Top 10 Green Bay Packers teams since 1992: No. 9-2012 Packers

We are now at number nine in our top ten countdown of the greatest teams from the Rodgers/Favre era. At number nine is the 2012 Green Bay Packers who were on a mission to redeem the previous year’s disappointment.

The 2012 Green Bay Packers entered the year with thoughts of getting back to the Super Bowl after a fantastic 2011 campaign ended with a thud against the New York Giants in the Divisional Round.

The season began with a disappointing home loss against the San Francisco 49ers before bouncing back against the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football.

An iconic line from Charles Woodson emerged from their first win of the season when he dubbed Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, “Same old Jay.” If you want to re-live the interview you can find that here.

To continue on with the odd moments from early in the season, the Packers were affected by the Fail Mary the following week in Seattle. Then three weeks later, Aaron Rodgers told his critics “shhh” on national television after the destruction of an undefeated Houston Texans team.

The season ended with the Green Bay Packers having a chance to win in Minnesota and get a first-round bye. However, they were unable to do so as Adrian Peterson went into superhuman mode, and won an MVP trophy with a big final performance.

The Packers would end up playing two playoff games before the season ended.

Key players

Aaron Rodgers: Rodgers was not in the superhuman mode that he was in the previous season where he won his first regular season MVP award. But he was still the main cog in a machine that was the Packers offense.

He was surrounded by weapons like Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones, and Jermichael Finley. In addition, Randall Cobb enjoyed a breakout season with 80 catches. and he would have gone over 1,000 yards receiving if not for an injury he suffered that forced him to miss the final week of the regular season.

Rodgers finished the year with 4,295 yards passing, 39 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions. His highlight game of the season came against the aforementioned Houston Texans. At the time the Texans boasted one of the best defenses in the league, but Rodgers shredded them for six touchdown passes to help score a big win for the team that kick-started their season.

Randall Cobb: In an offense surrounded by great players, Cobb’s breakout season was one of the top moments from that year. He was thought to be a special teams weapon during his rookie season. However, it was his sophomore campaign that helped prove he would be much more than that during his time with the Green Bay Packers.

He finished the year with 80 catches and eight touchdowns. He was a safety blanket throughout the season for Aaron Rodgers with Jordy Nelson, and Greg Jennings both fighting through injuries throughout the course of that year. Cobb’s breakout year would be a sign of things to come and made the departure of Jennings following that season, much easier to deal with.

Clay Matthews: Matthews continued to assert himself as the face of the Packers’ defense. He was a human terror off the edge, finishing his season with 13 sacks. It was the last season that Matthews was truly healthy for the majority of a season in his prime.

That season, Matthews led the team in sacks, tackles for loss, and quarterback hits. His biggest game came in the second week of the season where he sacked Jay Cutler three times and began counting his sacks after the final one of the evening.

Casey Hayward: Hayward’s career did not begin with a bang. As many will tell you, Hayward was rough during his first training camp with the team and he looked as if he would be unable to cover receivers at the NFL level.

Once the lights came on, however, Hayward was the most productive rookie the Packers had. He finished the year with six interceptions and was a finalist for Defensive Rookie of the Year. Hayward looked to be a potential pillar for a Packers defense that underwent a major overhaul after the disappointing season they put forth in 2011.

Highlights

Charles Woodson calling Jay Cutler same old Jay will forever live in Packers lore and Aaron Rodgers silencing his critics on Sunday night football was the moment that turned the season around. We also saw Mike Daniels’ first Lambeau Leap and DuJuan Harris burst onto the scene in a Sunday night snowglobe against Detroit that clinched a playoff berth.

Green Bay would then go on to win the division the following week at Soldier Field and they showed complete dominance in a 55-7 win over the Tennessee Titans that made people believe this team was primed for another run at a Lombardi Trophy.

Lowlights

The Fail Mary was a lowlight not just for the Packers, but for the league as a whole. No league, much less the NFL should have ever had a labor dispute with their officials that went deep enough for them to go with scabs. Even before the Fail Mary, games were out of control and officials were unable to control a game. Lance Easley became a celebrity following the game and has continued to live off of it since the play happened.

On the field, the Packers biggest lowlight came in a loss against the Indianapolis Colts. They held a 21-3 lead that they subsequently blew to young Andrew Luck and Reggie Wayne. The game culminated with Mason Crosby badly missing a field goal that would have salvaged the game for the team. Losing in Minnesota at the end of the season was a lowlight because it cost the Packers a first-round bye and a potential home game against San Francisco instead of having to travel.

So after another strong regular season, why couldn’t the Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl? Well to put it simply, Colin Kaepernick and Jim Harbaugh figured out what side of the field Erik Walden was on and ran all over the place.