I'm gonna preface this with the Giants game in '07 season has me cautiously optimistic if that makes much sense.
After beating Chicago, I thought the winner of the Eagles game would go the distance. It was just a thought. I didn't think the Seahawks or Bears were talented enough or would show up against the Eagles and didn't think the Falcons would be able to stop them on turf.
When the Packers beat the Eagles, I thought, wow, this is amazing, a playoff win. I thought if we smacked the Falcons early and kept on the throttle we could take them. My confidence in that game came from Aaron's Destroyer shoes. I also feel the Packers are a more dominant team indoors than outdoors.
The game I was most worried about was the Bears game. I didn't think we'd pass them up and if we did, I thought there was no chance we'd lose. I kept my mouth shut to all the Steelers fans, father and relatives included of my complete confidence.
During the ensuing days after the Packers beat the Bears, those were some of the longest in my life. I "knew" they'd win. I "knew" the Steelers could not stop Aaron in the dome. I was virtually useless at work because of how strongly I felt the Packersr would win and thought of so many things to throw in my families face. I was not taking their trash talk well at all, especially since I kept showing their team respect.
Once the game started, I was feeling ... alright lets show the world greatness. lol, yeah I was feeling cocky. When Woodson went down, then Shields, doubt crept in for the first time in two weeks.
During the middle to end of the third quarter, I started saying to myself, well, hey it was a helluva run, very proud of this team. And during the commercial break to enter the 4th quarter, I started thinking the Packers are still in the lead, its not over, they got this.
So, I think beginning of the fourth quarter is when I started to really believe again that the Packers would win. Much like I have in the previous playoff games, I didn't exhale until the final whistle blew. I kept waiting for some crazy Herman Edwards type of play or something.
When has it sunk in? It really hasn't yet. When I look at my XLV items, and this might sound weird, but it feels like a dream to me and there's no way in hell I'm going to pinch myself.