Pack could beat Patriots

January 20th, 2008 at 04:51pm Matt Trowbridge

The Patriots finally pulled away, winning 21-12 a few seconds ago, but Packer fans needn’t fret too much. I’ve re-thought my earlier Super Bowl position that Green Bay stood no chance against New England’s unbeaten juggernaut. The Patriots are obviously better, but sometimes being better doesn’t matter. It’s how you match up, and the Packers match up well with New England.

How important are matchups? Well, Green Bay was obviously better than Chicago this year, but the Bears beat the Packers twice. In college, Oklahoma beat Missouri twice, by 10 points and by 21. Clearly better, right? Uh, no. Oklahoma also lost to Colorado and Texas Tech, teams Missouri walloped by 45 and 31 points. Missouri just didn’t match up well with Oklahoma.

But Green Bay does with New England. The Chargers’ defense stood up to the Patriots, intercepting Tom Brady three times. The reason: former first-round draft picks Quentin Jammer and Antonio Cromartie are the Chargers’ two starting cornerbacks. Cromartie was second in All-Pro voting (24 votes) to New England’s Asante Samuel and had 10 interceptions this year. Both Jammer and Cromartie intercepted Brady. The Chargers led the NFL with 30 interceptions this year. The Colts tied for second with 22 interceptions, and also gave New England a tough time, leading until the fourth quarter.

Here’s why this matters. Green Bay corners Al Harris (8 votes) and Charles Woodson (6) ranked fourth and fifth in Pro Bowl voting. In other words, they are two of the best five cornerbacks in the entire league, and perhaps the best starting tandem. Couple that with Green Bay’s No. 2-ranked offense — unlike the Chargers, Brett Favre and Ryan Grant could keep Tom Brady and Randy Moss off the field — and Green Bay matches up well. Even better, Harris and Woodson play more pure bump-and-run defense than any team in the NFL. There’s two ways to cover Randy Moss — double and triple-team him, which leaves other receivers open for Brady to dink and dunk you to death — or get in his face and bump him. Green Bay has the perfect defense to disrupt the Patriots. … That may not work, because the Patriots are still better, but they are better than everybody. Green Bay’s style gives the Packers a better puncher’s chance to beat the Patriots than any team New England has yet faced except for Peyton Manning and the Colts. — Matt Trowbridge

Entry Filed under: New England Patriots, Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packers, Brett Favre