By Adam Roberts – 1/4/2021

A few things were seemingly locked up with yesterday’s 35-16 Packer win over the Bears.

For certain, Green Bay will now have a bye week and home field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs, which considering only one team gets a bye this season could be paramount to a Packer Super Bowl run.

Also certain, quarterback Aaron Rodgers set a new career-high for touchdown passes with his 48th of the season on a connection to Davante Adams, who himself tied a franchise record for single-season touchdown receptions with Sterling Sharpe in 1994 (18). Keep in mind, that record was set despite Adams missing 2.5 games this year.

What remains to be seen is whether or not a 240 yard, four touchdown performance will net Rodgers the league MVP award, though he is the betting favorite for the honor. For the season, Rodgers finished with the aforementioned 48 touchdowns, 4,299 passing yards, just five interceptions (though there were some close calls yesterday), and a 121.5 QBR (he came close to eclipsing his own NFL record in that category (122.5)). Going into Week 17, Rodgers was the Vegas favorite for MVP, and Patrick Mahomes didn’t play in yesterday’s Chiefs loss to the Chargers.

For now, the answer to that question will have to wait, as will the question of who the Packers will face in the Divisional Round. As the one-seed, it could be the Washington Football Team, Tampa Bay, the LA Rams, or a rematch with Chicago.

By Adam Roberts – 12/31/2020

Aaron Donald, Stephon Gilmore, DeAndre Hopkins, Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey, and now Davante Adams.

These are the only players in the National Football League rated a “99” in the Madden video game franchise.

As trivial as it might seem, many fans and players alike take Madden ratings very seriously as a third-party rating of a player’s ability, with many young players taking umbrage with a low rating. Adams began the 2020 season as a 94, which is certainly nothing to shake your head at, but his secondary skills of catching, release, and short-route running have increased in the newest iteration of the franchise “Madden 21”.

This all comes in a season where Davante, despite missing two games with a hamstring injury, is poised to possibly break a number of franchise records this weekend against Chicago. Adams can set the team record for catches and touchdown receptions, both of which belong to Sterling Sharpe.

For his Madden accomplishment, quarterback Aaron Rodgers gifted Adams with a diamond-studded gold necklace with the number 99 in the center.

By Adam Roberts – 12/30/2020

One night in pre-COVID times when I was out barhopping, a person at one of the places I went to said I looked like a snack. It’s safe to say they didn’t think I looked like a 6’3″ 350 lbs NFL defensive tackle who has recorded 494 total tackles, 11 sacks, and forced five fumbles.

Damon “Snacks” Harrison was claimed by the Green Bay Packers yesterday as the team tries to make sure their run defense can stand the test of playoff-caliber rushers. The 9-year veteran from William Penn had been with the Seahawks this season, but was released on Monday. Harrison had said in a tweet he was not interested in being claimed off waivers, as all players waived at this point in the season are subject to the waiver wire, but he also agreed with a subsequent tweet that since Green Bay is a Super Bowl contender and was one of the teams he planned to meet with before he signed with Seattle, he would report to and play for the Packers.

The Packers rank 14th in rushing yards allowed but 24th in yards per carry, and of course any fan with a pulse won’t let the team forget last year’s NFC Championship Game, where the 49ers rushed for 285 yards.

By Adam Roberts – 12/30/2020

Here’s a popular fill-in-the-blank sentence for 2020: “If I had told you last year that _________ would __________, would you have believed me?”

How about this one: “If I had told you last year that the NFL would barely have one million fans attend games next season, would you have believed me?”

The NFL is closing in on one million fans for the 2020 season. The league announced during a conference call Wednesday they will hit the one million fan mark this weekend and there have been no COVID-19 clusters of cases because of fan attendance. There have been 102 games total with fans present so far with the Cowboys leading the NFL, averaging more than 30-thousand fans per game. The Packers have had limited fans the last few games, namely team employees and their families, while the Vikings of course have not had fans at US Bank Stadium all season.

By Adam Roberts – 12/29/2020

A seismic shift in the NFL MVP odds has occurred after two performances last weekend.

Coming into the weekend a +450 underdog, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers went 21-25 for 231 yards, four touchdowns, including three to Davante Adams, and an interception in the Packers’ 40-14 win over Tennessee. That performance helped him leapfrog Patrick Mahomes, and Rodgers is now the favorite at -260 according to Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill.

Mahomes had a somewhat difficult outing against the Falcons, with Pat going 24-44 with 278 yards, two scores, and a pick in the 17-14 KC win. It’s possible Mahomes could be rested this week against the Chargers with the #1 seed already locked up. Meanwhile, Rodgers will certainly be starting and in need of another big performance to secure the NFC’s top-spot against the Bears, who themselves will be playing for their playoff lives.