Recipe for a Super Bowl defense NOW: Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers questioned the reality of teams being able to copy the Super Bowl success of the Seattle Seahawks.

Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers talked this week about how the Seattle Seahawks dynamic defense is an “unrealistic expectation” for all other 31 teams in the league.

We all know that we are living in  copycat times – and teams are using certain aspects of other teams to build their rosters and improve their play. It just makes sense. For example:

The previous era saw the emergence of the pure-pocket passer. The

and the

of the world are two such men. Their legacy

Peyton Manning is the epitome of the pocket passer.

Raymond T. Rivard photograph

started around the same time, they developed around the same time and have enjoyed similar successes. They are both DEAD ON inside a clean pocket. If their offensive lines block accordingly, they have the ability to carve up any defense. Many offenses tried to model their quarterback play after these two icons. Quicker and more persuasive pass rushers eventually began developing the …

Copycatting.

It happens and it’s good for the league. It keeps everyone on a relatively equal playing field. So, why not us? Why not now, with this perfect blueprint we have been handed from the Seahawks on defensive dominance?

I have been doing some thinking on the topic and I think I have found the Packers’ recipe for success on defense this year. So, I am compiling a list of “ingredients” necessary to build an identical championship defense and sending it in to Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy immediately (…please CC Rodgers on this, as he will want to know that it isn’t actually as unrealistic as he thinks …)

CHAMPIONSHIP DEFENSE RECIPE Ingredients List:

• Chris Clemons – signed as an undrafted free agent in 2003 by the Redskins. Released. Picked up by Browns. Released. Picked up by Redskins. Released. Picked up by Raiders. Released. Picked up by Eagles. TRADED. Picked up by Seahawks. Super Bowl Champion. The Eagles traded Clemons to the Seahawks WITH a fourth round pick in exchange for … Darryl Tapp? Huh? Who?

1. Find a player who has been passed around without anyone recognizing his true talent.
2. Acquire said player through a salary cap friendly TRADE.
3. Manipulate former team into giving you said player WITH a complementary draft pick in exchange for a nobody.
4. Win a Super Bowl.

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett runs with the ball after recovering a fumbled ball by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the 2013 NFC Championship football game at CenturyLink Field. Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports photograph

Michael Bennett – undrafted free agent, signed to the Seahawks in 2009. Salary in 2013? $3 million.

1. Find a player in the undrafted free agent BARGAIN BIN.
2. Give him a starting job and let him prove his enormous worth inside of his rookie contract.
3. Sign him to a low-calorie contract extension.
4. Win a Super Bowl.

• Cliff Avril – selected by the Lions in the third round in 2008. Excelled at DE, denied a contract extension in Detroit and played out his contract in 2012. Signed by the Seahawks to a 2-year/$13 million contract.

1. Attract the attention of a high profile defensive player.
2. Lure him away from his former team under the promise of a short, lucrative contract.
3. Give him the ability to show his worth before his 30th birthday, to test free agency again for BIG MONEY.
4. Win a Super Bowl.

• Kam Chancellor – 25-year-old fifth-rounder in 2010.

1. Throw the dice and draft a late round 6-3 MONSTER for your secondary.
2. Give him and his buddies a cool and intimidating nickname.
3. Literally pay him nothing while he makes you a Super Bowl Championship defense.

• Bruce Irvin – drafted in the first round in 2012

1. Be so terrible during the 2011 season that you draft 15th overall in the 2012 NFL Draft.
2. Go after the top prospect at his position.
3. Literally pay him nothing while he wins you a Super Bowl.

• Richard Sherman – drafted in the fifth round in 2011

Hit the lottery on a 195-pound, 6-3 cornerback with physicality that is unmatched.

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports photograph

… IN THE FIFTH ROUND OF THE NFL DRAFT.

Pay him under $500,000 a year while he’s sizing his Super Bowl ring.

• Malcolm Smith – drafted in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft

1. STRIKE GOLD in the VERY LAST ROUND of the NFL draft.
2. Pay him in gum, basically.
3. Watch as he becomes the Super Bowl MVP.
4. Send him to Disney World.

• Earl Thomas – drafted in the first round in 2010 (14th overall)

1. Be so terrible that you pick 14th overall in the draft.
2. Draft a NUMBER ONE safety prospect with talent enormously regarded.
3. Teach him NOTHING, as he already possesses the instincts to FLY and HIT viciously … while ball-hawking.
4. Win a Super Bowl.

• Walter Thurmond – fourth round pick in 2010

1. Luck, luck, luck
2. Luck, and more luck …
3. … in later rounds.
4. Win a Super Bowl.

• K.J. Wright – fourth round pick in 2011

1. This is getting concerning.
2. How did they HIT on EVERY SINGLE draft prospect?
3. And are STILL not paying them anything, as they are all within their ROOKIE CONTRACTS?!?
4. Super Bowl.

So, there you have it. It’s easy as pie. We’re just going to go out and follow this exact same blueprint and make us a championship-caliber defense in no time!

Just have to … pick rock stars in rounds 4-7 and … have them be immediate contributors … and spend no money on them until after we have four good Super Bowl runs out of them … and …. ……. ……… oh, who are we kidding?

You said it, Rodg.

Might be a tad unrealistic.