Green Bay Was Good -- Just Not Good Enough

DAMNIT! That was a winnable game against San Francisco. And while the Green Bay Packers played pretty well, the 49ers played better when it counted. Let's face it, that's a far more talented 

Still, the seven seed Packers gave top-seeded San Francisco all it could handle, and maybe a little bit more.

It came down to several moments, and I will not place the blame on the shoulders of a young kicker, Anders Carlson despite his problems this season. Instead, I think it came down to these points.

• Settling for field goals in the Red Zone early. Gotta get touchdowns against a powerful offense like the one in San Francisco.
• A bad (and I do mean bad) spot on the fourth-and-one deep in SF territory. Perhaps do the QB sneak on third-and-one as well?
• Dropped interception, and potential pick six, from Darnell Savage early may have changed the tone.
• Inability to contain tightend George Kittle.
• A Favre-esque final throw by Jordan Love on his final play. The interception was ill-advised and probably the only poor decision we saw from Love in the last five or six weeks.

The future looks bright for Green Bay, though. General Manager Brian Gutekunst has built a solid, young foundation, with 14 players in last 2 drafts contributing to GB success. A piece here and there will continue that success.

Was reported this week that it's parent company has laid off put most of the editors and editorial staff for Sports Illustrated in limbo. Seems the company that paid to maintain the iconic company's print and digital told the employees the license had been revoked. Sad to think that a 70-year-old publication may not survive. Long the standard of sports journalism, SI had gone from a weekly to a bi-weekly to a monthly in recent years, as COVID and reading habits changed.

Still, something started in 1954 (like me) needs to keep going. Been reading this magazine since the mid 1960s and have always looked forward to each issue. And of course, this puts an end to the dreaded Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx!

Apologies Needed In Green Bay

 That was some butt-kicking the Green Bay Packers -- the YOUNGEST team in the playoffs at under 25 years of age and the youngest since the 1974 Buffalo Bills --  practiced this week in Dallas.

All the Packers did was pile up 48 points, most points in a playoff game the Cowboys had ever given up. And humiliate the Cowboys in Jerry's World, to boot.

Just a matter of time before the axe falls on former Packer coach, and soon-to-be former Cowboys coach, Mike McCarthy. Jera isn't going to tolerate yet another frustrating season. He should get rid of his general manager as well...oh, wait, Jera wears that hat too.

Maybe it's time for some around PackerNation to offer up an apology or three.

TO JORDAN LOVE. Can we agree that, despite the sorta weird timing of the draft that brought Love to Green Bay, that this young (only 25) quarterback is everything that the team hoped for. And more! His surgical precision in cutting up Dallas, achieving a 157+ quarterback rating in beating the Cowboys 48-32 -- and it wasn't that close, folks -- was admirable.

Plus the way that kiddie corps of wide receivers and tight ends has grown before our very eyes and jelled with Love gives a lot of good vibes for the future. Case in point: Allen Lazard, who signed with the New York Jets as a free agent, made $12 million this season. The guys in the Packer wide receiver room made just over $7 million. That's bargain spending.

By the way, Love passed for 4,159 yards in the regular season. In Packer lore, that's good for 12th place. The previous QB has seven of the top 12 and leads with 4,643 yards in a season. Lynn Dickey was second at 4,458 -- with the dubious distinction of throwing 32 touchdowns and 29 interceptions that season. Brett Farve topped 4,000 twice and Magic Man Don Majkowski did it as well. 

TO MATT LAFLEUR. Even after the Packers beat the Chicago Bears in the season finale to clinch the playoff berth, I was hearing callers on local talk radio calling for LaFleur's head.

Now that he has a quarterback who runs the offense the way the coach sees it, and has grown into it, let's just put that crazy talk to bed.

I'm not sure the San Francisco 49ers, the top-seed in the NFC, are all that thrilled that a hot team is coming in to face them on Saturday evening. Momentum may side with the team that is playing it's best football at the right time of year.

TO BRIAN GUTEKUNST. The General Manager took a lot of heat when he traded up to take Love, despite having a future Hall of Famer at QB. And he took heat for other deals made, including sending that HOFer to the New York Jets and giving the keys to the team to Love.

Looks like a pretty sound move now. And factor in the last two drafts that Green Bay has had. One helluva lot of talent that has contributed mightily to this playoff run, from the young wide outs and tight ends to the defensive backs. Sure, there are still pieces needed. But this is a team on the rise and Gutey has built it.

TO JOE BARRY. Yes, I've railed about the Defensive Coordinator, like every other Packer fan. Still not convinced, but my oh my his defensive schemes the last few weeks have been gems. Especially against Dallas, forcing turnovers and throwing off Dak Prescott and the top offense in the National Football League. This was a team that had won 10 games at home this season, averaging 37 points. This was the unit that trailed Green Bay 27-7 at half (and should have been shut out) and 41-16 at the start of the fourth.

Garbage time led to a pair of meaningless Dallas TDs and a lot of padding of the ol' stat line.

Do I think that Barry has saved his job? We'll see.

TO THE PACKER DEFENSE. They had their ups, they had their downs all season long. But down the stretch, this group got relatively healthy and came to play smart, aggressive, passionate football. Coaches coach. Players play. And this bunch, regardless of who was out on the field, played damn tough.

A BELATED Happy New Year and all the best of healthy & happiness in 2024!