The defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers came into Week 9 fresh off a bye week with an undefeated record (7-0) and hopes to keep up their winning ways against the struggling San Diego Chargers. Even though the Chargers had dropped two straight against the New York Jets and the division rival Kansas City Chiefs, the Packers did not take Philip Rivers and company lightly as they were playing on the road in San Diego against a talented and desperate football team.

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One of the main reasons for the Chargers struggles over the past few weeks of the season has been the inconsistent play of quarterback Philip Rivers. Last season, Rivers made a serious case for the NFL MVP as he was about as good as any quarterback in the league, but with the Chargers missing the playoffs entirely it was difficult to give the award to him over the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady.

This season Philip Rivers was looking to pick up where he left off and lead the San Diego Chargers back into playoff contention while winning the AFC West division title. The outlook for this year looked bright, even with the increased competition within the division, but injuries and the lack of consistently good quarterback play has hindered this team.

Green Bay Packers

Fortunately, the San Diego Chargers still have a chance to win the AFC West division and make it back into the postseason, but a good barometer of just how good this team was came against the defending champs. With the Green Bay Packers looking better than any team in the league on both sides of the football, the Chargers had their work cut out for them, especially after Philip Rivers threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns in the first quarter.

After the two returned touchdowns by the Packers, the Chargers looked beaten just the way they had over the last two weeks against the Jets and the Chiefs. Despite that seeming like the case for San Diego, the Chargers were able to get back on track and in the game with four touchdowns passes from Philip Rivers.

Even though Philip Rivers threw a career-high in touchdown passes, the former NFL MVP candidate also threw for three interceptions that remained the biggest difference against the undefeated Green Bay Packers.

It seems as though Packers superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers is impervious to good defenses in the NFL as he just craved up the Chargers’ secondary for 299 total yards (247 passing, 52 rushing) and four passing touchdowns. Not only was Rodgers on his game in terms of connecting with his receivers, but he was flawless with no interceptions and an impressive 145.8 passer rating.

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Needless to say, Aaron Rodgers proved to be the difference in this showdown between AFC Conference heavyweights as he was able to lead his Green Bay Packers to their eighth win of the season, 45-38.

Besides the New Orleans Saints in the season opener, the San Diego Chargers have been the toughest test thus far for the unbeaten Green Bay Packers, but now the cheese heads are one game closer to the perfect season and will face off against the lowly Minnesota Vikings in Week 10 on Monday Night Football.

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Back in 2008, the New York Giants were dubbed the biggest underdogs of all-time time in the NFL as they had to go head-to-head against one of the best football teams in NFL history. With superstar quarterback Tom Brady and the seemingly unbeatable New England Patriots just destroying teams left and right all the way up the Super Bowl, the Giants weren’t considered to have much of a chance against an unstoppable offense that led to a perfect 18-0 record.

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Unfortunately for Bill Belichick and company, the New York Giants did the impossible and beat the unbeatable in the Super Bowl to win the first title in the Eli Manning era. Even though this win was huge and the perfect fell-good story for the Giants, the storied New York franchise struggled to get back to form in the seasons following.

As a result, the New York Giants have only gotten worse since the Super Bowl winning season and are no longer considered to be amongst the elite class in the NFL. With that being said, the Week 9 matchup in the 2011-12 NFL season was considered to be another heavily favored game for the New England Patriots in the regular season rematch between these two teams.

Eli Manning

The New England Patriots were coming off a disappointing loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the Week 9 matchup against the New York Giants was considered to be somewhat of a tune-up game for Tom Brady and his boys. That didn’t turn out to be the case as the Giants must have studied hours of film of the Patriots’ loss to the Steelers and capitalized on flaws in the New England game plan.

Despite not having starting running back Ahmad Bradshaw in the lineup, the New York Giants were still confident they could pull off yet another upset against the New England Patriots. Even though this game was thought to be a barn-burner with both teams lighting up the scoreboard neither the Patriots nor the Giants were able to score even a field goal in the first half.

In fact, the Giants’ defense was able to contain the potent offense of the Patriots throughout the first three quarters by only giving up a single field goal in the third. Fortunately, the Giants were able to take advantage of that by scoring 10 points of their own and putting Tom Brady’s offense in the hole.

Obviously, no team in the NFL team has figured out how to keep the New England Patriots from scoring for long as they put up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. That wasn’t enough to get the best of the New York Giants though as Eli Manning threw for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to Mario Manningham and Jake Ballard to win the game, 24-20.

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This loss gives the Patriots a 5-3 record and their first loss at home this season. Not only was this loss huge in terms of being the second straight loss, but it snaps a 20-game winning streak at Foxboro. Next week first place in the AFC East will be on the line against the arch division rival New York Jets who have won three straight.

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Just like Socrates, who was blamed for the falling glory of Athens, Jay Cutler is being blamed for the debacle in Chicago. Social media sites, bloggers and even Yahoo! Sports all came together and dog piled on Cutler until we had to feel sorry for a guy who’s generally unlikeable. Yahoo! in particular took a swipe at Cutler with such remarks as “He didn’t look hurt and that’s all that mattered.” Of course the article was written before the report that Cutler suffered a MCL tear against the Packers.

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The Chicago Bears have defended Cutler’s injury better than the protection Cutler received from his offensive line all season.

Former players have hypothetically placed themselves in the shoes of Cutler by bragging that they would have to be dragged off the field to prevent them from getting back in a game as important as the NFC championship. Elite players like Drew Brees even claimed to have played an entire season with an MCL tear. We don’t really know what Cutler was feeling at the time. The Bears organization claims that they decided to keep Cutler out of the game. In my opinion, it was the right decision. With the Packers defense knocking him to the ground every two plays, Cutler could’ve suffered a long-term injury. Why risk it with your franchise quarterback? He probably gave up against the Packers, but Cutler knows that the Bears are in position to compete at a high level for the next three years. Sitting it out will allow him to fight another day. That’s if he watches his back and doesn’t make the mistake of walking around in downtown Chicago.

The consensus in the sports world is Cutler’s not a leader. He couldn’t impact the game physically, so he should’ve been cheering on his teammates from the sideline and offering tips to Caleb Hanie. Thing is Cutler is not that type of player. He is not the emotional, fire up his teammates type of player. We just have to accept that fact.

On ESPN, they mentioned that Cutler needed to move out of his way to help his teammates. You know, he needed to cut the sulking demeanor and be a vocal leader. They added that Cutler needed to do the right thing. Right thing? What exactly is that? Walk on a gimp knee and jump around like a cheerleader? Give advice to the third-string QB after doing so badly himself against the Packers? Even Cutler couldn’t figure Green Bay out. He was as helpless, from a strategic stand point, as Hanie.

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The only evidence we need to believe that Cutler is a leader is how the whole Bears organization has rallied to defend him. If he was a complete a-hole, we’d probably already hear a swipe from one of his teammates. The Bears owner would’ve thrown him under the bus and shopped him actively after their loss to the Packers.

Cutler probably brought all this on himself. It started when he mopped around in Denver and left with his tail between his legs. But that shouldn’t be the reason why we still hate him to this day because if it was Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Drew Brees who decided not to play, the NFL wouldn’t have anything to talk about before the Super Bowl.

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Four years ago the San Diego Chargers wanted to pay Drew Brees based on his performance.  Brees took this as an insult and a sign of no confidence and chose to part ways with the Chargers.  He proceeded to meet with the Miami Dolphins and the New Orleans Saints.  The Dolphins were not about to take a chance on Brees because the former Purdue star had just undergone arthroscopic surgery on his throwing arm.  But the New Orleans Saints took a chance on Brees and offered him a $60 million dollar contract.
 
Who would’ve thought four years later, the quarterback with the newly operated throwing arm would lead a team to victory over Manning in the Super Bowl.  Not only lead but LEAD, meaning out-dueling the greatest quarterback of this generation in the second half.
 
Drew Brees is the perfect fit for the New Orleans Saints.  Brees, being a free agent that no one really wanted to take a risk on except for the Saints, and the New Orleans franchise that no wanted really wanted to play for because of its not-so-storied franchise history (not as storied when compared to the Colts, Bears, Steelers).  The city of New Orleans suffered from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina.  The city that always symbolized unadulterated fun during Mardi Gras weekend was now suffering and would need at least four years to recover. Who would’ve thought that a little wanted free agent quarterback with an injured throwing arm would lead the Saints to football supremacy and be a symbol for a recovered city?
 
Nobody thought, maybe expect for the people in New Orleans, that Drew Brees would become the perfect remedy for a once down-and-depressed city.  His personal struggles are identifiable with the citizens of New Orleans. They can relate to Drew Brees because his struggles represent vulnerability, a quality of mere mortals.  Hurricane Katrina exposed Louisiana’s poor flood protection system; it left the city out in the open, vulnerable to looting and violence.
 
The Saints’ win in the Super Bowl wouldn’t have been as special if, let’s say; Tom Brady was their quarterback. Brady has this aura of movie star and invincibility.  Very little could relate to Brady in New Orleans.  But with Brees, there’s this quality that can’t be pinpointed on.  You know he just fits and is embraced in New Orleans.
 
Drew Brees and the city of New Orleans are a perfect fit for each other.  That’s just what New Orleans needs – a mere mortal, totally identifiable to the public, inspiring a city hit by devastation.

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