Posted by:
gwoelfel on
January 12, 2008 at
2:28AM CST
BY GERY WOELFEL
Now we’re going to find out how good the Packers really are.
Now we’re going to find out how good of a coach Mike McCarthy really is.
The Packers will play the Seattle Seahawks in an NFC second-round playoff game today at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Next to the Dallas Cowboys, the Seahawks will be the best team the Packers have encountered this season.
While hardly an imposing team, Seattle can be an especially explosive on offense, and that’s vividly illustrated by the number of points they’ve put up since their bye week in late October.
Since then, in nine games, the Seahawks have scored a whopping 256 points. That’s an average of 28.4 points a game. On two occasions in that span, the Seahawks’ offense scored more than 40 points, including 42 against a decent Arizona Cardinals defense.
Of course, nobody should be surprised by the Seahawks’ offensive capabilities. They are, after all, coached by Mike Holmgren. And even Packers fans, whether they like him or not, have to acknowledge Holmgren is the closest thing to an offensive guru as you’ll find in the game.
You know Holmgren will have his team thoroughly prepared for today’s game, especially after his team’s bitter overtime playoff loss to the Packers a few years ago in Green Bay, a place where he started his sterling head coaching career and where he became so revered they even named a street after him.
You know Holmgren has looked at reams of film on the Packers, and you know he studied the Packers’ loss to Dallas and saw how Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo repeatedly found gaping holes in the Packers’ secondary.
And you know McCarthy knows that as well. That’s why it is imperative for McCarthy to have formulated a defensive game-plan that will foil Holmgren’s strategies.
While McCarthy has pushed virtually all the right buttons this season, he’ll never be more scrutinized than today when a nation-wide television audience will watch and critique his every move.
McCarthy will discover today – just like his predecessor Mike Sherman did – that in Green Bay coaches aren’t measured for what they did in the regular season. They are measured by what they did – or didn’t do -- in the playoffs.
Posted by: brewpackman on January 12, 2008 6:26AM CST
Good column, gery. The only thing I would add is that McCarthy better get ahold of the reigns on #4 in this one. The fact that the Packers have gone 2-4 in the playoffs since Holmgren left isn't strictly Favres fault, but a very big reason.
Posted by: Brett Favre on January 12, 2008 7:43AM CST
So who will you be cheering for today Gery? Let me guess, the Bucks tonight against Phoenix since that is the only team you really care about. Arizona has a "decent" defense as you put it, but the Packers gave up 100 points less them then and 20 yards a game through the air and Green bay is the team with the gapping holes? The only gapping holes are in your reporting. By the way, Seattle is the best team Green bay has faced other then the Cowboys? You can watch two others in the Ginats and Chargers who are pretty darn good as well.
Mike McCarthy has been voted the #2 coach in the nation, the Packers have already won the division title and they are in the playoffs! What is this he's "under the microscope baloney"?
Hey Dead behind the eyes...nice article..thanks for being a supporter of the Packers. Man too bad they didn't have Rivera and Wahle today. Grant only had 3 TD's and 200 yards and the Packers only won 42-20. Too bad they didn't still have Ahman Green and Sharper too!!! Man Thompson is a terrible evaluator of talent...I just can't believe how bad he is.
Posted by: brewpackman on January 12, 2008 11:52PM CST
Are you now ready to admit how good the Packers are? Please do not give excuses about snow covered fields or "good teams do not turn the ball over". Not going to pile on, just want you to admit that this is a truly special team.
Posted by: pakrz4life on January 14, 2008 8:19AM CST
Hey Genius!
You're always ripping on Ted Thompson, you don't give him any credit for their recent success, try these numbers wonder boy..... of the 53 players on the roster, only 13 are left from the Mike Sherman era! The 13 players left are.....Al Harris, Nick Barnett, Rob Davis, Scott Wells, Mark Tauscher, Aaron Kampman, Chad Clifton, Cullen Jenkins, Donald Driver, Bubba Franks, KGB, and of course Brett Favre. Now if you ask me, I think he has made awesome choices! All 13 players he kept are incredibly valuable to the team, and he surrounded them with the talent to get the Pack to the NFC championship you moron! You should stick to writing about your favorite form of entertainment... the WWF/NBA, leave football to the sports fans!
Posted by: brewpackman on January 14, 2008 6:26PM CST
Actually of those 13, only 4 were drafted by sherman....4 were drafted by Wolf and 5 were free agents or trades picked up by the two of them. Amazing what TT has done with this roster after the Mike Sherman as a GM debacle.
Posted by: forracine on January 15, 2008 9:18AM CST
GW: Now what GB wins big while Tony boy is in Mexico. Tony Romo will NOT be in Dallas in 2 seasons
Leave a Message
Leave a Comment
Request a Friend
