Will the Packers Rise in this Rank?

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Football is a game of organized chaos. Everything is planned down to the last step, and then when the ball is snapped…often times all heck breaks loose. There is an intuitive element to football that is often overlooked by stats and hard data people. And while it is important to control the things you can control in a game, winning teams often win because one guy went with his gut and took a chance. Anybody remember this quote:

“Spill it Pickett…spill it!”

I thought so.

Every game has a few of those moments and when a player gets it right, it results in…yes…turnovers. Everybody knows the correlation between turnovers and winning games. It’s no secret that if you get more chances to score, you tend to outscore your opponents. But there is inherent risk in going for the turnover in the first place and last season the Packers didn’t win enough of those “shot” plays.

The Seahawks were number one in the league with 28 interceptions last season while the Packers only had eleven and were ranked 26th (in a three-way tie). But that was last year, this is now. The Packers have added Julius Peppers, who will increase quarterback pressures and Peppers is a key candidate for backside forced fumbles as well. Clay Matthews is dangerous in this regard too.

With that said, I think the opportunity arises for our defensive backfield to make a major comeback in interceptions. Remember, these guys don’t lack the skills or intuition. And Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in particular had a real nose for the ball in his college days. Tramon is still here and came on strong at the end of last season and Sam Shields’s athleticism and opportunistic nature will be on display this year. If Micah Hyde keeps playing well and Morgan Burnett improves, so should our interception rate and thus, our chances to win.

In the game against the Seahawks, turnovers could be the difference in the game. Aaron Rodgers threw a couple picks in the season finale against the Bears last year but was able to overcome. The Seahawks defense will not be so forgiving. It will be a great test for Rodgers but expect our defense to take the ball away on occasion.

And here is a little blast from the past to show how important it will be to take the ball away from the Seahawks on Thursday. And with it, another quote that no Packers fan will ever forget: