Blogs

Aaron Rodgers to appear on Thursday’s episode of “The Office”

According to multiple media reports, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is scheduled to appear on Thursday’s episode of the NBC comedy “The Office” as the star quarterback makes his prime-time acting debut.

Rodgers will be playing a judge in a singing contest. The episode is slated to air at 8 p.m. CT on Thursday.

Packers-Bears re-airs on NFL Replay Tuesday night

The Packers’ NFC North-clinching victory over the Bears from Sunday in Chicago will re-air at 7 p.m. CT Tuesday night as part of NFL Network’s NFL Replay series.

NFL Replay is a condensed, 90-minute version of the original TV broadcast that incorporates NFL Films camera angles and post-game soundbites from players and coaches.

Week 14 – Packers vs. Lions remains at night; Week 15 – Packers vs. Bears stays at noon

The NFL has announced that there are no flex scheduling changes to the Sunday prime-time games for Weeks 14 and 15, meaning the Packers-Lions game at Lambeau Field on Dec. 9 will remain at 7:20 p.m. CT kickoff.

That also means the Packers-Bears game at Soldier Field on Dec. 16 will remain at noon CT. The 49ers-Patriots game remains the prime-time matchup in Week 15.

Packers tied with Bears for NFC North lead

The Green Bay Packers moved into a tie for the NFC North lead with Chicago following the Bears’ 32-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night.

Both teams now have 7-3 records with six games remaining in the regular season. Technically, the Packers are in first place by virtue of their victory over the Bears in Week 2, but the two teams will meet again on Dec. 16 in Chicago, so the head-to-head tiebreaker is not yet definitive.

The Packers are on a five-game winning streak following their 24-20 win at Detroit on Sunday while the Bears have lost two straight after a 7-1 start. Chicago lost starting QB Jay Cutler to a concussion midway through last week’s loss to Houston, and Cutler didn’t play against the 49ers either.

Without Cutler, Chicago’s offense was basically inept against San Francisco’s swarming defense. The Bears didn’t score until late in the third quarter and gained just 151 total yards. San Francisco, which was also playing with its backup QB in Colin Kaepernick (starter Alex Smith was also out with a concussion), jumped in front early and never looked back. The 49ers lead the NFC West with a 7-2-1 record.

The Packers still have four NFC North games remaining among their six contests. Green Bay will play Minnesota twice (Dec. 2, 30), plus Detroit (Dec. 9) and Chicago (Dec. 16) once each. The Vikings are one game back of the division lead at 6-4, while the Lions are three games back at 4-6.

Packers-Bears post-game notes & quotes

PACKERS TOP BEARS TO CLINCH HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE IN NFC

• Green Bay beat Chicago, 35-21, tonight at Lambeau Field. With their 14th victory, the Packers set the franchise record for most wins in the regular season, topping the previous record of 13 wins in 1962, 1996, 1997, 2007.
• With the win, the Packers clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. It marks the first time since 1996 that Green Bay will be the top seed in the NFC.
• Tonight’s victory gives Green Bay four wins over Chicago in 2011 (including playoffs). According to STATS LLC, the Packers are only the second team in NFL history to beat the same opponent four times in a calendar year, joining the 1994 Los Angeles Raiders (4-0 vs. Denver).
• This was Green Bay’s second season sweep of the Bears in the past three seasons (also 2009). The Packers’ four-game winning streak against the Bears is their longest vs. Chicago since a seven-game streak from 2000-03.
• Tonight’s victory was Green Bay’s 12th straight at Lambeau Field and the 18th victory in its last 19 contests at home.
• The 12-game home winning streak is the fifth-longest winning streak at home in franchise history.
• This marks Green Bay’s first 7-0 start at home since 2002.
• With the win, the Packers improved to 26-9 (.743) in NFC North regular-season games under Head Coach Mike McCarthy. That winning percentage ranks No. 2 in the NFL since 2006 behind only New England (27-8, .771). The Packers are now 5-0 in NFC North games this season. The five victories are tied for the most divisional wins (2002, 2004, 2006) by the Packers since the league went to an eight-division format in 2002.
• The Packers became the 14th team in NFL history to score 500 points in a season (515 this season).

OTHER POST-GAME NOTES:

• Tonight’s paid attendance was 70,574. It was the 300th consecutive sellout (284 regular season, 16 playoffs) at Lambeau Field.
• With 283 passing yards tonight, QB Aaron Rodgers set the single-season franchise record for most passing yards in a season with 4,643. That tops the previous team record of 4,458 passing yards by Lynn Dickey in 1983.
• Rodgers threw a career-high five TD passes, which matched the single-game franchise record (seven other times).
• Rodgers posted his 10th game with at least three TD passes this season, becoming just the third QB in NFL history to accomplish that feat (Tom Brady, 12 in 2007; Dan Marino 10 in 1984).
• It was also Rodgers’ fifth game with four TD passes this season. That ties the franchise record set by Brett Favre in 1996.
• With his 142.7 passer rating tonight, Rodgers set an NFL single-season record with his 13th 100-plus passer rating game (Steve Young, 12 in 1994; Tom Brady, 12 in 2010).
• It was also Rodgers’ fourth game with a 140-plus passer rating this season, a franchise record. It matches the NFL single-season record (min. 10 attempts), tying the four 140-rating games posted by Roger Staubach in 1973 and Tom Brady in 2007 and 2010.
• WR Donald Driver went over the 10,000-yard receiving mark for his career (now has 10,008 yards). He is the 36^th player in NFL history to accomplish that feat.
• With 115 yards receiving tonight, WR Jordy Nelson now has 1,101 receiving yards this season, his first career 1,000-yard season. It also marked Nelson’s fourth 100-yard receiving game this season.
• Nelson tied his career high with two TD receptions. He now has 12 TD catches this season as he becomes only the eighth player in franchise history to have 12-plus TD catches in a season.
•  TE Jermichael Finley’s 2-yard TD catch in the first quarter gave him four TD receptions vs. Chicago this season, the most by a Green Bay tight end against an opponent in a single season in franchise history. The last NFL tight end to accomplish that feat was San Diego’s Antonio Gates in 2005 (four TDs vs. Kansas City).
• WR James Jones’ posted a career-high two TD catches. It brought his season total to seven TD receptions, a career high (five in 2009 and 2010).
• LB Clay Matthews’ second-quarter interception was his third INT of the season, further adding to his career high.
• S Charlie Peprah added to his career high with his fifth interception of the season.

GREEN BAY PACKERS HEAD COACH MIKE McCARTHY:
(on what’s left to accomplish next week) “Well, that’s a great question. I’m focused on what we just accomplished tonight. 14 wins, anytime I can stand up here and talk about a record that stands in front of the great history and tradition of the Green Bay Packers, that’s special. The goal was to get home-field advantage all the way through. We accomplished that tonight, but we do need to get healthy as a team, which every team in the league is probably saying today. We’ll look at all our options. I’m not going to stand here and tell you we want to give away opportunities to win a game. We’re going to play to win the game next week. I’m real excited about a division opponent coming in here, and we’re going to do everything we can to get to 15-1. Health is an issue for us, I think that’s stating the obvious.”

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Packers-Bears gameday inactives

The following players have been declared as inactive for tonight’s Packers-Bears game:

Green Bay Packers
6 QB Graham Harrell
31 CB Davon House
58 LB Frank Zombo
75 T Bryan Bulaga
76 T Chad Clifton
79 DE Ryan Pickett
85 WR Greg Jennings

Starting lineup changes: On offense, #87 Jordy Nelson will start at wide receiver in place of #85 Greg Jennings. #70 T.J. Lang will start at right tackle in place of #76 Chad Clifton. #62 Evan Dietrich-Smith will start at left guard in place of #70 T.J. Lang. On defense, #95 Howard Green will start at left defensive end in place of #79 Ryan Pickett. #98 C.J. Wilson will start at right defensive end in place of #94 Jarius Wynn.

Chicago Bears
6 QB Jay Cutler
10 QB Nathan Enderle
22 RB Matt Forte
24 RB Marion Barber
79 T Levi Horn
85 TE Andre Smith
95 DT Anthony Adams