We continue our series of reflections on the Packers Super Bowl season as we wait and hope for an end to the collective bargaining stalemate and eventually a return to NFL football.
There is an old adage in the NFL, “run the football, stop the run.” It is a formula that best determines who is winning the war in the trenches and who is a Super Bowl contender. But every rule has exceptions and the Green Bay Packers of 2010 were the exception to that rule. Last season due to the loss of thousand-yard rusher Ryan Grant in the first half of the opener in Philadelphia, the Packers struggled to run the football. They ranked 24th in rushing yards per game (100.4 yards) and 25th in yards per play (3.8 avg. yards). Defensively injuries and a suspension took a toll. It began with the season long suspension of defensive end Johnny Jolly who led the defensive line in tackles in 2009.
Injuries to starting inside linebacker Nick Barnett, who led the team in tackles a team record five seasons in his career, strong safety Atari Bigby, the revolving door at outside linebacker opposite Clay Matthews and the late season calf injury that took defensive end Cullen Jenkins out of the last month of the regular season took a toll. That toll was seen largely in the run defense. The Packers slipped from first in the league defending the run in 2009 (83.3 yards/game) to 18th in the league giving up 114.9 rushing yards per game in 2010.
In my opinion, the genius of Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers is his ability to adapt to the personnel he has available to him in a given week or season. Such was the case last year. Capers started four different players at outside linebacker. He utilized in season “street” free agent pickups like NT Howard Green and OLB Erik Walden to help win key games at the Meadowlands over the Jets and against the Bears in the playoff-clinching win in Green Bay. While the Packers struggled statistically to stop the run during the regular season, they allowed only 6 rushing touchdowns last season, 3rd best mark in the league. The longest run against this defense was 40 yards. You could say, when it counted most, they were able to play effectively against the run.
The team that best reflected the “run the football and stop the run” mantra was the New York Jets. Last year the Jets ranked 4th in rushing the football while they were 3rd in stopping the run. The Vikings with All Pro RB Adrien Peterson were 10th in rushing and 9th in rushing yards allowed per game behind the “Williams Wall.” Neither team was in Dallas for the Super Bowl.
The best teams in the league, the Patriots and Falcons were only solid in either category. New England was 9th in rushing yards per game 11th in stopping the run. Atlanta was 12th running the football 10th in run defense.
So how did the Packers make it all the way to the Super Bowl with their numbers in these normally critical categories?
First off, as everyone knows the NFL in this day and age is a “pass first” league. The Green Bay passing game ranked 5th in the league, quarterback Aaron Rodgers was third in the league in passer rating. The club had 3 wide receivers reach the 50-catch mark for the first time in the 92-year history of the franchise.
Secondly, down the stretch coach Mike McCarthy invested in the ground game. In the final seven games of the regular season the Packers rushed for 108.3 yards per game on 30.4 rushing attempts. That was a fine supplement to the Packers dangerous passing game.
In the post season rookie runner James Starks came to the fore with a 23-carry 123-yard breakout performance in the Wild Card victory at Philadelphia.
The Packers rushed for 138 yards at Philly, 96 yards at Atlanta, and 120 yards in Chicago. Defensively the Eagles made just 82 rushing yards, Atlanta only 45, and the Bears 83 rushing yards.
The Super Bowl was a different story, in part because of the game plan. The Packers only attempted 13 running plays against the vaunted Pittsburgh front seven. McCarthy knew if he could get the game into the secondary of the Steelers, they would not be able to stop the Packers passing attack. He was right!
But in the end, while the 2010 Packers were neither a great running team nor a team that was especially good at stopping the run in the regular season, they proved in the playoffs, you must “run the football and stop the run” if you are on the road to the Super Bowl.
JSOnline.com wrote: