This Loss Will Sting For The Packers

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http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/7/171/full/559.gifThe Green Bay Packers have been playing football for nearly 100 years and they have seen their fair share of ups and downs. Under their founder and head coach Curly Lambeau, the Packers would win six National Football League Championships. After a down period in the late 1940’s and 1950’s, Vince Lombardi would become the Packers head coach in 1959 and Green Bay would dominate the NFL in the 1960’s including winning the first two Super Bowls. The Packers were an afterthought in the NFL during the 1970’s and 1980’s before they were resurrected in the 1990’s by head coach Mike Holmgren and quarterback Brett Favre as they would go on to win the Super Bowl once more in 1996. Since that time the Packers have been one of the most consistent winners in the NFL.

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Mike McCarthy

Mike McCarthy became the Packers head coach in 2006 and under him Green Bay has only had two losing seasons. The Packers have made six consecutive playoff appearances including winning the Super Bowl in 2010. But all of that will be tough for the Packers to take solace on after their loss this past Sunday in the NFC Championship Game. The Packers were heavy underdogs as they traveled to face the Seattle Seahawks who are the defending Super Bowl Champions. The Seahawks are also virtually unbeatable at home. But in spite of all of this it was the Packers that had a 16-0 lead over the Seahawks at halftime. And with about five minutes left in regulation, Packers strong safety Morgan Burnett intercepted Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson which appeared to put the game on ice as Green Bay anticipated heading to Super Bowl 49. But the Seahawks would strategically use their timeouts on defense as they stopped the Packers offense. Wilson and the Seahawks offense would get the football back and they finally were able to mount a scoring drive as they cut the Packers lead to 19-14 with just over two minutes left in regulation.

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/849313ea5fd3dea1aa0a1de74f9a32eeedbcdc16/c=17-0-1517-2000&r=537&c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/2015/01/18/WIGroup/PackersNews/635572040693844200-ES-GPG-Packers-vs-Seattle-1.18.1501846.jpgWith the Seahawks expected to attempt an onside kick, McCarthy sent out his hands team. The ball would go right through the hands of Packers tight end Brandon Bostick and into the waiting arms of Seahawks wide receiver Chris Matthews. The momentum was now on the side of the Seahawks who immediately scored a touchdown which was further magnified on Seattle’s successful two-point conversion and they had their first lead of the game at 22-19.

But for Green Bay they still had quarterback Aaron Rodgers and he quickly moved the Packers into field goal range for kicker Mason Crosby who made his fifth field goal of the game to knot the score at 22 and send the contest into overtime.

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/36/files/2015/01/jermaine-kearse-tramon-williams-russell-wilson-nfl-nfc-championship-green-bay-packers-seattle-seahawks-850x560.jpgThe Seahawks would win the coin toss for overtime and when they accepted the football, they never allowed Rodgers a chance to get his hands on it. The Seahawks had dusted themselves off of the canvas and Wilson was now torching the Packers secondary that had frustrated him for the first 55 minutes of the game as they picked him off four times. Wilson would find wide receiver Jermaine Kearse who had beaten Packers defensive back Tramon Williams for the game-winning 35-yard touchdown reception that sent the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl while commencing the off-season for the Packers.

It’s an off-season now for the Packers that they will have to look in the mirror at themselves. This was not a game in which the officials, elements, or one single play was the demise of the Packers as they were never able to deliver the knockout punch to the Seahawks.

The Packers forced five turnovers by the Seahawks that only amounted to six points. After Rodgers was intercepted in the end zone by Seahawks Richard Sherman on the opening drive of the game, Green Bay’s defense stepped up and gave the football right back to their offense when rookie free safety Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix picked off Wilson and returned it to the Seahawks 4-yard line. But instead of the Packers having first and goal, they had to settle for beginning the drive at the 19-yard line due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on defensive end Mike Daniels. On the drive the Packers would be stopped at the 1-yard line and McCarthy would settle for a field goal. On the ensuing kickoff, Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin would fumble and the Packers would recover. But just like the previous drive, the Packers had to settle for a short field goal. The Packers were leading 16-0 in the second quarter and they appeared ready to deliver the knockout when Rodgers was picked off by Seahawks cornerback Byron Maxwell. And when Burnett gave the football back to Packers offense with five minutes left in the game, Green Bay wasn’t able to put together a drive that would have made the Seahawks use their timeouts while also icing the game. For the game the Packers were only 3-of-14 on third down as they left some points on the board.

Defensively the Packers did everything right for the first 55 minutes of the game as they flustered Wilson while exposing the Seahawks passing game. But in the final five minutes of regulation and overtime, the Packers defense couldn’t stop Wilson from improvising with his legs and the impregnable Green Bay defense was now vulnerable.

The game should have never come down to an onside kick as the Seahawks should have been wiped out long before that, but the Packers were never able to drive the stake into Seattle’s heart.

Now instead of talking about a potential matchup of legendary quarterbacks in Super Bowl 49 between Rodgers and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the Packers can only think about what could have been. But luckily for the Packers they play in the smallest market in the National Football League which means that they don’t have to worry about a media barrage and instead they have been embraced by their fan base. Packer fans lined the airport in Green Bay to welcome their team back after Sunday’s loss and more importantly this was a team that didn’t point fingers. Nobody in the Packers organization threw Bostick under the bus, but instead embraced him because they lost as a team.

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Ted Thompson

For McCarthy and Packers general manager Ted Thompson, they have a tremendous working relationship as they have kept the winning culture in Green Bay going. Rodgers is 31-years of age and he is in the running for another NFL MVP Award as the Packers will continue to build around him. Wide receiver Randall Cobb is set to enter free agency as he’s been a big part of the Packers offense over the last few years. Cobb is a system guy that Rodgers feels comfortable with and I can see Rodgers speaking up for him in the same manner that he did for wide receiver Jordy Nelson when it was his time to receive an extension last year. Some people are ready to can Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers following Sunday’s loss, but he has forgotten more about football that most people will ever know. Capers gave his defense a chance to win against the Seahawks; the players just failed to execute coming down the stretch.

The Packers have been the gold standard in the NFC North as the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, and Minnesota Vikings have been unable to overthrow them. The Packers will need some time to get this loss out of their system. But Green Bay has always been an organization that has been filled with character which will definitely be tested headed into next season.

Source: Pro-football-reference.com

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