I’ve never been drunk, but I think I am experiencing my first hangover.
We have been so spoiled for the past twelve months. We have played brilliantly and blown teams off the field. And we have also played poorly from time to time, yet still managed enough to win.
Not this time. One of the halftime guys said that Packers were sleep-walking. And, it seems, they never quite woke up. Perhaps they’ll awaken in the locker room or on the flight home, and they’ll discover that this nightmare is actually reality.
I have heard Aaron Rodgers say a couple of times in interviews this season that no one has come up with the recipe for beating this team. Well, the Chiefs discovered the recipe, and there are no secret recipes in the NFL. It’s all on film for every other team to see. Not that every team will be able to pull it off, of course, but it’s not like Kansas City is the most capable team we’ll face between now and February. Assuming we get to February.
Eight teams have beaten the Chiefs this year. They are not one of the league’s juggernauts. Yet we just couldn’t solve them.
Ironically, I think if we had been up against one of the NFL’s better teams today, we would have won. But we looked like a team that just kept waiting to turn it on, and we never quite managed to do it.
We all know how long it has been since the Packers last lost, but how long has it been since the defense hasn’t gotten a turnover? How long since Rodgers has thrown only one TD pass? How long since the offense has scored fewer than 15 points? This was wire-to-wire ugly. It doesn’t have any impact, of course, on our ultimate goal -- i.e., a second consecutive Super Bowl victory -- but it was so easy (and intoxicating!) to get caught up in the 19-0 talk. Now that’s gone. We laid an egg. A big, ugly, smelly egg.
So, time to sober up. Time to take a cold, hard look at a defense that gave up 6.3 yards per play to a team that managed just 4 total yards in the first half last week. Take to slap some glue on Finley’s hands. And time to consider what seems to be inadequate depth along the offensive line.
I’m confident that we’ll manage to win the #1 seed and home field advantage through the playoffs. Beyond that, though, the rest of my confidence has been shaken by a really disappointing performance.
Oh, the pain!
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1 comment:
Ironically, I honestly believe that if Todd Haley had not been fired, this would have had a different outcome. Crennel had a lot to prove yesterday and he had a solid gameplan. The ball control was good, having the refs watch for offensive pass interference on Nelson was smart, and in the end the Chiefs just played better.
Thankfully, nothing returns a desire to win quite like playing division rivals. I have a feeling the Packers will play with renewed desire and the Bears and the Lions are great motivation.
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