Mariano Rivera Highlights

• Rivera throws first bullpen, Wed., 2/23/11, getty, Schechter, via CBS Local
  

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• Mariano Rivera at spring training, 2/19/11, reuters
  

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• You want to be the guy after that guy. "...

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02/10/2011, "Packers' Defense: The New Mariano Rivera of the Sports World"

"It is time," linebacker coach Kevin Greene told Clay Matthews."It is time." That's all Clay needed to hear.

In the 2010 playoffs, the Packers let teams crawl back into games that could have been blowouts. They were up 14-0 on the Eagles, Bears and Steelers before giving each of those teams a chance to win in the fourth quarter. However,

• they got the job done in the moments that mattered most.

They did it in Chicago with the season on the line - the equivalent of

• trotting out of the bullpen at Fenway wearing pinstripes in Game Seven of the ALCS.

They did it against Big Ben in the Super Bowl with under two minutes to play - the equivalent of striking out

• the most clutch hitter in baseball (who hit a walk-off home run the last time you faced him)
  

with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. Like all great closers, the Packers' D had a short memory.

Time and again, they stepped into some of the highest pressure situations sports have to offer. Any minor slip up - a mis-read, a missed tackle or a moment's hesitation - would have been the hanging curveball

• that was blasted into the upper deck, and
  
• the dream would have been shattered.

• rested squarely on the defenses' shoulders in the final moments.

• a thing that fans prayed for and relished, a sign that

• the Packers were about to win."

Labels: Packers defense is new Mariano Rivera of the sports world-Packer Nation

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