Five Things We Learned About the Green Bay Packers in 2008

While it seems like yesterday that I was watching the Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings on opening night of Monday Night Football, here we sit at Conference Championship week in the NFL. Fans in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Arizona have to be excited knowing their respective teams are just one win away from playing for the Lombardi Trophy.

Yet for the state of Wisconsin, this season has been a huge disappointment. Just one year removed from playing in the NFC Championship, the Packers finished four games under .500 at 6-10—a drop of seven wins from the 13-3 squad from 2007.

This fall from supremacy has raised many questions in Titletown, but what questions did this 2008 group of Packers answer? I'm here to tell you.

1. Aaron Rodgers is the real deal.

Blame Ted Thompson for marginal drafts and no interest in the free agent market. Heck, you can go as far as calling him Terrible Ted, or whatever other gimmick nickname you have for him.

But don't even think about condemning him for picking Rodgers over Brett Favre.

Rodgers outplayed Favre all season, and while Favre won three more games, he's still at home watching the NFL playoffs just as Rodgers is. His late season breakdown and subsequent retirement talk have been well documented here on B/R and other media outlets around the country.

I'll give all you Rodgers-bashers one thing: he pressed a little bit when the game was on the line. But how many times did he give the Packers the lead in the fourth quarter only to see the defensive give it right back? How many times did the special teams fail in the fourth quarter?

The numbers don't lie for Rodgers. Over 4,000 yards, 28 touchdowns, less than an interception per game (13), and a completion percentage of 64 percent. And here's another fact for you: Only once in Favre's career has he put up these kind of numbers—look it up if you don't believe me.

2. Greg Jennings is a superstar.

We saw the flashes of it in his rookie season. You could have called 2007 a fluke. But in 2008, Jennings firmly planted himself in the upper echelon of NFL receivers.

Jennings finished sixth in the NFL in receiving yards (1,292),  and was eighth in touchdowns (9). In addition, he appears to have that kind of relationship with Rodgers that brings back memories of Favre-to-Freeman or Favre-to-Sharpe.

In my opinion—if Jennings stays in Green Bay for the foreseeable future—there's no question these two will shatter any quarterback-receiver records that are in the Green Bay record book.

But there's that "if." First Thompson needs to resign Jennings to a long term deal, because he deserves every penny of what he's asking. The sooner the better too, because the price only goes up from here.

Besides, how many superstar receivers are out there that aren't prima donnas? You can probably count 'em on your one hand, and Jennings counts for one.

3. The offensive line had a terrible season.

Some will blame Rodgers holding the ball longer, some will blame injuries, but overall, the offensive line regressed in a big way this season.

Don't tell me the difference was all Favre either. While Rodgers did get sacked 34 times this season (Favre was sacked 15 times last season), Favre was sacked 30 times this season with a better offensive line in New York. So to say it was just Favre's quick release is not looking at the big picture.

Don't get me wrong, injuries hurt this unit. In fact, every starter on the line suffered through some type of injury this season.

However, tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher are starting to show age. Center Scott Wells got thrown around by big defensive tackles on numerous occasions. And who knows with the guards? It's a week-to-week debacle with how inconsistent they play.

For Green Bay to get back to prominence, the offensive line has to either progress, or bring players in. Either way, it all starts up front with these guys, and they didn't perform this season.

4. The defensive line had a terrible season.

This is another unit that was set back by injuries. Good teams erase the impact of injuries, however, and the Packers' line couldn't do it this season.

Since this group is so instrumental in both the pass and rush defense, the defensive line is usually a good barometer for how well a defense is playing. So when the rush defense goes from 14th to 26th this season, and the overall defense goes from 11th to 20th, the defensive line probably had something to do with it.

Cullen Jenkins' injury didn't get much press, but it absolutely killed the Packers. He was a factor in both the pass and rush defense, and after he went down, both units suffered. If he can play a full season next season, I fully expect him to be in the running for a Pro Bowl spot.

That injury might have been a factor in the Packers' demise of a pass rush. In 2007, Green Bay racked up 36 sacks—good for 13th in the NFL. However, in 2008, the Packers dropped to 27th in the league with only 27. That lack of pass rush also helped destroy Green Bay's once dominant pass defense late in the season as well.

So where does this get fixed? Thompson definitely has options. In the draft, there are three to four solid pass rushing prospects that the Packers will have the opportunity to pick at the ninth selection.

But Thompson can also stick his nose into free agency—something he's never been comfortable doing—where there are several star defensive lineman that may be available. Albert Haynesworth, Julius Peppers, and Terrell Suggs all may be there for the Packers to bid on.

5. This was a season that needed to happen.

I'm going to get some serious flack for this, but a 6-10 season was just what the doctor ordered.

In my opinion, the Packers were one of the luckiest 13-3 teams in NFL history a year ago. They played an easy schedule, and got very lucky that a blizzard hit Green Bay the day they played the Seahawks in the playoffs. It was awesome to watch, and I loved every minute of the 2007 season, but looking back, that was a fluke season.

We weren't a 13-3 team.

This season, we weren't as bad as 6-10. I'd say both seasons (throwing away injuries), we were a 10-6 team. This season—if we would have made it to the playoffs in Minnesota's slot—we would have been blown out by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round.

While making it to the playoffs is nice, the goal of an NFL season is to win the Super Bowl. The 2008 group of Packers' players and coaches weren't ready to do that. So, by virtue of a 6-10, we are seeing big changes for the better this offseason.

If we get a well-respected defensive coordinator (that means you Gregg Williams), one to two solid free agents, and one to two solid draft picks, the Packers are going to be much closer to the Super Bowl for next season than we ever were this season.

6-10 was terrible, and I hated every minute of it, but it will turn out to be a positive. Next season, we will see a much different Packers team—a team closer to what we all want.