Mythbuster: Press-Gazette On Packers Injuries » Brats & Beer

December 28, 2005
posted under: Packers, Ted Thompson

After running some numbers through one of the University of Wisconsin’s super computers, Rob Demovsky attempts to prove in today’s online edition of the Green Bay Press-Gazette that injuries are not to blame for the Packers 3-12 season. His evidence is that there are not significantly more players on injured reserve this year than in past seasons. Demovsky reports that of the 53 players on the roster in Week 1 of the season, 43 are still active, a comparable percentage to previous years in the Sherman era. He goes on to strengthen his point by showing that Green Bay has had 70 players on the roster at some point during the year, which again is not significantly more than in previous seasons.

Having exposed the “myth” that injuries are to blame for the Packers lousy season, Demovsky muses that maybe the problem has been a general lack of talent on the roster, which seems to suggest he’s laying the blame on Mike Sherman’s abilities serving as general manager for four years. Now, I have no doubt that Mr. Demovsky is a fine reporter who is trying to uncover the truth and get the facts to the people. I’m also sure the numbers he cites are all accurate and I’m not even arguing his conclusion or the inference that the franchise should replace Sherman as head coach. I would argue, though, that Demovsky’s logic getting to that conclusion is flawed and that the injury problems, specifically to the ground game, have unmasked problems in other areas.

The Packers explosive aerial attack has always been founded on a dominant ground game, and this season is a textbook example of why effectively running the ball is so important. Driver is a good receiver and Favre is a Hall of Fame quarterback to be sure, but that duo cannot survive without an effective threat on the ground. Even if Walker hadn’t been hurt, this still would have been a pretty bleak season without Green and Davenport, and even before those injuries, replacing Wahl and Rivera with Whittaker and Klemm put a cloud over Green Bay’s prospects for success.

What Ted Thompson needs to focus on this off-season is rebuilding the Packers running game. That means evaluating both the tail back and halfback positions, obviously, but more importantly we need a better offensive line. Even with Reggie Bush drawing a six or seven million dollar paycheck, our running attack would be mediocre at best behind the present revolving door line. As far as coaching changes, Sherman needs to be evaluated in terms of his managing the present situation (not good, but probably better than most) and the expectation that he can help the team improve next year (a toss up).