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On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers sat and watched football from the couch while four teams competed for the rights to advance to Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis. And when the dust settled, the Packers’ bitter rivals — the Minnesota Vikings — were left in a smoldering heap, scorched all game long by a blistering performance from Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles.
This comes as good news for most Packers fans, and to some Packers players as well. In our unofficial reader poll, about 75% of APC readers were cheering for Philadelphia last night (though we can’t help wondering if there were some Vikings fans skewing the results a bit). Thus, three-quarters or more of Packers nation must have been pleased with the result of the NFC Championship, which sent the Eagles to the Super Bowl instead of seeing Minnesota play the game in their own home stadium.
There is one likely added benefit to a specific Packers player with the Eagles win, as you’ll see in today’s curds below.
Lane Johnson a win from 'giving out beer to everyone' - NFL.com
Johnson promised the entire city of Philadelphia that he would buy everyone a beer if the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year. He's one game away from having to deliver on that promise and run up a huge bill.
Eagles’ win could have Pro Bowl benefits for Packers LT David Bakhtiari | Packers Wire
However, one place Johnson won't be going is to the Pro Bowl, which probably will open up a spot for second-team All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari to go in his place.
In other news, you can bet that Mike Daniels was happy with the result of the NFC Championship, based on this image he posted to his Instagram account before the game:
Patriots got some calls vs. Jaguars, but it’s not an NFL ref conspiracy - SBNation.com
There were some iffy calls, particularly in terms of pass interference, but even Jaguars cornerback A.J. Bouye refused to blame the loss on the officials: "we didn't execute good enough."
Packers could make free-agent splash at tight end | Pete Dougherty
There are a few intriguing names set to be available in March, including Jimmy Graham. However, as our Peter Bukowski noted this weekend, Graham is really only a red zone weapon at this point and the Packers need a tight end to stretch the seam in the middle of the field, not another target around the goal line.
Herb Waters glad he stuck around Green Bay | Packers.com
One of the best names on the roster is excited for a full offseason at cornerback, as last year's training camp was cut short with a shoulder injury. Instead of working out on his own, Waters stayed at the team facilities and participated in meetings with the corners, helping him prepare mentally for 2018.
Jamaal Williams plans to add speed to list of attributes next season - ESPN
Williams talked about his rookie season this weekend, revealing that he needs to get quicker and faster in his second year. Also, keep an eye out for a special edition of The APC Podcast coming soon, in which our guys talked to Williams about all sorts of topics, both football-related and off-the-field.
Finally, today is both Ty Montgomery’s and Richard Rodgers’ birthdays. Happy birthday to these two Packers!