I will say this - and it's not a bandwagon approach, either.....
1. Sherman over ruling Donatell was HUGE - and wrong.
(He should have had more trust in the DC - who did better with less, btw)
2. More important, to me - Rossley calling that pass play was what killed us....
(Batman had been running straight up the gut all day - why change up?)
3. We beat the Eagles, if not for those two specific blunders....
(Would one have had the chance if not for the other?)
4. Review Mike Sherman & The Packers, period, against Carolina
5. Yes, we would have beaten the snot outta Carolina....
(Opening game on MNF with no change in our Offense proved it
And, now, Donatell was not around, either)
6. Now, review Sherman's record against the Patriots.... prior to this year.
7. I fully believe that had we gotten past the Eagles
-the Packers would have won SuperBowl 2003
It's all 20/20 hindsight - and open to as much speculation as you like...
But the Players were in place and we were peaking as the Playoffs came around.
** EDIT **
One more thing ---
Holmgren losing that second SuperBowl... wasn't totally because Gravedigger was out of shape. More appropriately, and this is straight from Dorsey Levens....
It was because after the half, they sat down the RB who was cutting them to pieces (sound familiar?).... and what's more.... Andy Reid has promised Levens a sitdown privately to tell him "why" Mike Holmgren pulled a complete change-up in the 2nd half. There was a writeup, back before last year's Eagles' appearance against the Patriots. It was listed on JSonline.... extremely illuminating...
So, in the end, as I alluded to in earlier postings.....
Sherman has one glaring fault - he doesn't review past history of other Green Bay Packers Coaches - to avoid repeating bad history. Holmgren pulled that blunder of going away from the running game, when we owned the Broncos all first half.... Then, in 2003, Sherman allows Rossley to pull the same stunt... one un-called for pass play near the end of a game that was already ours.... Did Rossley have money on the Eagles? Probably not... but wouldn't you have loved to be a fly on the wall....
