Giant Letdown

For the Green Bay Packers the tale of the final tape will read 15 – 1 and done.

Fundamentals. They are as old in football as the game itself. Block, catch, tackle. Over and over, from the time a kid first straps on a jock, through high school and college and if he’s lucky and good enough, into the pros. At every level the fundamentals are preached over and over and over again.

Block, catch, tackle.

The story of the end of the Green Bay Packers magnificent season can be told in these three words – block, catch, tackle. In the end the Packers lost less to the Giants than to themselves. A victim of their own inability to execute the most basic of football requirements, the fundamentals. The other half of the story is the numbers; 8, 3, and 1. That’s 8 dropped passes, 3 fumbles, and 1 interception. All along the strong sentiment was the only team capable of beating the Packers was the Packers themselves, and on Sunday against the Giants Green Bay did just that.

This is in no way any disrespect to the Eli Manning led Giants who came prepared to stand toe-to-toe with the mighty Packers. The Giants came in and made the plays the Packers did not. Green Bay’s inability to generate a consistent pass rush, an eyesore all season long, finally came back to haunt them. Manning had the luxury of being able to stand tall and have enough time to find his receivers, especially over the middle. The Giants game plan was brutally simple. Pound the ball inside, keep Aaron Rodgers on the bench and capitalize on their scoring opportunities.  Although the Packers defense looked good against the Giants running game, the same can’t be said of their pass defense.

Manning led the Giants downfield to score on their opening drive. Green Bay found themselves behind all game, a position they had not been In for much of the year. The Giants wide receivers Mario Manningham, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz backed up their brash pre game comments about finding ways to exploit the Packers coverages with a great game, especially Nicks’ end of half Hail Mary grab that caught Jarrett Bush with his back to the ball and out of position to make a play. Charles Woodson made a vain attempt to swat the ball from the much taller Nicks’ hitting nothing but air in the process. When Nicks landed inthe end zone cradling the ball as the half ended so began the painful end to a glorious season.

While the Pack and G-men took turns swapping scores there was an uneasy feeling of malaise on the Packers side of the field. The tragedy involving OC Joe Philbin’s young son who drowned the previous week as well as the passing of T.J. Lang’s father certainly had to be on the hearts of the Packers.

But the problems for Green Bay extended much further. The staggering volume of dropped passes, 8 in all, all but sealed the Packers fate. Jermichael Finley had a particularly awful day, and his drive killing drop on 3rd down in the 3^rd quarter saw Rodgers react angrily. Finley, who will become a free agent as he is in the final year of his contract, did himself and his bargaining position no favors with his drops. While Finley is phenomenally talented he also has a remarkable penchant for dropping passes at critical times.

The dropsies are not unique to Finley or the other receivers. Jordy Nelson, James Starks, James Jones and Greg Jennings also let a few go through their fingers. Jennings, in his return since spraining his knee 4 weeks ago, hardly looked like the pass gobbling beast he has become. The largest impact during Jennings absence was on Jordy Nelson as Jennings’ ability to get open and draw coverages freed up Nelson on the other side in one on one coverages, but in this game Jennings could not get himself open and Nelson drew more coverage than he is used to seeing.

Catching the ball was supposed to be a strength of the Packers. That job simply did not get done. There was nothing wrong with the game plan, and the offensive line did, for the most part, a great job of keeping Rodgers upright. In the fundamental dept. of blocking, the Packers offensive line did their jobs. The fundamentals of blocking were there all right, and the offensive line more than ably manned the fort. This one can’t and won’t be laid at the feet of those on the O Line. Credit the Giant defenders for putting a blanket on Rodgers’ targets. Rodgers led all Packer rushers with 66 yards, a sign that does not bode well for the Pack. Rodgers did not get sacked until the Packers were in desperation mode and no fear of any running game except for Rodgers’ alert scrambles existed for the Giants front four.

Dropping the ball was not confined to the receivers exclusively. One thing missing from Green Bay this season was turnovers. The Pack turned the ball over only 14 times all year, less than 1 turnover/ game, and led the league in turnover differential. But on Sunday 3 fumbles and 1 interception were crushing moments to the Pack’s cause. The fumbles came most shockingly from the most reliable of players; Ryan Grant, who has been incredibly protective of the ball and had not fumbled in a playoff game since the Seattle blowout in ‘07, Aaron Rodgers, and FB John Kuhn, who has never lost a fumble in his 5 year career all coughed one up. Rodgers’ fumble courtesy of an Osi Umenyiora slap at the ball was particularly heartbreaking as Arod has just loaded up for a wide open Greg Jennings headed to the end zone unchecked.

While the offense struggled the defense and their inability to generate a pass rush and poor open field tackling was exposed. Charlie Peprah’s whiff when he failed to wrap up Nicks over the middle led to one 66 yard catch and run away from flailing defenders TD while the soft coverages played by Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams left too many Giants open especially over the middle. Woodson himself did not shine and was caught several times running around while Williams also was not the shutdown corner he was last season.

On the final play of the first half Manning’s Hail Mary heave was greatly aided by Jarrett Bush turning his back to the ball and running away from the glut of humanity in the corner of the end zone, leaving enough clear space for Nicks to outleap everyone and answer the prayer of the Giants.

One of the few players exempt from any miscues was one of the greatest Packers ever, WR Donald Driver. Driver came away with 3 critical catches, no drops, and his last grab was for the Packers final TD. Once Driver regained his feet he looked as if he was going to spike the ball, but suddenly caught himself, stopped, and in a bit of a telling moment he flipped the ball to the Packers equipment man for safekeeping. While not attempting to create an issue was that a tell on Drivers’ part? Was Driver symbolically recognizing that he has come to the end of his spectacular career and this would be his final grab as a Packer?

Driver certainly has nothing left to prove, and as he approaches age 37 it may well be he sees his own retirement on the not too distant horizon. Other news that points to Driver calling it a day was PS WR’s Tori Gurley and Diondre Borel being signed to a regular squad player’s contract while still on the practice squad after they both turned down offers from Minnesota and Tampa Bay. Simply put, kids, that means Gurley and Borel said “No” to the Vikes and Bucs offers to be a member of their game day 53 man squads to stay in anonymity in Green Bay. Does the Packers contract offer tip their hand as they invest in their receivers of the future? This certainly looks as if the handwriting is on the wall. Driver said after the game he hopes to play until he is 40, he believes he has something left in the tank, and yet made allusions to possibly not being with the Packers next year.

The Packers as an organization face many challenges and questions as the off season is suddenly and unwelcomely upon them. The first order of business will be the key free agents. TE Jermichael Finley, backup QB Matt Flynn and All Pro C Scott Wells are all due contracts, and before Green Bay can address it’s draft and needs as a team GM Ted Thompson has some tough choices. Of the 3 Wells’ impending contract is almost a no brainer as he anchored a line that while not spectacular was steady all year and Wells finally got some long overdue recognition for his stellar play.

Flynn established himself as a red hot ticket with his week 16 performance against the Lions. If he walks and inks a free agent deal Green Bay would get a 3^rd round compensatory pick in the draft, or would TT prefer to sign him and deal him for higher picks a la Matt Cassel, a move that is expected it also violates the CBA of the players union. Or would Flynn sign at a lesser value deal to stay put in Green Bay? Finley poses the biggest question marks. Yes, he has talent. Yes, he is a match up nightmare. Yes, he is young. And yes, he has a huge upside. But the buts are bigger Lake Superior. He has had a forgettable season with regards to dropping the ball. In Finley’s case has he devalued himself by his play? How much can be invested into such a mercurial player? Finlay has arrived, to a degree, as a player, but he has yet to deliver in the crunch when it matters most. Rodgers’ visible display of displeasure on Finley’s costly drop encapsulated the sum total of the Packers emotions after this game. With Andrew Quarless hopefully returning from a serious knee injury sometime next season and D.J. Williams in the fold as pass catching TE’s can the Packers afford to part ways or do they invest in and hope for Finley’s maturation as a player to finally take root?

And the fun begins in earnest after the Pack addresses their own players. Look for LB Coach and Asst. Head Coach Winston Moss to be tabbed sooner than later as the Raiders next Head Coach. Dom Capers name has also been mentioned prominently in Oakland, and with new GM Reggie McKenzie, fresh from his stint in Green Bay, has made it clear he wants his guys, and he and Moss are especially close.

The needs for the Pack are so much more obvious on defense, and TT may be forced to delve into the free agency pool. TT and MM may have underestimated how much losing Cullen Jenkins would hurt, and Mike Neal’s slow progress as his replacement has hardly been confidence building. No one has a crystal ball to see exactly how it plays out, and in retrospect it would be so easy to second guess.

We respectfully decline to do so as the fact is the Packers won a Super Bowl title largely with the same guys on the field last year. But last year was last year, and while the defense, as a whole, did not play anywhere near it’s #5 ranking last year this year’s ranking of #32 was as unexpected as a summer breeze blowing through Lambeau in mid-January. It can hardly be said anyone expected such an incredibly steep decline in one season.

Clearly McCarthy, DC Dom Capers and Ted Thompson have issues to address in the defensive side of the ball.

The lack of a pass rush was fully exposed by Tom Coughlin, and an OLB opposite Clay Matthews is also a pressing need. Even another great draft only puts untested, unproven rookies in place, so TT may have to go where he is loath to go. If does go the Free Agency route, don’t look for big names, but rather more the under the radar Ryan Pickett/ Brandon Chillar types of signings. Even the CB’s are not free from scrutiny. There may be a much larger turnover on defense after this season than anticipated, and not of the knee jerk reaction type. The results, or lack thereof, speak loudly for themselves.

After a Super Bowl run and a wonderful 15 – 2 season, the only disappointment comes from expectations unmet and unfulfilled. That the Packers waited until their final game to play their unquestioned worst game is a fact that will burn in the stomachs and minds of the entire organization from the front office to the players on the field until OTA’s begin in the spring.

The Packers are not in ruin by any stretch of the imagination. But they feel in their hearts and know in their heads they let one get away.