After being torched for over 900 yards in the air over the last two games, Bob Slowick came up with an ingenious game plan this week that harkened the days of Fritz Shurmer. During the team meeting last Wednesday, Slowick by all accounts chose not to install a defensive package to combat the Detroit Lions. Instead, Slowick dropped to his knees and began wailing in what appeared to be an Aramaic tongue. After several minutes, bewildered players reported that Slowick “wriggled on the floor a little bit” while screaming “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Oh, and could you please teach my corners how to play zone?” Slowick then abruptly stopped and quietly slunk out the room.
On Sunday, God answered Slowick’s prayer by sending 35 mph winds through Lambeau Field that adequately defended weak-armed Joey Harrington’s passing attack thus insuring a Packer victory. Although Slowick was afforded this divine intervention, it was apparent that the slow minded “Slo” did not recognize his good fortune until the second half. As the wind gusted mightily throughout the first half, the Packers continued to send pass defense packages out. The Lions seized this opportunity by running rookie Kevin Jones for 138 yards during the first half while building a 13-0 lead. By the end of the half, the running joke between Karen and I was “Guess what? They’re going to call a run to 34”.
Now I am not certain what happened during half time, but rumors abound that the Virgin Mary paid a visit to Slo in the locker room. As he gazed upon the beatific vision, the mother of God allegedly said “Who’s Detroit’s quarterback? How hard is the wind blowing? You got it? Good”. Slowick responded with 8 men in the box, single man coverage on the receivers, and leave it in God’s hands to defend the passes. As a result, the ex-Hokie Jones ran for about 40 yards in the second half effectively shutting down Detroit’s offense.
While all this Devine (get it? Former Packer coach Dan Devine!!!) Divinity was blowing across the frozen tundra, Brett Favre was having his share of challenges. Genius number two, Mike Sherman, insisted on calling short passes which were either (a) blown off course or (b) dropped. The end result for the first half was 15 passes, 3 completions, about 30 yards. Favre told the coaches at half time that he thought he could do better throwing hard downfield against the wind, and Sherman adjusted. Favre lit up Detroit’s defense in the second half, engineering a 13 point comeback in the third quarter against the wind. He was 16 for 21 in the second half, gaining about 150 yards in the air.
The hero of this game though was kicker Ryan Longwell. For the third time this year Longwell has kicked a walk off game winning field goal, and this time it was in the wind that Slowick had prayed for. Longwell is fast becoming the Packers answer to Adam Vinateri, the ice man of the ice bowl, and a serious contender for the Pro Bowl. Longwell’s game winner was kicked from the left hash mark (after a terrible outside run by Ahman Green), aimed at the right goal post, and sailed right down Broadway for the win. This season, Longwell set a team record for most points scored in a career. The record had been held by Don Hutson. For those who don’t know him, “The Alabama Antelope” played for the Packers from 1935 – 1945. Hutson’s record had stood for almost 60 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment