If history, the 2001 St. Louis Rams and the 2007 New England Patriots have taught us anything it is that nothing in life or especially in football is a guarantee. A lesson Mike McCarthy is surely impressing upon his Green Bay Packers. While neither St. Louis nor New England were tripped up until the final game, there is nothing written in stone that the Green Bay Packers will get that shot.
Sure, as it looks right now the path seems clear and why wouldn’t it. They are the cheese grater to the NFL’s soft cheddar. But again so were the ’01 Rams and the ’07 Patriots. One might remember the Rams came into Super Bowl l XXXVI against New England as 14 point favorites…14 point favorites…IN A SUPER BOWL, and they lost. In 2007 the Patriots were scoring at a Packeresque clip, being held to less than 30 points just four times in 18 games and never once scoring fewer than 20 in a game. And Tom Brady who threw 50 touchdowns in the regular season was held to 1 in the Super Bowl XLII.
Point: Take heed Packers, winning the Super Bowl is not a rite of passage. Better teams have come and lost. The knee injury to wide receiver Greg Jennings was a warning. Be aware of the impending road blocks and hype machine and since a team cannot avoid them entirely they must do their best to prepare for them.
To be considered road block potential each team must meet two criteria. 1: Said team must be able to score enough to keep it close and overcome mistakes. 2: Said team must have a defense capable of not stopping but slowing down Green Bay. As such this is why the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets were not included.
Here is who stands between the Green Bay Packers and repeat Super Bowl glory.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints own the No. 3 passing offense and No. 4 rushing offense after adjusting for strength of opponents. Two divisional games against Atlanta and Carolina, however, could prove tough for a pillow-soft Saints defense. Drew Brees has 1,364 yards, 11 TDs and no INTs over the Saints’ last four games and is playing his best heading into the season. And don’t forget the Saints only came up 1-yard shy of beating the Packers the first time they played…in Green Bay.
New York Giants
Eli Manning leads the NFC’s No. 4 defense-adjusted passing attack and nearly came away with the upset in week 13 against the Packers. And you want to know who is more clutch than Tim Tebow? Eli Manning, who has six game-winning fourth-quarter drives this season. New York might present the biggest threat to Green Bay. When good Eli shows up they can score with anyone and if their defense is healthy the Giants have just enough to slow the Pack Attack.
New England Patriots
The Patriots are getting by on incredible offense and pedestrian defense. The question is, how many more times do you think we’ll see Tom Brady lose a game because of the No. 27-ranked defense? Rob Gronkowski is making a case to be considered the NFL’s top tight end and presents a tough match-up for even the best defenses. The Packers are not one of the best defenses. And one can never count out a Bill Belichick coached team.
Green Bay Packers
Teams can do funny things in pressure, high-profile situations. Who do you play, who do you sit, when do you pull back. Coaching can get in the way as well, trying to outsmart or outthink the opponent an team can get away from what brought them success. In the 2001 Super Bowl Marshall Faulk, the team’s best weapon, only had 21 total touches, only 17 rushes. That is a coaching fail. We’ve seen Greg Jennings go down already. Mike McCarthy is going to have to make some of his toughest decisions of the season before the playoffs ever get underway.
Denver Broncos
Not a realistic possibility but with Timmy Terrific who know. And as we’ve learned all things are possible with Tim Tebow. And on the off chance the Broncos do make it to the Super Bowl Packers just better make sure the game is out of reach come the 4th quarter.
