Miracle Man

Before Aaron Rogers and Brett Favre, the Packers had a quarterback by the name of Don Majkowski, who was with the Packers from 1987 to 1992.  For a short time, he was viewed as a miracle worker for the Green and Gold.

Nicknamed the "Majik Man," Majkowski broke out during the 1989 season and had one of the best seasons in Packer's history with 27 touchdowns and over 4,300 passing yards.  He is probably best known for a game against the hated Chicago Bears, when he beat the Bears with a touchdown pass that was initially nullified by an illegal forward pass (Chicago Bear coach  Mike Ditka thought he had crossed the line of scrimmage).  The play was later overturned, allowing the Packers to beat the Bears for the first time since 1984.  Majkowski capped the season with a visit to the Pro Bowl.

But the Majik Man's fourth quarter heroics had nothing on Aaron Rogers who orchestrated a stunning 11th hour victory in Dallas this past weekend.

Consider this:

The Packers were without their two best running backs,  Eddie Lacey and James Starks.

They had a converted wide receiver, Ty Montgomery, as their running back.

They were without their starting two cornerbacks, Sam Shields and Quentin Rollins.

They were without their best wide receiver, Jordy Nelson.

During the first quarter, they lost their starting strong safety, Morgan Burnett.

And they were playing in Dallas against the conference's number one seed, confident and rested after a first round bye.

And yet, this patch work team of third stringers and undrafted free agents were tied 31 to 31 with 34 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.  The team's feel-good mojo had taken a hit from being ahead 21 - 3 to being even at 31 - 31, but the Packers were still in a good position to win.  Why?  Aaron Rogers and the red-hot offense were waiting to take the field with less than a minute remaining ...


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It was October 17th, and the crowd sitting in Lambeau Field was booing the Packers without prejudice -- both offense and defense.  They had lost to the Cowboys 30-16, with 4 turnovers and sloppy play, including poor play by Aaron Rogers. 

The Cowboy's game extended his career-worse slump.  He missed a touchdown when his throw sailed over a wide-open Randall Cobb in the end zone.  He fumbled with the Packers poised to score inside the Cowboy's 5-yard line.

Worse, the eventual loss to the Cowboys wasn't a one-game blip.  If you took away the Packer's romp over the Detroit Lions earlier in the year, an ugly pattern had emerged.  Rogers, known for taking care of the football, had eight touchdowns and six turnovers in four other games.  

For nearly a year and a half, the two-time MVP had struggled to be the quarterback that had led the NFL in touchdowns and quarterback ratings. 

People were wondering what had happened to Rogers.

The Green Bay Press wrote, "Dallas led by 14 at the time of Roger's second give away, and Dallas won by 14.  These are the kinds of games Green Bay has won for years during the Roger's era, the slugfests with NFC peers."

Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post wrote, "Rogers can't hit the broad side of a barn with some of his passes."  He also highlighted Rogers had only completed 60.2 percent of his passes this season, placing him 25th among 31 qualifying quarterbacks.  Last season, his completion percentage dipped below 61 percent for the first time since he became a starter in 2008.

Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote, "Rogers should be categorized as a good veteran quarterback scuffling to regain his elite form."  The story's ugly headline read:  "Rogers Falls From Ranks of Greats."

It appeared the Cowboys, led by Dak Precott and Ezekiel Elliot, were the NFC's new football darlings.  Green Bay, led by Aaron Rogers, looked out-of-sorts and tired.  A changing of the NFC guard was firmly underway.


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It was a schoolyard play.

That's what Rogers called it -- buying time to keep a play alive before delivering a strike.  Coach McCarthy called it "Dash Pass Left."

After two plays -- including one that saw Cowboy's safety Jeff Heath drill Rogers from behind for a 10 yard sack -- the Packers faced a third and 20 from their own 32 with 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter.  According to Randall Cobb, Rogers designed the third down play in the huddle, telling the Packers' receivers what routes to run.  He also set offensive line protections and crossing routes for the receivers.   Surprisingly, Jared Cook and Rogers had practiced the play with Cook catching the pass just inches out-of-bounds.  So they practiced it again until they got it right.

But that was during warm ups, not with 12 seconds left in the game.

Rogers took the shotgun snap and started rolling out to his left.  He planted his feet with guard Lane Taylor in front of him, then moved to the left again.  As he's closing on the sideline, he rifled a throw across his body to his tight end, who got behind Byron Jones and was running toward the sideline.

As the clock ticked down and the ball headed his way, Cook's eyes grew wide with a mix of disbelief, anticipation and focus.

It's been said that the NFL is very complex, with a lot of people working to find the best and most successful way to pick apart a defense.  Defenses are equally complex, with disguises and blitzes coming from all sides.  It's amazing -- despite the efforts of all those people -- Rogers was able to draw up the play in the huddle, scramble to let his receivers get open and then make the throw on a rope and on target.

I don't know if another quarterback could have done it.



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After week 11, the Packers were in 14th place for making the playoffs, just ahead of the Chicago Bears.  Losses to the Falcons, Colts, Titans and Redskins had put the Packers at 4-6 and in serious danger of not making the playoffs for the first time in years.  

And yet, there stood Rogers at his Lambeau Field locker, talking to an ESPN reporter, telling him that all the Packers needed was one win to turn things around.


"You just feel like it just takes one," Rogers said.  "We get one under our belts, things might start rolling for us and we can run the table."  The audaciousness of his comment made the headlines in most newspapers, and brought inevitable comparisons to the previous year when he told a radio show host to just R-E-L-A-X.

It sounds easy today, but at the time, the Packers were not a good team.  The defense had given up 33, 31, 47 and 42 points to average teams.  The offense was playing a little better, but they were still without a running back and Rogers looked like a quarterback for the Chicago Bears, not the MVP quarterback of years past.

The Packers were heading to Philadelphia that weekend for a tough game against the resurgent Eagles.  Following that game, the Packers would have to beat the NFC West leading Seahawks, the Vikings, the AFC South leading Texans and the NFC North leading Lions in Detroit.

What was Rogers thinking?

Clairvoyant or not, Rogers and the Packers did run the table and won the North Division by beating the Lions in the last game of the regular season 31-24.  It was the fifth time in the last six seasons the Packers were division champs, but this one was possibly one of the most rewarding for Rogers and the Packers whom many had given up on, myself included.

Heading into the Cowboys game, the Packers had won seven straight.



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The situation was first and ten at the Dallas 32 with three seconds remaining in a 31-31 tie.

As the Packers lined up and prepared for the kick, Jason Garrett tried to ice Mason Crosby, who had hit a 56-yarder a minute earlier, by calling a timeout.  Despite the timeout, Crosby continued with his kick and the ball sailed through the uprights.

By this time, I was lying on the floor in front of the television.  Behind and above me, everyone jumped for joy until they realize the kick didn't count.  The stress was so great that I did three push ups before falling to the ground.  I turned on my side to watch Paul since I could no longer watch the game.  Hit or miss, I would judge the outcome based on Paul's reaction to the kick.

The time had come for the reboot.  With ice in his veins, Crosby kicked the ball, which headed slightly left, before sliding right.  As time ran out, the ball sailed through the goal posts and the refs raised their arms to signal a good kick.   Paul leapt from his chair, arms raised to the ceiling, as if mimicking the refs.  He kept yelling "We won!  We won!"   I got off the floor and started slapping high fives.

The final score was 34-31, with Rogers throwing for 356 yards and two touchdowns.  Crosby --  with his winning kick -- became the first kicker to make a pair of 50 plus yards or longer in the final two minutes of a postseason game.

And the Packers, with Rogers and another miracle finish, continued to run the table with their eighth win in a row. 

Packers and Badgers and Football! Oh, my!

It's the first weekend in January.  So you know what that means.  Less than two weeks before Trump's inauguration!

No seriously -

It's the ultimate weekend in Wisconsin sports for two of my favorite teams -- the Green Bay Packers and the Wisconsin Badgers.  As always, they were both playing in games that would provide an answer to how their respective seasons would be viewed.

For the Packers, it would mean another opportunity to exorcise the NY Giants demon as a team that prevents them from moving on in the NFC playoffs.  For the Badgers it would provide a final statement in a bowl game against an undefeated team.

Since the early nineties, I have been lucky enough to watch the Packers win 254 regular season games including two Super Bowls(with Favre and Rogers as quarterbacks).  That's a lot of Sundays where I went to sleep feeling pretty good.  During that same span, they have only had two losing seasons -- in 2005 and 2008.

The Badgers , who were perennial doormats for most of their early days in the Big Ten, have risen from red ink to red roses since Barry Alvarez turned the program around in the early 1990's.  Since that time, they have won 6 conference titles and 227 wins -- many against teams with much higher rated players like Ohio State and Michigan.

So it's safe to say my life is good (for more reasons that just football, but that's for another post).  And yet, every year my friends and I go through enough anxiety and antacid to be majority owners in Procter and Gamble.  Despite the success my beloved Badgers and Packers enjoyed, every year brings new worries and new challenges:  will the Badgers EVER get a good quarterback?  And will the PACKERS ever have a good defense?

The Packers' win against the NY Giants, by a score of 38-13, continues a remarkable turn around for a team that was losing to the likes of the Titans and the Redskins.  For the first time in many years, I jumped out of my chair and did something else on a Sunday afternoon.  I'm as loyal a fan as there is, but I found it a waste of time watching the opposing team score against the Packers as though the Packers had decided to not only use the cheerleaders from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, but also their players (for the record, the Phoenix don't have a football team).

It's a credit to Coach McCarthy and the players that the Packers have put themselves into the Division playoffs.  I'd also credit Aaron Rogers who has been on a MVP tear lately by throwing 23 touchdown passes without an interception.  He lead the regular season with 40 touchdowns, threw for more than 4,400 yards and finished with a quarterback rating of 104.2.  Roger's sterling play negated a really bad defense that isn't getting any better under Dom Capers now in his eight year with the Packers.

My brother-in-law has been calling for Capers' head for years now and for the first time, I'm with him.  Watching the Packers play defense is a lot like watching Obama give a State of the Union speech -- who am I kidding, any speech he makes -- I'm pulling my hair out and praying time runs out before I lose my mind.

Here's what I think the Packers need to do this off-season to remain competitive in the North Division and NFC:

. Fire Dom Capers
. Model their defense to those found in Minnesota (gasp) and Seattle
. Spend the money on a free-agent corner to replace Sam Shields
. Find replacements NOW for Matthews and Peppers (they will be gone before you know it)
. Draft a solid running back to replace Eddie Lacy and James Starks who have had a horrible year

I would also replace Ted Thompson who seems content to win the North Division.  His model of consistency by drafting young players and developing them works at the divisional level, but I really think we need to add some free agents to get to the Super Bowl.  Rogers is arguably the best quarterback in the league (and has been for some time) and all we have to show for it is one Super Bowl.

I don't know what pieces are missing, but the new general manager needs to find the pieces that make us great.  Even if it means some bad years down the road.  I'm happy to win a Super Bowl ever 4 years instead of 1 every 10.

I know that sounds spoiled, but really -- 227 wins and only two Super Bowl wins?

Perhaps even better than the Packer's turn around, is the season the Wisconsin Badgers just completed. 

Despite losing senior leadership at the quarterback position, losing their defensive coordinator to LSU of the hated SEC, and losing much of our secondary to graduation, the Badgers finished the year ranked # 9.  Anytime you can finish with more wins than losses, it's a reason to do the "jump around."  This year, it's been more like "a run for the roses," until a disastrous second half in the BIG Ten championship game in Indianapolis.

But a lot happened along the way, including a win against LSU at Lambeau Field to start the season. Going up against Dave Aranda, our former defensive coordinator, made the challenge even more difficult, but the Badgers were up for it by flexing their own defensive muscle in the 16-14 win. 

With T.J. Watt and Vince Biegel leading the way on defense, Bucky started to find its identity on offense through senior contributions from Bart Simpson and Corey Clement.  While the offense wasn't up to our usual standards (they finished at 203 rushing yards and 179 passing yards per game), they were always in the game in the forth quarter.  The combination of tough defense and ball control led the way to an 11-3 record, including the Western Division champion. 

2016 saw the Badgers beat Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota (bragging rights for another year Matt!) with tough loses to Ohio State and Michigan and Penn State in the championship game.  In each loss, the difference was a single touchdown, which means if they had a little more offense we'd have been undefeated in the Big Ten.  Ohio State and Michigan -- as always -- were loaded with stud football players and high profile coaches.  Their athletic programs probably spend more money in one year than Wisconsin does in three.  And Penn State came out of nowhere to win against Ohio State before losing to USC in the Rose Bowl.

The season ended on a high note when the Badgers took it to Central Michigan (undefeated and ranked 15th)  in the Cotton Bowl, where they won 24-16.  A trip to Howie's on New Year's Day was the perfect way to start post season football and see how many of my friends had new fitness watches  on their wrists.

All in all it, was a great season with more wins than anyone expected, a trip to the championship game and a bowl win -- and it sets them up for a much better year in 2017.  With a little help on offense, they could be one of the final four teams to play for the National Championship game next January.

Just think -- the Wisconsin Badgers could be going to the White House to meet President Trump.  I might just have to travel to Washington to see that!

Here's what I think the Badgers need to do to have another successful year in the Big Ten:

. Develop their offensive line. 

They must get stronger and better on the rushing side, and protect sophomore quarterback Alex Hornibrook.  And replace the defection of  offensive tackle Ryan Ramczch, who is going to the NFL.

. Give the ball to Bradrick Shaw.

Shaw, who at 6' 1" and 211 pounds has the potential to be another Melvin Gordon if he gets a little help from the offensive line.

. Develop the quarterback and wide receive positions.

Let's hope the experience quarterback Hornibrook and wide receivers Taylor, Pryor and Rushing got this year translates into more yardage through the air.  If it does, great things will happen next year for the Badgers.

. Replace T. J. Watt and Vince Biegel on the defensive side of the ball. 

As great as both players were, the Badgers are loaded at the linebacker position and should do just as well in 2017 when we get Dooley, Cichy and Orr back from injury. 



All in all, 2017 was a great year to be a football fan in Wisconsin fan.  GO PACKERS!  GO BUCKY!