Zero2Cool
13 years ago

IRVING, Texas The clock was nearing midnight on Sunday, Dec. 19, as the Packers sat, dejected and frustrated, in the visitors locker room at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

[img_r]http://www.packers.com/assets/images/imported/GB/photos/article_images/2011/02-february/110204huddle210.jpg[/img_r]They were trying to process yet another last-second, gut-wrenching defeat, their sixth of the season in the first 14 games by four points or less. They had played valiantly with backup quarterback Matt Flynn at the helm for an injured Aaron Rodgers, but they had come up short when Flynn was sacked on fourth down from the New England 15-yard line on the games final play.

They were upset, to say the least. Rodgers or no Rodgers, they felt they should have won the game, and by losing their second straight to fall to 8-6 with two weeks left, they couldnt help but wonder where their playoff prospects stood.

What many players werent aware of in the immediate aftermath, but learned from some of their coaches and from reporters who came into the locker room for the usual post-game interviews, was that the outcomes of two NFC games earlier that day had changed everything.

Despite the heartbreaking loss that ended moments earlier, the Packers were finding out they had a new lease on life. By virtue of the opponents they were playing the final two weeks at Lambeau Field, and the leagues convoluted tiebreaker scenarios for playoff spots, the Packers needed only to beat the New York Giants and Chicago Bears in those last two contests to qualify for the postseason.

For the players, at the same moment that the season appeared lost, it was suddenly far from over.

That was a lot of mixed emotions in there, receiver Jordy Nelson said of that post-game locker room scene. Obviously we lost so we werent too happy. We made enough mistakes to cost us the game.

But we knew we still had a chance, and thats all you want. We controlled our own destiny. We win out, we were in, and our playoffs started that day.

The rest, as they say, is history, as the Packers won those final two games to earn the NFCs No. 6 seed. Then they proceeded to win three playoff games on the road to reach Super Bowl XLV, and theyre just hours away from attempting to win the franchises fourth Lombardi Trophy.

The help they needed
Considering the developments since that night in the northeast nearly seven weeks ago, its worth revisiting just how the scenario fell into place so perfectly for the Packers.

First were those two NFC games from earlier that afternoon, which took place simultaneously and both went Green Bays way in dramatic fashion, finishing less than 15 minutes apart.

Roughly 185 miles to the southwest of the Packers team hotel in Providence, R.I., the Giants were hosting the Philadelphia Eagles in East Rutherford, N.J., in a game critical to the NFC East standings and Wild Card picture. Both teams were 9-4, but because the Packers were playing the Giants the following week with a chance to hand them another defeat, it would be to Green Bays advantage to see New York pick up its fifth loss before coming to Lambeau Field.

Midway through the fourth quarter, that looked like a pipe dream. The Giants scored a touchdown to take a 31-10 lead with 8 minutes, 17 seconds left. But the Eagles behind dynamic quarterback Michael Vick, a successful onside kick, and a 65-yard punt return by the lightning-quick DeSean Jackson on the games final play improbably rallied for 28 points in half a quarter for a 38-31 victory that many have called the NFLs game of the year.

But that wasnt all that afternoon. More than 1,100 miles down the Atlantic Coast from Eagles-Giants was Lions-Buccaneers in Tampa. The host Bucs were 8-5 with a better NFC record than Green Bay at the time, a key tiebreaker in the playoff picture.

In a tight game throughout, Tampa Bay kicked a field goal with 1:39 left for a 20-17 lead. Playing with third-string quarterback Drew Stanton, who had just beaten the Packers the previous week at Ford Field in Detroit, the Lions drove 58 yards to set up former Green Bay kicker Dave Rayner whom current Packers kicker Mason Crosby beat out for the job as a rookie in 2007 for a 28-yard field goal on the final play of regulation.

Then, after winning the overtime coin toss, Stanton marched the Lions 63 yards to another field goal, completing a key 12-yard pass to Calvin Johnson on third-and-8 to get into scoring range. Once again, Rayner unknowingly did his former team a huge favor, hitting from 34 yards out for a 23-20 Detroit win.

Those down-to-the-wire losses that day by the Giants and Buccaneers permanently altered the NFC playoff picture and put the Packers, despite a two-game losing streak, in control.

Ultimately, the Giants won their final game after losing to the Packers to finish 10-6. The Bucs won their last two games to also finish 10-6. That ended up being Green Bays record as well, they best they could have hoped for after the New England defeat, and the Packers shared 8-4 NFC records with New York and Tampa Bay. But the strength-of-victory tiebreaker, one fairly far down the list that compares the records of teams beaten, gave the playoff nod to the Packers amongst the three 10-win teams.

As it turned out, even if the Packers had beaten the Patriots, they still would have needed to win their last two games to fend off the Giants and Bucs. A 10-6 record with a win over New England but a loss to either of the NFC opponents in the final two weeks would have dropped the Packers conference record below their competitors marks. They would have come out on the wrong side of that primary tiebreaker, and strength-of-victory never would have come into play.

So had either of those other two Dec. 19 games gone differently, who knows?

[ul]Seizing their chance[/ul]
In the end, all that mattered was the Packers came back from Massachusetts with two weeks to go, two games to win to extend the season, and as Head Coach Mike McCarthy likes to say, everything in front of them.

To find out that you hold the key to your own destiny, it gave us hope, receiver James Jones said. We still knew we were playing for something, but we knew it was no more mistakes. We knew that our backs were against the wall.

So is that what did it for these Packers, that they were finally pushed to the brink of elimination? Perhaps. Some might argue its no accident that after losing six games by four or fewer points, the Packers sealed three one-score victories over the Bears, Eagles and Bears again with interceptions in the final minute during this current five-game winning streak. With their playoffs starting two weeks earlier than everyone elses, the Packers found a way to win tight games when they absolutely, positively had to have them.

Others might subscribe to fate, the whole team of destiny theme, which could get more traction depending on how Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers unfolds and concludes.

In all reality, its nothing more complex or mystical than the nature of the NFL, and the ultra-thin difference between winning and losing games a minuscule margin for error that encompasses the close ones the Packers lost throughout the year but have won of late, and those other two crucial contests on Dec. 19.

But something else was probably in play, too, stemming from the trip to New England. The Packers had heard McCarthy publicly call them nobodys underdog prior to taking on quarterback Tom Brady and the then-AFC Super Bowl favorite Patriots on the road with a backup quarterback making his first pro start. A bold proclamation, but everyone bought in.

From the top man on down, the Packers truly believed they were going to win a game no one else in the NFL world gave them a chance to, and they played like it. Had the Packers won, it would have been no fluke, because the only fluke plays in that game actually went New Englands way three potential interceptions of Brady that somehow werent hauled in, a special-teams breakdown that allowed an offensive lineman to rumble 71 yards to set up a touchdown, and a mixup between Flynn and Jones on a pass route that resulted in a 36-yard interception return for a score.

You dont win games on moral victories, but you can take a lot away from them, receiver Greg Jennings said. And what we took from that game was that we have a lot of guys who are going to step up and fight, despite whos up, whos playing, and thats why were here today, because of guys being able to step up and fill voids where key guys went down.

That game, Aaron didnt get to play, but Matt came in and he played phenomenal. We just werent able to pull it out for him. But it was definitely one of those turning points in the season where it was like, we have a lot of guys, a nucleus of guys that can get it done anywhere.

They had no way of knowing it at the time they left the Gillette Stadium locker room to come back to Green Bay in the early-morning hours of Dec. 20. But that effort, combined with the fortunate results elsewhere that day, set the Packers up for this magical run.

If the absence of their leader and trigger man under center wasnt going to slow them down, nothing else would. Players had been stepping in for injured teammates all year and performing, and that was the epitome of it.

Win or else? They thrived. Going on the road for the entire postseason? No sweat. The top three seeds in the NFC? None was any better than the Patriots nor, as they proved, themselves.

When we got the news that all we had to do was win out, then I think something clicked in everybody, the whole team, linebacker Desmond Bishop said. I guess its our animal instinct of fight or flight. Everybody turned it on and we started hitting on all cylinders at the perfect time, and riding that wave of momentum.

I think whenever youre put in that position, most teams it brings out the best in them. In our individual team, with the kind of talent we have, bringing out the best of us kind of got us to the Super Bowl.

All thats left is for it to get them the championship.

"Mike Spofford" wrote:


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Nonstopdrivel
13 years ago
I would love to see comments from the Patriots in the aftermath of the Packers' Super Bowl victory, but I don't see it happening.
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Pack93z
13 years ago
IMO.. the course of the season changed the week before.. because the level of play definitely changed between the Detroit loss and the Patriots loss.

We played a complete game vs the Patriots.. something that didn't happen for a number of weeks.
"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"
Since69
13 years ago

IMO.. the course of the season changed the week before.. because the level of play definitely changed between the Detroit loss and the Patriots loss.

We played a complete game vs the Patriots.. something that didn't happen for a number of weeks.

"Pack93z" wrote:



Excellent point. + 1. When Rodgers struggled (and then left with an injury) against the Lions, I don't think the rest of the team thought they could win without him. They really stepped up against the Patriots, though, and that went a long, long way toward building a "team" confidence.
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wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
13 years ago
They certainly stepped up and did exactly what they had to do.
UserPostedImage
Fan Shout
dhazer (27m) : Steelers sign Patterson because of new kickoff rule interesting
Zero2Cool (3h) : Former #Packers TE Josiah Deguara is signing a 1-year deal with the Jaguars, per source.
Zero2Cool (4h) : They do not do it for "content sake".
dfosterf (14h) : For the record, I enjoy Beast and Mucky drafts
Zero2Cool (21h) : Haha
Mucky Tundra (22h) : No time for talking! Back to work beast!
beast (22h) : You saw only 4,201 of my mocks? 🥺 I think that means you missed more than half of them 😢
dfosterf (27-Mar) : Does anyone know what Lambeau field improvements got put on hold? My guess would be for the 2025 draft
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : It's like listen, you made 4,201 mocks, no shit.
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : Cuz during the draft "I had them mocked there!" as if it's amazing.
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : They're fun to do once in awhile. It's people who think they are "content" that annoy me.
dfosterf (27-Mar) : Against tbd
dfosterf (27-Mar) : Answer to your question is yes, it's a Thursday, will be the Chiefs aga
dfosterf (27-Mar) : Luckily for all concerned, I don't post them. I did one, but that was like 25 mocks ago
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : NFL 2024 gonna start Sept 5th isn't it???
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : Ugh... kids these days!
dfosterf (27-Mar) : I'm gonna go do some more mock draft hell instead 🤪
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : Did we do one of those prediction threads yet for 2024 season?
dfosterf (27-Mar) : In my city, they are playing the nimby game, in order to keep some railroad tracks vs. 2 professional sports teams and a concert venue.
dfosterf (27-Mar) : And/Or a city council, of which I haven't seen a good one in a very long time
dfosterf (27-Mar) : That sounds like a Mayor, not a city.
buckeyepackfan (26-Mar) : Packers halt scheduled 80mil upgrade of stadium until lease agreement talks are restarted
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : City of Green Bay puts Packers' Lambeau Field lease talks on hold
buckeyepackfan (26-Mar) : Packers 1 of 3 teams to vote no on new kickoff rule.
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : Packers sign another Kicker
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Lengthy explanation at PFF if you click the link
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Kickoff rules officially changed.ngthy explan
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : lol
Cheesey (26-Mar) : 2009? No thanks! One open heart surgery is enough!
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Good for you!
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : Yes. That's the one.
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Is that "Lady Dugan" per chance?
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Crystal?
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Please refresh my memory
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : Alan posts. Crystal back in my life. It's 2009 all over again! Lol
Mucky Tundra (26-Mar) : BAH GAWD! THAT'S CHEESEYS MUSIC!
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : Gutekunst said early stages of Jordan Love contract being discussed.
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : Shouldn't be penalized cuz official screwed up
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : Yeah, challenge until you are incorrect twice.
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : Fining them is the goal, per the people who made the rule anyway.
dfosterf (25-Mar) : Still waiting on the kickoff rule changes. Did hear yesterday that the touchback proposal will now be the 30 yard line, not the 35
dfosterf (25-Mar) : Probably speed of game issues with your proposal
dfosterf (25-Mar) : Hopefully the refs don't get in the habit of throwing flags on this
beast (25-Mar) : I think when it comes to Challenges should get two strikes, so unlimited challenges as long as they keep winning them, but 2 wrong then done
dfosterf (25-Mar) : Still subject to the fines etc
dfosterf (25-Mar) : Yes, I should have been more specific. Also, they are now saying it would be a 15 yard penalty. That makes more sense .
beast (25-Mar) : Simply fined in the week to follow
beast (25-Mar) : I agree with one NFL official, it'll probably be like some of the helmets hits, not really called by the refs on the field but simply fined
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : Hip drop is not. Super confusing. Referees job is harder
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : Swivel hip drop is banned
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