Like always I’m late to the party but in this case it is on purpose. I wanted to let it all soak in first, so I didn’t rush out and get the Packers’ 2010 highlight video. It was worth the wait. 2010 will certainly be the most unique season of the Packers’ four Super Bowl championships.
The Packers started out OK, a unexpected win at Philly coupled with an unexpected loss in Chicago left the Packers 3-1 at the first turn. Of course they had lost running back Ryan Grant for the year and were two plays away from losing Jermichael Finley the next week in Washington.
The Packers also lost Clay Matthews in the second half of that game and then lost the game itself when the defense broke down in the fourth quarter. Without Matthews the following week the Packers let Miami’s Chad Henne carve them up and Packers lost again.
That game contained head coach Mike McCarthy’s worst call of the year when he sent out the extra point team after the Packers scored a TD with 13 seconds left. The Packers were getting beat up all day and should have tried to win it right there, they had no chance in overtime, it was all they had just to tie it. After winning the toss they promptly lost a yard on three plays and punted – game over.
With the season on the brink, the Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre came to town, and a big second half gave the Packers a much needed win over the Vikings. Not so much for the sake of the season but for sake of quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers was a different player the rest of the season, he went from good to brilliant almost overnight.
Beating the Vikings while picking off Favre three times in the process seemed to propel the defense as well as the Packers shut out the Jets in New York the following week. That was a huge shocker to me. I thought we should have been able to score more on the loudmouth Jets. The Packers were the better team that day and are still the better team.
The Cowboys and Vikings followed but were mere fodder for the rejuvenated Packers. Then came a trip to Atlanta. This is when I thought the Packers would make their statement to the league that they are the team to beat. Not! Funny how they did end up making that statement in Atlanta but not until January.
The Packers lost to the Falcons and lost two of the next three following that game. Sitting at 8-6 things were not looking good. At least the Packers had the Giants and Bears at home and had Rodgers back after missing a game-and-a-half with a concussion.
Rodgers simply exploded upon his return and was unstoppable all the way to the Super Bowl. The Giants game was over early but against the Bears, like it would be three weeks later, Rodgers and the Packers had to grind it out. Other than the pick to Urlacher in the NFC Championship game Rodgers didn’t make a mistake and let his defense do it’s job.
Once the Packers hit the playoffs they were on a dead run. I was fairly confident going into Philly again and had no worries at all going back to the ATL. Playing a division opponent three times in one year is always a tough task, but the Packers came out firing this time and the Packers held on to beat the Bears for the second time in three weeks.
How sweet it is!
I’m still a little shocked how easily the Packers won the Super Bowl. Rodgers’ leadership on offense and the emergence of Clay Matthews as the leader on defense was very impressive to watch. Barring injury these two guys could easily be Hall of Famers before it’s all said and done.
Since the Super Bowl might be the last game we see in a while it at least was a great way to go out. I highly recommend buying the video, NFL Films at it’s best.
Go Pack Go!