Who becomes the difference maker offensively and defensively in the NFC CG? For conversation sake, let's take Rodgers out of the running for the offensive player.

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I say the x factor on offense is James starks because if we can establish a run game early with him that can really play into our advantage when it comes to the play action. Not to mention it would take some pressure of of Aaron as well.
On Defense I think the x factor is BJ Raji because him clogging up the middle against the run is key because it will force the bears to throw right into our ball hawk, athletic, and excellent secondary which would hopefully lead to INT's to help seal the deal.

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According to BTK, Factor X was----

Oops, sorry. Wrong thread.

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I'm hoping James Jones can come through in the clutch for this game. He's a tough matchup for any team and I'd really like him to atone for that fumble in the first Bear game this year First CATCH the ball, then HOLD onto the ball.
On defense I'd have to go with Sam Shields or AJ Hawk. Hawk's gotta do a good job covering those short dumpoff passes the Bears have been using lately, and Shields will get picked on any long pass attempts (I don't know how much they'll be testing Tramon or CW).
I would love to see Starks have a good game, but the Bears are stout against the run. For once I would have to say the cold weather favors the opponent. Gonna be a low scoring tight game, I think. Hope I can sleep tonight.
GO PACK!

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Offense:Lets put our Offensive Line here if we can protect Aaron Rodgers from the Pass Rush of the Bears,open holes for Starks/Jackson and company this offense can dominate again in another playoff game.


Defense:Charles Woodson will be my X Factor because plain and simple he will be all over the field,he will need to blitz and cover effectively to make this defense who it is not saying that without him our defense sucks but our defense plays a big part with Woody.

Special Teams(Bonus!):Tim Masthay he could easily determine the game with his punts he needs to either lol be off the field because we're not punting at all this game or he needs to duplicate the performance in week 17.


IMO who will come up big in this game out of the 3 will be our offensive line I think they may step up very big in this game hopefully like the Pats game where they did their best performance of the year.

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On offense, you could pick Starks, James Jones or Quarless. I add Quarless to the discussion, because a TE who can get deep down the middle is a great weapon against that Tampa Two defense the Bears run. And Quarless can do that.
On defense, I'd say maybe Shields, but also maybe Eric Walden. He's not known for his ability to stuff the run, but he is more of a cover guy. This could mitigate the loss of Chillar to a large degree. Maybe he can cover the TE, what's his name Olsen? He can probably get after Cutler as well.

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I like both Starks and the offensive line as the X Factors for our offense. If the line can get a small push in the run game and Starks can continue to fall forward for an extra few yards it will obviously open up the pass game. However our offense has to be able to protect Aaron Rodgers this game. The Bears like to move Peppers around on the line so both Clifton and Bulaga will see a lot of him. As far as I remember Clifton was getting abused at times by John Abraham last week who is another pass rushing specialist. Chad just lucked out that Rodgers was able to escape from 3-6 sacks (can't remember exactly how many) and deliver. Our offensive line needs to have a huge game or else this will be another defensive nail biter.

On defense I like Dom Capers and Clay Matthews as our X Factors. Against the Bears in Week 17 we were able to sack Cutler six times. Capers needs to dial up that kind of pressure again this week to make Cutler uneasy in the pocket and force the errant passes that he throws so well. That why I like Clay Matthews. He needs to come out and show us the beast we all know he is. If he can scare Jay Cutler it would be huge for our team.

My game X Factor is third downs. In our season-ending meeting with the Bears we converted only 2 of 11 third downs. Contrast that with the 8 for 12 we had in last weeks thrashing of Atlanta and consider that in our first game against Atlanta we were only 4 for 12 on third downs. We have to be able to convert our third downs and part of this is not getting into third-and-longs. The problem with that is that's how the Bears play defense. They attempt to get teams to take long drives with lots of plays in hope that the team makes a mistake. They'll give up short throws to protect the big play.

This player may be too prominent to be called an X factor, but I'm going with Donald Driver. It's been kind of a lost season for him, due to nagging injuries, but he was our only WR who did much of anything against Philly, and he had another solid game last week. He is our best receiver at going over the middle and running those short and medium routes that you need to run against the cover two defense. It would be nice to see him get a TD. He's overdue.

On defense? How about Cullen Jenkins, another prominent player who's had some injuries. He came out of the Atlanta game feeling good, reportedly, so this may be the first game in about two months when we've had him near full strength. The Bears did not have to deal with him at Lambeau Field. They will now.

A little extra motivation for Jenkins today (not that he should need it for a playoff game) is that he is in a contract year, and his injuries have damaged his value. A big game today would offset that. The Bears will be keying on Raji and Matthews, and they know about Walden after what he did to them last time, so Jenkins may see a lot of one-on-ones.

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Offensively I say that the X Factor could go to Driver, Starks, or Quarless. Driver because Driver excells at the short routes, and that's where the holes are going to be today with the Tampa Two D. Quarless because the kid has talent and the Bears are going to run out of key secondary players to defend the pass. I think it may be the most important for Starks to have a good game today, on the offensive side. We all know that you need a running game (usually) to set up the passing game. Even more important today is that is will be around 20 degrees and there is a chance of precipitation. The ball is going to be slippery, ARod has a history of throwing the ball 100mph, and our guys have a history of dropping passes. Starks is my offensive X Factor.

Defensively, I think that Woodson is going to be our X Factor. Jay Cutler has a tendency to get rattled. He reacts to it differently than other QB's, though. He comes back from a big sack by looking at quadruple coverage and throwing into it just to prove that he can. Look to see Woodson sent on a blitz 10-15 times today, and I predict he gets two sacks, possibly a forced fumble. Most importantly is the psychological impact he will have on Cutler. Jay will become the gunslinger, and he will make some mistakes. I predict Shields and Collins each to have a pick today. Sorry Tramon, you'll have to wait for another couple weeks.

Finley88Beast brought something up in this thread that I didn't think of. Masthay is going to play a huge role today. I predict that he will have a lot of directional punts today, instead of always going for distance. Let the offense beat us. Let them try.

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Some have mentioned Quarless, Driver, I am going to add B-Jack to that list. IMHO The middle will open up for A.R. all day, along with DD and Quarless, B-Jack could very possibly break a couple of screens or draws today.

Defense side, I am hoping The bears try to go over the middle, the Packer linebackers will be ready and make the big plays when needed.

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