Quote Originally Posted by pbmax View Post
I agree. Packers offense in '96 was hamstrung by injuries for quite some time and Andre Rison did not cure all of it. Especially since he didn't know the playbook.

Defense and ST gave them VERY beneficial field position all season long.
It was a combination of signing Rison and getting Free back that re-ignited the offense. In the stretch without Brooks and Freeman, the defense was not enough to win games. As good as the 96 defense was, it will never be remembered as an all time great due to a few factors. 1) There wasn't one aspect that dominated so much everyone took note and feared it. Can you think of the real identity of the 96 defense? 2) Most of the star players didn't play much longer. White and Jones were at the end of their careers. Brown was effective for maybe 1 more year. Simmons got injured not long after. Only Butler remained an outstanding player for a number of years. 3) They are overshadowed by the offensive juggernaut that basically took the running game away from the opponents, leaving a solid secondary and pass rush to end the game. As noted, when the offense sputtered due to injured receivers, the defense did not shut down opponents enough to win.