For the first time in their 92 year history the Green Bay Packers are 13-0 after defeating the Oakland Raiders in a rout, 46-16. The Packers dominated on both sides of the ball, and showed early on that it was going to be a long day for the Raiders. On the Raiders first possession of the game, pressure from Clay Matthews forced Carson Palmer to throw an ill advised pass that was picked off by D.J. Smith.

That would be the first of four picks the Green Bay defense would force Palmer to throw. The Packers made sure not to squander those turnovers, converting them into 21 points on the day. Fourteen of the points came off of Ryan Grant touchdown runs and both before halftime.

Grant’s first touchdown was a 47 yard scamper on the first offensive play of the day for the Packers, his second came during a six yard run in the second quarter to put the Pack up 31-0.

While the rest of team was firing on all cylinders, the frontrunner in the MVP race, Aaron Rodgers had a quiet night by his standards.  Rodgers only threw for 2 touchdowns with 281 yards and for the first time this season had a passer rating under a 100. Rodgers “pedestrian” numbers can be attributed to the fact that he did not play a single down in the fourth quarter.

With the game well in hand Coach McCarthy wisely replaced him with backup Matt Flynn. Coach McCarthy wishes he would have replaced star wide receiver Greg Jennings who went down in the third quarter with a knee injury. The details of Jennings’ injury are being held close to the vest by the Packer organization, simple being classified by McCarty as a sprain that warranted further evaluation.

If Jennings injury causes him to miss any serious time, this is the best stretch for him to be absent. The Packers have locked up the top seed in the NFC playoffs, earning them a first round bye week, giving Jennings five weeks before it’s absolutely necessary for him to make his return.

With the divisional race and home field advantage throughout the playoffs locked up, the only concern for the Packers is do they make an attempt at a perfect season or sit their starters for the rest of the season. If the Packers elect to strive for 19-0, they run the risk of getting one of their star players injured during a “meaningless” game, which could have repercussions on their run for a second straight championship.

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In an offensive slugfest the Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants, 38-35. The tone for the game was set from the very beginning, as the New York Giants drove down the field to score a touchdown on the first possession of the game. On a broken play, Giants quarterback Eli Manning delivered a bomb to Travis Beckum.

Beckum made great cutbacks to make a couple Packer defenders miss on his way into the endzone. After a completed extra point kick from Lawrence Tynes, the giants were up 7-0, and for the first time in a month, the Packers were trailing in a game. The explosive offense from the Packers, led by MVP frontrunner Aaron Rodgers, put their hands on the ball yet.

Late in the first quarter, Aaron Rodgers knotted the game up, when he found Jermichael Finely wide open near the goal line for an easy touchdown score. The Giants would drive back down the field to score a field goal reestablishing their lead, and letting the Packers know they were in for a fight.

It was a fight the Packers were more than willing to participate in. In the first play of the second quarter, the Packers dealt the Giants a blow they never saw coming. Packer linebacker Clay Matthews picked off Manning’s intended pass to Ahmad Bradshaw, and returned it for a touchdown to give the Packers their first lead of the day.

The Giants defense forced Rodgers to throw a rare interception. The ball was picked off by Chase Blackburn, and returned inside the Packers redzone, culminating in a 1-yard run by Brandon Jacobs for the touchdown. With the Giants back on top 17-14, it was once again Rodgers’ time to put the team on his shoulders.

Starting at his own 20, Rodgers engineered an 80-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Donald Driver, who was all alone in the back corner of the endzone. The Packers would go up 21-17, and never relinquished the lead.

However, the Giants did make it interesting late in the fourth quarter. With 3:34 left on the clock, Manning lead the Giants down the field to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the game up at 35. The only mistake made on the drive is that the Giants left 58 seconds on the clock.

Rodgers took full advantage of his time and completed one pass to Finley and one to Jordy Nelson, who made a spectacular catch, to put the Packers in field goal territory. After a quick pass to Greg Jennings to gain better field goal position, Mason Crosby kicked a 30 yard game-winning field goal.

With the win, the Packers moved to 12-0 and clinched the NFC North Division title for the first time since 2007. The Giants fall to 6-6 and are locked in a tight NFC East division race with the Dallas Cowboys.

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The Green Bay Packers managed to stay unbeaten as they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a close one, 35-26. For the first time this year, the Packers did not look like the offensive juggernaut that teams around the NFL have become accustomed to. The Packers were pushed to the edge by the Buccaneers, but prevailed thanks to an Aaron Rodgers touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson late in the 4^th quarter.

The Packer offense didn’t necessarily struggle, but it lacked the familiar flow seen in previous games. After the game Rodgers was noticeably dejected with his performance he stated, “I didn’t throw the ball very well. I’m not trying to be ridiculously humble right now, I’m just frustrated. The ball wasn’t coming out the way I wanted it to today.”

Rogers lack of comfort with the ball showed itself when he was picked off by corner Elbert Mack. The Buccaneers offense took advantage of the rare gift, Rodgers has only thrown four picks this year, and Josh Freeman delivered a quick strike to Dezmon Briscoe for a touchdown to pull them within two points. Freeman carved up the Packer defense up on the drive completing five passes in a row.

A sight the defense could not have been accustomed to, because for most of the day Lagarette Blount ran wild on the field. Including an impressive 54 yard run where Blount bulldozed through the arms of seven Packer players.

However when the Packer defense needed to come through at the end of the game, they forced the Buccaneers to turn the ball over on downs and effectively sealed the victory. The Packers defense needs to make all the necessary adjustments if they want win next week, because their opponent is Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions who just threw for five touchdowns.

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Eight games later and the Green Bay Packers are still undefeated after they won in a shootout, 45-38, over the San Diego Chargers. The Packers, coming off their bye week, showed no signs of rustiness, as they scored three touchdowns in the first quarter taking a 21-7 lead. An early lead isn’t a new sensation for the Packers but how they managed it was definitely unique.

The Packers defense outscored Aaron Rodgers and the Packers high powered offense two touchdowns to one. Charlie Peprah and Tramon Williams both picked off Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers for 40 yard touchdown returns. The Chargers would not be deterred by the Packer defensive pressure.

Early in the second quarter Rivers and running back Mike Tolbert marched the offense down the field to score a Tolbert rushing touchdown, and closed the gap to 21-14. From there it was a showcase of offensive prowess by the Packers as they jumped out to a 45-24 lead with 10 minutes left in the 4^th quarter.

Rodgers further showed why he is currently regarded the best player in the NFL; he began to pick apart the Chargers secondary, throwing for three more touchdowns each to a different receiver. Rodgers had the Packers on their way to what seemed like an easy victory over the Chargers.

Even with the Chargers down 21, Rivers was determined to make up for those costly interceptions. He engineered a well executed drive that began on the Chargers 20 and culminated in touchdown pass to wide receiver Vincent Jackson. After the touchdown drive the Chargers were still down 14 points and with time running out vied to go for the onside kick.

The Chargers managed to recover the onside kick and with a short field Rivers led the offense to another touchdown to pull within seven. The Chargers defense managed to hold the Packers and give their offense one last shot at tying the game. Rivers once again had the offense marching down the field, but late in the drive, he was picked off for the 3^rd time, by Peprah — once again, effectively sealing the Packers victory.

The Packers are now 8-0 and there is talk of whether or not the Packers can finish the season a perfect 16-0. The last team to complete a perfect regular season was the 2007 New England Patriots who eventually loss in the Super Bowl and finish the season 18-1.

The Packer faithful are hoping their team can do one better than the Patriots, and be the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to finish the year unbeaten.

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The Green Bay Packers stay perfect on the season as they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 33-27, spoiling rookie Christian Ponder’s hope for his first win as the starting quarterback.

Aaron Rodgers once again played like the leading candidate for NFL MVP should by throwing 300+ yards, making three touchdowns and no interceptions. There were some early offensive issues for the Packers as they were only able to muster two Mason Crosby field goals in the second quarter. This allowed the Vikings to jump out to a 17-13 lead behind the play of Ponder and star running back Adrian Peterson.

The Packer offense then came to life, scoring 20 points in the second half and quelling any notion that there may be issues in the offensive unit. Rodgers was never worried about being down at the half, stating, “There’s not a lot of panic in this team. We’ve been down a couple times at halftime, just a lot of focus.”

The Packers came out firing, scoring touchdown on their first two offensive possessions of the half.  A blown defensive coverage allowed Greg Jennings to jog into the end zone for a 79 yard reception from Rodgers. The second drive ended in a 2 yard touchdown reception to Jermichael Finley, and put the Packers up 27-17.

For as well as the Packers played, the Vikings would not go down with a fight, making a 4^th quarter comeback that eventually fell short. Peterson was a huge part of the Viking offense rushing for almost 200 yards on the day. Even with his big day Peterson was obviously upset stating, “It’s frustrating to come out against the defending champs and be that close and not to come up with the win.”

Peterson’s huge rushing numbers did help ease the scoring burden on rookie quarterback Ponder. Ponder played much better than expected against the defending champions, throwing for 200+ yards and two touchdowns.

However there were glaring flashes of his inexperience, throwing two interceptions in the second half that both resulted in Packer field goals, which ended up being the difference in the game. The Vikings may have lost the game but the future looks bright for them on the legs of Peterson and on the arm of Ponder.

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The Green Bay Packers are alone on top of the NFL Mountain after defeating the St. Louis Rams 24-3. The Packer victory pushes their record to 6-0 and makes them the only remaining unbeaten team after the Detroit Lions loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

The Packers made it look easy, getting the performance out of their quarterback Aaron Rodgers that they come to expect. Rodgers threw for 300 plus yards and three touchdowns, including a career best 93 yard bomb to Jordy Nelson. However the show was over just as quickly as it started; all points scored by both teams came in the first half.

While happy to get the win, the scoreless half bothered Packer head coach Mike McCarthy and in a statement he said “You have to be running on all cylinders, and we’re not there yet. So fortunately, we’re 6-0. We’ll continue to work to get there.” The same lack of offense bothered Rodgers as well, as he stated, “It’s a feeling of minor disappointment, I think, in that locker room.

We just, in the second half, offensively just struggled. The second quarter was great; we put up a lot of points. I think it’s encouraging at the same time. It’s tough to win in this league, we’re 6-0, and have a lot of room for improvement.”

While the Packers were looking for ways to continue their dominance, the Rams were just looking for ways to score and win. The Rams are currently 0-5 and sitting at the bottom of the NFC West, looking up at the division leading San Francisco 49ers. Frustrated Rams running back Steven Jackson tried to explain the slow start, “for whatever reason, we get into the red zone; we keep shooting ourselves in the foot.”

The Packers on both sides of the ball looked to be poised to make another deep playoff run. If there are any points of contention it would be the injury plagued offensive line and banged up secondary. Last week, the Packers lost left tackle Chad Clifton indefinitely and safety Sam Shields went down in the 3^rd quarter after sustaining a head injury. Even with the missing pieces, both performed well this Sunday, protecting Rodgers and shutting the Rams offense down.

However, when the second season comes around, they won’t be up against a struggling team like the Rams. For the Packers sake, let’s hope they fill those personnel holes and avoid becoming Swiss cheese.

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It has just been announced that Madonna might be gearing up to take the stage at the Super Bowl on February 5th in Indianapolis. It would be the first time the Material Girl-turned-moviemaker performs at the iconic event and while conservative audiences will cringe at the rumors, music fans are already fantasizing about costumes, set-lists and a much-expected dose of controversy.

What other event draws such massive viewership and so many multi-million commercial deals? At last year’s edition, a whopping number of 111 million people tuned in to watch the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburg Steelers duke it out on the field. Singing the anthem or delivering a jaw-dropping halftime show are two of the most wanted gigs in the performance industry.

Every move and note are analyzed bare by a diverse audience, delivering post-event rants crammed with sassy critics that will tear anyone apart with a sleazy touch. At the Super Bowl you’re never good enough. Next year all eyes could be on the 52-year-old songstress and her creative crew. Could this be Madonna’s reconciliation with America’s mainstream public?

Madonna is a clear example of the American dream, a poor girl from the Midwest arrives in NYC with a few bucks in her pocket and two years later she’s the biggest star on the planet. But that didn’t stop her from reflecting on the traditional American values in her 2003 album ‘American Life’, her lowest-selling record to date and a turning point in her career.

Ever since she mocked former president George W. Bush in a war-themed video, an obvious anti-Bush statement that was later withdrawn by Madonna herself on her team’s advice, her album sales in the US have shrunk to minimal numbers. None of her albums released after ‘American Life’ have shifted more than 1.7 million copies. On the contrary, tickets for her latest tour sold out in minutes, making her the highest earning female performer.

In 2004, Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction marked a new era in live TV. Producers and organizers, dreading a scandalous follow-up, started booking rock&roll acts such as Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Prince, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen and The Who.

But last year the record-breaking show welcomed The Black Eyed Peas, a more contemporary act that was joined onstage by Usher and Slash. Grammy winning pop diva Christina Aguilera also took the center stage to belt out the Star Spangled Banner. Clad in black tones and sporting her signatures peep-toes, the singer flubbed the lyrics and embarrassed herself in front of her country.

She later apologized stating she got stuck in the moment, a high-profile mess-up that might introduce a teleprompter policy from next year on. With that much pressure on her plate, will Madonna channel her ‘Holiday’ era and portray a dancehall Goddess or will she vogue the night away with tons of French-kissing, cone-bras and naughty words?

And though Madonna is both of those performances, the latter will probably not be allowed onstage as there will certainly be a highly prearranged contract that will keep whoever is going to entertain the viewers on their toes.
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