As we get ready for the Packers playoff game against the Seahawks we’re certainly going to be thumped with the intertwined history of the two franchises and the stats of the two teams leading up to this game. I’ll give you nine quick hitters of my thoughts going into this game.

My tale of the tape.

  1. It’s been 10 years since Holmgren was Favre’s coach. While Holmgren probably wants everyone to think he knows all there is to know about Favre and can be his puppet-master-daddy, Favre is ten years older and he and coach McCarthy are on a different page now. Holmgren has no better advantage than any other coach that’s watched Favre for the last 16 years.
  2. I was thinking I’d prefer the Packers to face the Seahawks than the Giants because wow, the Giants had Garcia picking dirt from his teeth all game last week. I don’t know if Favre can take that same kind of beating. Then I looked at the stats - the Seahawks are almost as good at sacking the QB as the Giants are.
  3. The Packers had the second best offense in yards per game in the regular season, up around 370. The Seahawks were around 340. Either one of those quantities can win you a game, but if Favre doesn’t go Bean because of the bigness of the game, nobody can defend 5 wideouts.
  4. The Packers defense was about 10 yards per game better than Seattle in the regular season.
  5. I don’t know that Hasselbeck has a tendency to get inside his own head and set up shop, but he has to be thinking about the last team he was in Lambeau in the playoffs. Does he get fired up to right the wrong from last time, or does he get so jacked he overshoots the landing, crashes and burns.
  6. Holmgren can be a master motivator. He also sometimes sucks. We arguably had a better team in ‘97 than in ‘96 (I know Santana Dotson feels that way), but Holmgren miscalculated, thinking the pile of 50 large on a table was going to motivate his team to Superbowl duplication.* They make millions, Mike. It’s not about the extra “making it rain” money. It’s about making history. Which talent manager shows up Saturday may determine the outcome.
  7. MCarthy seems to always shoot as straight as anyone. It’s too early to say if he’s a master motivator, but from appearances, everyone knows exactly where they stand with coach, and they know where he expects them to go. That can be as much motivation as is needed.
  8. Seattle is better at home than on the road. The Packers are pretty damn good wherever they play, so long as they aren’t playing the Bears.
  9. And of course, the Packers have bikini girls (more coming on the bikini girls - right now they’re on a trip south to improve their tans, so they can be ready for a deep playoff run). Is that Rich Gannon with the thumbs up?

Green Bay Biking Girls

Oddsmakers are picking the Packers by 7 1/2 - 8.

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*It was reported that as a motivational tool, Holmgren put $50,000 in cash on a table and showed the team, explaining that that was what was up for grabs in the Superbowl.