Opposing NFL teams are ready to move in for the kill. They see a wounded animal, they can smell the blood.
Especially within the division, the Lions, Bears, and Vikings are licking their chops. Green Bay, divisional champ five out of the last six years is suddenly vulnerable. Heck, even the Bears are only a game back.
The Packers have had a horrendous year of injuries. The defensive backfield has for the second year in a row been decimated by injuries. The offensive line, normally the healthiest player group, can barely field five guys. And the leader of the Pack, Aaron Rodgers, is down for at least the next two months.
The critics say Green Bay has no one to step in and fill Rodgers’ shoes. Before the Vikings’ game, Brett Hundley’s NFL stat line was three completions in eleven throws for 17 yards – for his career.
Virtually all the prognosticators have dismissed Green Bay as a contender. They’ll never make the postseason. They’ll finish below .500. Their only chance to win another game this year is when they play Cleveland.
So, do the Packers have their adversaries right where they want them?
The Underdog Advantage
Not so fast. Of all the enjoyment we get from following sports, and rooting for our team, is there any more satisfying feeling than watching an underdog rise up, defy the odds, overcome all obstacles, and go on to victory?
You know, like the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, or the “Miracle Mets” of 1969.
In fact, we Green Bay fans have been here before. No one thought the 2010 Packers would make the playoffs, much less advance when they got there. But, against all odds and despite endless injuries, that team of overachievers beat the Steelers and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.
Want some other precedents? How about the 2001 Patriots. Drew Bledsoe wasn’t getting the job done at QB, so in week 3 the coach brought in a green quarterback, chosen 199th in the draft a year before. Tom Brady swept the team into the playoffs, even getting a bye, and then beating a top-rate opponent, the St. Louis Rams – “The Greatest Show on Turf” – to win Super Bowl 36.
You want more underdog quarterbacks? Kurt Warner worked his way up from the Arena League Iowa Barnstormers in 1995 to the Amsterdam Admirals (yes, the Netherlands) in 1997. He finally got his NFL shot with the St. Louis Rams when Trent Green was lost for the year during the 1999 preseason. Nineteen games later, Warner and his Rams teammates were Super Bowl winners.
How about those 2011 Denver Broncos? After a 1-4 start, fans were clamoring to see quarterback Tim Tebow, a legend in his college days at the U of Florida. The fans got their wish, and Tebow closed out the season with seven wins and four losses, and then prevailed against the Steelers, in typical last-second fashion in the playoffs. The dream finally ended against the Patriots.
Hundley vs. Prescott
If you think Brett Hundley is inexperienced, how about Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott last year? The 2016 fourth-round draft choice came into the league with minimum fanfare. He was supposed to undergo years of development in the shadow of Tony Romo. But Romo fractured a vertebra in week 3 of the preseason, and Prescott found himself under center in week 1 of the regular season. Displaying veteran-like pocket poise and decision making, Prescott led the Cowboys to a 13-3 record, making his team one of the favorites to play in the Super Bowl. As we know, Prescott’s and the Cowboys’ dream season was derailed by the Packers in the playoffs. Prescott, however, was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Prescott, had zero NFL game experience when he was selected to be the starter, and he only had one preseason under his belt. Hundley has had three preseasons with the Packers, and he’s been mentored all that time by the guy he’s replacing.
What allowed Prescott to astonish everyone? He was given a smart play-calling regimen by his coaches – but it was not of the dink-and-dunk variety: Prescott averaged a healthy 8.0 yards per attempt on the year. Nor was he instructed not to run – the 6’2” 238 pounder rushed for 282 yards in the regular season, averaging 4.9 yards and scoring six touchdowns.
Despite his inexperience, Dak passed for 29 touchdowns while only throwing four interceptions. The rookie finished fourth in the league with his 67.8 completion percentage. Even in the defeat by the Packers, Dak stood tall, completing 24-of-38 for 302 yards, for three touchdowns and one interception, and for a quarterback rating of 103.2.
Hundley is also a deft runner, has an NFL-quality arm, shows exceptional poise, and has made good on-field decisions during his preseason stints. What’s not to like about him?
Backs to the Wall
The Packers are not without talent when reasonably healthy. Earlier in the season they were the top team in a number of power rankings, and going into the Vikings game, Green Bay was ranked the league’s second best team by most power rankers.
The team has indeed rallied around young Hundley. Clay Matthews had this to say last week:
“At first, you can’t help but have this kind of doomsday mentality. When your quarterback goes down, I don’t care if it’s Aaron or anyone else, that’s the thing that makes the team go… If anything, I think it’s put a little bit more focus on every other position, every other guy in this locker room. We’re all behind Brett now, and we’ve all got to pick our game up. It’s going to be tough sledding, but we’re up for the challenge.”
This is a proud team, with their backs to the wall, but their heads up proudly. I’m betting on Hundley, and on Green Bay making the playoffs. After that, anything is possible.
25 Comments
Nice piece Rob, very entertaining read. I’m not one to shit on someone’s dreams, so i’ll leave this article alone. Also, because i still haven’t received my $5,000.00 retainer fee, wtf?
Keep the dream alive brother.
I’m waiting for the article that’s titled…
PACKERS NEED….A NEW PRESIDENT, GM, HEAD COACH, AND DC.
The Prescott v. Hundley comparison is really false hope. Here is why: you point out the reasons Hundley could do as well or better given that Prescott was a rookie and Hundley has three years on the bench and has been mentored by Rodgers. However, you intentionally (it must be intentional as you have enough football knowledge) left out the two biggest determinants of Prescott’s success — one’s that Hundley does not enjoy.
1. The best offensive line in football including the second best blind side protector (I put Joe Thomas #1 and Smith #2). So Prescott gets great protection. Fewer passes batted down, less dizziness from hard hits, less soreness from sacks, less fear and distraction of defenders about to hit him or blotting out the sun, extra time for routes to develop and see open receivers, more defense desperation blitzes — which fail — leading to huge opportunities to gash the defense. Bahktiari is good but he is no Smith and is banged up as well. The rest of the offensive line is average to below average. Bulaga above average actually. Still, light years different.
2. The run game. Elliot keeps drives alive, keeps defenses honest. Heck, more than honest. They stack the box effectively taking one safety out of the pass defense and defenders also have their mind on the run game. As well, the defense gets very worn down via the run game and time of possession and that type of hitting and blocking. The differential between Elliot and the Packers run game is a freaking gulf. Sure, Davis did well this last game but it was the Saints and they were never stacking the box.
The above two factors make any comparison between Hundley and Prescott entirely null and void.
That said everyone should adjust their expectations accordingly and not be too harsh when Hundley does not become Aaron Rodgers II or Dak Prescott II. Poor bastard.
What’s your deal dude!!??
Do Packer fans come to your queens website and shit on your fans hopes and dreams of finally winning a Super Bowl after 20, 40, or 60 years or whatever it’s been?
Hell no…….We stay right here and do it. :)
Killer seems like the type of guy to ask the bartender for a glass for his Mich Golden.
That ^^^^
I mean that all sounds true on paper. Except when you consider Bahktiari and Bulaga both graded in the top 5 last year, and the running game in the first half resulted in the Saints consistently loading the box in the second, I have to question whether even you believe the falsities you’re spewing.
That being said Prescott is the exception, not the rule, and the comparison’s are indeed premature.
So your conclusion would be that even with the tremendous surrounding benefits Prescott enjoys, Hundley s just not an NFL-caliber QB? It sure could be, I agree. But Bahktiari and Bulaga are real banged up. I’d like to see their actual game scores (PFF) vs. the Saints vs. relying on last year’s scores. Performance can actually fluctuate pretty wildly year to year. As well, the current Packers interior line in no way compares to the 2/3rd pro bowl interior line of the Cowboys.
Looks like Aaron Jones had 97 yards rushing in the first half and only 34 in the second. Perhaps the Saints did adjust and load the box more in the second half. Wise if so. And, if so, Hundley and MM did not or could not take advantage which means either poor play calling or a poor QB or both.
You’re starting to talk me into it. Maybe Hundley is bad.
Well, I will be the glass half empty realist (pessimistically of course).
Patriot’s Bledsoe to Brady transition – Do any of us believe that the McCarthy coaching staff or the Ted Thompson personnel department are comparable to their counterparts out east?
Cowboy’s Romo to Prescott transition – Cowboys personnel staff had a solid O Line in place. Also, they took the training wheels off quickly.
Not sure if the Packers organization is ready to believe that they are dangerously close to making us relive the 1970 through 1985 seasons. The last 3 were all the same record @ 8 & 8. Took that unbearable mediocrity to force changes throughout the organization. Some short lived success was followed by a couple bad seasons. That was diagnosed quickly and more meaningful changes ushered in the Ron Wolf era. About 25 years later, it looks to me like similar sweeping changes are needed in the leadership of the organization.
Oh no, not more Belicheck comparisons. The guy coaching this team is barely qualified to fetch Belicheck’s coffee in the morning. The 2010 comparisons are just as bad. They weren’t huge underdogs, they were 3 point or less underdogs in every playoff game that year, it was a Green Bay miracle that they got a collection of playoff choke artists to match up against and an aging steeler defense.
Hey…nothing personal, but do some research before you hit reply.
The Steeler’s defense was rated 2nd in yardage given up, 1st in the league in scoring defense at 14.5 ppg. Yea, 14.5, not bad huh?
Damn impressive for a bunch of aging guys.
PF4L is 100% right. The Steeler defense was tops in the league when they faced Rodgers. Rodgers shredded them.
Sorry, didn’t mean to piss all over your Cheerios, but they were good just not great. That’s why these “huge underdogs” were 3 point favorites in the first place.
Gave up even less PPG the next season before losing a playoff game to Tebow. So yeah.
The problem with quarterbacks is that you never really know what you are going to get until they step on to the field in a real NFL football game.
How many QBs were drafted at the top of the draft only to fail miserably in the NFL?
You can almost tell immediately once they hit the field if a QB has it in to be able to play in the NFL. This was true with Favre and Rodgers. It was true with late round finds like Brunell and Majkowski.
Hundley however stepped on the field and showed nothing except an ability to run. He didn’t read the defenses well, he has a slow release, it appears his play calling messed up the receivers and most of all he was VERY inaccurate.
Rarely does a successful NFL QB start as poorly as Hundley did. I think he’s a bust.
Good points Deepsky.
I believe not being able to read defenses is an epidemic that has been in the making for a while and has come to a head. It’s a pattern : big name rookie QBs seem to all be setting school rushing records. Why ? They scramble to buy time and hopefully find an open receiver and not finding one go for the yardage. It helps that millennium QBs are larger and stronger than the passers of yester-year.
They are either no longer taught the fine art of reading defenses or they are not smart enough to understand it.
^^^YES SIR…
Remember back when the “New age of NFL QB”s hit the scene. All the “experts” declaring these read-option stooges are the future star QB’s in the NFL. where are they all 5 years later?
Unemployed.
there are exceptions – I think Carson Wentz definitely has the skill and brains to read Ds.
So what are you saying Deep? A QB who was the MVP of pre-season 3 years ago isn’t proof of success in the NFL?
Interesting……..
Well its the bye week, at least they won’t have to bother propping Cadaver Ted up in press box. Just put the schall on him, wheel him in closet for 2 weeks. Trade deadline next week, Lord knows Ted sees no reason to explore anything!!! Q the Tumbleweeds down Lombardi Ave.
No need to worry about trade deadline – Favre and Romo could sign as free agents …
I hear Kaepernick is still available
Hundley is a fraud and will be revealed to be as such.
I’m one of the few on record that didn’t walk around with a chubby over a guys pre-season numbers. I don’t wish bad things for Hundley, but, you watch him, and he just looks like he’s in over his head at this point.
I just don’t understand his cocky attitude, that’s a knife that will cut you deep in this league if you don’t perform. McCarthy will be learning that soon unless he can suddenly transform Hundley into a productive QB.