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Seattle-Green Bay: a tale of three players
Cold, Hard Football Facts for January 13, 2008
By Mark Sandritter
Three Cold, Hard Football Facts jumped out of Green Bay’s snow-blanketed 42-20 win over Seattle in the NFC divisional playoffs Saturday afternoon.
- Green Bay running back Ryan Grant would have been the comeback player of the year if you could win the award for one game.
- The future of Seattle is in serious jeopardy with its 2005 MVP stud Shaun Alexander a shadow of his former self.
- Brett Favre continues to drink from the fountain of youth, pitching the greatest statistical postseason passing game of his storybook career.
Grant’s two fumbles, on three touches, helped the Seahawks jump out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead Saturday. But he quickly recovered from the potential crushing start to his postseason career and spent the next three quarters tearing up the turf at Lambeau Field unlike any other ball-carrier in the long, championship-filled history of Title Town.
Grant finished with 27 carries for a Packers postseason record 201 yards and three touchdowns. His 7.4 YPA more than tripled the output of Alexander’s 2.2 YPA for Seattle.
Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung both sit comfortably in the Hall of Fame, winners of four titles each with Vince Lombardi’s Packers. Neither ever ran as far as Grant in a playoff game.
After Grant's second fumble, the Packers were nearly perfect, piling up touchdown drives faster than the snow on Mike Holmgren’s hat.
Green Bay took control of the game with six consecutive touchdown drives. It was a remarkable feat against a defense that – if you discount Seattle’s mail-it-in season finale against Atlanta – had allowed just four touchdowns in its last three meaningful games.
While it was Grant plowing through the snow, Brett Favre added to his legacy in typical Favrian style (yes, we just coined a new word). On 3rd-and-8 from the Seattle 14 yard-line, the 38-year-old Favre spun out of a near sack by Brandon Mebane, stumbled toward the Packers sideline, gained his balance and looked up just in time for an underhanded flip to Donald Lee who gained 11 yards and a first down.
With a passer rating of 137.6, Favre improved on his career postseason rating of 84.0 thanks in large part to his ability to navigate the elements and complete 78.3 percent of his passes (18 of 23). It marked the fourth time in his playoff career (21 games) he has completed 75 percent or more of his passes and the ninth time his passer rating topped 100.0.
On the other side, the Seahawks, who won a playoff game for the third consecutive year (a feat matched only by New England), head into the off-season with a lot of uncertainty including the future of both Holmgren and Alexander.
Holmgren, who compiled 86 of his 170 career wins in Seattle, has said he will take some time to decide if he will return to the sidelines in 2008. Under his guidance the Seahawks made the playoffs in six of the last nine seasons.
As for Alexander, could it be he was the league's MVP just two seasons ago, in 2005? He produced the worst statistical season since his rookie year, rushing 207 times for 716 yards, 3.5 YPA and 4 TD – all four figures the lowest since 2000, his first year in the NFL, when he started just one game.
Alexander’s 9 carries for 20 yards against Green Bay summarized a season in which topped 4.0 YPA only twice in 13 games.
Now 30 years old – a rough number to look out for most ball carriers – Alexander looks gassed: he’s rushed 459 times for just 1,612 yards, 3.51 YPA and 11 TD over the past two seasons. Compare that to his MVP performance in 2005, when he toted the pigskin 370 times for 1,880 yards, 5.1 YPA and a then-record 27 touchdowns.
And yet Favre, the ageless wonder, shows no such signs of weakness in a season in which he’s defied Father Time: his 137.6 passer rating was the best of his postseason career, a career which now numbers 21 games and moves on to a conference title game for the fourth time, and the first time in a decade.
Seattle-Green Bay Notes
Atari’s big day – Despite a combined five Pro-Bowl selections on defense, no defender played better than second-year Packers safety Atari Bigby. Bigby delivered a number of big hits while leading Green Bay with seven tackles and a forced fumble.
Branch snaps – After leaving the game with an injury early in the first quarter, Deion Branch has now caught eight passes for 96 yards and zero touchdowns in four playoff games over two years with the Seahawks. He did not catch a single pass in Seattle’s two postseason games this year. Remember, Seattle traded a No. 1 pick to New England, and spent big-time money, to acquire the Super Bowl XXXIX MVP.
Hill overlooked – Leroy Hill, the only Seattle starting linebacker not to make the Pro-Bowl the last two seasons, continued his superb postseason play, racking up 11 tackles and a sack against the Packers. Hill now has 64 tackles in seven postseason games including a league-leading 24 in 2007.
NFC North nemesis –Seattle fell to 0-3 in the playoffs against the NFC North, with losses to Green Bay (2003), Chicago (2006) and Green Bay (2007).
Favre’s field awareness – While Favre led the Packers down the field at will against the Seahawks, he also displayed supreme awareness of his surroundings. According to Fox play-by-play man Kenny Albert, Favre watched a replay on the Lambeau Field JumboTron then urged Mike McCarthy to challenge the play.
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