2011 NFL Kickoff: Key Position Matchups for the Packers and Saints

On September 8, the 2011 NFL season will open with a matchup of the past two Super Bowl Champions, the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers.

The Packers will attempt to become the 12th straight defending Super Bowl Champion to win their season opener when the Saints come to Lambeau Field Thursday night.

Both teams are preseason favorites to return to the playoffs, and each hopes to open the 2011 season with a huge win over a premier team.

Several positional matchups will be huge factors in the outcome of the game.

Check out the rest of the article here on the Bleacher Report.

Green Bay Packers 2010 in Review: The Super Bowl (Part 3 of 4)

After three road wins, including victories against the top seeded Atlanta Falcons and the rival Chicago Bears, the Packers headed to Dallas to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh entered the playoffs after home victories over the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets.

The Steelers were looking to add to their NFL record six Super Bowl wins, and going for their third Super Bowl win in the past six years. The Packers, meanwhile, looked for ring number four in their first Super Bowl appearance since 1997, a loss to Denver.

The Packers opened the scoring on their second drive. Starting from their own 20, Aaron Rodgers drove the Packers the length of the field and found Jordy Nelson on a 29 yard touchdown pass. The Packers took a 7-0 lead.

A penalty on the ensuing kickoff backed the Steelers inside their own 10 yard line. On the following play, Packer defensive tackle Howard Green drove an offensive lineman into Roethlisberger, forcing a bad pass. Nick Collins picked off the underthrown ball, and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown, putting the Packers up 14-0 in the first quarter.



The Steelers added a field goal to make the score 14-3. A few drives later, Roethlisberger was again intercepted, this time by Jarrett Bush.

Four plays later, Rodgers found Greg Jennings for a 21 yard touchdown strike to give the Packers a 21-3 lead with 2:24 left in the first half.

Roethlisberger led the Steelers on an efficient two-minute drill and found Hines Ward for a touchdown with seconds left in the half, making the score 21-10. This drive was significant as it saw both Sam Shields and Charles Woodson leave the game with injuries.

Over halftime, Woodson was given an x-ray which clearly showed a snapped collarbone. Unable to continue playing and overcome with emotions, Woodson was barely able to impress upon his teammates what this game meant to him.

Luckily for the Packers, the extended halftime break (30 minutes instead of 10) gave them enough time to reconfigure their defensive gameplan to make up for the injuries.

In the second half, the Steelers were able to score quickly, thanks largely to running back Rashard Mendenhall. The Steelers closed the gap to 21-17.

The third quarter ended with the score still 21-17. On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Steelers attempted to run at Clay Matthews. Matthews and Ryan Pickett collided with Mendenhaal, and Matthews was able to put a hit squarley on the football, jarring it loose. Desmond Bishop recovered the fumble, and the Packers had great field position near midfield.



The Packers went to work and quickly scored on a second Rodgers to Jennings connection, this time from eight yards out. The Packers extended their lead to 28-17.

Pittsburgh responded on the ensuing drive with a 25 yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace. The Steelers went for two and succeeded, bringing the game to within three points at 28-25.

The Packers drove right back down the field, but their drive stalled inside the ten yard line. On third down, Rodgers missed Nelson by inches and the Pack settled for a field goal to go up 31-25 with 2:07 left in the game.

Hoping to pull off a second two-minute drill touchdown, Roethlisberger and the Steelers started their final drive from their own 17. After giving up some yards, the Packers forced a turnover on downs, with Tramon Williams breaking up a fourth down pass intended for Mike Wallace.

Two kneel-downs later, the Packers were Super Bowl champs.

Aaron Rodgers was named Super Bowl MVP after his stellar performance. Rodgers finished 24 of 39 for 304 yards and three touchdowns, good enough for a passer rating of 111.5. Despite many dropped passes from Packer receivers, Rodgers was able to avoid mistakes and complete passes to eight different receivers.

Jordy Nelson had a career day, catching nine passes for 140 yards and a touchdown. Jennings added four catches for 64 yards and two scores, while James Jones caught five balls for 50 yards.

The packers ran sparingly, but James Starks managed 52 yards on 11 carries.

After a season filled with injuries, the Packers were able to overcome losses of integral players in the biggest stage of all to bring the Lombardi Trophy back to its rightful home.

"We've been a team that's overcome adversity all year," said Greg Jennings. "Our head captain goes down, emotional in the locker room. Our No. 1 receiver goes down, more emotions are going, flying in the locker room. But we find a way to bottle it up and exert it all out here on the field."

Packers 2010:
Part 1: The Regular Season
Part 2: The Playoffs
Part 4: A Look to the Off-Season

Green Bay Packers 2010 in Review: The Playoffs (Part 2 of 4)

The Green Bay Packers entered the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in football. After playing two straight games of win-or-go-home football, the upcoming game against Philadelphia seemed more like a third playoff game. Having just dominated the Giants and squeezed past Chicago in a close game, both at home in Lambeau Field, the Packers hit the road for the playoffs.


Wild Card Round: Green Bay at Philadelphia


The Packers had already survived in Philly once this season, thanks in large part to a great defensive performance against Kevin Kolb. This time around, however, Michael Vick would quarterback the Eagles for the entirety of the game.

The Packers opened the scoring late in the first quarter with a 7 yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to backup tight end Tom Crabtree. Rodgers threw a second touchdown pass, this time to James Jones, in the second quarter to put the Pack up 14-0.


David Akers, who missed a field goal for the Eagles in the first quarter, connected on a 29 yard field goal late in the 2nd quarter, making the halftime score 14-3 in favor of Green Bay.


The Eagles forced an Aaron Rodgers fumble in the third quarter, and Michael Vick was able to find Jason Avant on a 24 yard touchdown pass to make the score 14-10 Philadelphia.


On the ensuing drive the Packers drove down the field and worked their way to the red zone. Rodgers found Brandon Jackson on a well executed screen pass. Jackson followed his blockers on his way to a 16 yard score. The Packers now led 21-10 with just over a quarter left to play.


Late in the third quarter with the Eagles driving, the Packer defense stiffened and forced a stop. David Akers missed his second field goal of the day and the Packer lead remained 11 points.


The Eagles were finally able to put a touchdown on the board late in the fourth quarter on a 1 yard run from Vick. The Eagles went for two, and appeared to get the conversion on a pass to tight end Brent Celek. 


However, Celek stepped out of bounds and returned to the field of play before he caught the ball. By rule, when a player re-establishes possession in bounds he cannot be the first player to touch the ball. A 5-yard penalty was assessed, and the Eagles failed to convert a second try, making the score 21-16.


The Philadelphia defense was able to force Green Bay to punt on the ensuing drive. The Eagles got the ball back with 1:45 remaining in the game.


Vick completed passes to DeSean Jackson and Riley Cooper before taking a shot at the end zone. Vick didn't throw a great pass, and Tramon Williams came away with an interception in the endzone with 33 seconds remaining on the clock, sealing the victory.


"I feel like I got greedy and took a shot at the end zone," Vick said about his last pass. "I didn't throw the ball I wanted and got picked. It's not the way I wanted to go out, but I went down swinging. I have to learn from it."


The Packer defense was key in the victory over the Eagles. Green Bay held Vick to just 32 rushing yards and sacked him 3 times. 


"We fought hard today," said Aaron Rodgers. "Big interception by Tramon who's had a great season for us. The defense played great. They've been carrying us a lot this season. We had three touchdowns tonight, it was enough to win."

The Packer offense, led by another great performance from Rodgers, also saw great production from the running game for the first time in ages. James Starks carried the ball 23 times for 123 yards, averaging 5.3 yards per carry.


The packers moved on to face the Atlanta Falcons, the #1 seed in the NFC.


Divisional Round: Green Bay at Atlanta


The Packers entered Atlanta for the second time in the season. The first outing had been unsuccessful, as the Packers had lost by 3 in the final seconds of the game. The Pack were determined to achieve a different outcome this time around.


The Falcons drew first blood, using a heavy dose of running back Michael Turner to drive down the field, with Turner eventually scoring on a 12 yard run.

The Packers responded, driving down the field and scoring from 6 yards out on a touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson. On the ensuing kickoff, Eric Weems returned the ball 102 yards for an Atlanta touchdown, making the score 14-7. 


The Packers fought back, tying the score at 14-all on a 1 yard touchdown run by John Kuhn. 


On the ensuing drive, Atlanta drove into Green Bay's red zone. Charles Woodson sacked Matt Ryan for a 7-yard loss. On the following play Ryan lobbed a fade to Michael Jenkins. Jenkins slipped, and Tramon Williams came away with an interception.

Green Bay drove 80 yards and scored on a 20 yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to James Jones. Atlanta received the ball with under a minute left in the half, down 21-14.

With 10 seconds left in the half Atlanta had driven the ball into range for a long field goal. Falcon's head coach Mike Smith instead called for an out pass to Roddy White, trying to gain a few more yards to shorten the field goal attempt. Tramon Williams read the play perfectly, picked off Ryan's pass and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown as time expired.

"I recognized the formation," Williams said. "I knew they were trying to get into position for a field goal."


"Not a very good decision on my part," Ryan said. "I just needed to throw the ball away."


The Packers went into halftime up 28-14.


On the first drive of the second half Green Bay all but sealed the victory with an 80 yard drive capped off by a 7 yard touchdown run from Aaron Rodgers, making the score 35-14. One possession later Rodgers found John Kuhn for a 7 yard touchdown pass, putting the Pack up 42-14.


In the 4th quarter Matt Ryan found Roddy White for a touchdown, but it was too little too late. Mason Crosby tacked on two field goals for Green Bay, and the Packers coasted to a 48-21 victory over the top seeded Falcons.

Aaron Rodgers had a career day, completing 31 of 36 passes for 336 yards and a passer rating of 136.8.


"This probably was my best performance -- the stage we were on, the importance of this game," Rodgers said. "It was one of those nights, I felt like I was in the zone."


Greg Jennings caught 8 passes for 101 yards, and Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver, and James Jones amassed over 70 reception yards each. The Packer offense was so efficient that Tim Masthay didn't punt once. 


On defense the Packers put on a show. The high-powered Falcon offense managed only 194 total yards. Clay Matthews sacked Matt Ryan twice; the Packers got to him 5 times. The Packers also forced 4 turnovers.


The big win over the Falcons set up an epic showdown against the Chicago Bears for the right to play in the Super Bowl.


NFC Conference Championship Game: Green Bay at Chicago


The classic NFC North rivalry between the Packers and Bears was set to take place for the third time this season. However, this time around it was for a Super Bowl bid.

The Packers came out firing and drove the length of the field on the opening drive. Aaron Rodgers scored on a 1 yard bootleg run to put the Packers up 7. Early in the second quarter James Starks found the endzone on a 4 yard touchdown run to give the Packers a 14-0 lead. 


Both defenses came up with interceptions but neither offense was able to score again before halftime.


On the Packers first drive of the second half, Rodgers was intercepted by Brian Urlacher in the red zone. Rodgers made a touchdown-saving tackle that proved to be one of the most important plays in the game.


"I don't get paid to tackle, but that was probably one of my better plays of the game," Rodgers said.


On the following drive, Todd Collins replaced Jay Cutler as the Bears quarterback, a move that has led to much scrutiny of Cutler. Collins was unable to turn the turnover into points, and the Bears punted.


Two drives later Collins was replaced by Caleb Hanie. Hanie Led the Bears to their first score of the game.


Several drives later the Bears were pinned deep in their own territory. Hanie made a poor throw on a checkdown to Chester Taylor and B.J. Raji intercepted the pass and rumbled 18 yards for a touchdown.





Hanie would lead the Bears to another touchdown, bringing the Bears to within 7 points. Chicago got the ball back with 2:53 left in the game. The packer defense went into an 8-man coverage, forcing the young Hanie to throw into heavy coverage. On 4th and 5 from the Green Bay 29, Hanie was picked off by Sam Shields after attempting to throw into double coverage.


An Aaron Rodgers kneel down sealed the victory, and the Packers were headed to the Super Bowl.

Sam Shields became the first rookie and the fifth player ever to record a sack and two interceptions in a playoff game. 


Punter Tim Masthay, after going unused in the Atlanta game, was the unsung hero of the Packer - Bear game. On 8 punts Masthay averaged 41.8 yards. He placed the ball inside the 20 five times, and the Packer cover team held Devin Hester to just 16 punt return yards.




The Packers overcame an injury riddled season, two win-or-go-home games to end the regular season and three road games in the playoffs to earn their way to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1997.


Packers 2010:
Part 1: The Regular Season
Part 3: The Super Bowl
Part 4: A Look to the Off-Season