As we prepare for a rare Friday game between NFC North co-leaders, this would be a good time to look at some great names in the history of the Minnesota Vikings-Green Bay Packers rivalry.
Whatever happened to Forrest Gregg? To Bill Brown? To Joe Kapp and Don Majkowski?
Anyone remember Rufus Bess? Or E.L. Ivery? Or Phillip Epps?
What about Dennis Green and Mike Holmgren? Whatever happened to them? You remember them, right?
Nobody east of Thermopolis, Wyoming, might realize it, but Green and Holmgren have renewed their little rivalry amid the obscurity of the NFC West. They’re back to coaching against each other twice a year and, accompanied by a collective yawn from around the NFL, the head coaches will engage in a thumb-wrestling match that has division title implications this Sunday.
You’re forgiven if you forgot about the Arizona Cardinals. Green’s team was left for dead after a 1-4 start, only to surprise the Seahawks in an Oct. 24 game at Sun Devil Stadium. Hope of a reincarnation was quickly squelched by a loss to Buffalo the following week. Arizona later went through a four-game losing streak that ended with Sunday’s win over the fading St. Louis Rams.
And who would believe it? The Cardinals are still alive. Considering Green’s record against Holmgren-coached teams, they might even be a decent bet to win the NFC West.
The Cardinals, at 5-9 the least likely contender since Ross Perot, could realistically beat Seattle and Tampa Bay to win the division. While Holmgren has an all-time winning percentage of .618 against every other coach he has faced, he’s 5-10 (.333) in games against Green.
During a time when Holmgren won two-thirds of his games as head coach of the Packers, he won just five of 14 games against Green’s Vikings.
Green re-established his dominance of Holmgren again in October, when the Cardinals upset the Seahawks in Arizona. Dennis Green, it would seem, owns Holmgren the same way Mike Vick owns the Carolina Panthers.
“Hell, no,” Green said this week when asked if he had Holmgren’s number. “Not at all.
“I just think this: we’ve always had unusual games. We had an advantage in that (the Vikings) played in a dome, so I think that the conditions were made for our fast team. … Obviously, Mike is a tremendous coach, and we’ve always had this battle.”
The rivalry between coaches is a little more laid-back these days, at least from the fans’ perspective. The latte-sipping Seattlites and Geritol-popping Arizonans aren’t as passionate about their professional football teams. That has a little to do with the West Coast’s pace of life, but more to do with the fact that the Cards and Seahawks have combined to win four playoff games in the Super Bowl era.
Not that football is a non-entity out here. Seattle has its share of vocal fans. But a high number of them are hoping Holmgren moves on.
They’re tired of seeing underachieving teams do that familiar dance between 7-9 and 9-7. They’re tired of watching Holmgren shrug his shoulders after another loss, out of answers again.
Most of all, they’re tired of mediocrity, which has plagued this franchise since its inception.
Before they chase Holmgren off into the sunset, the grass-is-always-greener fans might want to take something into account. If Holmgren can get past his old NFC Central nemesis Sunday, Seattle will be playoff-bound. That would be three times in Holmgren’s six years as head coach.
Before he arrived, the Seahawks went to the postseason four times – in 24 years of existence.
Chuck Knox did it four times in his nine years as head coach, and he’s considered the Seahawks’ greatest coach of all time. If Seattle gets back this year, Holmgren might be wise to wave the three-times-in-six-years flag on every street corner.
Holmgren hasn’t done anything here that ranks with his successful return to glory in Green Bay. He still hasn’t won a playoff game with the Seahawks and has a 2-4 record against the rival Rams. (You’d almost think Dennis Green were coaching the Rams, huh?)
Hard as it might be to believe, Holmgren might be the best option for this franchise right now. He’s got two more years on an eight-year, $32 million contract, and the roster is filled with players who fit his system.
If the Seahawks sneak into the playoffs, no matter how unimpressive it looks, the fans are unlikely to get their wish. Brace yourselves, Seahawks fans. Because the Holmgren-Green rivalry is probably just getting started.
If you want the Holmgren era in Seattle to end, you might be wise to root for his old nemesis this weekend.
Cardinals at Seahawks
Kickoff: 1:15 p.m. Sunday
TV: Fox (Ch. 13)
Radio: KIRO (710 AM)
Stars to watch: Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck had the worst game of his NFL career in an earlier meeting with the Cardinals, throwing four interceptions. RB Shaun Alexander needs 84 rushing yards to set the Seahawks’ season record (1,545, by Chris Warren in 1995). WR Darrell Jackson needs three catches to tie the Seahawks’ franchise record for receptions in a season (81, Brian Blades in 1994). WR Koren Robinson is returning from a four-game suspension, although it still hasn’t been decided whether he’ll start.
Cardinals RB Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, is 197 rushing yards away from his 12th 1,000-yard season. WR Larry Fitzgerald ranks second in the NFL in receptions by a rookie (51). WR Anquan Boldin, the NFC rookie of the year last season, missed the first meeting with Seattle but will play Sunday. DE Bertrand Berry leads the NFC with 12 sacks and was recently named a Pro Bowler.
Breaking down the game: Call it The Rematch. Call it the Battle of Contenders.
But let’s be serious here, this is hardly a clash of titans. The Seahawks are back-pedaling toward the playoffs, while the Cardinals are inexplicably still alive despite four losses in the past five weeks.
Somebody has to win, though, so we’ll go with the team that has home field and revenge on its side.
The Seahawks need to get things into gear if they’re going to make any kind of a playoff run, so the 5-9 Cards could be a perfect homecoming opponent.
Pick: Seahawks, 31-20.
Injury report: Seahawks DT Marcus Tubbs (ankle), WR Jerheme Urban (foot) and DE Grant Wistrom (knee) are out. CB Bobby Taylor (knee) and LB Tracy White (hamstring) are doubtful. DT Rocky Bernard (knee) and LB Chad Brown (foot) are questionable. QB Matt Hasselbeck (elbow) is probable.
Cardinals CB Renaldo Hill (back) is out. DT Russell Davis (hamstring), S Adrian Mayes (shoulder), QB John Navarre (finger) and LB Ray Thompson (shoulder) are questionable. T Leonard Davis (knee), DT Darnell Dockett (groin), LB Gerald Hayes (illness) and S Michael Stone (foot) are probable.
Little-known fact: This marks the first time since 1998 that the Cardinals have still been in contention for a division title this late in the season. Arizona finished 9-7 that year, one game behind Dallas in the NFC East, and beat the Cowboys in a first-round playoff game.
Other NFL games
Green Bay (8-6) at Minnesota (8-6), today, noon: There won’t be any mistletoe at the Metrodome when these two NFC North rivals get together. Sorry, Vikings, but Brett Favre rarely has back-to-back stinkers. That odor you smell will probably be Minnesota’s overmatched defense getting torched again. Pick: Packers, 41-34.
San Diego (11-3) at Indianapolis (11-3), Sunday, 10 a.m.: Too bad these two teams don’t play in the NFC, or they’d be duking it out for a first-round bye. Instead, two of the best teams in the NFL get together and there really isn’t anything on the line. Unless your name is Dan Marino. Pick: Colts, 31-13.
New England (12-2) at N.Y. Jets (10-4), Sunday, 1:05 p.m.: “The horruh! The Pats were having a wicked good yeuh, and then the Miami Dolphins came along and spoiled the pah-ty. Hey, at least we still got that World Series thing!” Don’t fret, New England fans, the Patriots will be all right. Pick: Patriots, 24-21.
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