Hypothetical

[bozz_2006]

Much has been said about all the injuries the Packers had to overcome last season in order to win the Super Bowl. The question: If we had none of the season-ending injuries, would we have won the Super Bowl last year?

 

[Forget Favre]

Not only the SB win we would have had a better win/loss record.

I think the question should be: Would we have had a bye in the playoffs and had all playoff games at home?

Another way to answer the OP question would be to see how this team does with fewer injuries.

 

[Powarun]

Lets say their were too many injuries to tell. The Packers did it in one of the most amazing ways possible. Grant could of been used for the ground game in the Lions game, Finley could of helped in the Patriots game, and our defense could of used the guys I forgot about since its easier to recollect bad memories which the Packers post season did not have.

 

[Ceodore]

Finley could of helped in the Patriots game

Rodgers could have helped in that game, he was out with a concussion. They almost won that game with Flynn in there.

 

[bozz_2006]

And I'm thinking more along the lines of team chemistry. We lost some talented players. But did having to band together cause that team chemistry to solidify in a way that wouldn't have happened had some of the big contributors to the team not gone down

For instance, Rodgers was seriously locked in on Finley before he was lost. I'd say that had a negative effect on the offense. Losing finley forced Rodgers to to look to the rest of the receivers, which was one of the main reasons for the Packers' success in the late and post-season.

 

[Kitten]

Not only the SB win we would have had a better win/loss record.

I think the question should be: Would we have had a bye in the playoffs and had all playoff games at home?

Another way to answer the OP question would be to see how this team does with fewer injuries.

Well met. The losses to the Redskins and Dolphins wouldn't of happened, nor would the loss to the Patriots (sorry Matt Flynn). Nobody would of been questioning our running game if Grant stayed healthy and TT would of set Starks loose at some point. I think having all our starters would of altered the course of the season but the end result would of been the same. SB win. What it really says is this team is capable of winning the SB with our backups, this seasons 6-0 start also proves they can get there with the starters. Sometimes you have to look for a silver lining when you have 15 guys on IR. We discovered what we had in our backups, a SB caliber team. We discovered a lot of new talent and we discovered that this team has a resilient spirit that will not take defeat.

 

[GreenBayGal]

I think we would have won the Super Bowl, the World Series, and The Indy 500. (there's a smart *ss in every crowd, right?)

 

[realcaliforniacheese]

We in all likelihood would have dominated and won the Superbowl. But let me ask you. When we won the Superbowl, would you have been screaming so loud?

 

[North44]

We in all likelihood would have dominated and won the Superbowl. But let me ask you. When we won the Superbowl, would you have been screaming so loud?

I wasn't screaming. That's because I had dropped over in a dead faint.

 

[Greenbayphil]

I like to believe that the way everything happened was why we won the SB
You never know what could have happened without the injuries.

Taking it to extreme like, if Grant was playing in playoffs he could have made a fatal fumble and lost the game for us, but because he was out of action he wasnt there to fumble

Silly I know but I like to believe it all happened for a reason.

 

[realcaliforniacheese]

The lowest of lows in that season after losing all those players. The punt return in what seem like a certain elimination for us, in the final seconds in New York. Going out and slugging our way into the Superbowl only to have our hearts ripped out by halftime as Driver, Woodson, Shields and Collins went out. The angst of the drive at the start of the fourth quarter and the exhilaration of the fumble recovery. The Steelers have the ball with two minutes, where have I seen this before feeling.

I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Oh I forgot the part about me standing in my front yard screaming.

 

[YouFrgotPoland]

I think some people have probably already stated this, but if our season didn't go quite how it did last year, and we were healthier, I actually don't know that we go all the way. The loss of so many players last year really tested the toughness of the team. This wear and tear of the season improved the character of the team. They developed so much tenacity and cohesion because of it, and that's what propelled them into and through the playoffs. Kind of a "we've been through this much together and we got here, nothing can stop us now" attitude. In the Super Bowl, several key players go down, including the biggest leaders on the team Woodson and Driver. Most teams probably falter and give up at that point, Steelers had all the momentum. But because of everything the team had been through, they knew that injuries were no excuse and they were still going to win.

 

[13 Times Champs]

It was all so wonderful. I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[Greenbayphil]

It was all so wonderful. I wouldn't change a thing.

It was complete storybook style, I even got the book of their season for my bday, has some great photos and it goes through and recaps every game of the season

 

[robdog]

It is the NFL, change anything in the formula and it could be a different outcome. What if Grant did play for the entire season and Starks never had the chance to blow up? But then what if Finley didn't get injured and we did have a better record and a first round bye for use to get comfortable and maybe cocky.

Who knows... everything fell into place as it should and changing anything in that formula would probably have produced a different outcome. The NFL is like that since there is so much parody.

 

[Jordyruns]

You can only look at teh playoff run, no matter how many wins we had we were still in the playoffs so that arguement means nothing to me.

The pack lost 3 starters that could have helped them in teh playoffs, (Finley, Grant being a small upgrade over starks for the entire playoffs, and Burnett would have been a small upgrade over Peprah). You also have to look at how the injuries added upgrades as well, the inside linebackers got much better with hawk and bishop over barnett and chiller. The same could be said for Bulaga's play in the playoffs over what tauscher would have given us.

The NFL playoffs involves more luck than any other leagues playoff system so I could not sau for 100% sure that we would def had won. I would give the odds of winning the same as last years playoff run though, which were pretty good going in.

 

[AmishMafia]

You never know. How things would have worked? Things could have been different. If Finley was playing our opponents and our game plan would have been different. I would like to think we would be more successful, but its a funny game sometimes.

 

[longtimefan]

Not to sure myself..

It is like when we lost Sterling...Lot thought we would suffer, but Brett got better..

Maybe this team needed to lose those players to find it with in themselves to play as good as they could?

 

[Croak]

I don't know. The "butterfly effect" of chaos theory might have changed the whole course of the season for some other team and doomed the Packers to miss the Super Bowl.

 

[thepackers1fan4]

Much has been said about all the injuries the Packers had to overcome last season in order to win the Super Bowl. The question: If we had none of the season-ending injuries, would we have won the Super Bowl last year?

yes I believe we would have won, might have won a few more games during the season as well. I also think the the Superbowl wouldn't have came down to the last drive

 

[Jules]

All those injuries cost you the division. But, it helped build a ton of depth for years to come. Last years Packers were still learning IMO to win games, especially close ones. They had to overcome the adversity. I remember when the Packers were going into the Jets game the injury story was pretty high. That game btw was wild. I just remember thinking "Holy crap, both these teams are so hungry."

And funny story. A Pats fan I know on a Colts forum I post at was pretty high and mighty before the Pack played the Pats. When Rodgers was declared out I remember saying how much it sucked that SNF would be the Brady vs. Flynn show. This Pats fan said back to me, "Even if Rodgers was playing it would not matter. They have little to no shot of beating us regardless."

 

[Kitten]

All those injuries cost you the division. But, it helped build a ton of depth for years to come. Last years Packers were still learning IMO to win games, especially close ones. They had to overcome the adversity. I remember when the Packers were going into the Jets game the injury story was pretty high. That game btw was wild. I just remember thinking "Holy crap, both these teams are so hungry."

And funny story. A Pats fan I know on a Colts forum I post at was pretty high and mighty before the Pack played the Pats. When Rodgers was declared out I remember saying how much it sucked that SNF would be the Brady vs. Flynn show. This Pats fan said back to me, "Even if Rodgers was playing it would not matter. They have little to no shot of beating us regardless."

It certainly affected us, it did cost us the division. By the time the Packers really started to pick up steam and started rolling, the division was already lost to us. What was left was the Superbowl and we took that quite gladly. It as not an easy road, many thought us done mid season, but the resiliency of the team prevailed. Injuries cost us dearly, but they didn't derail us. In that case, with the division, the Bears won the battle but lost the war.

 

[GreenBayGal]

Oh, did we not win the division? LOL. Funny how that is easily forgotten, unlike winning the Super Bow.

 

[thepackers1fan4]

If you can still win a Superbowl with injuries of a lot of your most utilized players that just proves your an amazing all around team that can look adversity in the face and say "you can't stop me"