Cheese Curds, 11/1: Previewing ‘Rodgers v. Brady’ and the Packers’ safety decision

A game between the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots was always going to be dominated by the quarterback storyline. With Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady representing two of the very best examples of their craft in recent years, any time they are on the same field it will draw eyeballs and excitement from a national perspective.

Not surprisingly, this week’s game got a Prime Time slot on national TV, and the talking heads will be scrutinizing the quarterbacks to no end. But the two will never be on the field at the same time, of course making it not a one-on-one competition but a 46-on-46 contest. Thankfully, one of the early pieces from ESPN this week actually takes a bit of a refreshing take on the two signal-callers — not as rivals, but simply as contemporaries.

It makes sense. The two have started a regular season game opposite one another just once in their careers before this Sunday. The NFL was robbed of the first opportunity back in 2010 thanks to the Ford Field turf, which gave Rodgers a concussion the week prior. But in 2014, Rodgers was masterful in leading the Packers to a massive 26-21 victory at Lambeau Field.

Of course, the other narrative taking hold is around the Packers’ safety position. We now know that Tramon Williams has been getting some practice time at the position, but we probably will not find out the name of a starter until around game time.

So settle in this Sunday evening and enjoy what should be one of this season’s better games.

Packers’ secondary to take a different shape | Packers.com
It very well could be "safety by committee" moving forward, as Mike McCarthy said that the spot opened up by the trade of Ha Ha Clinton-Dix will be determined largely by game plan and that a number of players are candidates to contribute there.

Packers giving Tramon Williams looks at safety | Packers Wire
With that said, Williams moving to safety full-time might make the most sense, since he has prior experience playing that position in Mike Pettine's defense.

Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady: Contemporaries but not rivals - ESPN
It does make you wonder a bit how these two would have stacked up if they were in the same conference. I firmly believe that if the Packers were in the AFC, they would have made more Super Bowl appearances over the last decade.

Aaron Rodgers studied Tom Brady’s pocket movement | Packersnews.com
Rodgers’ athleticism is light-years ahead of Brady’s, but the Pats QB does excel at subtly moving around in the pocket, something Rodgers has admired for a long time.

The best athlete Halloween costumes of 2018 - SBNation.com
Well done, everyone, especially to Dallas Stars goalie Ben Bishop and Portland Trail Blazers forward Moe Harkless.

The 10 Spookiest TDs in NFL History - NFL.com
The Packers make three appearances on this list, claiming plays 3, 4, and 5. Yes, Antonio Freeman's Monday night catch is in there, but so is a hilarious play from Aaron Rodgers' return against the Bears in 2013.

Finally, we’ll close with a critical revelation that we learned about this morning: Marquez Valdes-Scantling has a super-cute dog named Ace Boogie: