macbob
  • macbob
  • Veteran Member Topic Starter
14 years ago
An article with something for everybody...from Maddenites to ground hogs...it's a little schizophrenic :-"

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/PRN/125860508.html 

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:

14 years ago
No mention of all the nickel D they played last year? 🤨
beast
14 years ago
So basically the phase “run the football and stop the run” failed this year?

Don't we have articles that have said “pass the football and stop the pass” (not called that but same idea) have worked time after time again and worked last year?


UserPostedImage
Stevetarded
14 years ago
More like "pass so well that it stops them from running and stop the pass".
blank
14 years ago
Yeah, this mantra is not accurate anymore, at least for the time being. I think it was Pete Prisco's power rankings that I just looked at, and it was a 4-piece ranking system: 1) QB 2) pass rusher 3) pass defender 4) LT.

As he says in the article, the NFL is a perimeter game now.
UserPostedImage
Greg C.
14 years ago
It's kind of a funny article. He starts with an outdated premise, eventually admits that it is outdated, but then embraces it again at the end. Maybe Wayne should stick to play-by-play.
blank
nerdmann
14 years ago
They changed the rules in 1970. Previously to that, it had been a power running league. Subsequently to that, it has become a passing league, with guys like Don Coryell and Bill Walsh perfecting their systems based on how to take maximum advantage of the rule changes that benefitted the passing game.
It would have been very interesting to see how Lombardi would have reacted. People look at him as being such an "old school" guy, but he was actually VERY cutting edge in his day.
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
macbob
  • macbob
  • Veteran Member Topic Starter
14 years ago

It's kind of a funny article. He starts with an outdated premise, eventually admits that it is outdated, but then embraces it again at the end. Maybe Wayne should stick to play-by-play.

Originally Posted by: Greg C. 



I had similar thoughts reading the article (though I didn't go as far as the play-by-play thought).

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jdlax (1h) : I can't believe one of my teams went out and wablammo just up and acquired one of the best players in the world overnight
dfosterf (6h) : I do very much appreciate when Beast and others pick up my slack 😊
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beast (6h) : That's not what your she said 😌, she said keep going 😏
Mucky Tundra (9h) : Anything over 4 hours means he needs to get to the hospital
Mucky Tundra (9h) : Someone might want to check on Hafley and make sure his erection has gone down
Zero2Cool (11h) : LaFleur texts "bleep me I cannot sit down"
Zero2Cool (11h) : YouTube has had me last hour or two lol
Mucky Tundra (12h) : Ugh this trade happened right as my shift started and it's killing me
Zero2Cool (12h) : Parsons wore 23 in high school.
Zero2Cool (12h) : Packers just cost Lions more money with Hutchinson too huh
Zero2Cool (13h) : That is fair by me.
buckeyepackfan (13h) : Kenny Clark is the player, 2 1st rnd picks
Zero2Cool (13h) : umm... what?
wpr (13h) : I am stunned
Mucky Tundra (14h) : RICKEY SCOOPS WAS RIGHT AGAIN!!!
Mucky Tundra (14h) : ITS HAPPENING
buckeyepackfan (14h) : DEAL IS DONE
buckeyepackfan (14h) : MICAH IS COMING TO GREEN BAY!!!!!!!!!
wpr (20h) : Me do-ed it gooderly,
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : Bahah, I was like WTF why isn't anyone posting on PP.com ... oops no one has permissions
dfosterf (27-Aug) : tell her I reckon
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Micah Robinson cut. Probable PS player tomorrow. Has to call mom back and t
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : New site so much better. Might make switch and deal with it.
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Mecole Hardman to our practice squad
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Nick Nieman from Texans our 5th linebacker. Special teams signing
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Looks like we signed Clayton Tune as QB3
wpr (27-Aug) : TKT people lose their minds over QB3. Point is almost none of them are ready that's why they are on the PS and other teams don't take them.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Unfortunately he doesn't seem ready to be an emergency QB.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : As a Canadian and a follower of Canadian University football. I am rooting for him
dfosterf (27-Aug) : I bet a lot of us will follow the Taylor Elgersma journey with interest. Personally, got a Kurt Warner vibe goin' on. I like him
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Not sure if either will be claimed though.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Tune or Hooker would make sense
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Clayton Tune cut by the Cards? Don't know if that's the guy, we shall see
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Per Bill Huber, the Packers will not be bringing back Taylor Elgersma or Sean Clifford on the practice squad, so a new third quarterback
Mucky Tundra (27-Aug) : Schefter must have deleted his tweet
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Hopefully Jerry reaches under the seat cushions and ashtrays of his jet and scrapes up the 45 million apr and spares us further nonsense
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Have to admit the PO'd Cowboy fan videos would be fun to watch. Problem with draft picks is half their fanbase barely knows what that is
beast (27-Aug) : I think Cowboys fans are ready to get their pitch forks and burning sticks if Jerry were to trade Micah
dfosterf (27-Aug) : If Jerry traded Micah to GB, here in northern Va. they would have to quick build yet another data center to handle the internet hate traffic
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : its signing and trades that you don't hear about, other then announced
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : If you hear rumors about Packers sign or trade, won't happen. Not how they work
dfosterf (27-Aug) : 19 players in a contract year. Jones called loss to us worst loss in Cowboy history. Forget Parsons trade. Not happenin' Cap'n
packerfanoutwest (27-Aug) : The Packers, meanwhile, are the youngest team in the league for the third consecutive year.
dfosterf (27-Aug) : That it was darkest before the dawn in Bengals and Commanders before they got deals done
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : what is Schefter saying?
dfosterf (27-Aug) : He was getting Dorito infusion therapy
dfosterf (27-Aug) : He's outta shape. Why, just the other day I saw him splayed out on the trainers table
Mucky Tundra (27-Aug) : Parsons has followed Rasheed Walker on Twitter. Quite the choice
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