Green Bay Packers Midseason Grades

11/20/09, Bleacher Report

Every course has a midterm grade, and we have reached that point in the season. (Technically, the Packers reached that before the Dallas game. However, with all teams having now had their bye week, Week 10 is the most appropriate time to do any comparison.) Transaction: Packers Sign QB Mike Reilly

11/20/09, SB Nation

A look at the recent signing of QB Mike Reilly by the Green Bay Packers. Matthews Named NFL Rookie Of The Week

11/20/09, releases

Voters on NFL.com have made their choice. Linebacker Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers is the NFL Rookie of the Week for games played between Nov. 12-16, the NFL announced Friday.

Matthews had one sack and recovered two fumbles, including one that set up the game-sealing touchdown in the Packers' 17-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Matthews was selected from among five finalists through fan votes on NFL.com/rookies. The other finalists were wide receiver Jeremy Maclin of the Philadelphia Eagles, linebacker Brian Orakpo of the Washington Redskins, running back Bernard Scott of the Cincinnati Bengals and running back Beanie Wells of the Arizona Cardinals.

After the regular season, five players will be nominated for NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Fans can vote for the winner on NFL.com/rookies throughout the month of January. The winner will be announced at a.. Packers And Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Announce 2009 WFCA All-State Football Team

11/20/09, releases

The Green Bay Packers and the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association announced the 2009 WFCA All-State Football Team on Friday.

Players receiving the honors were voted upon by members of the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association.

The Packers and the WFCA salute the young men receiving the honors and congratulate all players on another fine season of high school football.

Click here for the list of the first-team offense and defense, followed by players who received all-state honorable mention. Mike McCarthy Press Conference Transcript - Nov. 20

11/20/09, releases

(Is Wells OK to go?)
Yes, I thought Scott practiced well today. Unless something changes when we go back inside, into the training room, I fully anticipate that he'll go and start.

(Did Dietrich-Smith hurt himself yesterday?)
Dietrich, yeah, he had a tough time yesterday. He fought through practice, and I'm hopeful that he'll be ready to go for Sunday. He's pretty banged up.

(You don't have Jason, so who's your fourth-string center if it comes to that?)
Daryn Colledge. Daryn worked some there yesterday and has always worked through our quarterback-center exchange drills. Daryn has been prepared for that for some time.

(You spent the offseason talking about getting five guys together ... is this getting a little ridiculous?)
Well, ridiculous is probably a little different word, but it's a challenge. I have not as a coordinator, and I can't really probably remember as an assistant coa.. NFC North Friday injury report

11/20/09, ESPN - Green Bay Packers (Blog)

Catching up on the Friday injury report and other NFC North news:

Chicago Bears: It looks like the Bears will be without tight end Desmond Clark (neck) and safety Kevin Payne (back) on Sunday night against Philadelphia. Both players are listed as doubtful. … The Bears also placed running back Garrett Wolfe (kidney) on injured reserve and promoted running back Khalil Bell from the practice squad.

Detroit Lions: Right guard Stephen Peterman (ankle) is lost for the season. He was placed on injured reserve Friday and replaced on the roster by practice squad receiver Eric Fowler. … Linebacker Ernie Sims (hamstring) and safety Kalvin Pearson (hamstring) were ruled out for Sunday’s game against Cleveland. Other players who could be sidelined by injury include linebacker Zack Follett (neck), defensive end Dewayne White (toe) and receiver/kick returner Derrick Williams (hip).

Green Bay Packers: Center Scott Wells (concussion) returned to practice Friday and coach Mike McCarthy indicated he will start Sunday against San Francisco. That’s a good thing, because backup center Evan Dietrich-Smith (ankle) didn’t practice and is questionable for Sunday’s game. … Tailback Ahman Green strained his groin in practice Thursday and is questionable. … It looks like tight end Jermichael Finley (knee) will be available. … McCarthy said that Mark Tauscher will start at right tackle but didn’t rule out a rotation with rookie T.J. Lang.

Minnesota Vikings: It doesn’t look good for cornerback Antoine Winfield (foot) to return to the field Sunday against Seattle. He participated in three days of practice this week, but the Vikings listed him as doubtful for the game. A final determination won’t occur until Sunday, but it appears Winfield will miss his fourth consecutive game. He suffered the injury Oct. 18. … The Vikings also listed receiver Bernard Berrian (hamstring) as questionable, but he is expected to play. NFC North: Final Word

11/20/09, ESPN - Green Bay Packers (Blog)

» NFC Final Word: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Five nuggets of knowledge about Week 11:

As Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. points out, Green Bay defensive coordinator Dom Capers would be wise to make Charles Woodson the Packers’ version of Troy Polamalu. We all know Woodson is a great cover man. But as the Packers move away from the bump-and-run, “Cover 1” they have used in the past, Woodson can be freed up to make big plays all over the field. He’s an especially instinctive blitzer and has the experience to really confuse San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith, who has never played with much savvy in the games I’ve seen him. If Woodson can get into Smith’s head, the Packers shouldn’t have a trouble stopping the 49ers' offense.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers grew up a 49ers fan and once was deeply disappointed not to have been drafted to play for his hometown team. Sometimes you see players especially motivated to face teams that passed over them in the draft, but I don’t sense that from Rodgers. The primary people who made the decision to draft Smith over Rodgers in 2005, namely former coach Mike Nolan, are no longer with the organization. (Another was current Packers coach Mike McCarthy, then the 49ers offensive coordinator, but we’ll leave that for another day.) By the way, I wouldn’t expect a lot of blitzing Sunday from the 49ers. They’re sending added pressure on only 28.8 percent of their snaps, according to ESPN Stats & Information. That's the ninth-lowest total in the NFL.

If Minnesota beats Seattle on Sunday at the Metrodome, it would mark the seventh time in franchise history that the team would have made it through 10 games with one loss or fewer. Three of those previous seasons resulted in a Super Bowl appearance and a fourth in the NFC Championship Game. More important, it could leave the Vikings one week away from clinching the NFC North title this season. In order for that to happen, the Vikings would need to defeat Chicago on Nov. 29 and have Green Bay lose once during the next two weeks.

This is a bad week for Chicago to need its running game. You could make an argument for the Bears backing off their reliance on quarterback Jay Cutler, who threw five interceptions in his last game and has performed horridly in night games this season. But after nine games of brick walls, it’s hard to imagine tailback Matt Forte suddenly finding wide-open lanes here in Week 11. Philadelphia has done a pretty good job stopping the run this season anyway, ranking No. 8 overall in the NFL, and the Bears are still trying to settle the left side of their offensive line. But if/when they turn to Cutler, be advised of these figures calculated by Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune: Cutler is 4-9 in 13 career night games. He’s thrown an interception every 20.3 passes at night, compared to one for every 34.6 passes in day games.

Sunday’s game at Ford Field could be the NFL’s worst matchup since, well, St. Louis played there three weeks ago. About 40,000 fans are expected. The game is blacked out locally. Worst of all, according to ESPN’s Stats & Information, this is only the fifth matchup between 1-8 teams in the past 25 years. How bad are the Browns? The Lions are getting 3 1/2 points in the betting columns, and that might be a little stingy. Cleveland doesn’t have the offensive firepower to capitalize against the Lions’ undermanned defense. In case you’ve missed it, the Browns have only five offensive touchdowns in their past 15 regular season games. That’s the worst 15-game stretch for any NFL offense since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger.

CHI: BR Twitter Tweets: Twitter.com/BearReport

11/20/09,Bears Report (Scout.com)

DET: Lions' Cliff Avril gets message after benching

11/20/09,Detroit News

MIN: As Vikings' stadium wars heat up, L.A. threat becomes more real

11/20/09,Pioneer Press