The Packers' offensive game-plan for the Falcons this week should include a good deal of two things: five wide receiver formations, which we used extensively, and with great success, the last time we played the Falcons; and the wishbone and inverted wishbone. The latter was one of the team's most successful formations against the Eagles last week, in large part due to new featured back James Starks.
Defensively, the key will of course be stopping Jason Snelling, Michael Turner and the Atlanta running game. The Falcons' passing attack is troublesome not because it's so fearsome, but because Atlanta is so dangerous on the ground. While Tony Gonzalez is a superior athlete with excellent hands, Roddy White is no Andre Johnson, nor Desean Jackson or even a Wes Welker. He's just a good, strong receiver, quite stoppable for a fine cover corner like Tramon Williams. If B.J. Raji, Ryan Pickett, Clay Matthews and Cullen Jenkins are stout on the defensive front -- and they have been in recent weeks -- it could be a long day for the Falcons' offense.
Pick: Packers, 24-17
Where I will mentally meander across the fields, courts and pitches of American and international sport, focusing primarily on my favorite teams but also discussing any sports-related topic that suits my fancy.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Aaron Rodgers' Monkey
There's been a lot of silly talk in the press in the last few weeks about how Aaron Rodgers has never won a playoff game, which suggests to these eagle-eyed observers that he may not be an adequate successor to the Packers' "great" Brett Favre.
The truth of the matter is that before yesterday's victory he'd had only had one chance. Let me ask you, if I was trying to do a backflip off the diving board and failed on my first try, would that suggest that I could never do a backflip off the diving board? That I had neither the mental and emotional stability nor the physical gifts to accomplish the feat in my lifetime? No. It's idiotic. And it points up the problem with the media today -- they need so desperately to find a storyline, a narrative for each game, each quarter, each important player, that sometimes they just grab them out of thin air. This week it happened to be: "Despite all the gaudy stats, Aaron Rodgers is a loser."
The Packers' victory over the Eagles should end that discussion. But it should never have reached our ears in the first place. The real story is that Aaron Rodgers is to a large extent the anti-Brett Favre. Just as he may never make the jaw-dropping laser through four DB's for the winning score with three defenders draped on him, he has yet to throw away the game with desperation pass attempts into triple coverage. And this, for my money, is something Aaron Rodgers will never do. He's a talented mofo and a cool customer, comfortable in the pocket and very smart about protecting the ball.
So, yeah, he's no Brett Favre. Thank God.
The truth of the matter is that before yesterday's victory he'd had only had one chance. Let me ask you, if I was trying to do a backflip off the diving board and failed on my first try, would that suggest that I could never do a backflip off the diving board? That I had neither the mental and emotional stability nor the physical gifts to accomplish the feat in my lifetime? No. It's idiotic. And it points up the problem with the media today -- they need so desperately to find a storyline, a narrative for each game, each quarter, each important player, that sometimes they just grab them out of thin air. This week it happened to be: "Despite all the gaudy stats, Aaron Rodgers is a loser."
The Packers' victory over the Eagles should end that discussion. But it should never have reached our ears in the first place. The real story is that Aaron Rodgers is to a large extent the anti-Brett Favre. Just as he may never make the jaw-dropping laser through four DB's for the winning score with three defenders draped on him, he has yet to throw away the game with desperation pass attempts into triple coverage. And this, for my money, is something Aaron Rodgers will never do. He's a talented mofo and a cool customer, comfortable in the pocket and very smart about protecting the ball.
So, yeah, he's no Brett Favre. Thank God.
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