with an injury?

ET:  I think this season has proven that all of Jared Allen’s power was indeed derived from his awesome mullet. It’s no coincidence that he’s having an incredibly quiet year since he cut that glorious Kentucky Waterfall for his new wife. But in all seriousness, while he’s having a sub-par year so far, Allen has disrupted plays more than his one sack would lead you to believe. He caused the E.J. Henderson’s first interception last week and still draws double teams on most plays. I think teams have learned that running the football at Allen slows down his pass rush. The Jets preyed upon Allen’s over-pursuit to perfection with runs toward his side of the line. However, if last year’s games against Green Bay are any indication, look for him and the rest of the front seven to add to their measly six team sacks on Sunday.

AB:  The team started off 0-2 and has climbed back to 2-3.  How close is this team to turning the corner and snapping off a long winning streak?

ET:  I think the Vikings are headed in the right direction, but I realize that they have a l-o-o-o-ng way to go before they become a legitimate playoff contender. The defense has been impressive for the most part even with all the injuries to the secondary. The offense still needs to show that they can put four solid quarters together. Beating the Cowboys was great, but Minnesota only managed 188 yards of total offense. If the Vikings can consistently get out of their own way and cut down on the mistakes I think they could do some damage down the stretch. It will be really exciting to see what they can do when Sidney Rice returns as long as they haven’t dug too deep of a hole in the standings during this rough stretch of schedule in October.

AB:  With so many free agents next season do you feel this team has the proper sense of urgency?

ET:  It’s blatantly obvious that this team has put all their eggs in the 2010 basket. This better be Favre’s last year, and giving up a draft pick to get Moss back without extending his contract yet shows that Zygi Wilf and company know that the window is about to close. There’s no franchise-quarterback-in-waiting, the Vikings would be way over the salary cap if there is one next year, and like you mentioned, there are a ton of key players that will be free agents in 2011. It’s kind of scary to see a team with Super Bowl aspirations at 2-3 but I appreciate that the front office has pulled out all the stops to try and win this year. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if it pays off.

If you want more on this matchup check out my answers to Eric’s questions on the matchhup. http://vikingsthrone.com/2010/10/22/on-the-throne-with-packing-cheese/#more-522