News From The Pack

There are still a few injury concerns heading into the final game of the regular season in Arizona.   Backup safety Derrick Martin, the leading special teams tackler, has already been ruled out because of a bad ankle sprain.  Nose tackle Ryan Pickett remains questionable at best with his bad hamsting.  Johnny Jolly and Michael Montgomery were limited at practice Wednesday.   Among the linebackers, Nick Barnett was sent home ill, Brandon Chillar didn't work with a sore back and Jeremy Thompson's season is officially over.  After suffering a neck stinger a couple of weeks ago at practice, Thompson was officially placed on injured reserve Wednesday.   With the open roster spot and depth concerns on the defensive line, the Packers activated Anthony Toribio off the practice squad.

Trying to figure out the playoff matchups in the NFC is almost an exercise in futility.   The Packers will be either the five or six seed, but the Cardinals can climb up to the number 2 seed with a first round bye if things fall right.  Unfortunately, they'll still be falling while the Green Bay-Arizona game is being played.  The Eagles and Cowboys kick off in Dallas at the same time.  The Vikings-Giants game goes off at noon.  I've heard there are 8 possible senarios of results and 6 of them have the Packers meeting the Cardinals again next week in the Wild Card round.   If the Vikings win and Eagles lose, Minnesota locks up the 2 seed and gets the first round bye.   If Minnesota falls, a variety of possible matchups are created, let's just wait and see how it sorts itself out.

As for Sunday's matchup, this will be a game won or lost in the air.  Both teams fancy the pass and hope the run game keeps the play calling balanced and the defense honest.   Can the Packers passing game keep pace with the Cardinals three headed monster at wide receiver?   I think so.   The Packers will devote most of the attention to Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, leaving third receiver Steve Breaston in the hands of Jarrett Bush and or Josh Bell.    The Packer pass catchers should be able to make plays inside Arizona's secondary.   Count the number of big gainers, that could swing the difference.   The other big factor is protection and throwing to the right guys.   Green Bay's sack numbers have declined markedly over the past few weeks and their propensity for taking the ball away spiked again last week against Seattle with 4 interceptions.  The Packers have 27 picks on the year, leading the league while Green Bay has only turned the ball over 15 times, again, best in the NFL.   The Cardinals are -5 on the turnover table and if that trend holds, advantage Packers.   Ryan Grant must outproduce Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells combined on the ground.  Special teams have to force Arizona to go the length of the field for points.   Both teams will play this one straight, I'd be surprised if starters were removed and if it is these same two meeting next week, it will fall on the coaching staffs to tweak the game plans to get the required result when the lose and you go home pressure arrives.   Should be fun.   Happy New Year.

A breakthrough, a back to backer and old hat describes the three members of the Green Bay Packers elected to the 2010 Pro Bowl Game Tuesday night.    Aaron Rodgers, Nick Collins and Charles Woodson will represent the NFC in the game on January 30 in Miami.    It's the first Pro Bowl for Rodgers and quickly puts him among the game's elite.   In just his second year as a starter, Rodgers has clearly established himself as one of the best.  He became the first quarterback in league history to eclipse 4000 yards in each of his first two seasons as a starter.  Rodgers ranks 4th in the NFL in passer rating and he'll be a backup to starter Drew Brees of New Orleans and his old teammate, Brett Favre.  The AFC QB's are Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Phillip Rivers which puts Rodgers in awfully good company.    Nick Collins will return as a backup safety behind ex-Packer Darren Sharper now with the Saints.  Collins has 6 interceptions on the season but his overall game continues to grow.  As for Woodson, even he admits this may be his finest season of his career.   8 interceptions, a couple of sacks and near dominant play every week.  Woodson is the only starter for the NFC among the three and this is his 6th Pro Bowl season.   Rookie Clay Matthews is a first alternate at outside linebacker, beaten out by Washington rookie Brian Orapko who has 11 sacks.  Matthews has 10 along with three fumble recoveries.    Other, undesignated alternates include Chad Clifton, A.J.Hawk and Ryan Grant.   Grant is right on the cusp in my opinion.  The NFC running backs are Adrian Peterson and Steven Jackson, no argument there, but DeAngelo Williams of Carolina also made it.  Grant has more rushing yards and more rushing touchdowns than Williams and he also plays on a playoff team.

It's a cat and mouse game for the birds this week.    The Packers close out the regular season Sunday in Phoenix against the Arizona Cardinals and the odds are pretty good they'll fly home, turn right around and go back to University of Phoenix Stadium next week to open the NFL playoffs.  Head Coach Mike McCarthy made it pretty clear Monday he's not going to be very forthcoming about his plans for the back to back possibility.   McCarthy said he'll plan for this week's game like anyother and make personel decisions based on health and matchups by Friday.  He's not interested in saving players or game plan schemes for the potential rematch.   The playoff positions of both teams could be determined before kickoff as Phiadelphia and Dallas, along with the Giants and Minnesota, kickoff three hours before Green Bay and Arizona.   After last night's Bears overtime victory over the Vikings, the Cardinals could still climb as high as the number two seed this weekend.   The Saints locked up home field advantage in the NFC by virtue of Minnesota's third loss in 4 weeks.    If the Cowboys beat the Eagles to claim the NFC East and the Vikings fall again, Arizona would move to number two with a victory over the Packers, dropping Dallas to three and Minnesota to 4.  Green Bay would also drop to the number 6 seed behind Philadelphia.   It will be a very interesting final Sunday to see how it shakes out.

The Packers will likely be without Derrick Martin on Sunday.  The backup safety and special teams standout sprained an ankle against the Seahawks and McCarthy has already declared him doubtful.   Martin leads the Packers with 20 special teams tackles.

With one week to play, the Packers rank 4th in the NFL on offense at 381.3 yards per game.  The are 14th in rushing and 8th in passing.  Defensively, the Packers are second overall (290.9) but have assumed the number one position in run defense, allowing 85.7 rushing yards per contest.  That's a hefty climb from last year's ranking of 26.   The Packers are 11th in passing defense.   The team's +22 standing on the turnover table continues to pace the NFL, well ahead of Philadelphia's +15 and New Orleans at +14.   They have a league high 27 interceptions and better yet, an NFL low 15 giveaways.   Among the individual leaders,  Aaron Rodgers is 4th in passer rating at 102.4 behind Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers and Brett Favre.  Rodger in the top 6 in every statistical category except completion percentage (10).   He's still the top rated third down passer in the game with a glittering 135.1 rating, well ahead of Eli Manning at 115.1.   Ryan Grant has 1202 rushing yards, third best in the NFC and 8th overall.  He's 7th in total yards from scrimmage with 1399.  Mason Crosby ranks 4th in kick scoring with 122 points and with 12 last week, established a new NFL record for the most points scored in his first three seasons (390).

The Pro Bowl teams will be announced tonight.  My Packer picks, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, defensive back Charles Woodson, safety Nick Collins.   Two players who could also sneak in, running back Ryan Grant and rookie linebacker Clay Matthews.

It was a "giant" sized playoff clincher for the Packers today before 70,429 at Lambeau Field.   Green Bay dominated the Seattle Seahawks 48-10 and got help from the Carolina Panthers who embarrased the Giants in New York 41-9 allowing the Pack to secure the 25 playoff berth in franchise history.  The sun was shining with a kickoff temperature of 18 degrees in the home finale and it took a defensive play to jump start the Packers.   A.J. Hawk intercepted a horribly thrown ball by Matt Hasselbeck on Seattle's first series and he returned the ball to the Seahawk 35.   It took only four plays to score, Brandon Jackson weaved his way through a crowd with a 13 yard screen pass and the 7-0 nothing.  Two series later, it was a double milestone throw from Rodgers, floating a perfect 40 yard strike to Greg Jennings.  On the play, Jennings went over a thousand yards receiving and Rodgers became the first NFL quarterback in history to top 4000 passing yards in each of his first two seasons as a starter.   The same pair connected on the next snap for 24 yards and Ryan Grant finished off the drive with a three yard scoring run making it 14-0 after the first period.  Seattle started to move but on third and 6 from the 8, Hasselbeck was intercepted a second time, by safety Atari Bigby in the end zone.  When the Packers were stopped, Seattle put together a 53 yard drive in 9 plays but had to settle for three as Johnny Jolly blasted Julius Jones for a loss of 2 on a third and 2 play from the Packers 7.  Olindo Mare booted through a 28 yard field goal.   Green Bay had an immediate answer as Grant broke through a hole over left guard, made safety Deon Grant miss downfield and raced 56 yards for a touchdown.  The lead reached 24-3 at the half as Jermichael Finley was stopped a yard short of the end zone on third and goal from the 15.  An apparent TD pass to Spencer Havner was wiped out as Havner was called for offensive pass interference but Mason Crosby knocked through a 29 yard field goal on the half's final play.  The interception festival continued in the third quarter as nickel back Jarrett Bush swiped his first career pick on the opening series.  Green Bay needed 7 plays to drive the 47 yards for a score and Jackson broke loose around right end for a 6 yard touchdown run. Three plays later, Hasselbeck was intercepted for a 4th time, the second for Bigby on a downfield throw.  Rodgers finished his afternoon by hitting Jermichael Finley on a 38 yard pass to the 4 and Jackson bulled over for his third TD of the day making it 38-3.  The Packers defense denied the Seahawks once more with a 4th and 10 stop at the Packers 22 as Brandon Chillar recored one of three sacks on the day.  Matt Flynn took over at quarterback and directed a 37 yard drive that ended when Crosby made good on a 52 yard field goal that ended his 6 week slump to the roar of his teammates and the Packer faithful.   Ahman Green capped the scoring with a 6 yard bullish TD run with 6:39 to play putting Green Bay up by 45 points.  The Seahawks got a consolation touchdown as Hasselbeck hit tight end John Carlson on a 16 yard pass with 4:15 remaining.

The numbers were as dominant as the score, Green Bay piled up 417 yards of offense and held Seattle to 291, 110 yards of that came when the game was well in hand.  Rodgers completed only 12 of 23 passes but for 237 yards with one score, giving him 29 TD's on the season with only 7 picks.  Greg Jennings caught a game high 4 balls for 111 yards.  On the ground, the Packers averaged 4.8 yards a carry with five rushing touchdowns, the most in a single game since 1988.  Grant had 16 carries for 97 yards, pushing his season total over 1200, becomming only the third back in Green Bay history to have 2 straight seasons above that number.  The 4 takeaways on defense, all via interceptions, gives the Packers 27 picks on the year and a giveaway-takeaway ratio of +22, best in the league.

The Packers close out the season at Arizona next Sunday, the Cardinals have already locked up the number 4 seed in the NFC and if the Packers hang on to their number five position, could return to Phoenix to open the post-season the following week.  That hasn't happend since the Packers closed with Detroit in 1993 (a 30-20 loss) and scored a 28-24 wild card victory over the Lions in the Pontiac Silverdome 6 days later.

The Packers put in an extra long day today to lay out the game plan for Sunday's matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.   Mike McCarthy will go long again on Thursday because he's giving the players and staff Christmas Day off.  Instead of a walk through in the gym on Saturday, the normal day before a game routine, the team will spend a few minutes on the practice field before kicking it off in the Lambeau Field finale at noon on Sunday.   For the second straight week, the team is extremely thin at defensive line.  Johnny Jolly did not practice with a sore knee and Ryan Pickett didn't work because of his pulled hamstring.  McCarthy indicated today Pickett had a setback even with limited snaps last week against the Steelers.  Also on the Wednesday injury report was Nick Barnett who did not work with a sore knee, Charles Woodson didn't practice because of a shoulder injury.   Nick Collins was limited with a sore calf, Cullen Jenkins was limited with a quadricep injury.   Brandon Underwood was able to fully participate with a sore hip and Jeremy Thompson has already been ruled out because of a neck stinger suffered at practice two weeks ago.

Aaron Rodgers had an interesting tale today.  The Packers played the Seahawks last year in Seattle and he said at one point during the game, defensive lineman Daryl Tapp actually bit him in the upper arm.   Rodgers said it happened fast, felt like a bee sting and when he realized what was going on, there was Tapp with his trap clenched on his arm.   Because he was wearing a long sleeved undershirt, Rodgers said Tapp didn't clench hard enough to break the skin.

We also visited via conference call with Matt Hasselbeck.  It was good to hear from the Pack's 6th round draft pick in 1998 and Brett Favre's understudy for three years before he was dealt to the Seahawks.   It's been a rough year in Seattle, they're 5-9 and ravaged by injury.  Hasselbeck even missed a couple of games with a broken rib.  Matt also talked fondly of his days in Green Bay saying it was never a challenge to prepare each week and never get the chance to play because of Favre's iron man streak.  He enjoyed his teammates and even considered signing a long term deal with Green Bay to eventually suceed Favre.  Now he's glad he didn't.  He said he'd still be riding the bench.   It's worked out OK for Hasselbeck, a couple of Pro Bowls, and NFC Championship and a trip, albeit a losing one to the Super Bowl.

Defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory Sunday in Pittsburgh but the Packers say they'll be able to shake it off and remain focused on the bigger prize, a playoff berth.  To secure a wild card spot in the NFC, the Packers (9-5) can win their final two games against Seattle at home and at Arizona and lock any challengers out.  If the Packers win only 1 of the last two, they'll need some help with Dallas or New York losing one more game.  The Cowboys close at Washington and host Philadelphia while the Giants, off the 45-12 romp of the Redskins Monday night, finish at home against Carolina and then travel to Minnesota.

Don't expect any major changes in the wake of Ben Roehtlisberger's 503 yard, three touchdown game against the Packers defense.   Mike McCarthy said Monday they have few options in personel, the defense simply has to play better.  Big plays did most of the damage as the Steelers piled up 366 yards on only a dozen snaps.  Jarrett Bush and Josh Bell were both exposed in coverage and the team may have to find a way to protect those two when facing another talented passing team.   McCarthy also reiterated his confidence in Mason Crosby, saying "I have not interest in bringing in another kicker".   Crosby has missed 6 of his last 10 field goal tries, including a 34 yarder against the Steelers.  He's missed one kick in each of the past 4 games and is 24 for 33 on the season.

Nick Barnett (knee) and Ryan Pickett (hamstring) may be limited in practice this week as the team starts preparing for the home finale against the Seattle Seahawks.  The team is altering its schedule to accomodate Christmas on Friday. There will be the regular installation day on Wednesday with additiional practice and meeting time scheduled Thursday.  McCarthy is giving the players and the staff Christmas Day off and Saturday will involve a light practice instead of the usual walk through.

Mike Wallace hosted 60 Minutes for years, another Mike Wallace beat the Packers after 60 minutes expired at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh tonight with a 19 yard touchdown catch from Ben Roethlisberger on the game's final play.  Jeff Reed knocked through the try after a booth review of the catch for an improbable 37-36 Steelers victory.  Roethlisberger passed for 503 yards and three scores, outdueling Aaron Rodgers who passed for 383 yards and three touchdowns, including a 24 yard strike to James Jones with 2:06 remaining to give Green Bay a 36-30 lead.  The teams combined for 35 points in a wild 4th quarter and it was Roethlisberger who delivered the final big play facing third and 10 from the Packers 19 with :03 left.   Given time to throw as the Packers dropped 8 in coverage, he found Wallace on the left sideline in the end zone who made a leaning catch with Josh Bell in coverage, tumbling out of bounds with posession for the game tying score. It was a disheartening end to the Pack's five game winning streak and put their playoff hopes on hold for another week as Pittsburgh ended a five game losing streak.   The 2nd and 4th ranked defenses coming in to the game were roasted for 973 combined yards.   Like the Packers a week ago in Chicago, the Steelers scored on their first offensive play.   Roethlisberger fired deep to Wallace who got behind Jarrett Bush for a 60 yard touchdown, :42 into the game.  The Packers answered quickly as Greg Jennings made a tough catch over the middle, bounced off a defender and raced 83 yards for the score.  The Steelers promptly marched 72 yards in 10 plays as Rashard Mendenhall scored on a two yard run to make it 14-7 after the first quarter.   Rodgers scrambled for a 14 yard touchdown run, his 4th rushing score of the year to tie the game but Pittsburgh answered with a two minute drive.  Heath Miller and Santonio Holmes gained 27 and 33 yards on back to back plays, setting up Mawelde Moore's 10 yard scoring strike with :26 remaining in the half.  Pittsburgh extended its lead to 10 as Reed booted a 37 yard field goal midway through the third quarter, setting up the big explosion in the final period.  Jermichael Finley snatched an 11 yard fade route to make it a 24-21 game. The Steelers answered with another field goal.   Rodgers then covered 62 yards in only 4 snaps, 27 on a fade route to Jordy Nelson and then Ryan Grant broke a draw off left tackle for a 24 yard touchdown putting Green Bay in the the lead for the first time at 28-27.  Hines Ward hauled in a 54 yard pass to set up Reed's 43 yard field goal with 3:58 to play and the Steelers up 30-28.   Head coach Mike Tomlin then took a huge gamble by trying an onside kick.  Ike Taylor recovered but caught the ball after it only traveled 9 yards, the illegal touching penalty gave Green Bay the ball at the Steeler 39.  6 plays later, Rodgers found James Jones wide open on the right sideline for a 24 yard touchdown.   Brandon Jackson caught the two point conversion for a 36-30 adavantage with only 2:06 remaining.  The Steelers converted a huge 4th and 7 play at their own 22 with Holmes catching a 32 yard pass.   A potential game ending interception by Bush was wiped out by an illegal contact penalty against Brandon Chillar.   Facing third and 15 at the Steeler 44, Roethlisberger hit Heath Miller for 20 yards over the middle.  A 15 yard catch by Miller moved it to the 19 and after burning a final timeout and firing two incompletions, Roethlisberger took the final snap with :03 to play and found Wallace in single coverage against Bell and he made the play.   The Packers are now 9-5 on the season and return home to face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Lambeau Field.   They'll still need a win and some help to wrap up the NFC Wild Card spot following the stunning loss to the defending Super Bowl champions.

The Packers worked inside the Don Hutson Center on a chilly day today and practiced without pads.  The first injury report of the week had Nick Barnett miss practice with swelling in his knee.  Mike McCarthy said they just want to be "smart" with Nick.  Ryan Pickett with a sore hamstring, tested for the trainers but did not participate.  Brandon Underwood also sat it out with a hip injury.  Johnny Jolly's sore knee and Charles Woodson's aching shoulder had them limited in practice.  Jeremy Thompson, a week and a half removed from a stinger at practice in which he was taken by ambulance to the hospital, has already been ruled out of the Steelers game.

In the locker room after the workout, Brandon Chillar was understandably happy over his new contract extension.  He said he's "very happy" to remain a Packer for the next four years.   Jolly was understandably concerned about the new drug posession charges he's facing in his Houston hometown.  A Harris County, Texas grand jury returned an indictment Tuesday on charges Jolly illegally possessed over 200 grams of codiene, found in several cups of cough syrup in his car in August of 2008.  Jolly said he got a call from his lawyer Tuesday night about the case and he'll leave it in his hands.  Jolly said he doesn't want the case to become a distraction for himself or his team as the football season draws to a close and the team in the midst of a playoff berth.

The question from a Houston police officer was pretty simple on July 8, 2008, "What are you doing with all that cough syrup?".   Packers defensive end Johnny Jolly was pulled over on that day in his hometown with cups full of codeine laced  cough syrup in his car.  There was over 200 grams of the prescription medicine and Jolly was charged with posession.  A grand jury indicted the 26 year old in October of last year but the charges were dropped.  Jolly thought that was the end of it but prosecutors in Harris County, Texas re-opened the investigation and yesterday, a second grand jury returned a new indictment.  Jolly has maintained his innocence, claiming the cups of cough medication were not his.  Police say the cough medicine with codeine is often mixed with carbonated soda to create a mind altering drug with street names of "purple drank", "Lean" or "sizzurp".  If convicted of the drug possesion charge, Jolly faces a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.  As a first time offender, he could get probation.  This case is not expected to impact Jolly's playing status with the Packers.   While he will probably have to surrender to authorities in Houston, he will be allowed to post bond and await further proceedings, likely to be scheduled early next year.  The case will then be either tried or plea bargained toward a resolution.

The Packers have promoted wide receiver Patrick Williams off the practice squad to take the place of Biren Early who was released on Monday.   Williams is a 6-1, 204 pound undrafted rookie from Colorado who was originally signed by the Packers last May.  He was cut in camp and has spent the last seven weeks on the practice squad.

The NFL has released the first playoff senario with three weeks left to go.  The Packers can clinch an NFC Wild Card spot with a win against the Steelers in Pittsburgh Sunday, along with a loss by the Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saturday night.   The would also clinch with a win and a loss or tie by the New York Giants who play at Washington Monday night.   The Packers could also clinch a playoff spot with a tie against the Steelers coupled with a Giants loss.

The signing of veteran linebacker Brandon Chillar may only be the beginning.  The Packers locked up the former St. Louis Rams player for 4 years and a reported 21 million dollars.  Will the deal dominoes start falling for the rest of the guys with contracts coming due at the end of the 2009 season?    Vice President of Football Administration Russ Ball is staring down a long list of key players who will become free agents in a matter of months.   Because the NFL is heading into an uncapped year in March of 2010 because of the expiring collective bargaining agreement, only players with at least 6 years of service will become unrestricted.  Under the current CBA, players become free agents after 4 years.  Its one of the caveats to convince the players a re-negotiated CBA is in their best interests.  As for the Packers, Chillar's name comes off that UFA list, leaving Mark Tauscher, Chad Clifton, Aaron Kampman and Ryan Pickett.    Even more front line players will become restricted free agents when their contracts run out in February.  That list includes Atari Bigby, John Kuhn, Nick Collins, Tramon Williams, Jason Spitz, Daryn Colledge and Johnny Jolly.    If your Ball, who's next?  For how long?  For how much?   On the unrestricted list, Kampman has the most value league wide, but he'll be coming off major knee surgery and likely won't be able to work out for teams until mid-summer at the earliest.   Among the restricted players, the only one considered expendable is Kuhn.  Ball has some wiggle room with one uncapped year coming and the Packers have plenty of cap space to play with but he may need Howie Mandel's advice when it comes to long term contracts and big money for a Pro Bowler like Collins and expected offensive line mainstays like Spitz and Colledge.  It will be an interesting game of deal or no deal this off-season.

The Green Bay Packers have reportedly signed linebacker Brandon Chillar to a 4 year contract extension for 21 million dollars with 7 million guaranteed.   Chillar was signed as an unrestricted free agent from the St. Louis Rams prior to the 2008 season.   He worked his way into the starting lineup until suffering a broken hand a month ago.  This is the first veteran contract extension completed by the Packers this season as the NFL is heading into an uncapped season in 2010.  The signing could impact a couple of other players, Aaron Kampman, who is on injured reserve and has an expiring contract at the end of this season, and possibly A.J.Hawk who was supplanted in the starting lineup by Chillar.

The December drive has reached five wins in a row for the Packers as they beat the Chicago Bears 21-14 today at Soldier Field.  It was another game with plenty of warts as Green Bay squandered an early 13-0 lead but the Packers defense made the game changing play as Nick Collins intercepted Jay Cutler on the third play of the 4th quarter and returned it 31 yards to the Chicago 10.  Three plays later, Ryan Grant crashed over for the one and Greg Jennings added a two point conversion for the final margin.  Grant had a monster game, rushing for 137 yards and two scores, his first came on the Packers opening snap, a 62 yard dash off left tackle.   Mason Crosby connected on a 33 yard field goal to cap the second posession, a 48 yard march in 12 plays.   Charles Woodson then swiped his 8th pass of the year, a badly underthrown ball by Jay Cutler.  Aaron Rodgers converted a 4th and 3 play with a 9 yard scramble after the Packers initially lined up in field goal formation and then shifted into a fake, forcing the Bears to call time out.   The red zone continues to be a problem for the offense however as they stalled inside the 10 thanks to a false start penalty on Mark Tauscher.  Crosby booted a 26 yard field goal for the 13-0 lead two minutes into the second quarter.  The Bears finally started making plays as Cutler hit Johnny Knox for a 28 yard gain on third and 18 against Tramon Williams.   The same three players were involved in a 19 yard touchdown catch by Knox with 1:48 left in the half.  Jermichael Finley then coughed up the ball as the Packers were trying to drive for one last field goal before the half.  That fumble was nothing compared to Rodgers' gaff to start the second half.  Under pressure, Aaron had the ball slip out of his hand, he caught it and tried to pass again but he got hit and the ball squirted into the air and into the arms of Anthony Adams at the Chicago 44.   6 plays later, Cutler threw a back shoulder fade to Devin Aromashodu who beat Woodson for the 10 yard touchdown and Chicago moved in front 14-13.  Neither team could mount a drive until Collins came up with his big pick to start the final quarter.  The Packers top ranked defense came up with three consecutive stops to seal the game.   Green Bay could have extended it's lead after one of them, but Crosby missed another makeable field goal from 42 yards when it sailed wide right. The Bears couldn't cash in however and offensive tackle Chris Williams ended one posession with a nasty facemask penalty against blitzing Clay Matthews and Tramon Williams delivered a big sack on Chicago's last gasp inside of two minutes.   The win gave the Packers their first sweep of the Bears in 6 years, and eliminated Chicago from any playoff hope.   Green Bay solidified it's hold on the NFC Wild Card and probably needs only one more win in their final three games to lock up a post-season berth.  Led by Grant's big day, the Packers gained 315 yards to Chicago's 254.   The league's number one defense held the Bears to 54 yards on the ground and came up with two picks and three sacks against Cutler.  The Bears also killed themselves with 13 penalties for 109 yards.  Another noteworthy twist to the Pack's defensive game plan.  Depleted by injury along the defensive line all week at practice, coordinator Dom Capers rolled out a one lineman and 4, sometimes 5 linebacker formation that created plenty of confusion for Cutler and the Bears offense.  It allowed the blitz package to reach Cutler three times, once from Matthews, his 8th sack of the year, Williams and Johnny Jolly also recorded a sack.   It's a testament to the strength of a team to win a tough, road game in the division when not playing its best and the Packers prevailed despite turning it over twice, going just 1 for 4 in the red zone and missing a field goal.  Up next, a trip to Mike McCarthy's hometown and a date with the defending and reeling Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field next Sunday afternoon.