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Cheesehead
Posted Oct. 29, 2005
Mike Woods
After Packers’ run ends, what’s next?
This is the part of the NFL’s natural progression you’d rather do without.
But like death, taxes and that flat tire in the middle of nowhere while on vacation, it can’t be avoided.
Barring one of those I Just Won The $340 Million Lottery Miracles, the Green Bay Packers’ run of 13 non-losing seasons is about to end.
The team that entered the season with just three playmakers is, thanks to a pair of season-ending injuries, down to one. As good as quarterback Brett Favre has been of late, about the best you can hope for is that he can keep this team competitive. Wins are going to be hard to come by.
But what happens next year, and the year after? Is the possibility of a quick fix on the horizon, or is this organization in for more of the same for the next couple of years?
Yeah, we’ve come to that point of the discussion.
Certainly, some of this team’s future will depend on what happens with tailback Ahman Green, whose season ended Sunday at Minnesota with a ruptured quadriceps tendon.
It’s a serious injury that has ended the careers of some athletes — Charles Barkley leaps to mind — though Green’s age ( 28 ) and that he takes great care of his body (unlike Barkley) leads one to believe he’ll be back.
But to what degree is anyone’s guess. That’s the tricky part. He’s going to be a free agent, and while be won’t get the bonanza at the bank he had hoped for, he’s going to be looking for a tidy sum.
The gamble is overpaying a guy who may never return to form. History says guys who have run with Green’s sledge-hammer style (Eddie George, Earl Campbell, to name two) have shorter careers rather than longer.
Green has not topped 100 yards for 12 straight games dating to last year, and while a revamped offensive line can be, at least in part, blamed for some of his troubles this year, his slip is showing.
It’s also fair to question whether Green wants to come back, knowing the quality of the line.
If Green does not return, it could be just the beginning of a falling house of cards.
If he departs, you have to wonder how that will affect Favre’s thinking. While his skills, determination and desire are clearly there at 36, he knows his career is going to end with some lean years. The question is, how many is he willing to put up with?
What of receiver Javon Walker? Even if he returns completely from his knee injury, will the Packers be able to re-sign him after his attempt at seeking a new contract this year were spurned?
When that time comes and he looks around and sees what’s left, would he want to return?
I know what you’re thinking: What about free agency?
Much like the Packers, the 49ers had a long run of success, with 16 straight non-losing years. That ended in 1998. In their next two seasons, they didn’t win more than six games. They temporarily rebounded in 2001 and 2002, but since have had two straight losing seasons and are headed for a third.
The Dolphins had a streak of 15 straight non-losing seasons end in 2003.
They won just four times last season and sit at 2-4 and are not looking good.
Free agency is only part of the answer, not the answer. True, the Packers hit the jackpot with Reggie White, but it would be wise to remember he was an exception and not the rule.
The reality is, the Packers are on the downward spiral the NFL helps perpetuate; finish high, draft low.
While bad drafts and poor free-agent signings by former General Manager Mike Sherman helped speed the process along, it was going to happen at some point.
The only question that’s left to debate is, how long will it last?
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Mike Woods
After Packers’ run ends, what’s next?
This is the part of the NFL’s natural progression you’d rather do without.
But like death, taxes and that flat tire in the middle of nowhere while on vacation, it can’t be avoided.
Barring one of those I Just Won The $340 Million Lottery Miracles, the Green Bay Packers’ run of 13 non-losing seasons is about to end.
The team that entered the season with just three playmakers is, thanks to a pair of season-ending injuries, down to one. As good as quarterback Brett Favre has been of late, about the best you can hope for is that he can keep this team competitive. Wins are going to be hard to come by.
But what happens next year, and the year after? Is the possibility of a quick fix on the horizon, or is this organization in for more of the same for the next couple of years?
Yeah, we’ve come to that point of the discussion.
Certainly, some of this team’s future will depend on what happens with tailback Ahman Green, whose season ended Sunday at Minnesota with a ruptured quadriceps tendon.
It’s a serious injury that has ended the careers of some athletes — Charles Barkley leaps to mind — though Green’s age ( 28 ) and that he takes great care of his body (unlike Barkley) leads one to believe he’ll be back.
But to what degree is anyone’s guess. That’s the tricky part. He’s going to be a free agent, and while be won’t get the bonanza at the bank he had hoped for, he’s going to be looking for a tidy sum.
The gamble is overpaying a guy who may never return to form. History says guys who have run with Green’s sledge-hammer style (Eddie George, Earl Campbell, to name two) have shorter careers rather than longer.
Green has not topped 100 yards for 12 straight games dating to last year, and while a revamped offensive line can be, at least in part, blamed for some of his troubles this year, his slip is showing.
It’s also fair to question whether Green wants to come back, knowing the quality of the line.
If Green does not return, it could be just the beginning of a falling house of cards.
If he departs, you have to wonder how that will affect Favre’s thinking. While his skills, determination and desire are clearly there at 36, he knows his career is going to end with some lean years. The question is, how many is he willing to put up with?
What of receiver Javon Walker? Even if he returns completely from his knee injury, will the Packers be able to re-sign him after his attempt at seeking a new contract this year were spurned?
When that time comes and he looks around and sees what’s left, would he want to return?
I know what you’re thinking: What about free agency?
Much like the Packers, the 49ers had a long run of success, with 16 straight non-losing years. That ended in 1998. In their next two seasons, they didn’t win more than six games. They temporarily rebounded in 2001 and 2002, but since have had two straight losing seasons and are headed for a third.
The Dolphins had a streak of 15 straight non-losing seasons end in 2003.
They won just four times last season and sit at 2-4 and are not looking good.
Free agency is only part of the answer, not the answer. True, the Packers hit the jackpot with Reggie White, but it would be wise to remember he was an exception and not the rule.
The reality is, the Packers are on the downward spiral the NFL helps perpetuate; finish high, draft low.
While bad drafts and poor free-agent signings by former General Manager Mike Sherman helped speed the process along, it was going to happen at some point.
The only question that’s left to debate is, how long will it last?