This past Monday night Aaron Rodgers was knocked out of the game on the opening drive when he was sacked by Chicago defensive end Shea McClellin. Seneca Wallace came off the bench. Green Bay was effective on the ground but not through the air. Wallace gets even fewer reps in practice than most backups. The Bears won the game 27-20, dropping the Packers into a three-way tie in the NFC North with Chicago and Detroit. Rodgers is out for at least a month with a broken collarbone.
Prior to the loss Green Bay was probably playing the best football in the NFC with the exception of the 49ers. Despite their conference leading 8-1 record, the Seahawks continue to stumble along. Their OT win at home against the hapless Buccaneers was a gift from the gods. Tampa Bay dominated the game for the better part of three quarters. Rookie running back Mike James ran for 158 yards on 28 carries. The only thing that prevented him racking up even more yards was exhaustion. By the fourth quarter you could tell he was gassed. Seattle's run defense has disappeared. The week before in St. Louis another rookie running back, Zac Stacy, put up big numbers, 134 yards on 26 carries. James and Stacy didn't accumulate their yards by cracking off single runs of over 80 yards; no, they gobbled up turf five to eight to ten yards at a time, chewing up the clock and keeping Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson on the sideline. Unless the Seahawks solve this problem all their good fortune will come to naught.
I began Sunday watching the Chiefs-Bills game. Buffalo, playing at home, put up impressive numbers both on the ground and through the air. Turnovers on offense doomed them. At this point I can't say that I am believer in Kansas City being the pick of the AFC. Let's wait and see how they do against Denver.
I ended Sunday by turning off the Colts-Texans game in the third quarter thinking that Houston had the game in the bag. The Keenum-to-Johnson connection looked unstoppable and Ben Tate, cracked ribs and all, was running well. Imagine my surprise when I woke up Monday morning and saw that Luck had done it again. It is not often that I turn off a game before a comeback; I think it happens only once every other year. Kubiak's halftime collapse was an ill omen.
I'm not ruling the Texans out just yet. Case Keenum is a good QB. The defense is sound. A win in Arizona next week could be enough to spark a string of victories that, depending on how things go with Indianapolis, could keep Houston in the running.
The Seahawks fly to Georgia, the scene of their playoff elimination last season. A convincing win against a reeling Falcons franchise would augur well for a young squad with big games upcoming against conference powers New Orleans and San Francisco.
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