Monday, January 10, 2005

What a bunch of ROTTEN CHEESE!

I'm pissed that Green Bay Packers lost the NFC wild-card game today. There are simply no excuses; we were playing at Lambeau Field in January--this alone is an iron-clad reason to propel the team into victory. But alas, it seemed like the football gods were sympathetically moved by the Minnesota Vikings' strings of bad losses and inane controversies and decided to conspire against Packers' victory. I wish it'd be this easy to explain the pathetic performance of the team but the fact is the Packers team on the field today was simply horrible and out-of-place.

Well, here's a laundry list of what went wrong in the game: Brett Favre threw FOUR interceptions (though two of them weren't really his fault since the receivers broke their routes); Javon Walker got hurt (shin contusion) and the Packers receiving corps suddenly lost its edge; the offesive line was not as dominating as it always is, which allowed the Vikings defense to harass Favre at-will; Favre made that inexplicable shovel pass into the end-zone while he was way beyond the line of scrimmage when he could have easily ran for first down; the running game was virtually non-existent; and finally, the horrific defense, which needs no explaining at all.

As a matter of fact, I do have a few words to say about the defense. First of all, it didn't make a lick of a difference when the Packers fired defensive coordinator Ed Donatel last season (chiefly for the whole 4th and 26 miscue in the Philly game) and hired Bob Slowik as the new coordinator. The Packers defense is still subpar and under-achieving. One might want to argue that if the Packers would have kept Mike McKenzie by paying his asking price, the defensive back section would have been so much better. I'd counter-argue that McKenzie's presence would probably make the secondary a little better but only incrementally, if at all. The problem with Packers defense, especially the defensive backs, is that they cannot make tackles even if their lives depended on it. They should learn from rugby players on the proper ways to make hard-hitting and effective tackles. Another serious problem is blown coverages. Instead of focusing on the task at-hand, the defense seems to be wandering aimlessly at times looking lost in anticipation of imaginary plays that never materialize.

What to do? First, address these two fundamental flaws in the off-season. My take for the next season is that Ahmad Carroll, the first-round draft rookie cornerback, will be traded for a more experienced player; Mike Sherman will be stripped of his GM duties but still remains as head coach; and Bob Slowik will be fired (there are a lot of rumblings within the defensive ranks concerning his convoluted defensive schemes.)One thing for sure: there will be a lot of changes to the team next season, especially on defense. I wouldn't be surprise if Favre announces his retirement this summer, though it seems highly unlikely since I'm sure Cuatro (what Mario calls Favre--number four (his jersey number) in Spanish for all you linguistically-challenged people out there) would want to end his sterling Hall of Fame career in a bang, and with another SuperBowl ring perhaps. It seems unthinkable to envision the Packers sans Favre, but the reality of it is looming ever larger on the horizon.

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