Mr. Love’s Next Step:  A Postscript and Preview

In an April post entitled, “The Murphy – Gutekunst – LaFleur Era in Green Bay Truly Begins,” I marked Aaron Rodgers’ departure from Green Bay and ventured that the Packers had “seemed to me to be increasingly floundering during Packer General Manager Brian Gutekunst’s tenure,” and suggested that although I had “no marked criticism of [Packer Head Coach Matt] LaFleur, [given Mr. Rodgers’ presence throughout Mr. LaFleur’s tenure up to that point] I’m not sure he’s any better or perhaps even as good as [former Packer Head Coach Mike] McCarthy was.”  While I didn’t set forth my doubts about Packer Quarterback Jordan Love in that post, I’ve made clear in other notes my deep misgivings about Mr. Love’s ability to take up where his illustrious Packer Quarterback predecessors Brett Favre and Mr. Rodgers had left off, primarily based upon the team’s apparent reluctance to move on earlier from the aging and pricey Mr. Rodgers when it seemingly could have.

Fast forwarding to a little over a week ago, in a preview of the Packers’ then-upcoming game against the Chicago Bears, I noted in “Mr. Love’s Next Step” the Packers’ season second-half rise to the brink of the playoffs, and Mr. Love’s strong performance down the stretch.  At the same time, I observed that it seemed to me that Mr. Love had at times appeared shaky in games with broader implications, and indicated that the then-impending contest against the Bears – who had plenty of motivation to play well despite being out of playoff contention, and would field a fine defense – would be a test of whether the Packers “had something” in Mr. Love; whether, without anointing him as the “Third Coming,” he could indeed be “the Guy.”

Time to face the music.  Although blogging is obviously simply spouting – a fact that should nonetheless be explicitly acknowledged even by one with the word, “Noise,” in the title of his blog 😉 —  the Packers have exceeded my wildest expectations this season.  As all who care are aware, they defeated the Bears 17 – 9 on January 7, and in my view, their mastery over the Bears – who did indeed show up to play — was greater than the score indicated.  Mr. Love completed almost 85% of his passes – a feat that commentators indicated had only been done once by a Packer Quarterback (Mr. Rodgers) in the preceding 40 years – and threw for over 300 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions.  It was more than a stellar performance; particularly given the pressure of getting the Packers into the playoffs – which neither of Mr. Love’s predecessors did in their respective first years as starters — it was stunning.  We’ll come back to Mr. Love near the conclusion of this note. 

Given my earlier expressions of doubt about Mr. LaFleur’s capabilities, I’ll also praise his performance:  to get the youngest team in the NFL into the playoffs is a huge coaching achievement.  I’m won’t say he’s a better coach than Mr. McCarthy (I’ve always been a fan of Mr. McCarthy), but will concede that he appears to be as good.

Another necessary acknowledgement:  despite my deep skepticism about Mr. Gutekunst, the team couldn’t have made the playoffs but for the personnel he has selected over the last five years (notwithstanding the notable assistance of a few key players drafted by Mr. Thompson, such as Running Back Aaron Jones and Defensive Lineman Kenny Clark 🙂 ).      

As for this week’s playoff game:

I don’t expect the Packers to stand much of a chance against the Cowboys.  I expect Mr. McCarthy, who now leads Dallas, to make clear to his players that they can lose to a good young team that is playing without expectations, but only if they are both overconfident and fail to take care of the ball.

Although as I type this, I don’t care who wins the Green Bay – Dallas game – this is not the year that the Packers are going to march to the Super Bowl, given the talented and experienced teams in front of them – I expect these feelings of equanimity to dissolve at the game’s opening kickoff, particularly since Green Bay is playing Dallas.  In a word very rarely used in these pages, but appropriate here:  while I retain a residual regard and respect for Mr. McCarthy, I hate the Cowboys 🙂 .  Cowboy Owner Jerry Jones is one of the most repulsive figures in sport.  All the glitz, the ballyhoo, the boasting, the grandstanding, the gloating, the cavorting cheerleaders, and the smug arrogance that are the viscera of the Dallas Cowboys have made me always root against the Cowboys over the last 30 years no matter whom they were playing, including any of the Packers’ NFC North rivals.

Someone whom I suspect most cares that the Packers win:  besieged Packer Defensive Coordinator Joe Barry.  If Mr. Barry’s defense somehow stifles the Cowboys and Green Bay does prevail, it would presumably give Messrs. Gutekunst and LaFleur pause before replacing him.

Two final notes:

First, as to Mr. Love.  After the game, a good friend joshed me in these pages, “It’s time.  This is the Third Coming.”  I am still not willing to go there.  Given my veiled Biblical (and thus, in this context, somewhat blasphemous 😉 ) reference to Mr. Love’s ability to assume the mantle of Messrs. Favre and Rodgers, I believe that Mr. Love needs to win at least one MVP and perhaps a Super Bowl before I would go that far; but for the Packers, he is definitely “the Guy.”  For now, that’s enough.  Although we’ll never meet, as last week’s game wound down I genuinely felt great for the young man to have been able to so effectively shut up his doubters – including me.

Second:  because of my preoccupation with the current state of our civil affairs, even as I watched the game and saw Green Bay doing so well, I envisioned that in homes and taverns across the Wisconsin, family members and friends who bitterly disagree about the best way forward for our nation and will vote in diametrically opposite ways this coming November were high-fiving, hugging, and toasting each other as this Packer team – consisting of young men whom they will never meet – fought their way into the playoffs.  I am no longer certain, as politicians and pundits like to intone, that more unites us than divides us; but at least on this day, at least in this one area, such was indeed the case.  As irrelevant as it was in the scheme of things, it had to be cherished.

My mea culpas are concluded.  My soul, as one would expect for any Irish Catholic, has been refreshed by confessing my mistakes.  Absent an improbable extended Packer playoff run, this is the Noise, signing OUT for the Green and Gold this season.