The Sporting Word

While in Green Bay last week, I was around a Packers squad that was as confident as could be.  And who could blame them?  They finished the regular season winning 7 of their last 8 games and every player loved the decision from their head coach to treat their regular season finale as a ‘must-win’.

Green Bay took to the field yesterday as the team that had all the momentum on their side and they were the squad that built the reputation of winning the turnover battle.

Well all of that was thrown out the door in the game’s first couple of minutes.  Aaron Rodgers‘ first pass in his first ever playoff game was intercepted and Donald Driver on the team’s second drive fumbled the ball away.  Before the Packers knew it, they were down 14-0 and would end up trailing by as much as 21 points.

Give lots of credit to Green Bay.  They got back in the game, forced overtime, and came oh so close to pulling off what would of been one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the NFL postseason.  Many Packers fans this morning are pointing to missed calls by the officials such as ‘roughing the quarterback’ and ‘facemask’ calls that were not made in overtime.  But this was a game that the Packers lost, not one that the officials cost them.

Aaron Rodgers pushed back his offseason calendar to February 7th along with many fans hoping for the same.  But instead the Green Bay offseason begins January 11th.

So what can we expect in these coming months?  First of all, the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement between the owners and players association is set to expire.  What does that mean for the Packers?  First off, the 2010 season will be uncapped meaning there will be no salary cap this upcoming season.  How teams handle this is right now anybody’s guess.  The other thing is that players will need 6 years of NFL experience to become unrestricted free agents.  That means a player like Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins who has 5 years under his belt is going to be a restricted free agent this offseason giving the Packers many more options in ways to bring him back, compared to him hitting the open market had this situation happened a year back.

Joining Collins as restricted free agents includes DE Johnny Jolly, S Atari Bigby, OG Daryn Colledge, and CB Tramon Williams.  This isn’t their entire list, but these are the players I feel are no-brainers in terms of re-signing.

A few big names are also going to be unrestricted free agents.  That list includes offensive tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher.  Today Rodgers says he wants to see the team bring both of those players back for 2010…and who can blame him since he got pretty bruised up before those two led the resurgence of the o-line in the 2nd half of the season.

Ryan Pickett also is unrestricted.  I know the team has first-rounder B.J. Raji to start at nose tackle but being able to keep Pickett would be a great luxury since both players have shown injury tendencies (and nothing against them by that comment, but being 300+ pounds and playing that position takes a toll on your body).  Depth at that position when playing the 3-4 scheme is very important.

The most interesting offseason will probably come from newly converted linebacker Aaron Kampman.  He’s an unrestricted free agent after finishing 2009 on injured reserve.  His play as an outside linebacker is probably average at best, but is one of the league’s best as a defensive end, where he played before the team’s switch to a 3-4.  What value does the team place on him and would they possibly place the franchise tag on him?  Or will a team looking for a playmaker at the end position make a run at Kampman?

The offseason always brings about questions, and the Green Bay Packers will have many important decisions to make these next 4 months.

The Green Bay Packers did not lose the NFC Wild Card game because the officials “missed” a roughing the quarterback or facemask call on the game’s final drive in Overtime. Although reading certain national stories and the social media websites (Twitter, Facebook) will leave you thinking that is the only possible reason.

I think people are concentrating on the wrong “what-ifs” from Sunday. So here is my list of the moments that could have changed the outcome:

What if: Aaron Rodgers doesn’t uncharacteristically force a pass on the games first play, completely throwing the momentum of the game to the home team? Why not run the ball on 1st down to calm down your QB who’s making his first postseason start?

What if: Donald Driver doesn’t get stripped on the Packers 3rd play from scrimmage? Once again it is hard to overcome early surges on the road in the playoffs, especially against a team that has been there before.

What if: The Green Bay Packers came up with a way, any way, to slow down Kurt Warner? The guy had more touchdowns than incompletions! Don’t get me wrong, while watching the game I kept saying to myself what case can you make that this guy is not a Hall of Famer? Now 9-3 in the postseason and one of the best clutch performers or all-time when it counts. Warner does have a low release though, what if Johnny Jolly gets his hand up (he did it better than anyone in the NFL all year) on one pass and it is returned for a touchdown, or sets up a turnover that leads to points? The Packers literally needed one big defensive play in the second half and they could have won the game.

And the BIGGEST WHAT-IF OF ALL: What if Rodgers doesn’t miss the wide open pass to Greg Jennings on the first play of Overtime? It may seem like I am picking on #12, and he had an INCREDIBLE second half, but we know how good of a player he is now. He can make that play 9 times out of 10 and he just overthrew it. It was similar to the play that made Green Bay 1-0 to start the season against Chicago, and it’s the play that will have us waiting until next season to see what this team is capable of.

Remember, if that pass is completed, nobody is talking about possible missed calls by refs after the game.

I guess we can be thankful that Green Bay came back and made it one of the more enjoyable playoff games to watch in recent memory. I know most Packer fans were too sick watching it to enjoy what was really going on, but more than 1,000 yards of offense and 13 combines TD’s doesn’t happen every day. As a matter of fact it is the highest scoring game in NFL postseason history. Not a defensive display of any kind, but if it’s a shootout you like with emotional ups and downs this game was one of the best in NFL postseason history.

If anybody is worried about the nerves of Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers before his first playoff game kicks off Sunday take a look at this link (look at the 8th picture on Page 2):

Packer Photo Gallery

Apparently Green Bay’s new gunslinger keeps himself entertained pre-game by playing “Where’s Waldo” in the background of the Packers’ team captain photos.  Here is a link to many more of the “Faces of Aaron Rodgers”:

“Faces of Aaron Rodgers”

If I had to guess, I think Rodgers will be “California cool” even in his first ever playoff game.

Other than Aaron Rodgers, is there another player that’s more indispensable to the Green Bay Packers than Charles Woodson?  Yesterday the play-making cornerback became the only defensive player in NFL history with 3 “player of the month” awards in one season.  As a matter of fact, only kicker Mike Vanderjagt and running back Barry Sanders have ever done it at any position.

And each one was certainly deserved.  Number 21 has piled up some incredible numbers this year: A career-high 9 interceptions(tied for best in the NFL), 3 touchdowns off interceptions(tied for best in the NFL), and even added 74 tackles, 2 sacks and 4 forced fumbles.

Say what you want about New York Jets corner Darelle Revis completely shutting down big name WR’s this year, but Charles Woodson has been part of something bigger this season as Green Bay reshuffled into a 3-4 defense.  Charles Woodson has matched up against #1 WR’s, played safety, blitzed the quarterback, was a sure tackler in the running game, and has dominated some games forcing key turnovers (including more than one in 4 games).

The Green Bay defense finished the season ranked #1 in the NFC allowing a stingy 284.4 yards per game.  The Packers led the NFL with 30 interceptions, 40 takeaways and a +24 turnover differential.  It has Woodson written all over it.

For all these reasons, “Chuck” deserves to be the NFL Defensive Player of the Year (announced next week).

I ran into this well-written article on the bumpy road that brought Woodson to Green Bay.  It really is a great read and shows how much he has grown up in his years with the green and gold, and shows how he needed Green Bay as much as they needed him.

Yahoo! Sports: Packers’ Woodson finally reciprocating the love

And no, I’m not talking about Christmas.  We are entering the final couple of weeks of the NFL season.  How about Week 15 action?  7 games ended up being decided in the final 2-minutes or in overtime this past Sunday - one of which was the Packers/Steelers game (which with a different outcome would of put me in a better mood as I write this article).

It’s hard thinking about what could have been in that game for Green Bay.  Would the outcome been different if the Clay Matthews sack and fumble recovery stood up against the challenge?  What if Mason Crosby chips in that 34-yard field goal attempt in the 2nd quarter?  How about sending more than 3 Packers defenders at Ben Roethilisberger for most of that game-winning final drive?  The questions are usually endless when you lose by only 1-point.  But now because of that loss, this Sunday’s game is almost a must win against the Seahawks since the Cowboys and Giants both picked up victories this weekend.

And how about the situation going on in the Twin Cities?  Is there a legitimate concern because Brett Favre seems to have problems taking orders from his head coach, or is the media making a big deal out of nothing?  You can’t blame a player to want to finish a game regardless of the score or situation.  But at the same time you have to wonder what kind of authority Brad Childress has if Favre just brushes him off on national television.

There is cause for concern for the Vikings who have now lost 2 times over the past 3 weeks.  In both of those games, Favre has not looked like the guy who many thought should be the NFL MVP just a few weeks ago.  Is this #4’s normal late-season swoon or will things be fine these final couple of weeks of the regular season with a Philadelphia team now breathing down their back for a 1st-round playoff bye.  Also what happend to Adrian Peterson?  He’s been a non-factor lately including gaining just 35 yards on the ground in that Carolina game.

So enjoy as the NFL season wraps up because before you know it, we’ll be in February and left wondering what to do on a Sunday afternoon.  Merry Christmas everybody and Happy Holidays!