Midlife Crisis

It's the classic peril of middle-age. It's part of the emotional profile of a certain set of years in a person's life. And so, too, with an NFL team (and its fans).

When you are young, the possibilities are endless. You are invincible, you can be anything you want to be, and you can do anything you want to do. You look with disdain at adults who don't seem to have amounted to much, for you're sure you can be and do so much more.

After several decades of reality, however, you discover how many limiting factors there are in life. And by the time you hit middle-age, you are overwhelmed by the sobering recognition that, no, you can no longer do anything you might have wanted to do, and you will no longer be everything you might want to be.

Well, it's Week 9 in the NFL, and the season is now officially middle-aged. Specifically, the 2009 Packers are now middle-aged. And we are presented with the sober recognition that we aren't going to be and do all that we hoped and planned when we were young -- that is, when it was still the promising preseason.

Being one of the best teams in the NFL, having one of the best records in the NFC, winning the Division -- these are all out of reach now. They're not going to happen. And so, as we renegotiate our plans for the future, we set our sites somewhat lower. Time to aim for a wild card berth.

You will notice a new feature on the right. The "NFC Standings" will track where we stand within our Conference, which will ultimately determine playoff seedings.

As of today, we would not make the NFC playoffs. The Saints, Vikings, Eagles, and Cardinals are the Division leaders to-date, and the Cowboys and Giants would be the wild card teams. The Falcons, too, are ahead of us in that race. Meanwhile, the Bears are right on our heels.

So, we see who our competition is. And we'll cheer accordingly.