NFCCG Matchups You Like and Dislike

Sonics fans should remember a Euro bigman named Vladimir Stepania. He was a rangy finesse PF that could spread the floor. Anyways, I once ran into Mr Stepania at a club, and for whatever reason he was denying who he was. Because I'm an ass and it was REALLY annoying Vlad, I kept sending people over to him and pointing him out to everyone. Vlad's response, almost every time, was an annoyed "I don't play blah".

So, in my best Vladimir Stepania voice, lets talk "blah". Name some matchups you like and matchups you don't like in this game.

Match-Up's I Like :

I like Willson, Cooper, Moaeki or even Norwood to work the zone behind the LB's and in front of the safeties. I think that's a hole in Capers system. That'll be huge, IMO.

Also, I like the RO ALOT this game. Because the defensive line is so thin, I expect the Seahawks offense to do less counter-punching in the 1st half. The offense needs to do its part to keep that defense off the field. Even if its most likely a 3 and out, make it a LONG 3 and out. The RO is a good way to extend drives and something Capers is yet to figure out as a DC.


Match-Up's I don't Like - That GB Oline is good and has improved over the 2nf half of the season. The Seahawks may need to get creative with personnel to get consistent hits and pressure. I really don't like the match-up of the Hawks DL against their OL.

Big like: Lynch versus their run D. Lynch had what, 2 rushing TDs and 1 passing in game 1, and this time he will be even more heavily featured.

Russ and the RO/pistol is also a major plus.

Dislike: Slot receiver against Lane or Simon. Those 2 have to have big games


Like: Kam Chancellor at full speed. When he puts the fear of God into the other team, the defensive gameplan really gets going. As do the drops.

Like: Crowd noise. Going to be too loud to hear play changes at the line.

I like our pass rush to get to Rodgers and make him uncomfortable, especially with his limited mobility.

I think Carolinas O-Line played quite well, and it would be hard to imagine GB doing any better in that dept.

So, I actually like the matchup with our D-Line vs their O-line.

I also like our rushing game against that defense especially if RW uses read option and forces them to keep a guy on his side running alone against him.

That could be a nice flip over to a releasing TE, or just a run.

Don't like: Any blitz against Rodgers. He will slice and dice us if we heavily blitz. Luckily we aren't a blitzing team.

Like: Anything against their defense. As long as Russ doesn't hold on to the ball too long we should be able to get some receivers, TEs and RBs open.

Defensively I think we just need to be "conservative" and run our standard defense. We will be able to keep their running game in check and guard against the deep ball. Don't blitz and don't get burnt deep and we will be just fine.

I like our matchup with Green Bay's O-line a WHOLE lot more than the matchup with Dallas's O-line.

Like: Testing them with the RO early. Evaluating Capers v the 49ers in the playoffs, the first time around they axe-murdered him with Kaepernick's legs, Capers not figuring it out even after being zippered into the bodybag and hauled off to the morgue. The second time, Capers decided the one thing that wouldn't happen was being killed by the running QB, so they bludgeoned him to death through the air. Colin Kaepernick did this mind you. Against us it was a similar story. Capers was so concerned about Harvin that he rendered himself helpless elsewhere. Now perhaps Capers has morphed into a DC capable of taking something big away without pulling his pants down in another area, but I'd be surprised. So I want us to find out where his pants are down and then...er...I choose not to continue the metaphor.

Like: Russell Wilson running or passing. Green Bay doesn't have the kind of front 7 capable of keeping Russell contained while simultaneously distorting the middle of the pocket, as the Rams managed to do. They may get pressure on him, but he'll be able to move 5 steps to the side and operate just as comfortably there. It's a particularly good sign that Carolina *does* have that ability, and yet Russell operated just fine from the pocket, preferring to just get rid of the ball quickly and accurately rather than look for a bolt-hole that wasn't there.

Don't like: Clay Matthews vs Justin Britt (if/when Matthews lines up over there). If we see that alignment, I hope we are either running the ball, chipping, or Russell treats it almost like a blitz in his mind, seeking to get the ball out quickly. Watch him diving at your knees Russ.

Don't like: Packer OL vs our pass rush. Let's just say I'm uneasy about it. They've been protecting Rodgers and Lacy's numbers have been trending upwards, but I'm not too worried about Lacy because Wagner/Kam. I'm far from certain about anything, but I don't see it as a gimme we'll be able to generate pressure without blitzing, and I don't want to blitz Rodgers steadily. Obviously we're helped here by Rodgers's calf, I just don't know that we'll be able to take advantage of it quite as much as we'd like to. It's stretching here to call this a "don't like", it's more just a matchup that I don't like as much as the rest of them.

Rodgers can still maneuver the pocket even when gimpy, but don't expect him to outrun our pass rushers once he leaves it. Rodgers will be staying in the pocket a lot in this game, which means that if Seattle can cover for 4 seconds we'll see a ton of dump offs, throwaways, and coverage sacks, and likely a blowout win by Seattle.

There isn't one matchup that worries me. Cobb on Maxwell comes close, maybe Quarless on Wright. But I don't think Rodgers is going to have an easy time finding targets in this game. And as long as Seattle remembers how to tackle instead of going for the strip fumble, Lacy should be a non-factor.

I like Lynch running straight at Matthews. He wants to get around the end and has a tendency to let the RB go right through his gap.
I like Irvin as a pass rusher in base defense of the defensive right side and I also like Irvin or Schofield as the RDE in pass rush situations.
If we are able to generate pressure, and I think we will, I like Chancellor to affect this game like he did the Super Bowl. Rodgers likes to dump it short when he gets backside pressure.
If Green Bay plays a cover 1 man and Matthews doesn't get home I like Wilson to have a couple big first down runs. Matthews is their best, but least disciplined rusher. He'll leave a lane for Wilson.

I really wanted that Stepania anecdote to have more of an ending.

MidwestHawker":36ast8el said:

I really wanted that Stepania anecdote to have more of an ending.

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Sorry sweetie. All I can tell you is however annoying I am to those who draw my attention here, its was way worse in my blow and club days.

Endzorn got me excited about Irvin as a matchup.

peachesenregalia":3nh89m93 said:

pehawk":3nh89m93 said:

MidwestHawker":3nh89m93 said:

I really wanted that Stepania anecdote to have more of an ending.

Click to expand...

Sorry sweetie. All I can tell you is however annoying I am to those who draw my attention here, its was way worse in my blow and club days.

Endzorn got me excited about Irvin as a matchup.

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Excited how?

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As excited, if not more, than me being in a room full of dead kittens with "This Boys Life" playing on the telly.

"Liar, whore, liar, whore and you know it!"

I don't like the matchup of me vs. a bunch of bandwagon cheese-heads at the game who haven't bothered following football since week 1.

If anyone I guess Cobb but honestly I think Seattle matches up pretty well almost across the board. I don't expect them to completely sell out against the run like Carolina did so Lynch should be able to get going and take over TOP unlike last week. Mathews is a good player but tends to be over aggressive at times which plays right into Seattle's hands. I expect Bevell to take advantage of this early and often.

Unless I'm not remembering correctly, didn't the Hawks use Wagner on Cobb at times?

The ONLY matchup for this game I'm worried about is Lacy and the Packers O-line against our interior defense.

If the Packers can get a push up the middle, then it'll give them the run game needed to keep Bennett and Avril off Rodgers enough to score some points and eat up clock.

Sgt. Largent":2kxkwmv9 said:

The ONLY matchup for this game I'm worried about is Lacy and the Packers O-line against our interior defense.

If the Packers can get a push up the middle, then it'll give them the run game needed to keep Bennett and Avril off Rodgers enough to score some points and eat up clock.

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I'll admit that I'm very curious as to whether Simon will be able to rebound a bit from an off game. He'd looked pretty good in some spots this year, but Benjamin abused him.

All of them.

volsunghawk":3ik7ukz0 said:

Sgt. Largent":3ik7ukz0 said:

The ONLY matchup for this game I'm worried about is Lacy and the Packers O-line against our interior defense.

If the Packers can get a push up the middle, then it'll give them the run game needed to keep Bennett and Avril off Rodgers enough to score some points and eat up clock.

Click to expand...

I'll admit that I'm very curious as to whether Simon will be able to rebound a bit from an off game. He'd looked pretty good in some spots this year, but Benjamin abused him.

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I left Simon off my concern post because I assume after Pete's presser that Maxwell is good to go. But yes, if Simon has to play any amount of significant time, that is a major matchup concern. I guarantee you Rodgers, Clements and McCarthy are drooling watching tape of Simon this week.

Sgt. Largent":2cx7kl41 said:

volsunghawk":2cx7kl41 said:

Sgt. Largent":2cx7kl41 said:

The ONLY matchup for this game I'm worried about is Lacy and the Packers O-line against our interior defense.

If the Packers can get a push up the middle, then it'll give them the run game needed to keep Bennett and Avril off Rodgers enough to score some points and eat up clock.

Click to expand...

I'll admit that I'm very curious as to whether Simon will be able to rebound a bit from an off game. He'd looked pretty good in some spots this year, but Benjamin abused him.

Click to expand...

I left Simon off my concern post because I assume after Pete's presser that Maxwell is good to go. But yes, if Simon has to play any amount of significant time, that is a major matchup concern. I guarantee you Rodgers, Clements and McCarthy are drooling watching tape of Simon this week.

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Maxwell may be good to go, but I recall him moving inside to the slot and Simon taking the outside on many occasions this season. That might be a matchup in Green Bay's favor, and I can see them trying to force Simon on to the field as much as possible.