If the opportunity presents itself, should an NFL team really gun for the sacred undefeated season?
This is a cute little debate that seems to rear its head nearly every other year these days. In fact, it would be wonderful to know just how many hours ESPN has devoted to the subject over the past 10 years.
Somewhat amazingly, this debate has been localized this year, now that the Green Bay Packers sit at 13-0 with two of their final three games at Lambeau Field.
In my lifelong career as a Packer fan, I dreamt of one day experiencing a Super Bowl victory. That dream was achieved one year ago, but never did I imagine that one day the Packers would have to concern themselves over whether or not they want to give 16-0 a shot.
Of course, the debate generally comes down to a bout of practicality versus achievement. Practicality, because a team should do what it can to preserve a healthy roster in meaningless games (which are inevitable in the NFL when one begins to run the table) and achievement, because only one team in league history has won every game it played in a season, including the Super Bowl.
What makes this year’s edition of the undefeated conundrum unique, however, is there is a dose of practicality in the Packers playing to win their last three games of the regular season like they’ve won their past 19 (including last year’s championship run).
This 19-game tear Green Bay is on started with its back to the wall last season. The Packers had to win their final two games of regulation, and from there, would have to play every playoff game earned on the road. They played like they were cornered and in response ground out six weeks of tense, exciting pro football that culminated in the Lombardi Trophy.
That backed-into-a-corner feeling has carried over into the 2011-12 season, with the Packers’ offense (specifically the passing game) performing at the rate of an omnipotent being and the defense creating so many turnovers they make opposing offenses look allergic to the ball.
The offense is so good that when it received the ball with 58 seconds left against the New York Giants and the game tied, I had no worries about Aaron Rodgers leading his teammates down the field for a field goal.
The only thing that caught me off guard was that Green Bay moved down MetLife Stadium even faster than I expected them to. After four plays had moved the Packers to the Giants’ 30-yard line, Rodgers was able to watch a few more seconds go by before he calmly called a timeout with three seconds left. Then kicker Mason Crosby gave them win No. 12.
Slow down Green Bay’s pace and you could destroy the beams that have supported every one of its 19 consecutive wins.
“Injuries, injuries, injuries,” all the others will say. I know, I know, I know. Greg Jennings left Sunday’s game with a sprained knee and A.J. Hawk and Charles Woodson have also sustained some ouchies lately as well.
But I don’t know how else to say it – the Packers can’t afford to coast through the rest of the regular season (should they clinch home-field advantage next week) after working at breakneck speed for a year. This is the time of year where every team has to start grinding rather than resting, and Green Bay has already showed proficiency at the former.
There is a video I watch every now and then on YouTube of Barry Sanders, taken from an NFL Network program counting down the league’s best 100 players to ever play. The five-minute video, narrated by musician Wynton Marsalis, is a joy to watch – even, I suspect, for non-football fans – simply because Sanders’ talents reduced defenders to these silly nincompoops who look like they had never tried to tackle a couch cushion before.
There’s a minute in the video where Marsalis seemingly tries to describe Sanders as a living example of a running back’s essence – a man that runs past, through and around defenders. And that’s what Sanders was. He embodied everything a running should be.
Marsalis – along with an old quote from Sanders – explains that the old Detroit Lions running back played so fast that his game was based on instinct rather than actual thought processes. Had he slowed down to think about it, his game wouldn’t have been what it was and I can’t help but feel the same way about the Packers – especially with regard to their passing game.
The passing game has carried Green Bay this season, and it is a passing game that is stupefying (and might even be better than New England’s in 2008). Rodgers might have two other quarterbacks throwing more yards than him currently, but nobody has ever started a season by posting passer ratings of over 100 in 12 straight games.
Rodgers and his fleet of downfield targets are completing ridiculous passes with precision. Green Bay receivers catch over-the-back shoulder bullets while hugging the sidelines with ease. Green Bay’s receivers are also finding ways to run after the catch as well, as Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings and James Starks have combined for 909 yards after the catch. And together, those three account for less than half of Rodgers’ main targets.
This is a living example of a passing game’s essence – completing passes no matter how narrow the window (69.6 percent), scoring touchdowns (39) and not turning the ball over (six interceptions).
This offense is averaging a league-best 35.8 points per game. Tell it to slow down just once – after not doing so for about one year – and run the risk of experiencing a slow reboot.
Injuries didn’t slow down this team a year ago when it had no choice but to win. And as long as Green Bay keeps playing like it has no other choice, then no other fate will befall it.
Elliot is a senior majoring in journalism. Do you think the Packers should make a serious effort to go 16-0 or play it safe and protect their starters? Email him at [email protected] or tweet @BHeraldSports or @elliothughes12.
