Friday, May 25th, 2012
The 2009 Green Bay Packers concluded their regular season play with an 11-5 record and second place in the NFC North and earned a wildcard playoff spot.
The Packers had to hit the road as a wildcard team in the opening playoff round and were eliminated by Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals.51-45 in overtime in an exciting NFL playoff game.
The Packers were a bit slow out of the gate with a 4-4 record at the halfway point of the season but closed strong with a 7-1 finish to get to 11 wins on the season.
Green Bay was good on both sides of the ball last season finishing 6th in total offense and #2 in total defense.
Aaron Rodgers in his second season under center as starter for the team had a tremendous year with 4434 yards passing with 30 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions.
Ryan Grant bounced back for the club in 2009 with 1253 yards rushing 11 touchdowns and an improved 4.4 yards per carry average. The team is searching for someone who can backup Grant and will have to find this during the preseason.
The Packers wide outs are top notch with Donald Driver and Greg Jennings surpassing 1000 yards each receiving and combing for 10 touchdowns.
The area for improvement in 2010 will be pass protection as the Packers allowed 51 sacks in 2009. Guard Bryan Bulaga was drafted in the first round to aid the pass blocking and pressure up the middle.
The Packers sat 2nd in the league against the run allowing only 83.3 yards a game which was a big improvement from 2008. They led the league in interceptions with 30 which contributed the clubs +24 in turnover differential leading the NFL.
The Odds:
The Green Bay Packers 2010 season win total has been set at 9 ½ wins by Bodog sportsbook.
Bodog has lined the Packers at 14-1 odds to win Super XLV in 2010.
Green Bay is 7-1 odds to win the NFC Championship at Bodog and have been installed as the +130 favorites to win the NFC North division.
Sports betting at Bodog Sportsbook
Place your NFL sports wagers at Bodog with customer service that’s second to none!
2010 Green Bay Packers Regular Season Schedule:
Green Bay competes in the NFC North division so they will have to host and play away against the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions.
The NFC North in 2010 will compete against every squad from the NFC East and AFC East division.
Green Bay’s opponents from the NFC East will be home games to the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants with road contests against the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles.
From the AFC East the club competes at home against the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins with road games to the New York Jets and New England Patriots.
The Green Bay Packers’ second place finish in the NFC North in 2009 means in the 2010 season they will play against the two other second place teams from the NFC conference so that schedules a home date with the San Francisco 49ers and a road game to the Atlanta Falcons.
Green Bay will play in four prime time NFL games this season.
The team will play host to the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night football. Their road prime time appearances are on a Monday night at Chicago and a Sunday night in mid December at New England.
Green Bay gets hit with two sets of back to back road games late in the season. Week 11 they are at Minnesota followed with a road date at Atlanta. In week 14 the team travels to Detroit prior to their road game at New England.
The team will close the 2010 regular season with two straight homes games as they play the New York Giants and then the Chicago Bears.
Offense:
The six year veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers had pro bowl numbers in 2009 hitting on 64.7% of his passes with 30 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. The product from Cal has very good arm strength and stretches opposing defenses. Some of his critics would like to see him release the ball a bit sooner because he has taken quite a few sacks over the past few seasons. That comes with the territory if you have a cannon for an arm and have the knack to go deep.
Third year guy Matt Flynn from LSU backs up Rodgers and backups are a concern when your starter takes a ton of hits. Flynn has made only 17 career passes during his career. Former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell was an invite to training camp.
Running back Ryan Grant produced betters stats in 2009 as the four year guy from Notre Dame had 1253 rushing yards on 282 attempts 11 touchdowns and a 4.4 yards per carry average. Hampered by hamstring issues Grant had just a 3.9 yards per attempt average in 2008. He has gotten the bulk of the work the past two seasons with 594 carries combined in that period.
Veteran Brandon Jackson will battle 6th round draft pick James Starks from Buffalo for playing time behind Grant. Jackson could only rush for a 3.0 yards a carry average on 37 attempts in 2009.
The Packers are well stocked in the receiver position with the veterans Greg Jennings and Donald Driver the #1 and #2 options with Jordy Nelson and James Jones the #3 and #4 players.
Driver and Jennings had solid year last season. Driver had 70 catches for a 15.2 yards per catch average with 6 touchdowns with Jennings delivering 68 catches with 4 touchdowns and an outstanding 16.4 yards per reception. Jones contributed with 32 catches and a solid 13.8 yards a catch and 5 touchdowns. The Packers tight end position is solid with Jermichael Finley starting with the veteran Donald Lee as his back up. Finley caught 55 balls a season ago with a very good 12.3 yard per catch for his position.
The Packers offensive line allowed 51 sacks a season ago. They line up with Scott Wells under center with Jason Spitz and Josh Sitton as the guards. The tackles are Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher. First round pick Bryan Bulaga guard from Iowa was drafted in the first round and will vie for a starting role during camp.
Earn a 20% Signup Bonus at Bookmaker!
Defense:
The Green Bay Packers registered 37 sacks a season ago sitting 11th in the league. Their 3-4 defense shapes up with Ryan Pickett at the nose tackle with Johnny Jolly and Cullen Jenkins to his outside. This group was terrific against the run allowing just 83.3 yards per game ranking first in the league. Opponents could only average 3.6 yards a carry against them in 2009 which is an area of great improvement in 2009.
The Packers were hit with a huge blow as starter Johnny Jolly has been suspended for the entire season following drug charges. 2009 first round pick B.J. Raji could fill in for Jolly at defensive end this season. Defensive tackle Mike Neal was drafted in the second round from Purdue to provide depth on the line.
The linebackers shape up with Nick Barnett on the inside with A.J. Hawk and Clay Matthews to the outside. Matthews had a good rookie season with 51 tackles and 10 sacks in 2009. The one knock on the Packers linebackers is their play in pass coverage as teams who spread the field will exploit them.
The Packers have an outstanding secondary led by Charles Woodson and Al Harris at the corners with Atari Bigby and Nick Collins at the safety position. The Packers led the league in 2009 in interceptions with 30 last season and the team was #1 in turnover differential sitting at +24. Its no wonder that the smart teams went after their linebackers in 3 and 4 receiver patterns.
The venerable 13 year veteran Charles Woodson pulled down 9 interceptions and ran back 3 for touchdowns last season. He also contributed with 74 tackles.
The club drafted Morgan Burnett in the third round a safety from Georgia Tech to help provide depth to the secondary and especially when opponents line up 3 and 4 receiver spread packages.
And now to my Selection:
The Packers got enough production from running back Ryan Grant to give the offense some threat of run. That lingering hamstring issue in 2008 did not resurface. We have enough of a threat of the run here for Aaron Rodgers to repeat a season like 2009 as he returns all of his impact receivers in 2010.
The defense is solid and you know defensive coordinator Dom Capers will be ready when he faces opponents with passing attacks with multiple receiver stack and spread sets. The Packers get to 10 wins this season.
Selection: Play Over 9 ½ wins in 2010 Regular Season.
Tags: 2010, aaron Rodgers, aj hawk, charles woodson, clay matthews, Donald driver, football, football betting, football odds, football picks, free picks, green bay packers, greg jennings, nfl, nfl betting, nfl football, nfl free picks, nfl odds, nfl picks, nfl season win projections, online gambling, pro football, ryan grant, sports betting, super bowl odds
