Final 2008 team stats - crazy

[HarveyWallbangers]

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports//index.php?ntid=429889

Certainly, there was regret over a 6-10 season in which they'd lost seven games by four or fewer points (according to the Elias Sports Bureau, only the 1984 Cleveland Browns lost more close games in a season)

Kind of interesting. That Browns team went 5-11 in 1984. They won their division in 1985. In 1986, they went 12-4 and lost to John Elway and the Broncos on "the Drive."

And there was a can-you-believe-it element to the end, too, given their offensive productivity. The Packers had a 4,000-yard passer in Aaron Rodgers, two 1,000-yard receivers in Greg Jennings and Donald Driver, and a 1,200-yard rusher in Ryan Grant. And they put up 419 points on the scoreboard, seventh most in team history and just 16 fewer than last year's 435 -- and the fourth-most scored by a team with a losing record in NFL history.

General manager Ted Thompson will have the ammunition to make personnel moves if he so chooses. In addition to the No. 9 overall pick in the April draft and an extra third-round pick from the New York Jets from the Brett Favre trade, the Packers ended the season with roughly $7.5 million in salary-cap space after using about $13 million on Rodgers' extension.

The last time the Packers finished with a losing record -- they were 4-12 in 2005 -- the free-agency-averse Thompson responded by signing cornerback Charles Woodson and defensive tackle Ryan Pickett, and he may be inclined to make similar moves this offseason.

[HarveyWallbangers]

"We didn't win as many games as I would have liked to, but I definitely learned a lot," said Rodgers, who survived the preseason Favre drama to finish his first season as the starter with 4,038 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions for a 93.8 passer rating, sixth-best in the NFL. "I understand even more what it takes to win in this league.

"I know the expectations were high. I met some of those expectations and fell short in some areas. I wanted to be a consistent player. I was at times, and I was inconsistent at times. And this team deserves a consistent player 100 percent of the time. I think as a whole, we need to be more consistent on both sides of the ball, be more consistent in our preparation and get ready for a long offseason. We've got a lot of work to do, a lot of improvement to make, and get ready to make a run next year."

[Bossman641]

"We didn't win as many games as I would have liked to, but I definitely learned a lot," said Rodgers, who survived the preseason Favre drama to finish his first season as the starter with 4,038 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions for a 93.8 passer rating, sixth-best in the NFL. "I understand even more what it takes to win in this league.

"I know the expectations were high. I met some of those expectations and fell short in some areas. I wanted to be a consistent player. I was at times, and I was inconsistent at times. And this team deserves a consistent player 100 percent of the time. I think as a whole, we need to be more consistent on both sides of the ball, be more consistent in our preparation and get ready for a long offseason. We've got a lot of work to do, a lot of improvement to make, and get ready to make a run next year."

I think I'm developing a man-crush on Rodgers. Not only did he exceed expectations on the football field, but he gives some of the best interview answers I've ever seen. He handled the media like a champ, all the way from the Favre mess through a disappointing season. He comes across as respectful and hard-working, and even when he does throw a little cockiness in there (his get on the bus comment or whatever before the season) I still like it. He's either very well-coached or really intelligent.

[Jimx29]

Coaching, lack of focus, penalties.

And karma

[Partial]

I think I'm developing a man-crush on Rodgers. Not only did he exceed expectations on the football field, but he gives some of the best interview answers I've ever seen. He handled the media like a champ, all the way from the Favre mess through a disappointing season. He comes across as respectful and hard-working, and even when he does throw a little cockiness in there (his get on the bus comment or whatever before the season) I still like it. He's either very well-coached or really intelligent.

He handles the answers like any other kiss ass would. What else is he going to say? I don't think any more or any less of him based on his incredibly generic answers. Everybody says the same thing.

He's probably fairly intelligent. But we both know that in the same situation your average college student would say the same thing.

[HarveyWallbangers]

He's probably fairly intelligent. But we both know that in the same situation your average college student would say the same thing.

I'm guessing that it's pretty likely he's more than fairly intelligent (35 on his wonderlic usually means a guy is pretty sharp), and I don't think the average college student would have handled the questions this year nearly as well.

[MJZiggy]

I think I'm developing a man-crush on Rodgers. Not only did he exceed expectations on the football field, but he gives some of the best interview answers I've ever seen. He handled the media like a champ, all the way from the Favre mess through a disappointing season. He comes across as respectful and hard-working, and even when he does throw a little cockiness in there (his get on the bus comment or whatever before the season) I still like it. He's either very well-coached or really intelligent.

He handles the answers like any other kiss ass would. What else is he going to say? I don't think any more or any less of him based on his incredibly generic answers. Everybody says the same thing.

He's probably fairly intelligent. But we both know that in the same situation your average college student would say the same thing.

Tell it to Jermichael Finley. AR is very intelligent and not every young quarterback would be so introspective willing to be self-critical in front of the media to give a good answer there.

[packrulz]

Re: Final 2008 team stats - crazy

If somebody showed me these stats and asked me to guess GB's final record, I would guess anywhere from 9-7 to 11-5. This is nuts.

Total Points Scored - GB 419, OPP 380
Points Per Game - GB 26.2, OPP 23.8
Yards Per Game - GB 351.1, OPP 334.3
First Downs - GB 299, OPP 295
Sacks (defense) - GB 27, OPP 34
Interceptions (defense) - GB 22, OPP 13
Field Goal % - GB 79.4%, OPP 83.3%
Time of Possession - GB 31:37, OPP 28:56
Turnover Ratio - +7

I can't seem to find penalties for and against, I would expect that to be a key statistic.

Maybe the least relevant, but most amazing stat of the year:

Interception Return Yards - GB 685, OPP 70

Our 22 picks on defense were returned for 685 yards, while opponents managed only 70 return yards on their 13 picks. My guess is that many of the opponents' picks were late in the game, and the interceptor simply needed to fall down to ensure victory.

This is why I don't think they should fire Bob Sanders, they lost 7 games by 4 points or less, imagine how many of those they would've won if they still had a healthy Jenkins, Corey Williams, and a DE that can rush the passer. I'd rather see them sign Peppers and draft a DT.

[Zool]

He's probably fairly intelligent. But we both know that in the same situation your average college student would say the same thing.

I'm guessing that it's pretty likely he's more than fairly intelligent (35 on his wonderlic usually means a guy is pretty sharp), and I don't think the average college student would have handled the questions this year nearly as well.

Dont bother Harv. Although P says he likes AR, he sure tears him down every chance he gets.

[cpk1994]

Re: Final 2008 team stats - crazy

If somebody showed me these stats and asked me to guess GB's final record, I would guess anywhere from 9-7 to 11-5. This is nuts.

Total Points Scored - GB 419, OPP 380
Points Per Game - GB 26.2, OPP 23.8
Yards Per Game - GB 351.1, OPP 334.3
First Downs - GB 299, OPP 295
Sacks (defense) - GB 27, OPP 34
Interceptions (defense) - GB 22, OPP 13
Field Goal % - GB 79.4%, OPP 83.3%
Time of Possession - GB 31:37, OPP 28:56
Turnover Ratio - +7

I can't seem to find penalties for and against, I would expect that to be a key statistic.

Maybe the least relevant, but most amazing stat of the year:

Interception Return Yards - GB 685, OPP 70

Our 22 picks on defense were returned for 685 yards, while opponents managed only 70 return yards on their 13 picks. My guess is that many of the opponents' picks were late in the game, and the interceptor simply needed to fall down to ensure victory.

This is why I don't think they should fire Bob Sanders, they lost 7 games by 4 points or less, imagine how many of those they would've won if they still had a healthy Jenkins, Corey Williams, and a DE that can rush the passer. I'd rather see them sign Peppers and draft a DT.

It wouldn't matter. Sanders is the same predictable boob. Teams know what he runs wwhen he runs it. He has no imagination.

[denverYooper]

I think I'm developing a man-crush on Rodgers. Not only did he exceed expectations on the football field, but he gives some of the best interview answers I've ever seen. He handled the media like a champ, all the way from the Favre mess through a disappointing season. He comes across as respectful and hard-working, and even when he does throw a little cockiness in there (his get on the bus comment or whatever before the season) I still like it. He's either very well-coached or really intelligent.

He handles the answers like any other kiss ass would. What else is he going to say? I don't think any more or any less of him based on his incredibly generic answers. Everybody says the same thing.

He's probably fairly intelligent. But we both know that in the same situation your average college student would say the same thing.

Bull Durham is probably required viewing for any pro athlete. Especially the scene where Crash educates Nuke LaLoosh on how to answer interview questions.

[Gunakor]

How the HELL did we do that and still lose?

Undisciplined players..........penalties
Shitty Coaching on the defensive side of the ball = No Key Stops

Actually I meant scoring 40 points more than our opponents and still go 6-10. Shouldn't the team that scores more points win?

Think back to 2005.

That year we had actually scored more points on the season than we had given up all the way to December when we were 3-11. How could that be? Well, we had lost a LOT of close games that year too. But one of the wins was a 53-6 (or some crazy score like that) embarrasment of the Saints early in the season. When your team has a +40 point differential in one game, and then a -1 or -3 or -4 point differential in all the others...

Think Indianapolis and Chicago at Lambeau this year for the big pluses. Then we lost a bunch of games by 4 or less. And when all are tallied, we are still in the positive because of a 37-3 drubbing of our neighbors to the south, and 34-14 humiliation of their neighbors to the east. That's +54 points in those two games alone. It takes a lot of -1s and -3s and -4s to bring us into the negative, and there just aren't enough weeks in the season to make it happen.

[Gunakor]

I think I'm developing a man-crush on Rodgers. Not only did he exceed expectations on the football field, but he gives some of the best interview answers I've ever seen. He handled the media like a champ, all the way from the Favre mess through a disappointing season. He comes across as respectful and hard-working, and even when he does throw a little cockiness in there (his get on the bus comment or whatever before the season) I still like it. He's either very well-coached or really intelligent.

He handles the answers like any other kiss ass would. What else is he going to say? I don't think any more or any less of him based on his incredibly generic answers. Everybody says the same thing.

He's probably fairly intelligent. But we both know that in the same situation your average college student would say the same thing.

Jermichael Finley is your average college student. And he doesn't have nearly the same media savvy as Rodgers.

"It was a bad throw" "I don't do back shoulder"

That's your average college student type of answer. And there's the difference.