Something to prove
Packers defense, the league’s worstranked, faces test against Giants,
Leave it to the reigning Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers to be ahead of the curve in divining this season’s legacy: Fast, furious, precision-passing offenses win championships the way shutdown defenses once did.
At least, that’s what the NFC’S top-seeded Packers hope to affirm in their bid to emerge as the first team to win a Super Bowl with the league’s worst-ranked defense.
In fact, no team has reached a Super Bowl after allowing more than 360 yards a game, never mind that the Packers gave up 412 a week. Then again, MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers and his deep array of explosive weapons have surmounted most every defense.
The offense and defense will be put to the test in a divisional playoff game Sunday when the Packers host the New York Giants, who are on a three-game winning streak in which their rejuvenated defense has allowed a total of 30 points.
The Packers topped that when the teams met in Week 13 but narrowly avoided their first loss of the season with a wild 38-35 victory. The Packers finished the regular season 15-1, led by Rodgers and the offense that averaged a league-best 35 points a game. But as good as they were, the defense actually surrendered more yards (6,585) than the offense gained (6,482).
“It’s obviously frustrating when you have a quarterback and an offense playing as well as Aaron and those guys — and for the most part, the defense is giving up too many points, too many yards, too many big plays,” says linebacker Clay Matthews III, who led the team with six sacks. “But we relish another shot to prove ourselves.
“Now it’s just about getting after it on defense.”
Tragic loss imbued the Packers with deeper purpose this week after the death of offensive coordinator Joe Philbin’s son Michael, 21, who was identified as the body police divers pulled from the Fox River on Monday.
It is uncertain whether Philbin will be on the sideline Sunday.
“The question for the Packers is can they win a game in the playoffs if Aaron Rodgers is not playing out of his mind, because he’s been inhuman most of this season,” Hall of Fame tight end and CBS analyst Shannon Sharpe says.
The Packers can look to the 2006 Indianapolis Colts as a source of inspiration. Led by quarterback Peyton Manning, the Colts won Super Bowl XLI 29-17 after surrendering 22.5 points a game during the regular season, the most by a Super Bowl winner.
“The Packers can overcome their defense and win the Super Bowl again,” former Colts coach and current NBC analyst Tony Dungy says. “They have the bigplay defensive players we had when we won . . . who can all step up their play and make a difference in the postseason.”
Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ unit tied for a league-best 38 takeaways. That type of opportunistic approach enabled the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers, 2009 New Orleans Saints and 2010 Packers to claim the last three Super Bowls.
“Getting the ball back for an explosive quarterback is the new, practical defensive formula for winning a Super Bowl,” says former Packers and Saints safety Darren Sharper, who helped set the tone for the Saints’ 39-takeaway unit in 2009. “You’d love to have a dominant, 2000 Baltimore Ravens championship defense. But those come along every 10 years.” Creating turnovers
One part of the Packers’ equation that has remained consistent for the last two seasons has been turnovers.
Capers emphasizes the point to the defense, including practicing stripping the football. Last season’s 10-6 team forced 32 takeaways during the regular season and 11 in the playoffs, three of which were returned for touchdowns.
This season, the Packers led the league with 31 interceptions as well as seven fumble recoveries. Their 32nd ranking in yards surrendered is skewed somewhat by the fact that their high-flying offense jumps out quickly, forcing opponents into pass-heavy, catch-up mode.
Capers says a strong indicator for him is the difference in passer rating between what Rodgers and backup Matt Flynn post and what the defense allows. Last year, Packers quarterbacks had a 98.9 rating while the defense surrendered 67.2 for a difference of 31.7. This season, that difference jumped to 42 with Rodgers and Flynn combining for a 122.6 rating and the defense at 80.6.
“I’ve always felt that formula is important with the league becoming such a throwing league and how teams score with big plays,” Capers says. “Takeaways are a big part of our defense.”
Of course, the bottom-line number is points allowed, and the Packers’ average of 22.4 a game ranked 19th.
“Two stats I focus on that teams can make up for their yards allowed are points scored against and takeaways,” says Tedy Bruschi, a three-time Super Bowl winner as a New England Patriots linebacker and current ESPN analyst. “Just when you think the Packers can’t stop the bleeding, here comes Matthews with a strip-sack. Or Tramon Williams with an interception.
“That extra possession is gold when you have an offense like the Packers.”
Can Rodgers, who threw for 45 touchdowns with six interceptions, continue masking his team’s biggest flaw?
Consider the elite company he keeps: Rodgers, the Saints’ Drew Brees and the Patriots’ Tom Brady, the league’s top three rated passers, surmounted deficient defenses ranked 32nd, 24th and 31st, respectively. Brees and Brady each surpassed Dan Marino’s 1984 single-season record of 5,084 passing yards.
The Patriots earned the AFC’S top seed, and the Saints are the NFC’S third seed.
“If you look at last season, the way we finished up, we got hot at the right time and carried that into the playoffs,” Rodgers says. “I know (the defense) would like to improve a little bit and maybe not give up so many points. They’re doing a great job.” A weak spot?
But this defense looks different from the one Rodgers played opposite in 2010.
This season, the defense has surrendered 80 plays of 20 yards or more, third most in 2011, according to STATS.
Green Bay has missed passrushing defensive end Cullen Jenkins, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent last offseason. In Week 2, the Packers lost three-time Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins to a neck injury. He was in on 70 tackles and had four intercep- tions last season.
Nevertheless, the Packers were steamrolling toward a historic 19-0 season until a stunning 19-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15 left them fielding questions about their vulnerability.
They surrendered 438 yards to a Chiefs offense that hadn’t come close to that.
Rodgers posted a season-low 80.1 rating, completing 17 of 35 pass attempts behind a line that lost tackles Bryan Bulaga and Derek Sherrod to injuries.
The Packers have stretched bend-don’t-break defense to rubber-band extremes. Will that approach snap in their faces against Giants quarterback Eli Manning and his big playmakers Sunday?
“The Packers can be had,” former defensive back and current CBS analyst Solomon Wilcots says. “If that other team gets the ball last with the lead and two minutes left, Aaron Rodgers can’t play defense.”
Rodgers and his precision passing attack hope to pick up where they left off before last weekend’s bye and end the old dominant defensive way.
“Does offense win championships? We’re going to get our answer,” former safety and current NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock says. Soon. Matthews insisted a muchmaligned unit can summon last postseason’s swagger that propelled the Packers to become the second No. 6 seed to win the Super Bowl.
“We absolutely have the capability of winning it again,” Matthews said. “We have a 15-1 record, so you’d like to think, despite all the criticism, we’re doing something right.” Corbett reported from Green Bay, Wis.