This is going to be long just so you know.
I'm sure I'm going to get flack from the usual gang of nay sayers for being a kool aide drinking (wait, he's gone isn't he) homer glasses wearing, pom pom waving, Mike and Ted apologist but I will tell you why last nights game has me excited for the rest of the season. It comes in two parts but before I get into that let me tell you what didn't make me excited about the rest of the season. It doesn't have anything to do with the first 60 minutes of the game last night and it doesn't even have anything to do with the last play. Or at least not the play itself. Aside from a decent performance from the defense I pretty much watched the entire game with much of the same feelings I have had since the loss to the Broncos. I'm sure I don't have to explain what those feelings are to most of you. What has me excited for the rest of the season was Aaron Rodgers on the field post game interview. He seemed excited and happy for the first time in a long time. I'm sure he has calmed down some and his subsequent interviews will show a bit more decorum. Stuff like "we still have work to do" and "we take it one game at a time" which is all well and good but seeing his excitement after that play made me hopeful that maybe something will shake loose. Not only for him but for the entire team.
In no way am I placing the entire blame for the funk this team has been in at AR's feet. Lord knows there is plenty of blame to go around but he is the one who gets the lions share of the glory when they win so he gets the lions share of the blame when they lose. The thing is he is the leader of this team and for the last how many weeks he hasn't been acting like a leader. That may be a little harsh maybe I should say I don't get the feeling that he was feeling like a leader. I can't say as I blame him. I'm sure he is aware that his performance was off but I am also sure that he was more than a little disappointed in the performances of his team mates. With all that going on it can be tough to stay happy. For a few moments there at the end of that game I saw that happiness return.
Ok, so that's one part of the reason for my optimism. The second part, and this is the part that will have some fans making the homer claim, is that I honestly feel that this is a talented team. We have our weaknesses certainly but many of these players are the same ones who had us predicting we would have the best offense in the league. Were we wrong about these players? Maybe, but I don't think so. If not for the simple reason that they are the same players that gave us one of the best offenses in the league last year. Was Jordy Nelson THAT much of a factor last year? So much so that his absence causes the rest of the payers to play like crap? I don't think so. What that tells me is that I know what these players are capable of. I can't tell you why they have not performed up to what I believe their abilities to be but I can be hopeful that something happens to allow them to get back there. If that does happen I know they can be great again. That's on the offensive side of the ball. The last few weeks the defense has been playing solid football and when was the last time we felt like the defense was what was keeping us around. That alone makes me optimistic that we can stay in these game. Granted our opponents have not been the cream of the crop offensively but you can't expect to play well against the good guys if you can't play well against the bad guys.
If the defense can play the way they have been and the offense can wake up I believe we can be that hot team at the end of the season and it can carry us through. Will it be easy? Of course not. The Panthers are for real folks and as much as I hate to admit it the vikings are going to be tough. The Cardinals will probably be even tougher. I see them as the three biggest obstacles to our getting back to the SB and I feel like we are still better than the vikings.
Its not like I had given up on these feelings through the slump. I have always felt that this is a talented team and if they just played up to the ability I think they have we would be in contention. Its just that as the weeks went by and the games were lost I got the feeling that something was lost. Something was missing. Last night, after that play, I think I may have seen it come back. If Aaron can start having fun again. If he can start enjoying the game he is playing maybe he can pick up the rest of the team or maybe some of it will rub off depending on how you want to look at it and we can become that team I feel we can be.
Do I think we will win the SB this year. My heart says yes, my head says maybe but my gut says no (unfortunately for me my gut is probably my most prominent feature if you know what I mean) That does not mean I am going to pack it in and call it a season. As long as my head and my heart are around my gut will be outnumbered so I will continue to watch with optimism. I can do no less. If I had the attitude that this team sucks, a sentiment I've seen more than once, especially n the game day chats, and that what we have seen is what we will always have and there was no hope for advancement then I would have to wonder why I was still watching at all . Why would you continue watching if there was no hope.
Sorry about the long post (I warned you) but this is why I am excited about the rest of the season. More excited than I was at about 10:00 last night that is for sure and its mainly because of that one 30 second or so interview.