I wouldn't with how bad they have been at converting on short yardage. I can just imagine what social media would be like if they had gone for 2 and missed.
Yeah well, on the road a lot of things can go wrong in overtime from the coin toss to D coordinators thinking man coverage is working lets switch to zone. Live or die but would rather have the shot that gives the most control.
Man coverage was working, when players are where they are supposed to be. Two of Fitz's big catches were against man coverage. Peppers just had an Alzheimer's and forgot he was supposed to drop into that zone that Fitz settled into on a busted play.
Asking a D-lineman turned LB like Peppers (old and slow) to cover Fitzgerald doesn't seem like a bad idea?
He wasn't covering Fitz, he was supposed to be covering a zone. He failed when he decided to rush Palmer rather than follow his assignment. Not sure how deep that short zone extends either. But Fitz was about 13 yards past the LOS when he caught the ball having come from the opposite side of the field.
In the end the Packers over achieved in many ways; down to a FA pick up as our #1 WR (Cobb and Nelson out), our LT limping everywhere, 4 dropped picks (3 by Shields), and until the last two games a team with 10 games of lackluster ability. Bodes well for moving forward due to these factors: -OL will be healthier and I suspect we are set up for some new blood competition there as well. -WR is extremely deep. Montgomery will be back and showed burst and promise, Janis and Abby may have just convinced AR and staff/management Jones (as much as I love him) is not needed to be resigned...and the obvious Nelson back and Cobb set to enjoy not being a main threat kinda guy...which he sucks at. -DB's are a strength and the rookies are making saying buy to Hayward easy and will save a ton of cash in holding on to him. I could see Randall seeing some work at Safety even depending on CB situation moving forward...Burnett is more of a strong safety than free...and we already have Ha Ha. -LB's still love to have an athletic covering type LB, but Barrington coming back and Ryan hopefully experiencing growth means Clay can hopefully swing outside more than this year...which is always a good thing. Perry also has looked solid lately in his growth from being considered by some a bust to being an above average if not good from time to time. -TE....we need a true pure pass catcher....Richard must learn to block due to his size, he's proven Rodgers likes throwing his way, but he must learn to be a stouter blocker. Add in a seam stretcher and this position goes from blah to sweet. Just a couple notes...sucked we lost...but I'm convinced we are more reloaded heading into next year than I ever thought we'd be and hopefully health will be our friend and our offense won't suck for 70% of the games it plays.
Ty I do have to beg to differ about the current talent level at WR, it is quantity over quality right now. I would like to see the Packers draft a WR in the first round rather than waiting till rounds 5-6 and try to coach a player up.
I'm very surprised by the post season coverage of this team. So much talk about what needs to happen on defense and I have yet to read an article that truely says it like it is...defense was good enough to win in each game this year...the offense blew chunks. And now MM says Clements will be retained...disappointing.
Campen and Clements should have been shown the door. That coaching staff looks to have fallen into a rut and couldn't figure out how to get out of it. injecting fresh approaches and philosophy were needed imo.
I do think that MM can be stubborn and pig headed when it comes to fresh approaches and anything other than his philosophy. Sounds like another year of Dom too. At least special teams were improved this season.
The Packers need to do a few things to not waste any more Rodgers years. First I think McCarthy is not a very good coach and as long as he is there your odds go down. Most coaches can win games if they have a great QB. You need to resign Starks and work on the offensive line. I thought last year it would be crazy to let Cobb go but after watching him this year he is no #1 WR, you need some help at WR for sure. I don't think you need a lot on the defensive side but if you can add a guy or two that are impact players that will help a bunch. Lastly you need Thompson to spend some F N money. I know you guys "own the team" and you are proud that you are always tens of millions of dollars under the cap but that cash isn't getting sent to the people of WI it is getting divided by the board. How many Super Bowls would you have been to with Rodgers if Thompson spent up to the cap? There are only a few more years without injury and then who knows how long it will be until you have another super star QB?
Tom, Dan Marino under the only coach to have a perfect season made it to 1 Super Bowl, Payton Manning holds many records and has 1 SB win. Dan Fouts no Super Bowls. I could go on but you get the point.
I get that but most of those were no in the free agency era and I believe only one of those examples had a great coach and that was Marino. I do believe it takes a very good QB to win but he cant do it alone. If Thompson spent the money to put the right pieces on the field I believe Rodgers would have more than 1 SB ring.
You forget the salary cap hell that was the Sherman era, I have no problem with how the Packers have a draft first mindset and sign good players early to save cap space. It sounds easy to just sign a big $ free agent but making pieces fit isn't always easy. I argued with many Packer fans that wanted Randy Moss a few years back, IMO the best nonsigning decision ever made.
Just wait till you hear the *****ing out of Packer fans when we have a mediocre QB. Those days are coming quicker than most realize. We have been spoiled since 1993.
