A fast start. Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy was hammering on that all offseason.
Starts don’t get any faster than 4-0 and that’s where the Packers find themselves at the quarter mark of the 2015 season.
So, goal achieved. Swell job.
But what does a fast start get you? History tells us not a hell of a lot.
A pat on the back and some headlines are about all that’s guaranteed.
The Packers have actually started 4-0 four other times in the Super Bowl era. They did so in 2011, 2007, 1998 and 1966.
If you’re a student of history, you know only one of those seasons resulted in a Super Bowl victory — 1966.
In 1966, the Packers finished 12-2, beat Dallas in the NFL Championship and Kansas City in the NFL-AFL championship game.
The 1998 team finished 11-5, which was good for only second in the NFC Central. They lost 30-27 at San Francisco in the Wild Card round. Yes, that was the game where Terrell Owens won it at the end — something idiots from San Francisco refer to as “The Catch II.”
The 2007 Packers finished 13-3 and won the NFC North. That team lost to the New York Giants 23-20 in the NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field. Yes, that was the game where Brett Favre fired his last pass — an interception — as a Packer.
The 2011 Packers finished 15-1 and won the NFC North. That didn’t matter much though because the Giants came to town in the divisional round and beat the Packers 37-20, exposing their defense in the process.
Interestingly, in three of the four seasons with 4-0 starts, the Packers lost their fifth game. The exception, of course, was 2011.
The St. Louis Rams come to town this weekend.
This has trap game all over it…
Not at Lambeau. FWIW the Rams D is pretty much right in the middle of every defensive stat except for ppg so they can be beaten.
Hmm mm. …wonder how relevant some historical stats are. Of course, for a young team (and Green Bay is the youngest), developing a winning attitude is crucial. Very few 0-4 teams go to the super bowl.
I remember the T.O. catch….happened right after Rice fumbled the fucking ball and the dumbass refs awarded it back to SF. More Bullshit calls. Look what happened last night. These guys are fucking idiots.
Watch for yourself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRmwV9OnFbc
The loss to the 49ers doesn’t really hurt that much, even with the bad call. If the Packers would have won, they then would have played in Atlanta and then in Minnesota. The Packers had zero ability to stop Randy Moss that year, so that would have been an even more embarrassing playoff loss.
Wow Dude….what great psychic ability you have! Please tell me the final score of the next Packer game so I can place a bet on it and cash in big time. Translation…you’re just guessing.
You can’t blame the 2011 lose on the defense completely…4 fumbles in that game made it impossible.
Don’t tell Shawn that the Giants exposed the Packer’s defense in the 2011 playoff game.
We lost in recent playoffs because of going conservative. On the superbowl run, we were always underdog so we let it loose. You have to let it loose. Call plays for rodgers to let loose with his cannon of an arm. More playaction and deception on offense. More blitzes and attack on defense. We let Seattle come back because we went into a shell once we got the lead. Conservative and passive football does not win.
JTMAX-
I agree 100%.
We do play better as an underdog then sitting on top, as I’m sure most teams do since they have nothing to loose. It’s still a young season with a long way to go, but I have a good feeling about this year. If the defense continues to play at this level we have the chance to go really far, but who knows. We do need to keep an aggressive mentality no matter what. You can hide it in the regular season if you want but that mentality always kills teams in January.