Super Bowl 2012: Why Charles Woodson Will Be Packers MVP This Postseason

Aaron Rodgers was certainly the Green Bay Packers MVP during the regular season, and at worst should split the MVP with Drew Brees as the NFL's MVP.

But when the Packers repeat as Super Bowl champions this season, it will be because Charles Woodson is the team's postseason MVP.

There are two things you need to know before I proceed with my argument: One, I expect the Packers will beat the New York Giants this week, New Orleans Saints next week and the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Two, I was 1-3 in my Wild Card Round predictions (thank you, New Orleans), so the Packers will probably have a different path to walk than the one I'm predicting.

But one way or another, it will be Woodson who will dictate the team's success.

We know the Packers put up a ton of points (35.0 per game—tops in the NFL, to be precise), and we know opposing teams move the ball at will against the Packers defense (32nd in yards allowed).

So the key to Green Bay's success against high-scoring teams like the Giants, Saints and Patriots won't be outscoring them, it will be winning the turnover battle to make the job of outscoring them easier.

And the Packers—plus-24 in turnover differential this year, second in the NFL—have consistently done just that.

Woodson helps in that regard on a number of fronts.

As Tom Silverstein of Sporting News notes, "Woodson is at his best when he's up in the box threatening to blitz and playing the run."

That extra help against the run against both the Giants and Saints—did you realize that the Saints finished sixth in the NFL running the ball this year with 132.9 yards per game?—should help put both teams in long, predictable third downs.

And that's where Woodson's blitzing capabilities come into play. The corner only finished with two sacks this year, but having to account for him as either a blitzer or man in coverage is one more headache for quarterbacks.

As Damon Hack of Sports Illustrated notes, that versatility is the strength in Woodson's game.

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Dom Capers trusts Woodson enough to line him up anywhere on the field. Woodson excels both in space and traffic, knocking passes down or snatching them away. (He had seven interceptions this season.)

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And back we come to the turnovers. Whether it be in stuffing the run, blitzing and pressuring opposing quarterbacks into poor throws or actually taking the ball away himself (along with those seven interceptions, he also forced a fumble, recovered another and scored a defensive touchdown), Woodson is the key cog in Green Bay's turnover-generating defense.

Oh, and did I mention he could just line up against the opposition's top receiver and hound him all afternoon, too?

He does it all.

The offense will hold up their end of the high-scoring bargain, but it will be Woodson and his hand in causing turnovers that ultimately will be the difference for the Packers in a shootout-laden run to another championship.

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