I got this from SI.com who did a fantastic job capturing the game. |
If there are still Ted Thompson haters out there, let me know you are, and we can have a debate on this site. Someone who got roasted over the coals by the majority of Packer fans deserves the most credit for the success of this season. Thompson picked up Erik Walden, Sam Shields, James Starks, and Howard Green off the scrap heap. Those players will all be factors in the 2011 Super Bowl. If you mentioned those guys to me in August, I would probably say well what about Finley? Grant? Barnett? Thompson made all the right decisions this season and stuck to his guns just like he did in 2008. There aren't many people in professional sports that I respect more than Thompson.
McCarthy also received a ton of criticism from fans throughout the years for a variety of reasons. Most of the Brett Favre defenders blamed Mac for the 2007 NFC Championship defeat to the New York Giants. People were calling for him to get an offensive coordinator instead of calling his own plays. Others questioned his time management skills with Bill Simmons of ESPN comparing him to MacGruber. Mac makes adjustments almost every game this season, two weeks ago with Raji in on offense and this week with the naked bootleg. There is always something up Mac's sleeve.
I remember last year when Dom Capers' defense struggled in the final part of last season because injuries hit them late, and made me hate Jarrett Bush for about 7 months (all is forgiven now). Capers just didn't have enough tools in the secondary to have the blitzing defense he wanted. Now with the addition of Shields, the play of Tramon Williams, and Charlie Peprah, Capers is a mad scientist out there. He just throws everything at you, all the time.
The Packers are Super Bowl bound. I believed it would happen before the season started, but with the injuries plus everything else, I wasn't sure if it would actually happen. This will be probably be the longest 2 weesk ever, but every day I wake up, I know it's one day closer to the Super Bowl. Go Pack Go.
-Charlie.