There is no magic formula NFL general managers can reference to build a championship team. If only it were that simple. But the Packers’ Thompson could look to the past to see how a Super Bowl defense is built.
Sam Shields and James Starks are among the Packers’ first off-season cuts, or casualties, if you will. The Packers released Shields, 29, after repeated concussions curtailed his availability and clouded his future. Furthermore, Shields is facing off-the-field issues involving an alleged arrest for marijuana possession. The concussions, if not the legal troubles, made it an easy call. What’s difficult is finding a player as gifted to replace Shields.
Trailing by 25 points in the first half, the Patriots resembled the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game. Super Bowl LI was all over but the halftime show. The Patriots could’ve collapsed and called it a day. Instead, they relied upon a veteran nucleus of 23 players with Super Bowl experience and what they do best, which is to control the football with the short passing game, mix in the run and let Brady do his thing.
What’s done is done. It seems pointless to second-guess the Packers’ GM and head coach for Green Bay’s inability to win the NFC Championship Game twice in three years. I prefer to congratulate them on a job well done but unfinished.
Big plays were the difference. There were the big plays the Packers didn’t make, and the ones the Atlanta Falcons did en route to a 44-21 victory over Green Bay in the NFC Championship at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.
The Green Bay Packers’ playoff games should come with a warning label: Intense viewing by fans may trigger palpitations, anxiety attacks and arrhythmia, not to mention expletives, paranoia and unintelligible utterances. So why do fans put themselves through it? That’s easy. It’s because of euphoric, classic victories such as the Packers’ 34-31 thriller over the Cowboys in Sunday’s NFC Divisional Playoff game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
This wasn’t a tale of two halves. It was a tale of two minutes. That’s two minutes, 20 seconds, to be exact. After being fairly dominated by the New York Giants for most of the first half in Sunday’s NFC wild-card playoff game at Lambeau Field, the Green Bay Packers sprang to life.
Jordy Nelson said it best: “We’ve reached our first goal, which is to win the NFC North, and now it’s on to our second goal – the Super Bowl,” the Packers’ receiver told reporters Sunday night. The path to Houston is set following the Packers’ 31-24 victory over the Lions at Ford Field. The victory secured the NFC North Division title and the No. 4 seed in the playoffs.
The Packers have the NFC’s full attention at the most important time of the season. No one is taking Green Bay for granted. Not now. Not after seeing what Packers’ head coach Mike McCarthy’s reshaped offense is capable of, which is merely being among the NFL’s most dangerous.
It remains to be seen if the Packers are indeed destiny’s children, but this much is clear: Despite all of the highs and lows this season Green Bay controls its own fate. With wins over Minnesota (7-7) on Saturday and at Detroit (9-5) the following Sunday, the Packers (8-6) will have completed a six-game winning streak to capture the NFC North title.
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