Wolf Says Holmgren Lost The Super Bowl

[HarveyWallbangers]

Some interesting stuff about the West Coast offense not having seen the weak-side blitz much before that Super Bowl in the article. Wolf was told by two coaches on the staff that Holmgren refused to adjust to it.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=713518

[FritzDontBlitz]

Kinda sorry to see the way Holmgren blamed it all on Favre, while everyone else points to Holmgren's inept strategery.

[the_idle_threat]

Shitty thing to read all the way around. Everyone pointing fingers at someone else, sniping. I'd rather they didn't even bother. It's over. Move on.

[Iron Mike]

Let's not forget that with all of the derision aimed at the Patriots for Spygate, the Broncos were cheating on the salary cap the years they won the Super Bowl. :evil:

[b bulldog]

Interesting read but Wolf is really excusing the Defense in that game. Our Dline was manhandled from the beginning and the Broncos set the tone from the start.

[lcbj68c]

Shitty thing to read all the way around. Everyone pointing fingers at someone else, sniping. I'd rather they didn't even bother. It's over. Move on.

I couldn't agree more. A bunch of crybabies playing pass the buck. If you want to blame any coach, I would have put the blame on Fritz Shumur. How you can't scheme to stop a 40-yr old John Elway from running the football all over Qualcomm was beyond me. Gilbert Brown, Reggie White, Leroy Butler, all standing there with hands on hips. No fresh bodies, no scheme change, nothing. Just a bunch of standing around watching Terrell Davis slam it down their throats and John Elway frolicking like a deer in the open meadow. To have to audacity to blame losing the whole game on Holmgren's one play?...a 4th and 6 when the defense had already let them put 30+ on the board is beyond me.

Now that said, I never like Holmgren's demeanor and the way he carried himself. He was a good coach, I'm thankful for the things he did when he was here and even more thankful he ran when he did. He's not the kind of guy I'd seek a personal friendship with. Maybe that's why it's easy for players to place blame 10 years later as he never seemed to be a "players coach". However, I've seen worse coaching decisions (@Philadelphia, not going for it on 4th and 1 and netting a punt of 8 yards and then 4th and 26...comes to mind) than Holmgren's play calling in the final drive of Super Bowl XXXII.

[RashanGary]

Wolf's big mouth is getting old. He sits around and tosses mud from his Florida home. Maybe it's his fault for letting Desmond Howard go, greatly weakening our ST's.

[KYPack]

Good comments all.

Sour Grapes is always low class.

Yeah the D had a tough nite. That was the virtual unveiling of the Gibbs ZBS and Fritz was unsure how stop it. Gary Zimmmermann spanked the pathetic Darius Holland play after play. The loss of Gabe Wilkins was huge and never was compensated for.

I've always thought that this game left bad blood BTW Wolf and MH. The move a few years later to make Shermie HC & GM was to slap Holmey. It was like, "we couldn't do that for you, but this guy is a team guy and we'll give it to him".

I think Harlan and Wolf wanted to rub MH's nose in it a little.

[Scott Campbell]

I think Harlan and Wolf wanted to rub MH's nose in it a little.



After BJ Sander, Ahmad Carrol, etc. etc. etc., all I can say is - they sure showed him by rubbing his nose in it.

[RashanGary]

I always had a feeling that Wolf knew Sherman would go for broke. I think Wolf influenced Sherman to act the way he did by telling him it's in the teams best interest to worry only about making your team better right now, rather than wanting to make it better as a whole. Sherman obviously didn't have experience of seeing the pitfalls of short sighted decision making.


Wolfs goal was to leave the team in the hands of someone he could trust to secure his legacy, not make his own. By being short sighted, Wolfs goal was to win during Favres last years and then fall apart. Wolf didn't realize how quickly it would fall apart, ultimately hurting his own legacy. NOw TT gets the credit and Wolf can do nothing more than sit itn Florida and toss mud. Screw him. I wouldn't doubt if big parts of the Packers core were dug up by Thompson and the scouts and Wolf took all of the credit.

[Carolina_Packer]

The NFC Championship game this year had some similarities to that Super Bowl. The defense was on the field too long, the offense seemed out of sync a lot and unable to use Levens effectively and they were unable to make adjustments when needed. Hopefully M3 will learn from his mistakes in that game when he gets his next chance.

[HarveyWallbangers]

The NFC Championship game this year had some similarities to that Super Bowl. The defense was on the field too long, the offense seemed out of sync a lot and unable to use Levens effectively and they were unable to make adjustments when needed. Hopefully M3 will learn from his mistakes in that game when he gets his next chance.

The Packers offense was mostly fine in that Super Bowl--except for the blitzes that Wolf was talking about. Favre threw the ball well when he had time, and Levens ran at will. He should have ran more. We couldn't run the ball at all against the Giants, and then when we had our two best runs, we went away from it. I don't necessarily agree with Wolf. That Super Bowl came down to the Packers inability to stop the run. If they slow Davis down just a bit, they win. The turnovers didn't help, but they should have been overcome. We only had two turnovers. Let's not forget that Elway gift-wrapped an interception that kept us in the game at one point. Frustrating to think that some coaches think they could have dealt with the Broncos new blitz packages though. Maybe that's just sour grapes by those coaches and Wolf though.

[retailguy]

I always had a feeling that Wolf knew Sherman would go for broke. I think Wolf influenced Sherman to act the way he did by telling him it's in the teams best interest to worry only about making your team better right now, rather than wanting to make it better as a whole. Sherman obviously didn't have experience of seeing the pitfalls of short sighted decision making.


Wolfs goal was to leave the team in the hands of someone he could trust to secure his legacy, not make his own. By being short sighted, Wolfs goal was to win during Favres last years and then fall apart. Wolf didn't realize how quickly it would fall apart, ultimately hurting his own legacy. NOw TT gets the credit and Wolf can do nothing more than sit itn Florida and toss mud. Screw him. I wouldn't doubt if big parts of the Packers core were dug up by Thompson and the scouts and Wolf took all of the credit.

I find myself mostly agreeing with this. That's twice in a week. i should buy a lotto ticket. :wink:

I remember reading something recently where Ted said if he had been here during the Sherman years that he might have decided to "go for broke" too. He might have just been being polite, but he might have been serious too. With Ted, you just never know.

What Wolf has shown in the past 5 years is how big his ego is. I know you have to have a big ego to do these jobs, and then the media gives you an even bigger ego by following you around like a puppy dog, but jeez. In 2008, who really cares who lost the 1997 Super Bowl?

Denver, cheated, and won. Let's just hate them and leave Holmgren alone.... OK? :twisted: I think being shipped to Seattle is punishment enough. Let's just let it go...

[SkinBasket]

This article's like hosing down your grandma in the backyard.

At first it's kind of fun because the water's real cold and you feel like you're getting her back for all the bad things she's done to you.

Then after a while you realize you're hosing down your naked grandmother and she's sobbing about how cold it is and then you just feel a little gross.

[Deputy Nutz]

What the Packer lost?

[FritzDontBlitz]

The NFC Championship game this year had some similarities to that Super Bowl. The defense was on the field too long, the offense seemed out of sync a lot and unable to use Levens effectively and they were unable to make adjustments when needed. Hopefully M3 will learn from his mistakes in that game when he gets his next chance.

The Packers offense was mostly fine in that Super Bowl--except for the blitzes that Wolf was talking about. Favre threw the ball well when he had time, and Levens ran at will. He should have ran more. We couldn't run the ball at all against the Giants, and then when we had our two best runs, we went away from it. I don't necessarily agree with Wolf. That Super Bowl came down to the Packers inability to stop the run. If they slow Davis down just a bit, they win. The turnovers didn't help, but they should have been overcome. We only had two turnovers. Let's not forget that Elway gift-wrapped an interception that kept us in the game at one point. Frustrating to think that some coaches think they could have dealt with the Broncos new blitz packages though. Maybe that's just sour grapes by those coaches and Wolf though.

I don't see it as sour grapes, I see more of a difference of opinion about why it happened. I tend to relate to what the players said: there were ways to adjust but the coaches got away from them for reasons only they know. I think the phone call - or non-call - from the owner of the Seahawks did more to screw Holmgren's head up than anything Denver did. (Prior to the game, there was controversy when Paul (?) Allen, the owner of the Seahawks, claimed he called Ron Wolf and asked for permission to interview Holmgren to be head coach/gm of Seattle. Wolf denied ever having received such a call, and Holmgren was furious when he found out about it anyway.) He did not call a very good game. Holmgren's comments in the article suggest he'd rather throw Favre under the bus than admit he might have goofed in his gameplanning. Interestingly enough, not one player in the article agrees with him.

I think its telling that even though Holmgren and Lovat say they were prepared for everything Denver threw at them, they spent a huge amount of 1999 rewriting the playbook (50 new protection schemes) to prepare for the type of blitzes they saw in the Super Bowl. That tells me they weren't ready for what they saw.

[b bulldog]

After thinking about this for a little bit I came with this conclusion as have many already. First thing is that this is 10 years old :beat: Second thing is and probably most important is that Wolf is always trying to pass the buck. Firast, when the Packers drafted TBuck over Vincent, Wolf blames his defensive coaches for that because they really liked Buckley and talked him into that pick, SECOND, Wolf still will tell anyone who will listen that he didn't reccommend Sherman to be our GM to Harlan. Harlan has stated numerous times that Wold did and lastly, Wolf blames the Jamal"too small" reynolds pick on Sherman when Harlan told a WTMJ reporter during one of his last interviews that Ron was enamored by Reynolds and that the pick was Ron's :oops: . I bet Holmgren would look at this differently and he does as he stated in his McDounah interview he did some years back when he told the team what to do when being blitzed.

[Partial]

I think this is a stupid article. Bob McGinn's last two articles have been weak efforts at best.

[twoseven]

Ten years later and it's blame game time. Maybe McGinn can rehash the Mandarich draft pick in his next piece.
:bclap:

[Fritz]

This article's like hosing down your grandma in the backyard.

At first it's kind of fun because the water's real cold and you feel like you're getting her back for all the bad things she's done to you.

Then after a while you realize you're hosing down your naked grandmother and she's sobbing about how cold it is and then you just feel a little gross.

Unless your grandma is a gilf - then you get a little turned on, though you feel kinda creepy.

[Scott Campbell]

Do I ever miss the way we used to gouge teams with the screen pass to Dorsey. Fascinating read.

[woodbuck27]

Terrell Davis rushed for 157 yards and a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns to lead the Broncos to their first NFL championship and break the NFC's streak of Super Bowl victories at 13.

The defending Super Bowl champion Packers took the opening kickoff and marched 76 yards in just over four minutes, scoring the first points on Brett Favre's 22-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Freeman.

PACKERS 7 - BRONCOS 0

The Broncos responded with a 10-play, 58-yard drive capped by Davis's 1-yard run to tie the game.

7 ALL

Tyrone Braxton intercepted Favre two plays later, and John Elway scored on a third-and-goal play to begin the second quarter.

14 - 7 BRONCOS

Steve Atwater forced Favre to fumble three plays later, and Neil Smith recovered at the Packers' 33. Jason Elam converted a 51-yard field goal, the second longest in Super Bowl history, to give . . .

the Broncos a 17-7 lead with 12:21 left in the half.

After an exchange of punts, the Packers produced a 17-play, 95-yard drive that consumed 7:26 and finished with Favre's 6-yard touchdown pass to Mark Chmura on third-and-5 with 12 seconds left in the half.

17-14 at the half for the Broncos.

Tyrone Williams forced and recovered Davis's fumble at the Broncos' 26 on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. However, the Broncos' defense kept the Packers out of the end zone as Ryan Longwell's 27-yard field goal tied the game with 11:59 left in the third quarter.

17 ALL!

After another exchange of punts, Elway's 36-yard pass to Ed McCaffrey keyed a 13-play, 92-yard drive capped by Davis's 1-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds left in the third quarter.

BRONCOS 24 - PACKERS 17

Tim McKyer recovered Freeman's fumble at the Packers' 22 on the ensuing kickoff return, giving the Broncos a golden opportunity, but Eugene Robinson intercepted Elway's pass in the end zone on the next play.

Sparked by Robinson's play, the Packers took just four plays, three on passes to Freeman, to score the tying touchdown with 13:32 remaining.

SCORE - 24 ALL.

Each defense stiffened, forcing two punts, but the Broncos got great field position following Craig Hentrich's 39-yard punt to the Packers' 49 with 3:27 left and the score tied 24-24.

Davis rushed for two yards on the first play, but Darrius Holland's 15-yard facemask penalty moved the ball to the Packers' 32. Elway threw a 23-yard pass to Howard Griffith two plays later, and after a holding penalty, Davis rushed 17 yards to the Packers' 1 with 1:47 left.

After a timeout, Davis waltzed into the end zone to give Denver a 31-24 lead with 1:45 remaining.

Freeman returned the kickoff 22 yards to the Packers' 30, and Favre completed 22- and 13-yard screen passes to Dorsey Levens to reach the Broncos' 35 with 1:04 left.

But after a 4-yard pass to Levens and incompletions to Freeman and Brooks, John Mobley knocked away Favre's pass to Chmura with 32 seconds left to give the Broncos the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Elway was 12 of 22 for 123 yards, with an interception.

Favre was 25 of 42 for 256 yards and a touchdown, with one interception.

Freeman had nine receptions for 126 yards.

Terrell Davis was named the game's most valuable player.

This was it for me:

Terrell Davis rushed for 157 yards and a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns to lead the Broncos to their first NFL championship and break the NFC's streak of Super Bowl victories at 13.

[Scott Campbell]

Woody, I sure hope you dress better than you post. What an abortion. People are trying to read these things. Even the couple of people who like you complain about it.


I think Mad should consider disabling the graphics features like bold and font size selections. It's too bad that one old coot has to ruin it for everybody else. IMO.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Good comments all.

Sour Grapes is always low class.

Yeah the D had a tough nite. That was the virtual unveiling of the Gibbs ZBS and Fritz was unsure how stop it. Gary Zimmmermann spanked the pathetic Darius Holland play after play. The loss of Gabe Wilkins was huge and never was compensated for.

I've always thought that this game left bad blood BTW Wolf and MH. The move a few years later to make Shermie HC & GM was to slap Holmey. It was like, "we couldn't do that for you, but this guy is a team guy and we'll give it to him".

I think Harlan and Wolf wanted to rub MH's nose in it a little.

Gabe definitely hurt, but i also remember that Holmgren made a choice not to have another DL on the active lineup..went with I think and offensive player.

I can't recall who that DL was, but i remember thinking during the game, geez we need that guy out there...well, we a body at least.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Woody, I sure hope you dress better than you post. What an abortion. People are trying to read these things. Even the couple of people who like you complain about it.


I think Mad should consider disabling the graphics features like bold and font size selections. It's too bad that one old coot has to ruin it for everybody else. IMO.

You ever get the feeling Woody taught 3rd graders for like 40 years?

[Scott Campbell]

Woody, I sure hope you dress better than you post. What an abortion. People are trying to read these things. Even the couple of people who like you complain about it.


I think Mad should consider disabling the graphics features like bold and font size selections. It's too bad that one old coot has to ruin it for everybody else. IMO.

You ever get the feeling Woody taught 3rd graders for like 40 years?


No, not at all. Though I do get the feeling that 3rd graders may have taught Woody for 40 years.

[woodbuck27]

Woody, I sure hope you dress better than you post. What an abortion. People are trying to read these things. Even the couple of people who like you complain about it.


I think Mad should consider disabling the graphics features like bold and font size selections. It's too bad that one old coot has to ruin it for everybody else. IMO.

How's that plowboy?

[Scott Campbell]

Woody, I sure hope you dress better than you post. What an abortion. People are trying to read these things. Even the couple of people who like you complain about it.


I think Mad should consider disabling the graphics features like bold and font size selections. It's too bad that one old coot has to ruin it for everybody else. IMO.

How's that plowboy?


Actually that's a nice start. Well done.

[woodbuck27]

Woody, I sure hope you dress better than you post. What an abortion. People are trying to read these things. Even the couple of people who like you complain about it.


I think Mad should consider disabling the graphics features like bold and font size selections. It's too bad that one old coot has to ruin it for everybody else. IMO.

How's that plowboy?


Actually that's a nice start. Well done.

What . . . no Star?

[pbmax]

This week is bad enough without reliving that game. Maybe McGinn can call up some Cleveland beat reporters, talk to Brian Sipe and Schottenheimer and retell the Red Right 88 game. Or The Drive. Or The Fumble. Then you can all visit my grave.

[Joemailman]

Good comments all.

Sour Grapes is always low class.

Yeah the D had a tough nite. That was the virtual unveiling of the Gibbs ZBS and Fritz was unsure how stop it. Gary Zimmmermann spanked the pathetic Darius Holland play after play. The loss of Gabe Wilkins was huge and never was compensated for.

I've always thought that this game left bad blood BTW Wolf and MH. The move a few years later to make Shermie HC & GM was to slap Holmey. It was like, "we couldn't do that for you, but this guy is a team guy and we'll give it to him".

I think Harlan and Wolf wanted to rub MH's nose in it a little.

Gabe definitely hurt, but i also remember that Holmgren made a choice not to have another DL on the active lineup..went with I think and offensive player.

I can't recall who that DL was, but i remember thinking during the game, geez we need that guy out there...well, we a body at least.

My recollection is that they went with an extra DB because Tyrone Williams had had some back spasms during the week leading up to the game. Wolf got a little testy when asked about the decision by reporters afterward.

[KYPack]

I also have a problem with the assertion (ex-coach testimony or not) that Holmy had no schemes for a weak side blitz. That Packer team ran great screens, draws, quicks, and Brett was as quick on the trigger as any QB, including Montana and Marino.

Our left side Oline was a little weak, but Wanda blitzes by the Broncos were not the reason the GBP didn't win that Super Bowl.

Ron, go to yer favorite Maryland restaurant, order the crabs and , please shut the fuck up.

[Patler]

The Wolf/Holmgren relationship really soured when Holmgren tried to steal most of the front office staff from Green Bay when he went to Seattle. I think Wolf has carried a grudge ever since.