RealGM

Ok so I decided to torture myself and watch the Giants Packer game agian last night to see if I could pick up anything I missed live or get a better idea of why exactly the Packers lost this game.

I realy didn't see anything new or see anything that I didn't already know as to why we lost after watching the game agian.

But one thing I noticed about Brett Favre that I didn't realy pick up on live and havent realy heard anyone talk about is Favre's total lack of mobility in this game,which im sure was due to the cold.

Favre's lack of mobility in this game made Brad Johnson look like Michael Vick.

This was obviously huge because Favre's calling card this season and over his entire carrer has been his ability to scramble out of the pocket to avoid the rush and make plays downfield.


Every play Favre would take the snap and stand flat footed in the pocket and as soon as the pocket would begin to collapse he would throw the ball.Favre was also impatient with his throws because he would throw as soon as the pocket would start to collapse even though it was clear he could have waited another 1-2 seconds to throw and made a better higher % throw.

Notice how a lot Favre's throws looked rushed,He was hitting receivers in the back and the timing was off ect ect.

Hell the INT in OT was the product of what im talking about here,the throw wasnt a horrible idea and might have worked,the reason the ball got picked was because the timing between Favre & Driver on that play was off.Had Favre waited another 1-2 seconds (which he could have) or scrambled out of the pocket which he would have in 70 degree weather the pass would not have been picked.

It goes back to what El Dude was saying about how the older you get the harder it is to tolerate the cold.Favre was indeed bothered by the cold and it totally took Favre out of his game by taking away his mobility.

One other thing that was realy glaring re-watching this game but also something we obviously all already knew was the fact the Giants coverted big 3rd down after big 3rd down.

Then you combine that with the fact almost every defensive penalty by the Packers came on 3rd down,those things where killers obviously.

As I re-watched the game I found myself sayong over and over ''wow did they covert some big 3rd downs, WOW!!''.

And when they didn't covert the Packers bailed them out with a penalty.

One that realy was big and im sure everyone remembers was when Burress caught an 8 yard pass on 3rd & 6 and he got rocked and I mean rocked by Bigby a split second after the catch and Buress held on to the ball,that was huge.

I just wanted to mentioned the lack of mobility by Favre because I havent realy heard anyone mention or talk about and I realy didnt notice it so much watching the game live yet it was so obvious to me re-watching the game.

I think that along with not going to the run more often where the 2 biggest reasons the offense was terrible on sunday.Should have realy went to the run more.

Every play Favre would take the snap and stand flat footed in the pocket and as soon as the pocket would begin to collapse he would throw the ball.Favre was also impatient with his throws because he would throw as soon as the pocket would start to collapse even though it was clear he could have waited another 1-2 seconds to throw and made a better higher % throw.

As you know, i don't doubt for a second that Favre was much more effected by the cold than Manning, but Favre not being willing to hold the ball under some pressure has been a calling card of his for awhile IMO. I'm not trying to say Brett is some wuss and not tough, but i simply think he hates getting hit more than some other quarterbacks in football.

I've thought for awhile that Packer offensive lines have had artificially low sack totals over the last 4-5 years because Brett gets rid of the ball so quick and he hates getting hit so much. How often the last 4-5 years have we seen Brett stand in the pocket with a rusher bearing down on him or the pocket collapsing and wait till his receiver gets open while Brett takes a big shot? Not very often that i remember. Instead usually if Brett can't move up in the pocket, he generally will back up and throw off his back foot vs waiting that extra second and throwing set which also comes with taking a hit. Mix in -20 wind chills that night, i think Brett was even more leery if getting hit.

As I re-watched the game I found myself sayong over and over ''wow did they covert some big 3rd downs, WOW!!''.

I know some want to blame almost entirely the Packers offense for the huge gap in time of possession, but i thought the defense deserved their share of the blame because they just struggled getting off the field after halftime.

The Giants had most of their drives being anywhere from 6-12 plays, our defense didn't force any turnovers all game or a three and out after the first quarter. Some was the Giants just making nice plays and no doubt penalties were a factor in this, in the end though, if a defense wants to get off the field quicker they gotta make plays and get stops. After halftime they simply didn't make plays to get off the field, especially in that 3rd quarter where the defense gave up back to back time consuming TD drives.

I sort of agree that Favre has a ''stronger than average'' fear of getting hit but I also think hes so competitive that he wants so much more to make a positive play rather then take a hit and go down and it bites him in the ass sometimes.

That has been both a negative & a positive for Favre over his carrer.That fear combined with his competitive spirit is a big part of what made him great and a big part of why hes the all time INT leader.

As for Favre on sunday he looked like a stiff old man that acted as if a hit would be the end of him.

The cold totally took away his mobility and ability to scramble out of the pocket which has always been a huge part of his game.

And the cold made him extremely impatient in the pocket because his fear of taking a hit was increased 100X due to the cold.

I was suprized personally how glaring that was re-watching the game,I knew ''favre was off'' likely due to the cold watching it live but not to the glaring extreme when I watched the game the 2nd time.

When you realize that about Favre then take into consideration the offensive gameplan the Packers used going into the game,the team was doomed from the start offensively.

Im a huge MM fan and I think that when he leaves GB he will leave with a couple world championships but his offensive gameplan sunday didn't realy make much sense under those weather conditions combined with a QB pushing 40.

Ironically the first offensive play of the game for the Packers was the type of play the Packers should have went to more often,if you remember it was a quick dump to the fullback which resulted in a 10+ yard gian.

Even though it would have went away from what the Packers did all season the Packers should have used more loaded backfield sets (2 FB's and 1 HB) like that and ran the ball more rather than 3-5 WR sets they ran most of the game.

Those worked great when it was 40-70 degrees but you have to adjust to the conditions.

I think MM is kind of like Favre in the sense that the things that make him great also bite him in the ass sometimes and I think he got bit in the ass sunday.

MM seems very competitive and a bit stubborn,I think his attitude going in last week was ''we are going to do what we did to get here and stick to our guns and not change our game despite the conditions''.

I think thats a great attitude to have 95% of the time and I think its a winning attitude but 5% of the time you have to make adjustments you maybe dont want to make due to things like weather & having a older QB.

I think MM is a great coach and hes young,he will learn from this and be a better coach for it.

BTW I still think Favre is a great QB but the cold is his kryptonite(sp) at this stage of his carrer.I still think you can win in the cold with Favre you just have to make the adjustments.

Also getting a big brusing type running back and maybe beefing up the o-line a bit would help a lot too going into next year if we find ourselves at Lambeau agian in late January.

I was going to comment on a couple of your thoughts in the last post rilaman, but there wasn't much point because i'd just be agreeing with everything you said.

For 95% of professions people work in, being age 38 is a fairly prime working age. In professional athletics though, being 38 is like being around 60 or maybe even older for many professions people work in. The fact that Brett was able to have the great season he had is amazing. Even though it's been talked about often by the media, i think it still may have been under reported in regards to just how few athletes can perform at that level at age 38.

With that said, Favre can't completely escape father time, it gets every athlete at some point. Even as great a year he had and how it defied the norms for a man his age, those extra birthdays did show up a few times this year and unfortunately, showed up quite a bit in a game for a Super Bowl berth.

Like you said and i along with many others felt, McCarthy didn't help matters. Mike picked a very bad time to call a very shaky game.

rilamann wrote:One that realy was big and im sure everyone remembers was when Burress caught an 8 yard pass on 3rd & 6 and he got rocked and I mean rocked by Bigby a split second after the catch and Buress held on to the ball,that was huge.

I don't remember when this happened in the game, but I remember we had ALL the momentum (maybe it was after DD's TD?) and I remember thinking if we stop them here, this game could be over. We would have gotten great field position and in my mind scored again.