I believe in Ted and Mike

Ok everybody, let's keep things in perspective.

I know we all feel like crap right now. This loss is going to take a while to get over...who knows, maybe we never fully do. After going 15-1, and cruising through the season, we all had high expectations, and dreams of a repeat. Obviously, that is no longer possible.

However, let's look honestly at where the Packers are as a franchise. And at the same time, let's admit that if we had to lose today, maybe it's good we lost the way we did. Because it exposed a light on the issues this team clearly must deal with in the offseason.

Though we were outplayed in every aspect of the game, I believe in Mike McCarthy. Where in seasons before I criticized him, maybe it's a bit odd that I am not being critical of him today after one of our worst losses ever. Why? Because Mike is a smart guy. And smart guys learn from their mistakes. We didn't go 10-6 last year, and blow through 4 teams on the road to bring the Lombardi back home because of luck. Coach McCarthy got us there, and he will get us there again.

He's going to sit down, watch the game film, and learn from some of the things he did today that didn't work out in our favor. He's going to reassess his decision to rest star players before a bye week. The next time, Mike will do things differently. He will look at the 2010 season, when we exceeded expectations, and won it all, then will look at the 2011 season, when we fell short of expectations, and lost in the second round. Ray Rhoades was the guy that always said "we'll get this fixed". Well, I think Coach McCarthy WILL get it fixed. He will come to the realization that regular season record establishes your playoff seeding, and nothing else. It does not guarantee you momentum...quite to the contrary, winning the way we did can take it away from you with too much of a break in the action. So, I don't expect we will see the same decisions made. Should we be in this position again, which I expect we will, Mike will make sure the team is sharp, and that Aaron Rodgers will not be going three weeks between playing in real game conditions. He will realize that "calling the plays, and staying mentally sharp" is not the same thing as throwing the ball.

I also trust Ted to look at this roster, and fix the holes. We had some injuries this year, and losing Nick Collins hurt us more than I think most realize. And losing Cullen Jenkins obviously affected our pass rush. Well, Ted is going to get right to work, figuring how he can make this a better football team. Like Mike, Ted is a smart man. He put together a Super Bowl winning team that had to rely an awful lot on it's depth. He will do it again. Maybe he makes some shrewd moves in the draft. Maybe he surprises us all, and makes some trades in the offseason. But he will put us in a position...a better position...to win it all again.