Expert Analysis

Don't let the title fool you: the "expert analysis" is not mine

Last week, I was listening to some Chicago sports talk radio (I enjoy hearing the Bears' fans' angst). The commentators were trying to illustrate just how lousy the 2009 Bears were, and to that end they cited the "Aikman Ratings." I was not familiar with these, but apparently Troy Aikman has developed some system for evaluating and ranking offenses and defenses that utilizes a different formula than the traditional rankings used by the NFL. These Chicago guys were touting the Aikman approach -- partly, no doubt, because the Aikman method proves how poor the Bears were this season.

Well, the conversation got me wondering, and so I tried to track down the Aikman ratings online. I have included the link here:

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/2smnf

Bottom line for our purposes? According to Troy Aikman's calculations, the Green Bay Packers were the best all-around team in the playoffs. Oh well.

And, as I mentioned last week, every single "expert" at SI.com had predicted that the Packers would beat the Cardinals. Not all of them were so in love with Green Bay to think that we'd run through the entire NFC playoffs, but they were all confident that we'd win yesterday.

And we almost did. That's the real heartache this morning, isn't it? We almost won. In spite of the turnovers, the nightmarish start, and the embarrassing defense -- we STILL almost won!

I don't necessarily think that we deserved to win -- although there is some talk out there that we were robbed at the end: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/01/11/after-further-review-packers-got-screwed/ .

Meanwhile, Peter King offers good consolation to Packer fans this morning, and I'm grateful for it:

First, a few words about Green Bay. I feel for Packers fans this morning. That's an excruciating loss. The worst. It'll take days, weeks, to get over it, I'm sure. But that's sports. Sometimes you get your heart broken, and the only way to not get your heart broken is to not fall in love. And there is much to love about this Green Bay team. The quarterback's scary good, even if he did hold on to the ball too long on the last play of the season. (Aaron Rodgers career yards per game: 269.5. Peyton Manning career yards per game: 261.1.) Rodgers has a 22-year-old tight end, Jermichael Finley, and a 26-year-old receiver, Greg Jennings (who made the catch of his career, a one-handed catch of a Rodgers dart for a touchdown), to grow old with. There is hope on the defense. These Packers are going to be good for a long time.

Read more:http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/01/10/mmqb/index.html?eref=sircrc#ixzz0cL6sNdNf