Packers v. Cardinals 2009 NFL Wild Card Playoff Game Analyzed

What an impressive offensive performance by the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals? Notice I said nothing about defense. It begs the question, did any defender besides Karlos Dansby play today?

Just to drive home how horrible both defenses played, two post season offensive records were set today: most combined points scored (96) eclipsing the previous record (95 points: Eagles 58, Lions 37 in 1995) and most first downs (62).

We could look back at 25 plays but I don't want to subject Packer fans to any further pain or mental anguish...it may result in further school absences. Here are the Top 5 plays that had the biggest impact on the outcome of the game:

#5) Game tied 0-0, Green Bay ball on their 21 yard line, 1st and 10 with 14:56 remaining in the first quarter:
Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) threw short right intended for Jordy Nelson (Green Bay) TIPPED by Karlos Dansby (Arizona) and INTERCEPTED by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (Arizona) at the Green Bay 34 yard line and returned -6 yards to the Green bay 40 yard line.

Analysis:
Was that Brett Favre circa 1993 that threw that pass? That pass might have been Aaron Rodgers' worst pass of the season. Luckily Rodgers rebounded and put together the best 3 quarter performance in Packers post season history. I say 3 quarters because Rodgers only passed for 2 yards and an interception in the 1st quarter.

The Packers are in good hands with Aaron Rodgers. Although Rodgers did not lead the Packers to victory, he played very well after an early misstep and gave the entire franchise hope for the next decade. Remember Peyton Manning started his playoff career 0-3 and now is considered one of the more clutch players in the NFL. Rodgers grew up today and probably vindicated Ted Thompson's decision to part ways with Brett Favre. Look for Rodgers to have a great offseason and come back even hungrier next season.


#4) Arizona leads 31-17, Green Bay kicked off with 7:20 remaining in the 3rd quarter:
Mason Crosby (Green Bay) kicked onside 13 yards from the Green Bay 30 yard line to the Green Bay 43 yard line, RECOVERED by Brandon Underwood (Green Bay).

Analysis:
What an amazing call by Mike McCarthy. I did a double take as Underwood recovered the kick. The Packers had to do something to shake things up since their defense clearly wasn't going to stop anyone. Mike McCarthy picked the perfect place to roll the dice. As all of my readers (The Cheesehead Gal, Mom, Dad, Mr. K, Mrs. K and may be a few of my friends) can attest, I have been less than impressed with McCarthy on a number of occasions this season but he made the absolute perfect call on this play. Credit Crosby and Underwood, they carried out McCarthy's orders perfectly.


#3) Game tied 45-45, Green Bay ball on their 20 yard line, 1st and 10 with 15:00 remaining in overtime:
Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) threw incomplete deep middle to Greg Jennings (Green Bay).

Analysis:
For all of the plays that were executed on offense today, file this under "the one that got away"... As the ball left Rodgers' hand I thought the Packers stamped their ticket to New Orleans. As the ball sailed through the air I had flashes of Brett Farve's throw to Greg Jennings in overtime in Denver (video). Jennings had at least a step on the cornerback with no safety help over the top...oh dang.


#2) Game tied 45-45, Arizona ball on the Green Bay 16 yard line, 1st and 10 with 14 seconds left in the 4th quarter:
Neil Rackers (Arizona) 34 yard field goal is No Good, Wide Left.

Analysis:
Was that Mason Crosby taking the last kick for Arizona? Rackers definitely did not earn his $19,000 game check today. You could point to the fact that Rackers battled injuries this season which caused him to miss a few games but that miss almost cost the Cardinals the game. So often games are decided by special teams, which always makes me question why teams refuse to pay place kickers. Despite being arguably the most dependable kicker in Packers' history, Ted Thompson let Ryan Longwell trade Green and Gold for purple and puke...the Packers have not had a dependable place kick since.


#1) Game tied 45-45, Green Bay ball on their 24 yard line, 3rd and 6 with 13:50 left in overtime:
Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) sacked at the Green Bay 17 yard line for -7 yards by Michael Adams (Arizona) FUMBLES and RECOVERED by Karlos Dansby (Arizona) at the Green Bay 17 yard line and returned it 17 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.

Analysis:
I know this seems like sour grapes but isn't this picture akin to frame 150 of the zapruder film? You are looking at the definition of illegal hands to the face and thanks to Tom Brady it is enforced very strongly in favor of quarterbacks...most of the time.

Just because I am going to miss watching Packer football for 7 months, I watched the replay a number of times. One of the angles shows the head referee looking directly at the action from less than 10 yards away, so how does he miss it? This is going to sound petty and crude but the ref didn't miss the infraction, he choose not to throw the flag.

The ref didn't throw the flag because he was holding in a dump the entire game. Every time they cut to the ref it looked like was holding in a deuce, I could not get over it.

Here is my theory, the ref wanted the game to end so instead of throwing a flag (which would have possibly given the Packers the ball back) he turned the blind eye and high tailed it to the nearest bathroom. That is my theory and I am sticking to it, to quote Bill Simmons: "Now I will now light myself on fire."

FYI:
Check back later in the week for a number of year end articles including: a #1-53 ranking of the current roster and an open letter to Ted Thompson for how to proceed in the off-season.

Packers v. Cardinals 2009 NFL Wild Card Playoff Preview

The Green Bay Packers travel to Arizona for the 3rd time this season to take on the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the NFL playoffs. That is a quite a feat considering the play in different divisions. The Packers defeated the Cardinals in the 3rd week of the preseason and the last week of the regular season. Both of the those victories are meaningless at this point though.

Last week, in essentially a meaningless game by kickoff, the Packers and Cardinals handled the game very differently. The Packers played their starters well into the second half of the game despite leading by multiple touchdowns. The Cardinals sat most of their starters but somehow still amassed a long injury list.

Here is a quick look at the Top 10 Arizona Cardinals:

#10 - Ben "Never refer to me as Kapinos" Graham (P): was picked off the scrap heap by the Cardinals in 2008 and this season lead the NFL in punts downed inside the 20 yard line. Don't get me wrong, that is a good thing but I have always questioned that statistic. For one thing, it could be a slight on your offense since it means they can move the ball a little bit but not far enough to actually attempt a field goal or score a touchdown. Again the Packers are at a disadvantage on special teams despite the Cardinals having a hurt place kicker and an overlooked punter.

#9 - Reggie "Had to include one offensive linemen" Wells (LG): the Cardinals sorely miss left tackle Mike Gandy. After placing Gandy on injured reserve, the Cardinals were forced to insert underachiever Jeremy Bridges at left tackle and he has struggled mightily. Some of Bridges deficiencies have been masked by Wells picking up the slack. Wells will be called on to help block Pro Bowl rookie outside linebacker Clay Matthews.

#8 - Chris "The Fumbler" Wells (RB): I thought I was the most biased fan in the country but a play that involved Wells confirmed at least one person is more of a homer than me. In Wells' freshman season at Ohio State he broke off a long run against the Michigan Wolverines. Even though he wasn't the starter for Ohio State at that point my cousin Steve claimed that Wells would win multiple Heisman (you read that correctly) trophies before he left Ohio State. Wells was a good running back in college, unfortunately he never even sniffed a Heisman. Sorry about that tangent, onto his pro career. Wells was the back-up for most of his rookie season this year but emerged as a starter towards the end of the regular season. Wells has embraced that role amassing 793 rushing yards on 176 attempts, 7 touchdowns and 4 fumbles.

#7 - Calais "Freak of nature" Campbell (DE): at 6'8" and 290 pounds is an absolute physical freak. Campbell suffered a broken left thumb last week against the Packers. Oddly enough, Packers left tackle Chad Clifton claims that is one of the worst injuries to have. Last season Clifton played through knee, shoulder and thumb injuries. When asked after the season which injury was the hardest to play with he said his thumbs.

#6 - Dominique "I give up big plays" Rodgers-Cromartie (CB): has a bruised left kneecap that he suffered at the expense of Jermichael Finely's cleats last week but will most likely play this weekend. DRC is Arizona's best cornerback but he is susceptible to giving up big plays (remember Santonio Holmes' touchdown catch in the Super Bowl last season) and does not like to play physical at the line of scrimmage. If DRC allows Jennings and Driver to get separation it is going to be a long day for Arizona because Green Bay's wide receivers are lethal once they get the ball in their hands.

#5 - Anquan "Yes, I have a reconstructed face" Boldin (WR): has a sprained left ankle and knee. According to various reports Boldin is the player most likely to miss the game against the Packers. Boldin has tried everything including acupuncture to try to relieve the swelling in his knee. That said, losing Boldin this weekend might not be the worst thing. The Cardinals are 6-1 in games that Boldin is innactive. Clearly Boldin is a talented player so it might be one of those silly statistical anomalies but the Cardinals are the only team in the NFL with a deeper wider receiving core than the Packers.

#4 - Adrian "The pacemaker" Wilson (S): is the undisputed leader of the Arizona Cardinal defense. At 6'2" and 230 pounds, Wilson is one of the bigger safties the Packers faced all season. It will be interesting to see if the Cardinals try to put Wilson on Packers tight end Jermichael Finley in an attempt to neutralize the mismatch that Finley creates. When teams put linebackers on Finley they usually lack the speed to keep up with him. When teams put cornerbacks on Finley they usually lack height (as evidenced by Finley's jump ball touchdown catch last weekend). In the second best match-up of the weekend, behind Woodson/Fitsgerald, the Finley/Wilson battle will be fun to watch.

#3 - Kurt "I have the same haircut as my wife did circa 1999" Warner (QB): old man time still hasn't caught up with Brett Favre or Kurt Warner. We have heard Warner's back story a million times, it is very nice but Packers fans hope he doesn't add to it in a positive way this Sunday. Warner lacks mobility but he makes up for it with pocket presence. Warner has an uncanny ability to read pre-snap blitzes and get the ball out within a second or two. The Packers will need to bring overloaded pressure and disguise it well if they want to disrupt Warner's rhythm.

#2 - Darnell "More effective then the Williams Brothers" Dockett (DE): in the Cardinals march to the Super Bowl last season Larry Fitzgerald had one of the most statistically impressive post seasons in NFL history but most scouts claim it was the pressure created by Dockett that propelled the Cardinals to the Super Bowl. Dockett is tied for the team lead in sacks (7) and tackles for a loss (10) and was one of four Cardinals selected to the pro bowl this season. It might be simplistic but if the Packers neutralize Dockett I think they win the game. If not, watch out Mr. Rodgers...

#1 - Larry "Try to cover me...Chuck" Fitzgerald: last week the Cardinals sat most of their starters but for statistical purposes Fitzgerald stayed in the game till the bitter end. Luckily Fitzgerald emerged without injury. This season he leads the team in every major receiving statistic with 97 receptions, 1092 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. At 6'3" and 217 pounds, Fitzgerald might be the most gifted wide receiver in the NFL. The Packers will put Charles Woodson on Fitzgerald all day, which will pit the best cornerback in the league against the best wide receiver in the league.

Go Pack Go!!!!!!!

2009 Week #17 - Packers v. Cardinals Analyzed

Sorry for not posting a preview to this game. At kickoff the Arizona Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers were guaranteed to play each other next week in the first round of the playoffs (by virtue of the Minnesota Vikings thrashing the New York Giants) so I thought I would take input from this game to give a proper "Top 10" list of the Arizona Cardinals before the playoff game next week in Arizona.

In a mostly meaningless game, injuries played a big part in the game for both teams. For Arizona, they lost starting cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to a knee injury in the 1st quarter. Arizona better hope Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is healthy next week because Green Bay picked on his replacement (Michael Adams) for the rest of the game very similar to how teams have picked on Jarrett Bush in Al Harris's absence. Arizona's starting wide receiver Anquan Boldin also left the game with a left ankle/knee injury. For Green Bay, Charles Woodson landed awkwardly on his right shoulder towards the end of the 2nd quarter and did not return.

At the start of the 4th quarter Mike McCarthy finally sat some of his offensive starters (Aaron Rodgers, Chad Clifton, Scott Wells and Mark Tauscher) but that seemed way too late given the outcome of the game was decided by halftime (Green Bay lead 26-0).

Here is a quick look at the top 5 plays from the under card before the real bout between these same teams next week:

#5) Green Bay leads 14-0, Arizona ball on their own 3 yard line, 3rd and 9 with 12:40 left in the 2nd quarter:
Matt Leinart (Arizona) threw deep middle intended for Steve Breaston INTERCEPTED by Atari Bigby (Green Bay) at the Arizona 20 yard line. PENALTY on Reggie Wells (Arizona) for Offensive Holding, enforced in End Zone, SAFETY.

Analysis:
This was set-up by Steve Breaston's (Arizona) bone-head decision to field Jason Kapinos's (Green Bay) punt at his own 1 yard line. I wish Breaston would have saved that gaffe for next week when it matters. Back to the play at hand, the safety marked the Packers' first safety since 2001. Reggie Wells (Arizona) held Clay Maatthews (Green Bay) in the end zone to prevent Matthews from sacking Matt Lienart (Arizona). In a crowded rookie defensive player of the year race, Clay Matthews continues to play at a high level. What makes Matthews so impressive is his ability to rush the passer and still play stout against the run. Ted Thompson has to be smiling from ear to ear for trading back into the first round to get a potential franchise player at outside linebacker.


#4) Green Bay leads 33-0, Green Bay ball on the Arizona 18 yard line, 3rd and 8 with 3:18 remaining in the 4th quarter:
Matt Flynn (Green Bay) threw short right intended for James Jones (Green Bay) INTERCEPTED by Ralph Brown (Arizona) at the Arizona 13 yard line and returned 80 yards to the Green Bay 7 yard line. PENALTY on Matt Flynn (Green Bay), Low Block, 4 yards, enforced at the Green Bay 7 yard line.

Analysis:
After three interceptions by the Packers defense (Charles Woodson, Atari Bigby and Tramon Williams) they were on pace to set a franchise record for turnover margin with plus-25. That would have bested a trio of Packers teams from the 1960's (plus-24 in 1965, plus-22 in 1962 and plus-20 in 1960). Unfortunately Matt Flynn's interception knocked the 2009 Packers back down to plus-24 turnover margin. Despite Flynn's interception, the Packers finish the season with the best turnover ratio in the NFL. Flynn's interception also set-up an easy touchdown for the Cardinals which robbed the Packers defense of their second shutout of the season (they shutout Detroit 26-0 at home in Week #6).


#3) Green Bay leads 26-0, Green Bay ball on the Arizona 5 yard line, 1st and 5 with 4:21 left in the 3rd quarter:
Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) threw short right to Jermichael Finley (Green Bay) for 5 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Analysis:
It is a close race between Clay Matthews and Jermichael Finley for breakout performance of the year for the 2009 Green Bay Packers. Finley's touchdown catch shows why he is such a match-up problem for other teams. As long as Rodgers gets air under the ball, Finley's size allows him to out jump defenders.

Finley's touchdown catch also marked Aaron Rodgers' last throw of the 2009 regular season, which has been anything but regular for Rodgers. Rodgers ranks in the top 5 in almost every important passing statistic: 4th in Passer rating (1st Packer to finish with a quarterback rating over 100 since Bart Starr...yes, you read that correctly...Lynn Dickey, Don Majkowski and Brett Favre in his 3 MVP seasons never finished with a passer rating over 100), 3rd in Touchdown passes, 5th in Passing yards (Rodgers finished the season 24 yards shy of Lynn Dickey's team record of 4,458 passing yards in a season with 4,434 passing yards), Fewest Interceptions and 1st in Quarterback rush yards.


#2) Green Bay leads 19-0, Arizona ball on their own 32 yard line, 2nd and 11 with 4:44 left in the 2nd quarter:
Matt Leinart (Arizona) threw short right intended for Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona) INTERCEPTED by Charles Woodson (Green Bay) at the Arizona 45 yard line and returns it 45 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.

Analysis:
Woodson's interception gives him a career high 9 interceptions for the season and 45 for his career. Woodson returned 3 of those interceptions for a touchdown, the others came against Cincinnati in Week #2 and at Detroit on Thanksgiving in Week #12. Woodson's pick-six gave him a franchise record for most defensive touchdowns (7 interceptions and 1 fumble return) in Green Bay Packer history in merely 4 season. It took the former record holds much longer to amass 7 defensive touchdowns: Herb Adderly (8 seasons) and Darren Sharper (8 seasons). Although Aaron Rodgers would have a good argument, Woodson is the best player on the Packers right now. Even though Woodson's pick-six came against Arizona's backups, it should cement his place as the NFL Defensive MVP.


#1) Game tied 0-0, Green Bay ball on their own 31 yard line, 1st and 10 with 14:56 left in the 1st quarter:
Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) threw short right to Donald Driver (Green Bay) to the Green Bay 45 yard line for 14 yards.

Analysis:
That catch gave Donald Driver more than 1,000 receiving yards for the season. More importantly, it means the Packers finished their second consecutive season with a 4,000 passer (Aaron Rodgers), a 1,200 rusher (Ryan Grant) and two 1,000 yard receivers (Greg Jennings and Donald Driver). The Packers are the first team in NFL history to accomplish that feat.