2014 Green Bay Packers

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8lT1o0sDwI

 

 

I'm ready Boris and optimistic. 

Damn proud of this team.  They are every bit as good as I had hoped they would be this season, it didn't start out that way but it's sure finishing up like I had hoped.

 

After the 1st game, I didn't think "wow, the Seahawks are soooo great and soooo much better than every other team in the NFL", I just thought that the Packers weren't the team I had thought they were.  I was disappointed that we didn't look competitive in that game.  I thought "I must have been wrong about this team, I don't know sh!t about football"

 

But I wasn't wrong damn it I do know sh!t   and now I am so proud of this team and how they have overcome adversity this season to make it to the NFC championship game, I really could not be more proud of them or more proud to be a fan of the GBP.  

 

But I'm not only proud of their record or that they won a home playoff game against a decent competitor, I'm proud of the players, I'm proud of the coaches, I'm proud of the management, I love these guys, I love interviews with them, I love reading stories about them, I love watching them play ball together and I especially love cheering for them.  Every time I see a 2014 packer in an interview, they are impressing me.  Instability all over the league, but not in GB, steady as she goes.  As bright of future as any team in the league.   We are so very fortunate to be fans of this team, most of us were born into it, generations of Packer fans as far back as any team in the league.  We are so fn lucky...

 

I couldn't agree more with you Boris, it has been a great year regardless of how things go Sunday, but I don't think this 2014 team is ready to pack it in.  #120minutes 

 

GO PACK GO!!!!!!

I felt the same as you regarding the start of this season, Bartman.  I thought I should probably temper my expectations for the season, because week 1 was such a big letdown.  But then someone here mentioned how notorious GB is for slow starts, which I had never realized or paid attention to.

 

Check out the first 5 weeks of each season since AR started (and the overall record).  They seem to start slow and finish strong.

 Year     W     L     Overall

|2008     2      3       6-10  |

|2009     3      2      11-5   |

|2010     3      2      10-6   |

|2011     5      0      15-1   |

|2012     2      3      11-5   |

|2013     3      2        9-7   |

|2014     3      2      12-4   |

 

These guys are playing pretty damn fine football right now, and I expect them to keep it up.  Bring on Sunday and the Seahawks!!

2014 was a SB longshot well before week 1. Everyone knew Hawk/Jones would be around all year and Clinton-Dix was a rookie safety. Never an easy NFL transitional position. 

 

This team was always a playoff expectation based on the last two drafts alone. And Aaron Rodgers. They are a good football team. 

 

Who ****ing knows. A Super Bowl this year to me would be stealing things. But there is some weird vibe to this team. I knew they were beating Chicago in 2010 In the NFC Championship. Shock the world is fun. 

The win over the Cowboys made it a successful season. The team needed to put a halt to the emerging narrative of it being an early playoff choker and got it done.

Agree. Beating the Stompers for the division then knocking the Pies out of the mix made my season.  Anything after this is just frosting on the cake.

Careful, Icarus.

It feels strange being two wins away from world champions, and yet already being satisfied if things don't work out. I'm proud of this team no matter what happens Sunday.

Now go kick some Seattle arse!!!

I was at Detroit for that September game and they looked lost and just didn't play well. But then they pulled it together and as they went along MM seemed to make all of the right adjustments.  I too am proud of this team and proud to be a Packer fan they sure have been fun to watch.  I kind of feel like I did in 2010 that maybe they will pull this thing off.  Now go out and beat Seattle!  Go Pack Go!

Theme for this team: Season's over!

I'd be disappointed if the Packers weren't in the Super Bowl this year.  They are relatively healthy, and that's really the only excuse for not advancing to the Super Bowl.

 

The team always seems to have a terrible game each year, and Buffalo was that game this year (I don't think the Seahawks, first Lions game, or Saint game were as bad, for different reasons).  Otherwise, they've played very well.  Seems like ancient history that the Pack was deciding games by halftime mid-season! 

 

This is a really good team - yes, there are weak spots, but this is a Super Bowl team.

 

 

That is the thing, isn't it?

 

We've hoped for years to have a healthy team in the playoffs.

In  We Trust.

 

MM is a top tier coach.

It feels to me like this season has already been a success even though it isn't over yet. 

 

The fact that they've shown progress over where they were the last 2 seasons has been encouraging.  We've gotten a chance to see what this team is like when both Aaron Rodgers and Eddie Lacy are out there for a full season save for a little bit of missed time here and there.  I think Lacy, a slightly improved defense, and overall better team health have added some things that the Pack didn't have in 2011-2013. 

 

If the Packers aren't the #1 team in the NFL, you could easily make a case that they are #2 team if the season ends for them on Sunday.  But hey, they may still show they are the #1 team in the NFL and hopefully we'll see it shake out that way this coming weekend. 

I think injuries are still the story.  Only this year it is to only 1 player, though the most important one.  

 

MM has gotten really good at having the team's pulse and knowing how and when to get them to their peak.  I think they hit full stride vs. NE but the calf has kind of derailed things.  It's a new adversity and we'll see what they have in them to be able to overcome.

It's been a good season, but if it ends Sunday it's still a squandered season. They plain handed Seattle home field advantage with that game in Buffalo. Against a coach getting ready to bail, and an elderly Orton ready to retire.

 

Sure, get to the Super Bowl, and all is forgiven. But, flip that Buffalo game around and Seattle is the #3 seed, takes on Detroit at home, and then have to face Dallas on the road. If the 12th man beats them, then really they beat themselves, and that never sits right.

Lose Sunday the seasons squandered. Win its a success. I'm sorry. I don't get razor thin logic. 

 

Buffalo was 1 week of 16 what ifs. The most recent loss isn't why things are the way they are. Sometimes it's just the last game you lost. 

 

 

I'm just happy that we get to root for a team who will be in the conversation every year.

 

Being this close to another SB...it would be disappointing to come up short, but that's just part of being a fan. No shame in losing on the road to the defending champs. Here's hoping that's not the case though

 

 

 

How did you feel when Brent shat the bed again and again?

 

This is a great club and have pulled together through adversity with verve and pride.  I am damn proud of them and never have let the ups and down of an NFL season get me down.

 

It's not hard to see what were the factors in that game 1 loss... it's also not hard to see what has changed since then. 

 

A chip and a chair.  Let the ballyhooers blather about what happened in the vacuum of statistical pariahism while they ignore the character of this team and it's coaches.

 

These are golden days as Packer fans, players, and owners.  The media again doubts and ignores what they dream and wish wouldn't happen.  It's been that way for almost 9 decades. 

 

Yes, decades.

 

We will not go quietly into the night.  We will not vanish without a fight. 

 

The NFL is going to have to deal with x5 and like it!!

 

 

Whatever comes out of these gates, We've got a better of survival if we work together. Do you understand. If we stay together...we survive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am equally proud of this team. But there are a few things I sure would love this season to represent. Most importantly, acknowledgement that Mike McCarthy is in that upper echelon of NFL coaches. A win Sunday propels him into that stratosphere. An awful lot of attention is paid to Rodgers, and rightfully so. I would just like to see McCarthy get that too. A signature  win. Where they stop talking about Harbaugh and Bellichik and start talking about the guy who has won 2 Super Bowls and counting. His team. His design. His partnership with Thompson. His leadership.

I really want that to happen. He deserves it.

And then team trophy #5. 1 away from Pittsburgh.

MM doesn't want it.  He just wants the trophy,

Mike McCarthy doesn't give a **** about Bud Grants lack of recognition. That's because Bud Grant never gave a **** about John Maddens lack of recognition. 

 

Here's the thing. Chuck Knoll never gave a **** about anyone's recognition. Coaches that are good every year are boring ass stories. It never changes. 

Having the game out west versus at Lambeau may be a blessing in disguise. 51 degrees compared to 21 degrees.
#moreeddie

quote:

And then team trophy #5. 1 away from Pittsburgh.

Title #14, 8 more than Pittsburgh.

I'm sure McCarthy doesn't care who's talking about how he's perceived. But from a fans perspective, the perception is that McCarthy isn't in that pantheon of great coaches. A win in a game like this does that. Plus there's still a bitter taste in my mouth about the last 3 years. The failure in 2011, debacle in 2012, limping into 2013... It's in games like this that all that goes away.

I think any season you win 10+ games and win a playoff game has to be considered a success. Yes, you want to take advantage of a superstar QB and win Super Bowls, but there are a half dozen Hall of Fame QBs in the league right now - Brady, Manning, Rodgers, Luck, Brees, and Probably Roethlisberger. has Brady been a failure for a decade because he hasn't won a Super Bowl in that Span?  I would Think anyone except a very short sighted fan would say no. 

 

The games as a fan that bother you the most is when someone makes a boneheaded mistake to cause the loss. This was a Favre specialty. When you lose partially because a veteran QB panics on first down and lobs a ball into triple coverage in OT that is maddening. That Philly playoff loss is the worst loss while I've been a fan because the clearly better team lost despite outplaying the eagles. 

 

If you lose a well played game to an evenly matched or favored team, it's disappointing but it doesn't ruin an otherwise successful season. If the Packers lose last week on the Dez Bryant catch I don't think that would mean they had a terrible season. They would have lost to a good team on a play in which a superstar player made a play against perfect coverage. 

PackerRuss, quit posting videos of Elway please

 

Rodgers has shown that his injury will not stop him, it's just changed him a bit. His comp % and QB rating are higher since the injury than they are for the season. McCarthy has become a bit more creative too - though he may have had these recent formations in the plans for the late season push since day 1, who knows? Rodgers calf will not be the reason if the Packers lose tomorrow.

 

 

 

That was my point.

 

This is the healthiest the Packers have been in many years for the playoffs. We've all said, "imagine what this team could do without all the injuries", now is that time.

 

 

Just win the Super Bowl.

I have a pretty good feeling going into Seattle.

 

And, MM is a top tier coach. Remember "the Norvening" thread? I think he grew a lot as a HC this season. The defensive improvement had a lot to do with MM being more "hands on" with that side of the ball, coupled along with personnel growing and improving with on the field experience. I don't know this, but if forced to guess, I'd say it was McCarthy that ultimately decided to take his best edge rusher, and devote a lot of his snaps to the weakest area of the defense, and it's paid off huge.

 

Win or lose, this season was a success. The future looks really, really bright right now.

Too many x4ers taking in the NFL Network/ESPN BS.

Inch by inch, play by play.

 

Although I do think MM was the catalyst for change with the D, I don't get the impression he was as "hands on" as some seem to think. I don't think he took over meetings or game planning (at least that's my impression). From what he's said and from some of the player quotes it seems like he sat Capers down and said this isn't working and we are going to try something different. MM seems like he lets his coaches coach, he's not a micromanager, but I think rather than let Capers do whatever he wanted he told him what he wanted to see, scheme wise, and said make it happen. To MM's credit I think even an old stubborn vet like Capers had/have enough respect for him that he responded positively.

of course you don't