| No doubt the four turnovers that show up on Brett Favre’s Sunday report card will be kindling to his critics for Green Bay Head Coach Mike Sherman to light a fire under the Packer quarterback. While there may be some small cause for concern, the mistakes made by the Green and Gold, individually and as a team, were so plentiful and critical, that they could not wait for the film room. Indeed, after a costly personal foul penalty, Sherman was required to be distracted from his normal field duties to take the offender, defensive back, Chris Akins to task. Late in the game, Akins had compounded Tod McBride’s unnecessary offsides penalty by allowing himself to be drawn into a ‘continuing action’ personal foul when tempers flared. Apparently, Akins continued his stupidity on the sidelines by sophomorically defending himself. The whole incident was but one of many calamitous and telling occurrences in the Packers first home loss in 10 games. Nothing can be taken away, however, from the superb planning of Dan Reeves and performance of his Falcon players. From Chris Chandler’s thrilling passes to the thundering runs of FB Bob Christian to the ball hawking pursuit of the Atlanta Defense, the Falcons were on top of their game. And clearly, the wizened coaching veteran, Reeves, out-coached his younger, less experienced counterpart, Mike Sherman. In fact, when Sherman starts dishing out kicks in the ass prior to preparation for Thursday’s Thanksgiving showdown with the winless Detroit Lions, his first mission should be to find a proxy to give him a good one. His team was no more dressed to play the Falcons than |
Custer was prepared to take Sitting Bull, though the arrogant confidence was likely the same. Second on Sherman’s kick list must certainly be defensive coordinator, Ed Donatell. Whether or not Donatell was trying to lull the Falcon offense into complacency by playing away from the Packers defensive strength, the line, is likely to remain a mystery. That Atlanta abused the deficiency is fact. In the absence of the injured behemoth, Gilbert Brown, it should have seemed obvious that here was a point in need of added attention. Instead, not only did Donatell fail to bolster the line, on at least three occasions, he had DE Vonnie Holiday drop back into pass coverage. By the time Donatell realized that he needed to adjust back to the form of defense which has been so successful this season, a fierce onslaught into the opponent’s backfield, Leroy Butler had been knocked out of the game and the Falcons had a ten point lead. Short of listing the Packers’ roster, it would be impossible to cite all those who played an integral part in the embarrassment they took in front of their bewildered fans. Billie Schroeder who early on decided to admire a Brett Favre scramble-and-pass, rather than come back and get it; Center Mike Flannigan who apparently forgot that left guard Mike Wahle was going to pull on a sweep and decided to help right guard Marco Rivera block one DT while the other waltzed into the backfield untouched and nailed Ahman Green behind Wahle’s back. McBride , who’s ill-timed leap over the Falcons offensive line started the mayhem that cost Akins 15 yards (did he really think his timing was so perfect he could get away with that?). |
The countless arm-tackles that the Falcon ball-carriers busted with ease, the missed blocks allowing Falcon defenders unimpeded access to Packer ball-carriers, the many wrong angles taken by Packer defensive backs trying to cover Falcon receivers, the dropped passes... And yes, the occasional lapse in judgment by Brett Favre. Criticize him if you will for launching the bomb that was intercepted to end their final drive, but don’t say he was trying to win the game himself. In fact, he was counting on receiver Billie Schroeder to get to the ball, and if he failed to catch it, to have his hand there to keep defender Ambrose Ashley from picking it off. The ball was there... Schroeder’s hand was there... but he whiffed like a Milwaukee Brewer shortstop and the game was over. Badly shaken Packer fans, unaccustomed as they are to seeing the Packers lose at Lambeau Field, were stunned. There are far to many questions and infinitely few answers. Could it be that arrogance had cost the Packers a home victory? Could they seriously be guilty of looking past the Falcons to the Turkey Day game against the Lions? I’m sure the coaching staff would never own up to that, even if it was the case, but how else to explain such universal ineptness on a team that thus far had seemed dominant? Suffice it to say that Amends must be made four days hence in the dome in Pontiac, where the Packers have failed 4 consecutive times. With but seven games remaining in the season, the loss to Atlanta likely has cost them a chance at Playoff home field advantage. A loss to Detroit would likely cost them the division, their confidence, and any esteem they may have had. |