Relax Packers Fans—Favre & Co. Won't Fail You Now
By Chris Havel
Among a litany of reasons the Green Bay Packers exceeded expectations this season, the simplest is this: Nobody knew what to expect.
That isn’t going to change in the playoffs.
According to the Las Vegas sports books, the 8 ½-point favorite Packers (13-3) are expected to defeat Seattle (11-6) in Saturday’s NFC Divisional Playoff Game at Lambeau Field.
Somehow, I get the feeling that many Packers fans don’t share the bookmakers’ lopsided view. Naturally they hope their team wins, and surely they believe nothing is impossible for Brett Favre and their beloved Packers, but excitement and anxiety seem to be running in a dead heat.
On my afternoon sports talk radio show here in Green Bay, the most promising outlook for the 2007 Packers was one caller’s prediction of a 12-4 regular-season record. It turns out even the most optimistic of fans didn’t give the Packers enough credit.
Four months and 13 victories later, Packers fans still aren’t sure what to expect when ex-Packers coach Mike Holmgren brings his Seahawks to Green Bay. They want to believe coach Mike McCarthy’s Packers will dispatch Seattle with the same acumen and aplomb they used to roll through the regular season, but nagging doubt lingers.
Allow me to quell the anxiety.
While the Seahawks looked impressive enough in a 35-14 wild-card victory against the Washington Redskins, the Packers are better in almost every phase of the game. True, that one phase – rushing the passer – is significant.
The Seahawks’ swarming defense made Redskins quarterback Todd Collins look every day of his 36 years. They hit Collins 13 times in the playoff opener, and when they weren’t hitting him, they were still getting to him mentally. They ruffled and unsettled Collins long enough to give Seattle’s offense time to get it together and rally to win.
Knowing Holmgren, who brings a 13-10 playoff record into the game, I suspect the Seahawks will try to do likewise to Favre. Holmgren is too smart to sit back and hope the future Hall of Fame quarterback makes enough mistakes to give Seattle a victory.
In fact, I am betting Holmgren’s defensive staff spends all week devising ways to get into the Packers’ backfield, if not inside Favre’s head. Seattle’s pass rushers, led by defensive end Patrick Kerney (13 ½ sacks) and linebackers Julian Peterson, Lofa Tatupa and Leroy Hill, will blitz early and often in an attempt to disrupt the Packers.
The alternative is to sit back and let Favre pick the Seahawks’ defense apart, which he most certainly would do with an array of short passes interspersed with the occasional explosive run by Ryan Grant.
The Seahawks’ problem is this: Favre can’t be easily disrupted because the Packers’ veteran quarterback and young receivers are on the same page. Greg Jennings, James Jones, Koren Robinson and Ruvell Martin have followed Donald Driver’s lead. They have gone beyond learning the plays. They have learned to think like Favre.
It led to the Favre-to-Jennings touchdown pass that defeated the Chargers in Week 3. It led to the Favre-to-Jennings touchdown pass that set the NFL’s all-time record for touchdown passes and KO’d the Vikings. It led to the Favre-to-Jennings touchdown passes the thwarted the Broncos and felled the Chiefs.
It might be trouble if Jennings was Favre’s only weapon. The fact is Jennings – as great as he has been – hasn’t surpassed Driver as the team’s best receiver. Opposing defenses double-teamed Driver all season, and Seattle won’t be any different.
They can blanket Driver and hope Jennings, Jones, Robinson and Martin don’t make them pay, but it is a flimsy if not false hope.
Too many times the Packers’ pass protection has held up, and the receivers have responded, to think it won’t happen on Saturday.
Frankly, much of Collins’ trouble was dealing with the tremendous fan noise at Qwest Stadium. Favre won’t have screaming fans to deal with at Lambeau Field, unless it is when he sprints onto the field during the pre-game introductions, and after the game when the Packers show the rest of the league that 13-3 wasn’t a fluke.
It just wasn’t expected.
Chris Havel is a freelance writer, best-selling author and host of northeast Wisconsin’s top-rated sports radio talk show, Sports Line, heard Monday through Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sports Radio 107.5 FM and 1400 AM THE FAN. He writes a weekly column exclusively for Packers Fan Tours’ Website throughout the 2007 season.
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