Packers Morning Buzz: All eyes on possible Rodgers return

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers  from around the web and here at PackersNews.com. Grab a strong cup of coffee, or brew some tea, and get caught up on everything you need to know about the Packers.

We’ll start with Eric Baranczyk and Pete Dougherty’s film analysis of Sunday’s game in Cleveland. This week, they look at two big defensive plays that kept the Packers in the game, including one from Clay Matthews.

From the guys:

In the first quarter, Matthews helped set up Kyler Fackrell’s third-down sack by getting Kizer off his spot on an outside rush. He also beat right tackle Shon Coleman on an inside move for a sack late in the second quarter, several plays before Clinton-Dix’s interception.

Then there was his huge play in overtime. It wasn’t just that Matthews’ hit caused a flutterball that Josh Jones intercepted in Browns territory, which set up Brett Hundley in great field position to direct the game-winning score. It’s that it also probably prevented a big play by the Browns.

If you watch the TV replays from the Browns’ end zone, receiver Rashard Higgins slipped behind Morgan Burnett when Kizer started scrambling, and there was no one behind Burnett to help. Higgins was open, and if Kizer had enough time to get off the deep ball, there’s a good chance it would have hit for a long catch, pass interference penalty or even a touchdown.

But Kizer had no chance to get the pass off cleanly and shouldn’t have tried. It was third down, so if he’d eaten the ball (Ahmad Brooks was closing from the front side, so Kizer had nowhere to run) then Matthews’ pressure would have been enough to end the drive anyway. But when Kizer tried to do the impossible, Matthews was there to hit his arm and cause the interception.

No immediate update on Aaron Rodgers was forthcoming from Mike McCarthy Monday, but we do know he has undergone scans of his injured collarbone:

Trevor Davis continues to have his ups and downs as a return man:

Davon House could be back sooner rather than later:

Damarious Randall and Josh Gordon got into it on Twitter:

Need a primer on how the Packers can make the playoffs? Look no further:

Ty Montgomery talked about the team’s resiliency during Monday night’s Clubhouse Live:

Mike Daniels went toy shopping with some at-risk kids:

Elsewhere, Zach Kruse says it’s time for the Packers to pay Davante Adams:

All22ChalkTalk breaks down the Packers’ first touchdown:

WTMJ looks at....a lot of different playoff scenarios:

Mike Florio and Chris Simms ask if a Rodgers return could shake up the NFC race:

Peter King is asked about the Packers' playoff chances:

The crew at Spectrum Sports talks about the Packers staying alive:

Soft zones continue to plague the Packers' defense:

Adam Schein is all in:

Bleacher Report asks if the Packers are Super Bowl contenders:

The Panthers are game planning for Aaron Rodgers:

Speaking of the Panthers, they don’t sound scared of the prospect of seeing Rodgers: