B.J. Raji And Caleb Hanie Trade Touchdowns video

Packers Vs. Bears Score: B.J. Raji And Caleb Hanie Trade Touchdowns, Green Bay Up 21-14 video

Gigantic Green Bay Packers DT B.J. Raji, listed at 337 pounds that we know of, intercepted Chicago Bears third-string QB Caleb Hanie. Darting 18 yards into the end zone, sort of fumbling the ball at the goal line, and breaking out a ravishing hip swivel, Raji appeared to have punched the Packers’ ticket to Arlington, but you can never count out Hanie, because you have never heard of him.

It’s the first career touchdown for Raji and the first postseason interception for Hanie.



The Bears responded by operating in a no-huddle, and with under five minutes to go Hanie had the ball moving. The score came on a 35-yard touchdown pass to Earl Bennett, and Chicago isn’t quite out of it yet. Hanie now has 103 yards in well under a quarter of football, making him Chicago's leading passer on the day.

Follow along with this StoryStream for further updates. And for more on these teams, check out SB Nation’s Bears blog, Windy City Gridiron, and our Packers blog, Acme Packing Company.

Caleb Hanie Big leads Green Bay Packers

Caleb Hanie Big D leads Green Bay Packers to Big D

CHICAGO -- Green Bay nose tackle B.J. Raji, all 337 pounds of him, picked off the pass that was mistakenly thrown right to him, took off on a short jaunt to the end zone and then held the ball with his big hand right out in front.

Thanks to his touchdown, Big B.J. and Green Bay's D are headed to Big D. For the Super Bowl.

Raji's 18-yard interception return for a TD with about six minutes to go Sunday turned out to be the biggest and most important play all day by an aggressive Packers defense.

"Dom is a great coach," Raji said, crediting defensive coordinator Dom Capers. "He has great things for us."

Green Bay also got two interceptions - one to close out the victory in the final minute - from defensive back Sam Shields, who also forced a fumble on a blitz.

Raji's interception of Chicago third-stringer Caleb Hanie's pass gave the Packers a two-touchdown lead, and they needed it after being burned by a Hanie-to-Earl Bennett TD a short time later.

The Bears got the ball back again, but Shields made his second interception of the game, this one at the Packers 12, to wrap up the victory.

Green Bay's quick defense made a miserable day for Chicago starter Jay Cutler, who left in the third quarter with a knee injury and completed only 6 of 14 passes for 80 yards.

Clay Matthews, Cullen Jenkins, Ryan Pickett and Raji kept up the pressure throughout the game and the Packers forced a hurried Hanie into an intentional grounding call on the final series.

Until Johnny Knox got free on a 32-yarder in the fourth quarter from Hanie to set up a TD, Green Bay's pass coverage seldom cracked and the Packers were pitching a shutout.

The Packers, who allowed only 15 points per game this season, also had strong special teams coverage on Bears return sensation Devin Hester.

News From: www.washingtonpost.com

Potential new DH paRayde in Tampa Bay

The soon-to-be-official acquisition of Manny Ramirez by the Tampa Bay Rays is the latest attempt to solve an issue that has plagued them for five seasons -– how to get the most production out of the designated hitter slot. In the last five seasons, Rays DHs have never hit higher than .246. They rank among the least productive in all three slashline statistics (batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage), as well as home runs.

Despite his age, Ramirez still does something that makes him worthy of a low-cost risk for certain teams -– he gets on base at a high rate. Ramirez ranked eighth in the majors in on-base percentage last season, among those who had at least 300 plate appearances.

Ramirez’s acquisition does prevent him from adding to his totals against Tampa Bay. Rays fans will have to get used to cheering for the all-time leader in RBI against their team. Ramirez was particularly impressive from 1998 to 2003, amassing 86 RBI in 81 games against the then-Devil Rays. Johnny Damon, who has compiled the second-most hits, runs and stolen bases against Tampa Bay, is on the verge of some major-league history, whether he ends up sharing the DH role with Ramirez or playing left field.

Via the National Pastime Baseball Almanac, we can tell you that he’s one of only five players to have 15 straight seasons of at least 140 games played. The only players with more are Brooks Robinson, Hank Aaron and Pete Rose (16 each)

To merit that much playing time, Damon may need to improve in a couple of areas from what he did last season – not an easy thing for a 37-year-old to do. Rays rookie Desmond Jennings is waiting to be the regular left fielder should Damon falter.

Damon, a career .290 hitter with runners in scoring position, hit .209 in such situations last season, but perhaps more alarmingly, struck out 33 times in 148 at-bats.

It was the second straight season in which Damon’s strikeout rate with runners in scoring position was just about double what it had been in his career prior to 2009. Damon’s weakness is similar to that of someone we wrote about Friday, Vernon Wells. He struggled against breaking pitches last season. He went from getting hits on 15 percent of his swings against breaking balls in 2009 to only nine percent in 2010.

Leaving Yankee Stadium for Comerica Park and the Detroit Tigers hurt Damon’s power numbers, as his slugging percentage in his home park dropped 98 points (perhaps also cause for alarm, it dipped 82 points on the road). He went from 24 home runs in 2009 to eight in 2010, and his home run total on breaking pitches went from eight to zero.

Damon also went homerless against left-handed pitchers in 2010. He only had one RBI in 120 at-bats against southpaws last season.

That would seem to be an argument for making him part of a DH platoon, rather than having him open the season having to fill the shoes of fan favorite and superstar left fielder Carl Crawford. The Rays may have their own game plan in mind.

News From: espn.go.com