HarveyWallbangers
05-20-2007, 10:16 PM
http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070520/PKR07/705200696/1989
Defense must build on success
By Mike Vandermause
Green Bay Packers cornerback Charles Woodson can laugh about it now, but in early December, it wasn't funny.
The Packers had plummeted to a 4-8 record, and the defense was ranked No. 29 in the NFL.
Woodson couldn't believe his misfortune. He left the Oakland Raiders to sign a free-agent contract with the Packers, but the losing seemed to follow him like a dark cloud.
"It was kind of like, 'I've been here before' type of thing," recalled Woodson on Saturday in between minicamp practices. "Coming from Oakland the last couple seasons, we won maybe five games or something like that, so it was like, 'Damn, you know, I'm just tired of losing in a game you love. You want to win. It wasn't happening. It was discouraging in that sense."
Woodson wondered if things would ever improve. "Things weren't looking too good," he said. "It didn't seem to be getting any better."
But something clicked on defense in the final month of the season, and the Packers won their final four games. Woodson and his teammates weren't just stingy in the final month; they were dominating. The Packers allowed just 42 points in four games, and the defense climbed to No. 12 in the final rankings.
According to Woodson, the Packers were playing "like robots" on defense early in the year.
"Then we just started playing football," he said. "Just going out there and having fun. If you want to win, you've got to have fun in what you're doing."
With every major contributor returning, plus the addition of first-round defensive tackle Justin Harrell, the Packers have the makings of their best defensive team since the Super Bowl years of the mid-1990s.
"There's no limits on how good we can be," said starting linebacker Brady Poppinga, who paused before pointing to his head and adding, "except those limits that are here."
Defensive end Aaron Kampman, who had 15½ sacks last year and earned a Pro Bowl berth, praised coordinator Bob Sanders for riding out the storm.
"We didn't get off the foundation and say, 'Oh, we've got to change this, or we've got to become a blitzing team, or we've got to do this,'" Kampman said. "We kind of just stayed the course and didn't point fingers. I give Bob a lot of credit for that. He took the brunt of most of that and kind of held that all together."
Some say the Packers got fat on offensively challenged teams in December — the 49ers, Lions and Vikings ranked 22nd or worse.
But the same Detroit team that was held to nine points and 142 yards against the Packers lit up the Dallas Cowboys two weeks later for 39 points. It also should be noted that after the Packers allowed an average of 390 yards in their first six games, that average dipped to an eye-popping 280 over the final 10 games.
"Statistically, you look at the last 10 games of the season, we're a top-five defense in all the major categories," Kampman said. "Then you look at the last four games, we're tops in the league defensively."
Woodson knows the defense has the potential to be special but is following the advice of one of his college coaches at Michigan, who told him not to read his press clippings.
"We've just got to build on what we did last year," he said, "and continue to have fun."
Defense must build on success
By Mike Vandermause
Green Bay Packers cornerback Charles Woodson can laugh about it now, but in early December, it wasn't funny.
The Packers had plummeted to a 4-8 record, and the defense was ranked No. 29 in the NFL.
Woodson couldn't believe his misfortune. He left the Oakland Raiders to sign a free-agent contract with the Packers, but the losing seemed to follow him like a dark cloud.
"It was kind of like, 'I've been here before' type of thing," recalled Woodson on Saturday in between minicamp practices. "Coming from Oakland the last couple seasons, we won maybe five games or something like that, so it was like, 'Damn, you know, I'm just tired of losing in a game you love. You want to win. It wasn't happening. It was discouraging in that sense."
Woodson wondered if things would ever improve. "Things weren't looking too good," he said. "It didn't seem to be getting any better."
But something clicked on defense in the final month of the season, and the Packers won their final four games. Woodson and his teammates weren't just stingy in the final month; they were dominating. The Packers allowed just 42 points in four games, and the defense climbed to No. 12 in the final rankings.
According to Woodson, the Packers were playing "like robots" on defense early in the year.
"Then we just started playing football," he said. "Just going out there and having fun. If you want to win, you've got to have fun in what you're doing."
With every major contributor returning, plus the addition of first-round defensive tackle Justin Harrell, the Packers have the makings of their best defensive team since the Super Bowl years of the mid-1990s.
"There's no limits on how good we can be," said starting linebacker Brady Poppinga, who paused before pointing to his head and adding, "except those limits that are here."
Defensive end Aaron Kampman, who had 15½ sacks last year and earned a Pro Bowl berth, praised coordinator Bob Sanders for riding out the storm.
"We didn't get off the foundation and say, 'Oh, we've got to change this, or we've got to become a blitzing team, or we've got to do this,'" Kampman said. "We kind of just stayed the course and didn't point fingers. I give Bob a lot of credit for that. He took the brunt of most of that and kind of held that all together."
Some say the Packers got fat on offensively challenged teams in December — the 49ers, Lions and Vikings ranked 22nd or worse.
But the same Detroit team that was held to nine points and 142 yards against the Packers lit up the Dallas Cowboys two weeks later for 39 points. It also should be noted that after the Packers allowed an average of 390 yards in their first six games, that average dipped to an eye-popping 280 over the final 10 games.
"Statistically, you look at the last 10 games of the season, we're a top-five defense in all the major categories," Kampman said. "Then you look at the last four games, we're tops in the league defensively."
Woodson knows the defense has the potential to be special but is following the advice of one of his college coaches at Michigan, who told him not to read his press clippings.
"We've just got to build on what we did last year," he said, "and continue to have fun."