Comparing the 1997 and 2011 Packers

[superfan]

Both the 1997 and 2011 Packer teams follow Super Bowl championship teams. How do these two teams compare? Is this year's team better than the 1997 team, and does this team have a chance to equal or better the end result of the 1997 team?

1997 key players/backups

OFFENSE
QB - Brett Favre, Steve Bono, Doug Pederson
RB - Dorsey Levens, Aaron Hayden, William Henderson, Travis Jervey, Chris Darkins
WR - Antonio Freeman, Robert Brooks, Derrick Mayes, Don Beebe, Bill Schroeder, Terry Mickens
TE - Mark Chmura, Jeff Thomason, Tyrone Davis
OL - Earl Dotson, Ross Verba, John Michels, Adam Timmerman, Aaron Taylor, Frank Winters, Jeff Dellenbach, Marco Rivera

DEFENSE

DE - Reggie White, Gabe Wilkins, Keith McKenzie
DT - Gilbert Brown, Santana Dotson, Darius Holland, Paul Frase
LB - Bernardo Harris, Brian Williams, Seth Joyner, Wayne Simmons, Lamont Hollinquest, George Koonce
DB - LeRoy Butler, Eugene Robinson, Tyrone Williams, Doug Evans, Roderick Mullen, Mike Prior, Darren Sharpet

K - Ryan Longwell
P - Craig Hentrich
PR - Bill Schroeder
KR - Bill Schroeder
LS - Rob Davis

[gbgary]

the average age between those teams is night and day i bet. the dl of the old team is much better than the new. the ol of the old is probably a tad better too.

[vince]

The 97 team was not as strong as the 96 team at TE, WR or DE, and had a coach who was pining for more authority, which I thought at the time was a distraction for the team. Wolf's free agent pick-ups from the 96 team other than Reggie White were basically gone in 97. Desmond Howard had a huge impact down the stretch in 96.

The 2011 team is stronger at a number of positions over the 2010 team, although the 2010 team can't be considered to be on the same level talent-wise as the 96 team was. The organization has stability throughout the coaching staff as well.

Young quarterbacks at the top of their profession, elite pass rushers, elite offensive playcallers and defensive coordinators, and strong leadership are obivious and important similarities between the teams.

The 2011 team has every reason to be considered a Super Bowl calibre team this year.

[Guiness]

The only player still active is Ryan Longwell.

[Brando19]

What happened to Desmond Howard after the Super Bowl win?

[Pugger]

Didn't Howard go to another team to be more of a WR than just a returner? I can't recall what team it was but he didn't have a lot of success and now he's on ESPN's college pregame show.

Yes, the main difference between the 2 teams is the 2011 team is in its prime or younger and the coaching staff is lot more stable. I'm with vince, I think Holmgren wanting to be the GM was a distraction. The working relationship between TT and MM is so much healthier than it was with Wolf and MH.

[Fred's Slacks]

What happened to Desmond Howard after the Super Bowl win?

Signed by Oakland. Career quickly withered.

[Fred's Slacks]

I think he actually played quite a few more seasons, he just was never again the SB MVP caliber player. I recall he spent some time in Detriot as well.

[Pugger]

I think he actually played quite a few more seasons, he just was never again the SB MVP caliber player. I recall he spent some time in Detriot as well.

Thanks, I couldn't remember...

[pbmax]

QB: Push, though Flynn might be better than Bono. Tough to say, Bono had a lot of starts by this point of his career.

RB: 1997. Levens in his prime year and while Grant or Starks could be said to be close as a runner Levens was, neither has his hands (or Hendersen's). But the 97 team did not have two starting RBs. Kuhn is closer to Levens than Hendersen as FB. Edge 97, but mainly limited to traditional running packages.

WR: 2010. Brooks was not the same player after the injury and it could be said his new contract cost the Packers substantial cap room. 2010 has the big edge here.

TE: 2010 Packers. Davis had talent but also perennially injured. Chmura was complete, but since the 2010 Packers use these guys as FBs and often keep more than one on the field, the 2010 Packers can do more. Crabtree blocks well, Quarless is above average and Finley is willing. Simply more weapons here, though no one complete Chmura TE yet. Thomason could do a Chmura impression if you could get a defense to focus its efforts elsewhere.

OL: Push, very close. 97 Left Tackle still a hot mess until Verba took the job over though he was not a long term answer at the position. Center a wash. Sitton versus Timmerman would be something I would pay to watch. Taylor over Lang. As for Dotson v. Bulaga; I cannot be forced to choose among my favorites. Left Tackle hole would normally give the edge to 2010, but Rivera and Dellenbach (forget Michels) over Newhouse, Sherrod and EDS. However, with time, Sherrod could be remembered as favorably as Rivera, so with complete hindsight, you might call this for 2010.

DE: 1997. 3-4 versus 4-3. Sticking strictly with DE, Reggie winds this in a blowout over 2010, but Matthews would make it much closer.

DT: 2010. Love Gilbert and Dotson, but Raji and Pickett are very, very good inside.

LB: 2010. Harris was good in middle but wasn't Fred Strickland in run support. Williams had weird career for a good player, he started off very slowly (2 years to develop, wasn't it?) and then faded quickly. Quite honestly, I don't remember him from 1997 as either good or bad. Simmons left in middle of the year and was replaced by Seth Joyner. Disaster. 2010 has no true 4-3 MLB (though Bishop could probably convert), but the scheme doesn't call for one. Even with ROLB open, I like the new LBs better (read: Matthews). If it was 96 versus 2010, then Simmons wins it for the oldsters because he would reach through my computer to hit me otherwise.

DB: Push. Like the 96 safties (Robinson over Burnett for now). Like the 2010 CBs (Woodson/Tramontana/Shields/BUUUSSCHH/Lee) over 96 collection (Evans/Williams/Sharper/Mullen). Craig Newsome would have spoiled it for 2010 and Tyrone Williams was very, very good in press coverage, esp. deep.

K: 1997. Longwell though I have long grown tired of his as spokesman for the fraternity of misunderstood kickers.

Returners: 2010. Cobb salad. Though I seem to remember that Schroeder's speed could occasionally pay off in a decent kick return (avg in 97 was 23.4) and his punt return avg (10.4) is nothing to sneeze at. Closer than I expected.

LS: Push. Most important position on team outside of QB. Both were very Goode.

[Iron Mike]

[red]

man, i never realized how much talent was lost between those 2 seasons

sean jones is the big one that sticks out to me

[superfan]

the average age between those teams is night and day i bet.

A lot closer than you would think, at least for the starters.

Average age of starting players on offense/defense/kickers:

1997 - 27.593
2011 - 27.375

[sheepshead]

Mike Holmgren.

[superfan]

It's difficult to come up with a comparison of these teams off the cuff, as we readily remember the careers of the 1997 players, and not necessarily how well they played that year.

Longwell, Rivera, Verba, Schroeder, and Sharper were all rookies on that team. Verba started 11 games, Schroeder started 1 game, Rivera and Sharper were backups and special teams contributors.

What happened to Craig Newsome that year? Only played in one game. Did he suffer a season ending injury?