FanHouse BradyPoppinga

Whenever you come across a list of the best linebackers in the NFL, Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher rank somewhere north of Brady Poppinga. In fact, unless you are a fan of the Green Bay Packers, Brady Poppinga may sound more like the name of a medical procedure than a NFL linebacker. "Well, what you want to do here is make a Brady Poppinga incision and then remove the gallbladder."

That lack of name recognition or reputation didn't stop the NFL Network from inviting Poppinga onto their "NFC Playbook" program, however, and letting him break down the film of two Adrian Peterson touchdown runs from last week. He criticized Briggs for not containing Peterson on the outside of the Viking rookie's 67-yard TD scamper. He then turned his attention to Urlacher.

"[Brian] Urlacher does get cut off, though," he said, "and cut [blocked], which creates that huge gap. Essentially, where Urlacher has to fit is right up where that gap is created."
Sharpe asked if Urlacher could afford to get knocked down there.
"He can't get knocked off his feet," Poppinga said.

They didn't break down any film of Peterson's 12 carries for 112 yards during the Vikings-Packers game in September nor did we see how well Poppinga did his job that week. He did pick the Bears to beat the Eagles later today however. The Bears and Packers tussle for the second time this year in December when Poppinga's comments may just find their way onto a Chicago bulletin board.

Welcome to another successful installment of Five Questions with an Enemy Blogger, where each week, via email, I will be exchanging hot questions and [sometimes] answers with a rival blogger about their team and the upcoming matchup.

This week I sat down with Thomas Pelissero of Packers Insider Blog, a Green Bay Press-Gazette [credentialed] column that covers the Green Bay Packers.

Dan Benton: "Like the Giants, Green Bay has been struggling with injury this year. Which of their injuries has been, or has the potential to be the most devastating?"

Thomas Pelissero: "The series of injuries in the backfield really have hit the Packers hard, as evidenced by their inability to run the football in the preseason and Week 1. Vernand Morency strained a knee on the first day of training camp and hasn't played a down; P.J. Pope suffered a knee injury a week later and eventually was waived; second-round pick Brandon Jackson missed the preseason finale after suffering a mild concussion in a freak collision with a teammate; and Ryan Grant, acquired from the Giants on cutdown weekend, missed most of his first week of practice here with tight hamstrings. The healthiest guy in the group is seventh-round pick DeShawn Wynn, who previously missed time with calf, stomach and quadriceps problems. It's been ridiculous."