CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
Some love him, probably many more hate him among Packer nation, but none can deny that long-time Packer beat writer Bob McGinn calls it like he sees it and usually backs it up. For those that can't get the Milwaukee paper today, here are the key excerpts:
Big changes might be necessary
Time to face cold facts about Favre
Those who wield the power for National Football League teams have been known to turn on coaches and players at a moment's notice. Fear and paranoia always bubble just beneath the surface in pro football, and often they bubble over after catastrophic defeat.
The general manager in Green Bay, Ted Thompson, comes across outwardly as always in control of his emotions. But as competitive as Thompson is, you know well his guts are churning and probably won't stop churning until he makes a move that in his mind helps prevent this from ever happening again.
If I were Thompson, in no particular order, my agenda would be three-pronged:
1. What to do about quarterback Brett Favre?
2. What to do about defensive coordinator Bob Sanders?
3. What to do about coach Mike McCarthy's zone running scheme?
***
NFL people get very narrow-minded when Super Bowl berths are denied. In Green Bay, they know that Favre was awful in the second half and overtime (44.1 passer rating) and that Eli Manning's passer rating was 118.5 in the same span. And people like Thompson undoubtedly wonder if the time is right to cut the cord and go with promising Aaron Rodgers, who entered the league just one year after Manning but now is 59 starts behind him.
Rodgers is Thompson's guy. Don't forget that.
***
From this point forward, Thompson and McCarthy will have to live with the fact that nothing short of the Super Bowl will be good enough for fans. And having watched Favre look so cold and so old twice in the last month, they probably have doubts how in the world he could ever win another NFC Championship Game in frigid weather.
After leading a short touchdown drive in the third quarter, Favre participated in five more series. Until you examine those five series play-by-play, it's hard to realize just how poorly he played.
Of the 13 passes that Favre threw, a strict evaluator might give him two pluses, seven minuses and four OKs. Despite solid protection, he was locking onto his first read almost regardless of down and distance. The bottom line was three first downs, 63 yards, a field goal, two interceptions and two punts. Given how efficiently the often rattled Manning was performing regardless of the harshest weather and pressure, Favre's failures were startling, to say the least.
On the decisive play, Favre took a rare seven-step drop as his six blockers stopped a six-man rush. It was second and 8 from the New York 28 to start overtime. A lifetime of quarterbacking should have guided him toward a wise decision and the proper read.
Ryan Grant leaks out on the check-down as Donald Lee leaks out and takes the only linebacker in coverage with him. Flip it to uncovered Grant and it's a first down at the 40.
On the left outside, Greg Jennings is sprinting beyond aging R.W. McQuarters and away from the safety on a deep post-corner route. There's also separation for Favre to see between Lee and linebacker Reggie Torbor. There is almost no separation between Corey Webster and Donald Driver, who hasn't gotten a clean release and is trying to turn it back into a 15-yard out.
Favre selects the worst of four options, throws a semi-floater to Driver that's both short and on the wrong side, Webster intercepts it and the rest is history. So is Favre's composite rating of 59.5 in his last six playoff losses.
For most of 2007, Favre performed at a magnificent level some never thought possible at his age. But in the moment of truth, with a precious Super Bowl berth at hand, he was horrible.
***
One of the reasons why Manning aced his rite of passage was the failure of Sanders both to disrupt Manning in the pocket and disrupt his receivers.
Plaxico Burress ate Al Harris for dinner, but that's Al Harris. Sanders has coached him for two years. What really did he expect?
Just before kickoff, Harris told the Fox sideline reporter, "I'm going to do what I do. . . . They know when they come to Green Bay, we play bump-and-run."
All night long Harris basically lined up across from Burress using inside technique and played man-to-man with no help.
It might have been worth trying Charles Woodson on Burress, and Sanders should have done so after Harris went in the tank, but with Woodson's bad knee the results probably wouldn't have been much better.
Obviously, Sanders couldn't play Cover 2 because Harris cannot play zone. He might have had Harris play an outside technique and had Atari Bigby overplay toward that side. Burress would have had his bell rung by Bigby on slants, and the back-shoulder fades wouldn't have been possible because Harris could have seen them coming.
But Sanders didn't use much if any of that. His run defense was so porous that he needed Bigby in the box. But when Bigby kept giving his intentions away by committing too early, Manning had an easy read to sit back and keep playing catch with Burress.
Sanders did rush more than usual (five or more on 34.8% of passes), but his vanilla blitz package isn't exactly cutting edge.
Across the field, Giants coordinator Steve Spagnuolo kept Favre off-balance with a daring, multiple package. He kept blitzing slots and cornerbacks, something Sanders almost never does.
If Harris would have blitzed from the edge, the linebacker would have rushed out to the flat and Nick Collins would have come over from the deep middle. Collins has more than enough speed to cover deep, too.
Under Jim Bates in 2005, Harris was an effective blitzer with three sacks, three knockdowns and three hurries. Before that, Ed Donatell successfully incorporated safeties into his rushes.
In two years under Sanders, Harris and Woodson have combined for one sack, no knockdowns and two hurries. Granted, it's better to have Harris covering than rushing, but defense is about being unpredictable and the Packers were fatally predictable against New York.
Early in the season, the contention here was that this would be a top-five defense by year's end. It finished 11th (tied for sixth in points, tied for 17th in takeaways) despite playing just two teams with top-10 offenses.
In most walks of life, an exemplary employee such as Sanders would have done nothing to be let go. But the NFL often is a cruel, unfair business.
With Gregg Williams being fired in Washington, he'll be looking to take the best available coordinator's gig. The Redskins were paying him a king's ransom, but the Packers can spend with anybody, especially for someone of Williams' proven ability to customize Bill Belichick-like game plans and to inspire players.
***
Packers-Giants spoke volumes about the two running games.
With their finesse-based zone scheme and more athletic linemen, the Packers couldn't knock anybody off the ball. Moreover, the precision and timing necessary to execute zone plays went haywire amid the scrums of an arctic night.
The Giants, on the other hand, ran the power and gap-type plays that Green Bay ran so well with Mike Sherman and Larry Beightol. Coach Tom Coughlin persisted with his run, and by the end his bigger blockers were in control of the line of scrimmage.
In New Orleans, McCarthy's run game featured both power and zone plays minus the back-side cutting used by Denver and now the Packers.
At McCarthy's behest, Jeff Jagodzinski brought the zone scheme to Green Bay in 2006 but the Packers still used some power plays (double-team on the play side with a back-side puller) largely because of Ahman Green. All the power was eliminated this year, and the zone plays worked once Ryan Grant put on the saddle.
Still, there's a reason why the Packers converted an NFL-worst 35.7% on third-and fourth-and-1, and why McCarthy passed on 17 of 19 third-and-2 situations. And it's the same reason they couldn't even function last Sunday.
***
The squandered opportunity last Sunday will long be remembered, but such an opportunity could come again sooner than later. Whether it does or not rests on how well Thompson fares with the hard decisions ahead.
Plus the thing is with Rodgers is his durability. He played for a half against NE in 2006 and broke his foot and missed the rest of the year. This year he played a very good half against Dallas but then pulls a hammy in practice and is the 3rd QB for the rest of the year. The Packers had to go pick up a backup. I don't think the Packers should be in a hurry to show Brett the door.Plus this was the 2nd or 3rd coldest game (depends who you talk to) ever in Lambeau. He seemed just fine the week before with the temps in the 20's.
just more evidence at how spoiled GB fans really are... it's time to wake up and realize what we have now is so rare, it's better to enjoy it while we can. Rodgers could be way worse and send us into a 5 year tailspin of no playoffs...
A reporter says big changes are necessary and you guys give him credit. The guy is always an idiot. Always has been.
just more evidence at how spoiled GB fans really are... it's time to wake up and realize what we have now is so rare, it's better to enjoy it while we can. Rodgers could be way worse and send us into a 5 year tailspin of no playoffs...
