2010 NFL Season Review: What Did the Packers Have That the Patriots Didn't?

Prior to the NFL playoffs, January 2, the New England Patriots were Super Bowl favorites. They had just finished the season with a league best 14-2 record while scoring 30-plus points in eight straight games. 

Despite their major success in the regular season, it just didn't carry over to the postseason against the New York Jets.

On January 16, the Patriots were handed their first loss in months from the rival Jets. 

Just three weeks later, the NFL champion was crowned. On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25 to win their first Vince Lombardi Trophy since 1996. 

With all the success and so much promise from this Patriots squad in the regular season, why didn't it carry over? What were the Patriots lacking that other playoff teams had?

More importantly, what does Green Bay have that New England doesn't?

A pass rush—the ability to put pressure on the opposing quarterback.  

The Packers can get to the quarterback at will, while the Patriots have struggled all year long.

Green Bay finished with 47 sacks, second in the NFL, while New England only recorded 36, which is good enough for 14th in the league. 

The Packers and Patriots run a similar defense, the 3-4. Green Bay has multiple players who can just overpower opposing team's blockers and wreak havoc in the backfield.

Clay Matthews, Cullen Jenkins and B.J. Raji all combined for a total of 27, nearly as much as New England's team total at 36.

Nowadays in the NFL, you need to put pressure on the quarterback.

This is a quarterback league, and you must be able to get to the team's best player. Whether it results in sacks or not, just being able to get a hit on the team's quarterback or disrupting his pocket is good enough.

Looking at New England's defense, the one thing it was good at was turnovers. Turnovers is what saved New England this year, along with Tom Brady.

If it weren't for the interceptions, fumble recoveries and superb play of Brady, New England would have likely finished with a mediocre 9-7 or 10-6 record—because it can't get off of the field on third-down.

The Super Bowl champion Packers forced opposing teams to a 36 percent chance of converting on third down. For New England, opposing teams converted 47 percent of the time—that's nearly half.

The Patriots gave up these many conversions because they could not get to the quarterback. In so many of these third downs, the quarterback had all the time in the world and was able to find the open receiver. 

In the NFL, all teams have a defensive package meant for third downs. The package is filled with pass rushers that can go get the quarterback and force a quick throw or potentially sack the quarterback for a loss. 

New England would find itself sending linebackers Jermaine Cunningham and Tully Banta-Cain, but they didn't necessarily get the job done. 

With the draft in the near future, New England needs to take a look at its ability to put pressure on the quarterback. 

I'd suggest head coach Bill Belichick take a look at players like Green Bay's Matthews in this year's draft, someone that fits the Patriot 3-4 defense "mold."

New England needs to draft an every-down pass rusher, whether it's a linebacker or defensive end.

NOTE: This article was first seen at PatriotsPlus.net

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