Should a-rod have played?

[King Friday]

I said from the start that resting players is ALWAYS a bad idea. The FACT is that the hottest teams, not the healthiest teams, are who win playoff games. The Giants this year, the Packers last year, etc, etc, etc.

You can't gain momentum by having your ass on the bench.

[Joemailman]

2 years ago, the Saints won their first 13, lost their last 3, rested Brees the last game, and won the Super Bowl. I think the Philbin situation affected the offense more than the fact that Rodgers didn't play against the Lions. The fact that Jennings was coming off an injury and hadn't played in about 5 weeks may have been a factor.

[denverYooper]

2 years ago, the Saints won their first 13, lost their last 3, rested Brees the last game, and won the Super Bowl. I think the Philbin situation affected the offense more than the fact that Rodgers didn't play against the Lions. The fact that Jennings was coming off an injury and hadn't played in about 5 weeks may have been a factor.

Lang's father also died in the break.

The Giants caught the Packers at an opportune time--still in a somewhat of an existential stupor.

[denverYooper]

A-rod should have played last night.

[MJZiggy]

Lang's father also died in the break.

The Giants caught the Packers at an opportune time--still in a somewhat of an existential stupor.

What these guys said. I've had people ask me why they lost. I've said that I think Coach's son had some effect. Those who didn't know say "Oh my GOD, well of COURSE!" I don't think we give that as much power to get into people's heads as it really has. I think it was a large mixture of factors, but I don't think A-Rod sitting had all that much to do with it. As others said, the Lions have proven this year that they believe the actual rules to be sort of optional...

[MadtownPacker]

Should ARod had played? Why? The real question is should the entire team have played vs the giants. They werent right in every way. Focus was lost and I guess that comes back to M3. SB win gets him a pass IMO. Shit happens but I look forward to next season. Oh btw, Fuck #1 seeds and homefield, especially when fans sell it to visiting fans.

[pbmax]

The Colts also beat the Bears for a Super Bowl win after resting players.

I am not so convinced that being 10-6 or 9-7 and having to play 3 games at the end of the season prepares any team for the playoffs. Nor am I convinced that playing Wild Card weekend helps the following week that much.

But I do think that both the Packers and Giants demonstrated (or revealed) with those late season theatrics that they were already elite and that the talent on hand was sufficient. In Green Bay's case last season, the offense recovered from its lackluster mid-season episode and found Starks highly useful and Masthay helped raise the ST unit above atrocious. Basically, by the end of the season the Packers had recovered from the injury losses, not the players themselves, but the team's former level of play as their replacements were worthy of starting in the playoffs. And McCarthy and his coaches found ways to use them effectively.

The Giants defense got healthy. And that was basically the difference between the inconsistent Giants and the end of season Giants. Yes, Victor Cruz was a revelation, but that was not a late season development. And while Jacobs (esp.) and Bradshaw had some of their better running games later in the season, they still were stopped far more often in 2011-12 than in 2007-8.

You put players who have demonstrated on the field (the more recently, the better) that they can successfully play playoff caliber ball, and give coaches a chance to adjust, then being hot at the end of the season is a matter of schedule, timing and injury prognosis. Not momentum or just getting hot.

This year, the Packers had some of the most troubling problems crop up at the end of the season, especially on offense. Finley could not get his head glued back on straight. Rodgers cooled off slightly. Bulaga, Sherrod and Clifton were hurt and the two starters returned very late to the starting lineup. The Clifton/Newhouse timeshare was not good for either player I don't think. Lang had to switch positions.

Jennings returned just in time for the playoff loss and didn't look the same. These were enough to knock the offense off its moorings. And it wasn't because Rodgers didn't start in Week 17, but because the key departures and recovery all had to happen in the last month of the season. Even the defense raising the level of its resistance to the run wasn't enough to offset the offensive dip.

As coaches say, its all about being as healthy as possible. But it might be that being healthy by the playoffs is not enough. You need your playoff caliber players to be playing in December, regardless of whether they missed time earlier in the season. Its not Week 17. Its Weeks 12-16.

[Gunakor]

Rodgers took an entire offseason off, played next to nothing in preseason and blew the doors off the Saints.

This argument should have ended right here. Rust does not set in over a span of a couple weeks in January when it doesn't set in over a span of several months during spring and summer. Fault lies somewhere else for that loss. No, Rodgers should not have played in week 17.

[Pugger]

What these guys said. I've had people ask me why they lost. I've said that I think Coach's son had some effect. Those who didn't know say "Oh my GOD, well of COURSE!" I don't think we give that as much power to get into people's heads as it really has. I think it was a large mixture of factors, but I don't think A-Rod sitting had all that much to do with it. As others said, the Lions have proven this year that they believe the actual rules to be sort of optional...

I and others speculated that the team from the coaches on down were still in mourning and were not ready to play a team full of confidence, piss and vinegar. A lot of people dismissed this theory but I suspect it was an underlying reason why the team - especially on offense - looked so unlike themselves.

[red]

my thinking is, when you have a player who's in the zone, you don't pull him out of the game

you don't do anything to try and break his rhythm

as for him looking just fine week one after being off all offseason. he still prepared and played in the preseason games leading up to week one

i think we've all seen from watching college ball that teams show up in bowl games looking like totally different teams after having almost a month off

[Brandon494]

Does Rodgers playing or not have anything to do with Kuhn or Grant fumbling? Or the hail marry at halftime? Or the drop passes by our WRs?

[MadtownPacker]

Does Rodgers playing or not have anything to do with Kuhn or Grant fumbling? Or the hail marry at halftime? Or the drop passes by our WRs?

Dammmmnnnn!!! I thought AROd was White.

[Gunakor]

my thinking is, when you have a player who's in the zone, you don't pull him out of the game

you don't do anything to try and break his rhythm

as for him looking just fine week one after being off all offseason. he still prepared and played in the preseason games leading up to week one

i think we've all seen from watching college ball that teams show up in bowl games looking like totally different teams after having almost a month off

Most of the guys who dropped the ball against the Giants did in fact play a game against the Lions 2 weeks prior to that. Played it very well too. But Jordy looked rusty, Grant looked rusty, Kuhn looked rusty... And the fault for that lies with Rodgers because he didn't play the week 17 game?

It's bigger than any individual player, including Rodgers. The ENTIRE offense was off that day. It wasn't just Aaron. Just a coincidence I suppose that a rather tragic off the field event occured during the lead up to that game, an event far more likely to rattle an entire team than the absence of one superstar player for one week of the season. I don't buy the rust angle. It's remarkably apparent that Joe Philbin meant a whole lot more to this offense than we had given him credit for. His loss affected everybody, and THAT is what was readily apparent to me as I watched that playoff game. It wasn't rust, it was bigger than that. Bigger than football. I think I'll give them a pass. Life happens sometimes, that's the angle I'm buying. The team was ready, and then life happened. Time to move on.

[pbmax]

I wonder of Kansas City messed up Nelson's work at the end of the year. Two penalties would cause someone to stop and think about what they are doing. I think the Packers will spend a significant amount of time working to release against man coverage this offseason.

[Pugger]

I wonder of Kansas City messed up Nelson's work at the end of the year. Two penalties would cause someone to stop and think about what they are doing. I think the Packers will spend a significant amount of time working to release against man coverage this offseason.

The week after the KC game Jordy caught 6 passes for 115 yards and 2 TDs against the bares and 9 passes for 162 yerds and 3 TDs the next week against the loins. He, along with everyone else on offense, had anemic stats against the gnats in that playoff game.