For more on the Packers and Ravens, check out SB Nation blogs Acme Packing Company and Baltimore Beatdown.
Monday Night Football: Playoffs On The Line As Ravens Visit Packers At Lambeau
(Sports Network) - A pair of playoff hopefuls from opposite conferences will cap off the Week 13 schedule at chilly Lambeau Field on Monday night, when the Green Bay Packers host the Baltimore Ravens in a game that will have playoff implications for both teams.
Neither the Packers nor the Ravens are likely to take home division crowns in 2009, though both clubs find themselves in the heart of the wild card race, and will either enhance or diminish that standing based on Monday night’s result.
Green Bay, which effectively conceded the NFC North when it suffered a second loss to the division rival Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 1st, then looked to be on the ropes for the postseason following a loss to the hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following week, has boosted its status with an encouraging three-game winning streak.
The Packers will come into Monday's contest on 10 days rest, following a 34-12 beat-down of the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was a sharp 28-of-39 passing for 348 yards and three touchdowns in the win, doing a healthy portion of his damage down the field to wide receiver Donald Driver (7 receptions, 142 yards, 1 TD), though it was the work of Charles Woodson and the Green Bay defense that truly stole the holiday show.
The Packers intercepted Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford four times, two of which went to Woodson, who sealed the game with a 38-yard INT return for a touchdown and also broke off a piece of NFL history.
Woodson became the first player in NFL history with two interceptions, an interception-return touchdown, one sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the same game, also helping Green Bay rise to the top of the NFL charts in total defense (281.5 yards per game), opponents’ completion percentage (53.4), and turnover margin (+17). Woodson was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.
The Ravens also had a positive Week 12 result, helping to remove a major albatross from around their necks by defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 20-17, in overtime.
Baltimore had lost three times to Pittsburgh last season, including a 23-14 loss in the AFC Championship, and was nearly sent to another defeat by pesky Steelers third-string quarterback Dennis Dixon.
Trailing 17-14 following a Dixon touchdown run, Baltimore managed overtime thanks to a 44-yard Ray Rice catch-and-run on 4th-and-5 with fewer than four minutes to play, setting up a Billy Cundiff field goal. Cundiff, who would miss a 56-yard kick at the end of regulation, would ultimately hand Baltimore a 20-17 win six plays after Dixon made his only real mistake, an interception that was returned into Steelers territory by Ravens rookie linebacker Paul Kruger in overtime.
For what it may have lacked in style points, the win was an important one for a Baltimore team that had lost five of its previous seven games, including four defeats by six points or fewer.
See More:
