Processing the loss
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 12:03AM Off doing my regular lecture series at the satellite school (Belvoir VA) of Leavenworth's Command and General Staff College, so feel it's the right time to purge myself of the huge bad feeling created by Sunday's nightmare game.
Fan Cam HD 5-gajillion pixel shot of entire stadium that yields the following zoom capture of Jerry (mostly obscured and just above extended left arm of drunk in Packer yellow hoody) and myself (Packer hat, my glasses tinted by sunlight) in section 114, 37th row, seats 19-20 at the Packers-Giants game Sunday afternoon-eve. It was hard to tell when the camera was shooting in our direction. We later stood up to be better spotted, but we must have missed that click.
Naturally, we were hugely disappointed by the game, but such is the NFL.
Watching the DVR later, after we got home, it seemed even more clear to me that we lost that game as much or more than the Giants won it. They played well and deserved to win on that basis, but we just didn't play our game on offense and that wasn't due so much to the Giants's D, which was good but not that great, than it was to our consistently bad play (Rodger's first fumble of season, Kuhn's first of career(!), all those drops and several serious misses by Rodgers who had his worst statistical game of the season). Rodgers simply blew an easy TD pass to Jennings on the first drive and Jennings simply dropped one in the end zone in the 3rd. Those were plays both made in their sleep all year, but suddenly couldn't make on Sunday - to all our shocked amazement (the fans really were stunned).
That game was there to be won. Our D played well enough for us to play ourselves right back into a tie or better all across the third Q and well into the fourth, but we simply didn't take advantage. Time and again we shot ourselves in the foot with bad play, bad decisions, bad timing - just a lot of unforced errors in my opinion. Then we just sort of folded halfway through the fourth and stopped playing after the Grant fumble. I have simply never seen a Packer team give it up like that during an important game.
But that, quite frankly, was the vibe the entire game: no energy, no urgency, no nothing. It honestly felt like a preseason game on many levels, and all that bad juju left me wondering how much the whole Philbin death trauma played out, because all these guys spent Thursday night at a wake and Friday afternoon at a funeral. Take that dynamic out of the week and put our offensive coordinator in normal mode, and I don't think we play like we did.
Still, in the end, I think that was trivial compared to the decision to skip the last game, which probably created the bulk of the timing issues we had on offense (and they were egregious).
So what the team is left with, after this hugely disappointing showing, is an off-season of rebuliding the defense and asking themselves why they took such a conventionally bad route on handling the end of the season - specifically, the taking off of the Lions' game. Yes, we did Matt Flynn a huge career favor - how classy, but we sat Rodgers down so that he was taking his first serious snaps in three weeks during the far more important Giants game. I've seen this dynamic sap so many #1 seeds in recent years - especially in the NFC, and McCarthy's choices here all seem - in retrospect - to have been bad ones. We just looked lost out there on offense, like it a warm-up game instead of a truly important one. To waste such a season and team as this with such bad choices and weak preparation is depressing, but - again - such is the NFL. The Giants were ready and willing and won on that basis. If we had been, there's no question in my mind we win, but we weren't, and so the tourney moves on.
Having made all those whiny excuses, I will now say that the biggest thing for me this season was the blossoming of my son Jerome as a supreme Packer fan, the surprise being that he's not a football player per se (though he loves to throw and catch with me and plays with friends during recess; he instead does cross country in the fall because he's quite good at that) and instead came to it through Madden - the video game. After all these years of being a rather lonely fan in my family, I now have someone with whom to talk about darn near everything Packer-related. After writing a school report on Lombardi, Jerry is now plowing through Jerry Kramer's several books on the 1960s Packers. True to form, in the wake of Sunday's debacle, Jerry is now already issuing demands about coaching changes and draft needs. Naturally, we have scoured the list of teams we're playing next year and have already decided which away games we'll hit in addition to our Lambeau visits.
Still, the game was a crusher for the little man. First great brush with "there's always next year!"
Now I'm just left with cheering against the Pats . . ., which just doesn't compare.
Since I like to lose to the champs, I'm pulling for the Giants over 49ers and the Ravens over Pats. Then, by nature, I'm pulling for the real NFL team over those frauds from the junior league.
Reader Comments (4)
Normally I don't believe in "spells" or witchcraft. That Packer game has me wondering. Those guys looked like they were in a trance. Rogers looks more excited when he is doing that stupid commercial than he did during the game.
And what was with the 3 man rush?
Can't see the Ravens making to the Super Bowl but who knows. Maybe the same voodoo will hit the Pats. Giants 49r's will be a doozy. Here is a "time flies" fact. Joe Montana has not played since 1994.
Tom:
As a Niners fan I'm afraid I don't grok your closing comment. What is "Junior League" about SF? They may not date to the earliest roots of professional football, but they pre-date both of us and have certainly played well this season. In fact I was quite looking forward to seeing them match up against the vaunted Packers after the thriller at the Stick last weekend, but alas it was not meant to be.
Either way the championship game should be a good one, but with any luck it is our turn to get back to the big show after a long soul searching drought. And maybe, just maybe, Alex will have a chance to prove he was a worthy pick before Aaron after all.
My empathy on having your season ended by the G-men though as we've been there, done that in 85 and 86 (when we got 49erd 49-3 :( , and again in 91 when we lost in an epic defensive battle 15 to 13 and missed going to the big show for a 3 peat.
Mike
Saints Offense -A, Defense -C+.
49ers Offense -B+, Defense -B,
Result : Defense and a more balanced, calm attack took it.
Packers Offense -A. Defense- B.
Giants Offense B+. Defense -B+.
Result: Pretty even match as Giants peak. Last time, the last team with the ball was going to win and did. This time the QB has real confused day (passing not accurate) and receivers turned early or start running with out ball when it was accurate - hence drops. Frustration cuts the cheese. NY Offense scored a bit, but GB Defense did little to stop it. Have to conclude Defense took it.
49ers Offense -B+. Defense-B.
Giants Offense -B+. Defense-B+.
Predicted result - Strong contest. Good running on either team tips scales. But, Defense will take it. Giants 24 - 49ers 13.
Whomever... better destroy the Pats! If its NY, lots of interest and $$$ in the game as a re-match.
Tom, welcome to the world of Cowboys fans. Ok, seriously the Packers didn't blow a 4th quarter lead in this one. And their defense and offensive lines are considerably better.
But there are some disturbing similarities esp. in reliance on one awesome pass rusher and a bunch of other guys. Matthews like Ware needs a true book end.