The Pack are Back

By: Matt

The Green Bay Packers are Super Bowl Champions, again. Super Bowl XLV continued a recent (and historically shocking) trend of close, competitive, and generally entertaining super bowls. 4 years removed from a late loss in the NFC Championship Game the Packers are now championships. Much has changed over that period, iron man quarterback Brett Favre was let go and his replacement Aaron Rodgers evolved from being ‘the last guy in the green room’ to one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Defensive guru Dom Capers was brought in to change the traditional 4-3 defense to a modern 3-4 scheme. Defensive leader Aaron Kampman left, new blood was infused with 2011 heroes Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji. The Packers moves were questioned, but in the end, the team made a quick, efficient turnaround and now reign supreme. They dominated the playoffs, becoming just the 2^nd team in history to become champions after winning 3 consecutive road playoff games, and they rallied from the brink of elimination to get there. On the way to the Super Bowl the Packers defeated one of the most electrifying players in Michael Vick and beat the Falcons in a building where they had been previously infallible before ultimately overcoming the vaunted defense of their longtime rival Chicago Bears. When they ultimately got to the Super Bowl, the Pittsburgh Steelers, champions in 2 of the previous 5 years were waiting. The path followed by the Packers would have seemed impossible before the playoffs began, but now it is simply a part of the legend of the 2011 Super Bowl Champions.

The game itself was interesting. Green Bay dominated the first half before allowing Pittsburgh to rally in the 3^rd quarter. The Packers suffered numerous injuries throughout the game, none more important than the loss of premiere cornerback Charles Woodson to a broken collarbone. Even without their defensive captain, the Packers defense stopped the Steelers from driving with 2 minutes left. Had Pittsburgh completed that drive they would have again added to Super Bowl lore and Ben Roethlisberger would be undeniably one of the greatest big game players of all time and all but a lock for the Hall of Fame. Instead the Lombardi Trophy returns to the city Lombardi made famous and predicting the Steelers’ quarterback’s legacy becomes even more complicated.

The Packers could become frequent Super Bowl competitors; their team is among the youngest and most talented in the league, and Aaron Rodgers is among the elite quarterbacks vying to replace the aging Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as a face of the National Football League. At the same time, winning Super Bowl’s is hard. In 1996 the Packers won a super bowl with a 27-year-old Brett Favre (the same age Rodgers is now) and appeared poised to win many more. They went back the next year, but until yesterday remained title-less. The present-day versions of the Packers appear to be a more balanced and talented team, but many balanced and talented teams have failed to ever win a Super Bowl. Ultimately, time will tell if the Packers can/will win again, for now, let the city celebrate. Title-town USA is the home to the champs once again.