2008 Woodie Awards
Unnecessary roughness
This team will self destruct in 5-4-3-2-1
Corey Kempf
Issue date: 2/5/04 Section: Sports
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And you thought things couldn't get worse for Wisconsin sports teams. But in a year when the Bucks, the team that was picked to finish close to last in the Eastern Conference, are having a better year than the "Big Three" could give us, you have to expect the unexpected.
When the Green Bay Packers sacked Donovan McNabb twice in three plays to drive them back to a presumably insurmountable fourth and 26 conversion attempt, success was not too far on the horizon.
When the Eagles WERE successful in converting, the next presumable act was the unison act of every Packers fan grabbing his or her neck in a choking motion, a motion the Packer Nation hasn't seen since the Ray Rhodes era.
Before that, another Holmgren-esque, conservative move on a fourth and one occurred, where Mike Sherman sent future Hall-of-Famer, All-Pro quarterback Brett Favre out to try to draw the Eagles offside to convert the fourth down. When this failed, Sherman directed a punt rather than going for the first, in Philadelphia territory, and tied.
Clearly, Sherman lost faith in the team after failing to convert on fourth and goal at the Eagle one-yard line earlier in the team, which is a no-no in any sport.
But that's just the fiasco of the game. A few days later, Ed Donatell, the Packers' defensive coordinator, was fired. Wait a second; the defense played well the whole game. They sacked McNabb eight times during the game and held him in check when things got dicey. They allowed the momentum changing play (the fourth and 26), and Donatell got the boot.
However, shall we look at the offense's mistakes or, at least, the decisions for the offenses? The Pack was faced with two fourth and one situations, and converted neither. The first of the deciding situations was at the one-yard line and Ahman Green was stuffed at the line. Couldn't this have been great defense? More like smart defense. Here's why: the play they ran had worked consistently all season, but they ran the same play or similar plays on three consecutive downs when a simple play-action pass to either Bubba Franks or Wesley Walls would've possibly had the Eagles pointing fingers.
When the Green Bay Packers sacked Donovan McNabb twice in three plays to drive them back to a presumably insurmountable fourth and 26 conversion attempt, success was not too far on the horizon.
When the Eagles WERE successful in converting, the next presumable act was the unison act of every Packers fan grabbing his or her neck in a choking motion, a motion the Packer Nation hasn't seen since the Ray Rhodes era.
Before that, another Holmgren-esque, conservative move on a fourth and one occurred, where Mike Sherman sent future Hall-of-Famer, All-Pro quarterback Brett Favre out to try to draw the Eagles offside to convert the fourth down. When this failed, Sherman directed a punt rather than going for the first, in Philadelphia territory, and tied.
Clearly, Sherman lost faith in the team after failing to convert on fourth and goal at the Eagle one-yard line earlier in the team, which is a no-no in any sport.
But that's just the fiasco of the game. A few days later, Ed Donatell, the Packers' defensive coordinator, was fired. Wait a second; the defense played well the whole game. They sacked McNabb eight times during the game and held him in check when things got dicey. They allowed the momentum changing play (the fourth and 26), and Donatell got the boot.
However, shall we look at the offense's mistakes or, at least, the decisions for the offenses? The Pack was faced with two fourth and one situations, and converted neither. The first of the deciding situations was at the one-yard line and Ahman Green was stuffed at the line. Couldn't this have been great defense? More like smart defense. Here's why: the play they ran had worked consistently all season, but they ran the same play or similar plays on three consecutive downs when a simple play-action pass to either Bubba Franks or Wesley Walls would've possibly had the Eagles pointing fingers.