NFC Championship Preview

 

    Packers vs Buccaneers. Rodgers vs Brady. Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field. Winner goes to Super Bowl 55. This should be a good one. 

    This matchup on Sunday will see one of two future hall of fame quarterbacks add to their legacy by winning another conference championship and advancing to the Super Bowl. Tom Brady is looking to appear in his 10th Super Bowl and first in the NFC while Aaron Rodgers is in the NFC Championship game for the fifth time and looking to advance to the Super Bowl for the second time in his career. Brady came to Tampa in the offseason and joined a stout Buccaneers team looking to advance to their first Super Bowl since 2002. Aaron Rodgers looks like the front runner for MVP this season while leading the Packers back to the doorstep of the Super Bowl. Only one shall advance to play in Tampa, Florida in two weeks in Super Bowl 55. 

    Sunday's game is a rematch of a week six matchup when Tampa Bay defeated Green Bay 38-10 on a Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium. The Packers started out that game up 10-0 and looked to be in control after the first quarter. Brady and company then decided to score 38 unanswered points in a route. Brady bested Rodgers by throwing for two touchdowns while Rodgers threw zero touchdowns and two interceptions. The Tampa run game shredded the Packers defense that evening with Ronald Jones running for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Tampa hard more yardage than Green Bay by 123 total yards, outgaining Green Bay 324-201. Green Bay was hit by six penalties in that game while the Bucs had none. Tampa got the best of Green Bay that evening. 

   For Green Bay to come out victorious on Sunday, it must be able to get in the backfield and pressure Tom Brady. Brady and the Bucs offense has put up 30 or more points in their two playoff victories to this point. Green Bay's defense must be aware of Tampa and their ability with the play action. Tom Brady has thrown four touchdown passes this postseason and three of them have come off play action. Green Bay must be cautious of this. When Brady has a clean pocket to throw, his quarterback rating is 110.4 and has a completion percentage of almost 75 percent. Getting pressure on Brady is critical for Green Bay to win this game. Tampa's run game of Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones are running the ball at an average of nearly 5 yards per carry in the postseason. Their yards per carry after contact has been a major reason for their success, they are big backs who bounce off tackles and get in the open field. Watch for Tampa to get their tight ends involved early. Rob Gronkowski and Cameron Brate. Brate leads the Bucs in receiving yards in the postseason. Green bay must have their zone package ready at all times in this game and be aware that Tampa will use the run to set up the pass. 

    For the Bucs to advance to Super Bowl 55 in two weeks, Tampa must get pressure Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay boosts one of if not the best offensive line in the NFL. The Packers offensive line has given up the least amount of pressure per dropback in the NFL this season at 14.1 percent. The Packers gave up the second least sacks in the league this year with 21. In the first meeting, Tampa was able to get to Rodgers five times. Tampa must be able to have a repeat performance or close to it defensively on Sunday if they want to win. The Bucs must also focus on stopping the run game of Green Bay. Last week the Packers run game ran for over 190 yards against the league's second best run defense. Another crucial part of the Bucs is the red zone. So far in the playoffs, Tampa has been awful in the red zone, only scoring a touchdown on 36 percent of trips inside the opponents 20 yard line in their two playoff games. On the other hand, Green Bay has converted 80 percent of their trips to the red zone into touchdowns during the whole regular season and converted 3 out of 4 trips to the red zone last week for touchdowns against Los Angeles. Tampa Bay must be able to convert red zone trips into touchdowns on Sunday. Field goals against Green Bay aren't going to work in this game. Pressure Rodgers, convert in the red zone and be able to establish a run game are keys to success for Tampa in this game.

    Key matchups to watch in the game will center around the run game of Green Bay vs the Bucs number one ranked run defense. Bucs linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White will have their hands full with Packers running backs Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams and A.J. Dillion. This Bucs run defense was able to shut down the Packers running attack in week 6, allowing just 1.5 yards per carry for Jones. The Packers offense is at its peak when the run game is able to compliment Rodgers and the Packers air attack. Look for the Bucs to stack the line to try to not allow the big runs by Jones early in the game. If Green Bay gets their run game going, it will open up the passing game for Rodgers and he could be looking for big shots downfield to playmaker Devante Adams. 

    Both of these teams are coming into this game riding long win streaks. Tampa has won six in a row, Green Bay has won 7 in a row. Battle of the two future hall of fame quarterbacks. One team advances to play in the Super Bowl. This should be a classic matchup.