Cleft Crusty
02-05-2011, 09:13 AM
As the big game draws close for Mike McCarthy and his squad, many words have been written as to how a rag-tag group of players have come together to comprise a team that has a legitimate shot at winning the biggest game on the planet. Much has been told about how fill-in players have stepped up, and how the Coaching staff has brought greatness out of overlooked, little known talents. Dom Capers, with only one wink or brightness as a head coach, but successful as defensive guru, gets credit for assembling an attacking, multivaried defense that will be showcased alongside a Steeler defense (captained ironically by erstwhile compatriot head coach failure/defensive guru Dick LeBeau) that for years has been considered the model for pressure defense and hard-hitting toughness. But beyond the bromides, clichés and tired talk of the ‘great player’ hypothesis (a favorite around these parts) whereby games are decided by less than a handful of supremely talented individuals, you have at last, the story of not just how a team was built, but why that team came together and was so much better. And it is a story of injuries.
To begin our story, let’s return to a game last year at Lambeau field agains the 49ers. On that fateful day, the Packers lost not just their best defensive lineman in Aaron Kampman, but also lost one of their best cornerbacks in Al Harris. That’s 10 years of starting leadership gone in a game. But what happens is that it game an opportunity for Tramon Williams to get on the field and get that valuable starting experience. For Kampman, it helped get him out the door. Normally, you’s hate to lose a guy like Kampman, but with the 3-4 installed, Kampman looked about as comfortable at OLB as Henry Kissinger on Dancing with the Stars. But then you bring in a string of late round picks, rookie free agents, and former Quickie Mart employees, until you find one - Walden – who if he does nothing else, did everything he could to get the Packers past their Northern Division foes and into the playoffs with an effort that will go down in the Lambeau annals in an all-time classic must-win victory over the Bears.
You’d think then that an injury to the corner on the other side – Woodson, with his cronic turf toe – would be debilitating. Well, not so. In comes Shields – not only does he cover that tough assignment of taking on the other team’s speedster, but he frees Woodson up to play a rover position. And that’s exactly what the Packer need, because two of their other injured guys, LBs Nick Barnett and Brandon Chillar, just couldn’t get it done in coverage over the middle, especially on the TE and slot receivers. For all his speed and athleticism, which saved his bacon on a number of instances, Nick Barnett is simply lacking in football instincts. And that’s why AJ Hawk and Bishop, coming in have shored up that middle. Further back, you lost Bigby and Rookie starter Burnett, but you were able to go to Charlie Peprah - a slightly less physically talented safety - but assignment-sure, to work alongside a vary mature Nick Collins. So you go from the aging Al – can’t play zone – Harris, Turf toe-Woodson, and Big Hit and Miss Bigby, to Williams, Shields, and Peprah, with the result that your defense is dramatically improved. Thanks to injuries.
On offense the story is similar, but shorter. Mark Tauscher, looking like Abe Vigoda doing the moon walk at right tackle, gave way to the athletic brawler, Brian Bulaga – but early enough in the season to get the kid the valuable experience he needed. The loss of Ryan Grant was a blow, but the Packers expanded the role of Jackson, who flounders as the featured back, but is sparkling in space as a receiver, check down guy, and blocker. The loss of Jermichael Finley, relegated to text-messaging Chinese food orders from his back yard igloo, would seem to big a chasm to bridge. Yet, McCarthy, Rodgers, and a talented group of wide receivers did just that, even with some spectacular drops and incompletions from each of them (You probably forgot that Quarless stumble on the fake punt against Minnesota). And then you bring in your rookie, the long-anticipated PUP denizen James Starks, to carry the load here and there. Here’s a young kid, undaunted by an unexpectedly huge role on a team destined for the Superbowl. But, like the rest, he rises well above expectations - enough to sandwich Philly’s defense and then pulverize a shocked Bears team in the first half of the Championship game.
Finally, injuries to Aaron Rodgers – two concussions, maybe three – crystallized for this team that while they desperately need Rodgers, they are not a team that will quit – ever – when they lose guys to injuries. That kind of resolve, instilled and reflected by their Boss - the oft criticized playcaller, Mike McCarthy - is what can lead this team to a championship. So that is your 2010 Green Bay Packers, a team that not only survived a collection of injuries, but in fact benefitted from them, thrived because of them, and became a far better team – Addition by subtraction it is called in the vernacular. And what of Cleft Crusty’s prediction for the Packers in the Superbowl? Charles Woodson said it best: “1,2,3, White House.”
To begin our story, let’s return to a game last year at Lambeau field agains the 49ers. On that fateful day, the Packers lost not just their best defensive lineman in Aaron Kampman, but also lost one of their best cornerbacks in Al Harris. That’s 10 years of starting leadership gone in a game. But what happens is that it game an opportunity for Tramon Williams to get on the field and get that valuable starting experience. For Kampman, it helped get him out the door. Normally, you’s hate to lose a guy like Kampman, but with the 3-4 installed, Kampman looked about as comfortable at OLB as Henry Kissinger on Dancing with the Stars. But then you bring in a string of late round picks, rookie free agents, and former Quickie Mart employees, until you find one - Walden – who if he does nothing else, did everything he could to get the Packers past their Northern Division foes and into the playoffs with an effort that will go down in the Lambeau annals in an all-time classic must-win victory over the Bears.
You’d think then that an injury to the corner on the other side – Woodson, with his cronic turf toe – would be debilitating. Well, not so. In comes Shields – not only does he cover that tough assignment of taking on the other team’s speedster, but he frees Woodson up to play a rover position. And that’s exactly what the Packer need, because two of their other injured guys, LBs Nick Barnett and Brandon Chillar, just couldn’t get it done in coverage over the middle, especially on the TE and slot receivers. For all his speed and athleticism, which saved his bacon on a number of instances, Nick Barnett is simply lacking in football instincts. And that’s why AJ Hawk and Bishop, coming in have shored up that middle. Further back, you lost Bigby and Rookie starter Burnett, but you were able to go to Charlie Peprah - a slightly less physically talented safety - but assignment-sure, to work alongside a vary mature Nick Collins. So you go from the aging Al – can’t play zone – Harris, Turf toe-Woodson, and Big Hit and Miss Bigby, to Williams, Shields, and Peprah, with the result that your defense is dramatically improved. Thanks to injuries.
On offense the story is similar, but shorter. Mark Tauscher, looking like Abe Vigoda doing the moon walk at right tackle, gave way to the athletic brawler, Brian Bulaga – but early enough in the season to get the kid the valuable experience he needed. The loss of Ryan Grant was a blow, but the Packers expanded the role of Jackson, who flounders as the featured back, but is sparkling in space as a receiver, check down guy, and blocker. The loss of Jermichael Finley, relegated to text-messaging Chinese food orders from his back yard igloo, would seem to big a chasm to bridge. Yet, McCarthy, Rodgers, and a talented group of wide receivers did just that, even with some spectacular drops and incompletions from each of them (You probably forgot that Quarless stumble on the fake punt against Minnesota). And then you bring in your rookie, the long-anticipated PUP denizen James Starks, to carry the load here and there. Here’s a young kid, undaunted by an unexpectedly huge role on a team destined for the Superbowl. But, like the rest, he rises well above expectations - enough to sandwich Philly’s defense and then pulverize a shocked Bears team in the first half of the Championship game.
Finally, injuries to Aaron Rodgers – two concussions, maybe three – crystallized for this team that while they desperately need Rodgers, they are not a team that will quit – ever – when they lose guys to injuries. That kind of resolve, instilled and reflected by their Boss - the oft criticized playcaller, Mike McCarthy - is what can lead this team to a championship. So that is your 2010 Green Bay Packers, a team that not only survived a collection of injuries, but in fact benefitted from them, thrived because of them, and became a far better team – Addition by subtraction it is called in the vernacular. And what of Cleft Crusty’s prediction for the Packers in the Superbowl? Charles Woodson said it best: “1,2,3, White House.”