The Packers give up their Bid for the Super Bowl
The pre playoff preparation work was done. The Green Bay Packers had a game plan and fine-tuned their plan by practicing the plays over, and over, and over…
They studied videotape, met with their respective position coordinators to go over the myriad possibilities of any given snap-play. They even tried to account for just about everything but that which no one could ever expect to prepare: the unpredictable bounce of a cold, oblong ball… and fate!
The Packers believed they were ready, physically and mentally, for their NFC divisional playoff game against the Giants at Lambeau Field, but after two weeks of structure and go, go, go, the final moments were tough as they watched their bid for the Super Bowl disappear.
Game day is here and over. And even though the season started with the NFL Lockout, these Green Bay Packers were set to host their first playoff game since 2007 when the New York Giants beat them in the NFC Championship Game. Well, the Giants did it again against the 15-1 Green Bay Packers again at Lambeau Field. The Packers’ offense was plagued with fumbles, dropped passes, and overthrows as the Giants eliminated them touchdown after touchdown. Eli Manning who was 21 of 33, with 330 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception, was sharper than Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, and they simply could not overcome their three fumbles. Maybe rust was a factor, and Rodgers’ three week stay from playing was a very bad idea? After all, this wasn’t no Packers vs. Bears rivalry game, this was the playoffs!
Nevertheless, both the offense and defense were lethargic and the rest is history now. Although the Packers were driving to tie at the start of the fourth quarter, Rodgers simply couldn’t connect with tight end Jermichael Finley on third and 5 at the Giants’ 39. The next play Rodgers was sacked, and the Giants took over to put together a 10-play field goal drive to take a 23-13 lead. Not to mention playing against a Giants defense dead set on covering as many receivers as possible, Rodgers had a little running room and finished with 66 yards on seven scrambles.
Safety Morgan Burnett had an interception to thwart one drive, and Brad Jones blocked a field goal. And let’s not forget that veteran Donald Driver set the franchise record for postseason receptions. But despite these highlights, this was not the same Packers offense that drove the Packers to a 15-1 record. Rodgers missed throws, numerous receivers dropped passes, and the line was shaky with Green Bay using both Chad Clifton and Marshall Newhouse at left tackle.
The Giants covered very well and refused to give up the big play. The Packers had one pass play of 20 yards or more. All year, Dom Capers hasn’t been able to fluster quarterbacks without blitzing, and a comfortable Manning made plays all game. With 15 seconds left, the back-breaker came at the end of the first half when Ahmad Bradshaw – running diagonally across the field – scampered for 23 and managed to get out of bounds to set up Nicks’ 37-yard touchdown. That play was the impending blow that sent the Giants into halftime with all the momentum necessary to carry them to a victory.
Why Aaron Rodgers Loses Because of The NFL Lockout
The NFL lockout could end next month or next year. No matter when it concludes, however, the Green Bay Packers have already canceled one of their most successful off-season events, “quarterback school”.
Mike McCarthy’s renowned “quarterback school,” an intensive and top-secret program designed to give his most important players a head start on the season, has come and gone with the NFL lockout. Although it is possible that a truncated version could be revived if the lockout ends soon, McCarthy already lamented its demise last week at the NFL owners meeting.
“To me, March is the most important time of year for a young quarterback,” McCarthy said. “March and April, I’ve always felt, is when you get your individual improvement. That opportunity has obviously gone by the wayside.”
When asked what happens at his quarterback school, McCarthy smiled and said, “That’s top-secret stuff, man” before emphasizing that he follows all of the NFL’s offseason rules for offseason player participation. The concept began when he started as an NFL assistant in the early 1990′s, McCarthy said.
“Particularly in the old days, you draft a young quarterback and he goes and sits in a corner and he takes all the notes,” he said. “Then all of a sudden you get to [the next] March, and they say, ‘You know, I didn’t want to ask a question in front of the other guys but I never knew what the hell you were talking about.’ So and you’re like, ‘I just spent a year with this guy and he doesn’t know the base protections.’ That was a big moment for me personally when I was a position coach.”
So on the first day of quarterback school, the Packers “go back to page one,” McCarthy said. That means reviewing how to call for a huddle and moving from there. In recent years, McCarthy asked Rodgers to present some of the information as a way to mix it up and keep things interesting for a veteran group.
“Each year, as he goes through it, you try to eliminate some of the redundancies,” McCarthy said, “but it’s to give those young quarterbacks that chance to go back to square one every year. You learn the base protections, all the adjustments, I’ve been in the same offense since 1989, and I still learn something new each year. You’re never too experienced or been in it long enough to not find a better way this year.
“Because today’s game, it’s just a big circle. The NFL is just a circle of adjustments, whether it’s the 3-4, or whether it’s the 4-3, whether you’re spreading them out or running the ball. You really don’t run new plays. There are so many great coaches and players that have come before us and you’re just reinventing the stuff that have been done over history. You try to stay one step ahead of your opponents.”
In McCarthy’s world, the quickest way to that point is to have multiple quarterbacks who know what they’re doing. The Packers should have that this year with or without a quarterback school. But as with the case of the Minnesota Vikings’ pre-draft minicamp, the lockout has already eliminated an opportunity for further progress.