Whew.....don't even know what to say. 
Could have won this game...... and still don't know what happened after the 6 - 0 start. Love the Packers......
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Under McCarthy, the Packers are 7-7 in the playoffs. 5 of the 7 losses have come on the last play of the game.
Love this team.
Hungry5 posted:Under McCarthy, the Packers are 7-7 in the playoffs. 5 of the 7 losses have come on the last play of the game.
Love this team.
And the other 2 were the Kaepernick game and the Giants game immediately after their Offensive Coordinator's son died - I still think Philbin's son dying played a big role that year - these guys are human beings - how could that not affect them?
McCarthy: “I don’t know what the hell a catch is anymore.. It’s ridiculous.”
Hungry5 posted:McCarthy: “I don’t know what the hell a catch is anymore.. It’s ridiculous.”
Join the crowd
Pro
I didn't freeze to death watching outside tonight
Con
Watching outside didn't work tonight
For the record, 9 below with 25 below wind chill tonight
Plus
Aaron Rodgers is DAMN great!
Janis...finally
Abby will be real good next season
Lacy's run
Crosby sure and good
Packers would have won had Cobb not gotten hurt
Oline protected Rodgers
Defense was Superb on almost every play except the last and second to last
Negs
Refs stunk! AZ had many uncalled holding penalties; Missed the PI on the Cards deflected TD pass;
Oline struggled on most run plays
How can you let #11 be so open?
Shields needs to catch those INTs
Cobb's injury
James Jones looked docile and ineffective
How come Starks didn't get more screen passes?
LOL, no, maybe should have.
Beer kept freezing though.
-pos/neg for game and for year really should be 2 threads.
+didn't get blown out in the playoffs after the way this team played in Nov and Dec.
+/-D is a big play D. for and against. If offense had fewer than 3 of their top WR's out, we would be looking at another SB.
Disappointing, but I love this team!
they played most of the game without their top five receivers for the year.
I wasn't expecting a win, but they played with heart and got my hopes up.
The defense is on the rise. Bring back Jordy, Cobb, Quarless, Montgomery, a slightly more accurate Aaron, etc...
I'm looking forward to next season.
Hungry5 posted:McCarthy: “I don’t know what the hell a catch is anymore.. It’s ridiculous.”
The difference between the Fitzgerald catch and the Dez drop were the venues and the officiating crews. The only differences. NFL officiating is a mess. But this is why you fight for home field. There were two uncalled PI's the Packers last two drives.
+ They played tough start to finish in this one. There were times I really questioned the heart this team had this season but they showed it in spades tonight.
- The final score
+
Aaron Rodgers.
If anyone ever questions his effort or ability ever again, they lose all credibility. 4th and 20 from his own 4 with no timeouts and 55 seconds left. He threw the ball 65 yards in the air to hit Janis on 4th and 20 and then almost 50 yards in the air while falling backward on the final TD.
Obviously, Janis rose to the occasion as well.
Huge props to the OL, especially Bakhtiari.
-
Would have won except for a deflected/ricochet pass after a sure INT drop.
The blown coverage cost them 30 yards, Fitzgerald broke about 4 tackles to get the other 45.
@WesHod: Randall Cobb (chest) is going to stay overnight in Phoenix for observation, per #Packers spokesperson.
Positives: Great effort and a lot of courage. Janis and Abby really stepped up. The OL played well. Defense was terrific the first 45 minutes.
Negatives: Injuries. The defense seemed to get winded in the 4th quarter. Dropped interception chances and just plain bad luck on the 2nd Floyd TD catch.
And I hate tough losses anytime obviously. But the ones that come after these assinine 8 PM + Eastern kickoffs are especially bad because they are hard to let go of before 5 AM.
Valiant effort by a severely undermanned team. Where was this earlier in the season when they were sleepwalking?
Likely wouldn't have had Cobb or Adams next week if the Pack somehow pulled this game out of their ass
Love the effort and the performance, still somewhat upset at how it ended. Defense has played well this year but they seem to just have this issue of always having that 1 drive where they collectively just have a brain fart and give up a TD on like 3-4 plays. Unfortunately, those drives have happened in OT of each of the past 2 years. Play great all game, then just have that brain fart at the end
F it. Get healthy, hope that the football gods don't hate GB for ANOTHER YEAR(seriously, just let this team have good health ffs)....get a goddamn new punter, a damn athletic ILBer, some Tackle depth, a freakin TE who can actually run faster than an OLineman....hell, get new coordinators who bring fresh voices and concepts. Then kick some ass and win the damn trophy next year
Andrew Brandt Retweeted
Vincent Verhei Seriously. Just take in everything about this image and remember: this game went to overtime.
I'm not listing any negatives. They battled hard against the team that is probably going to the Super Bowl. I love this team.
++++
The JANIS! is UNLEASHED!
After Fitzgerald decided to quit messing around and get open, Packers defenders weren't within 15 yards of him.
According to Hayward, DBs blew the coverage.
Looked like it. No other way you'd see Fitz all alone like that.
Boris posted:I'm not listing any negatives. They battled hard against the team that is probably going to the Super Bowl. I love this team.
++++
The JANIS! is UNLEASHED!
This is plated nails.
This team showed stones tonight. After looking like left for dead for the final 7 weeks this team truly thought they were winning tonight. That's coaching. That's pride. That's team.
They ran out of players. And then out of plays.
I love being a fan of the Green Bay Packers.
Boris posted:I'm not listing any negatives. They battled hard against the team that is probably going to the Super Bowl. I love this team.
++++
The JANIS! is UNLEASHED!
ChilliJon posted:This team showed stones tonight. After looking like left for dead for the final 7 weeks this team truly thought they were winning tonight. That's coaching. That's pride. That's team.
From Rodgers' post-game presser:
... I'm just really proud of our guys. We stuck together. There’s a lot of adversity this season where we could have started pointing fingers and playing the woe-is-me card and we never did. Mike kept us together, believed in each other, made a run and we were close to extending this thing...
(Link: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/packers.html )
Yup MM drives us nuts sometime. Not perfect.
But this guy knows how to lead NFL players.
In a frustrating season where we struggled (especially on offense) we still managed to: go 10-6, win a playoff game,and go on the road to take a team many pegged as best in the NFL to overtime in a divisonal game before losing.
If this is the worst we are as a team and an organization, things aren't bad at all.
+ The only way tonight's game could have been better is if we had won.
- We lost
+ I already feel like we'll win the Super Bowl next season 
+ Two weeks of vg football from a team I had by and large written off
+ Jared A. and Jeff J. making plays once Randal C. went down
+ Interior line performance on both sides of the ball
+ ARod showing up big when it counted
- MM challenge on the Fitz catch and run
- Very few hits on Palmer in 2nd half
- Masthay terrible
Positives:
- At one point in the season I thought MM lost the team. Playoffs proved me wrong. These guys gave their all.
- Defense has turned the corner and is no longer a liability. I don't know if that's a reflection of MM's involvement or player improvement. Guys like Jones and Perry who were non factors suddenly became play makers.
- Young WR's finally got some PT. They showed they can perform on a big stage.
- Rollins, Randall, Shields and Guntner has to be the best group of CB's in the league.
- Zook actually did a good job.
Negatives:
- Devante Adams regression. Nobody saw that coming and MM's unwillingness to adjust was painful to watch.
- MLB and TE are still huge holes. We need speed in the middle on both sides of the ball and that includes a viable 3rd down RB.
- Aaron Rodgers didn't live up to his standards this season.
Positive
Last time this team lost to Arizona in OT in the playoffs they ended up winning the SB the very next season.
It's a lock
BrainDed posted:Positives:
- At one point in the season I thought MM lost the team. Playoffs proved me wrong. These guys gave their all.
There is so much truth in this. This team wanted Arizona. Football is filthy.
Was thinking the same thing earlier. Feeling good about this teams future anyways.
Really proud of the Packers and how they showed up in AZ.
I was screaming "go for 2!" at the end of regulation. Risky yes but Packers could've closed out game right there. Abby got 2 pt conversion last week.
Tough loss but a truly exciting game, much better than ending season on a 38 - 8 blowout type game. I hope Cards win it all.
MichiganPacker2 posted:Hungry5 posted:Under McCarthy, the Packers are 7-7 in the playoffs. 5 of the 7 losses have come on the last play of the game.
Love this team.
And the other 2 were the Kaepernick game and the Giants game immediately after their Offensive Coordinator's son died - I still think Philbin's son dying played a big role that year - these guys are human beings - how could that not affect them?
Absolutely agree. Coach Philbin's son was found in the Fox River four days before the game, and if my memory serves me correctly, there were reports that the guys on the team were in the locker room crying.
Maybe I'm a bigger homer than most, but I get this feeling that the Packers, as a whole, are a closer unit than other teams in the league. I don't have anything evidentiary that I could point to. I can't cite any article that's been written on the subject, and there are no kumbaya camp fire videos with the team roasting marshmallows together on Youtube. But from the interviews I've seen, from stories I've read about the camaraderie at 1265 Lombardi Ave, these guys genuinely care for one another. I think a big part of that is Coach McCarthy. And when that tragedy hit the team, this family of grown men, how could they not feel like that loss?
We like to think these guys are indestructible, the best-conditioned athletes in the world. We are led to believe that all they care about is money, and winning the game. Yet they didn't look right against the Giants. They weren't sharp against a team that they had already beaten in the regular season. It seemed to me that their hearts just weren't fully in it. I don't think that anybody gave less than their all, but it looked to me, as a spectator, like they were just overwhelmed with grief. I've lost loved ones, and struggled with it. We all have. I can't imagine what it was like seeing Coach Philbin have to bury his own child, and then be asked to step on the field, in front of millions, and perform.
GreenbayLA, I understand your feeling, and I tend to agree now, but that's only colored by knowledge of the game's eventual outcome. 
Had they done just that, and failed on the 2 point conversion, we'd have lost by a point, and all the anti-Packer trolls would have crawled out of the woodwork. Think, too, of the Hail Mary touchdown pass we wouldn't have been able to enjoy.
Kicking the PAT is always the right call in that situation. The Packer defense had done a great job shutting down the Cardinal offense, and I liked our chances there to either force a punt, or hold them to a field goal. NFL football is often a game of inches. Had we sacked Palmer there, we likely get the ball back, and maybe win the game. Instead, he spins away, finds his future Hall of Famer, and Fitzgerald willed himself deep into the red zone. In that moment, he just wanted it more than anybody else on the field, and my hat is off to him.
To be more on point:
+
Janis and Abbrederis. Any discussion of last night's game has to start here. Can anybody remember a post season game where the primary two pass receivers had less real-game NFL experience? No Nelson, Adams or Montgomery, lost Cobb, Jones blanketed by probably the best CB in the NFL all night. That left the fortunes of the offense, in large part, up to #83 and 84. And I think they both showed tremendous poise. Abby dropped the first pass thrown his way, but after that, he showed exactly what I hoped he would. #5 defense? No problem. The stats won't jump off the page-4 catches for 55 yards, but once again, Rodgers showed a lot of confidence in him, and Jared ran some crisp routes, and got good separation in making those catches. We need #84 to be healthy to start next season, because I think he's going to become a real contributor for Aaron Rodgers. And finally, we saw the big play potential in the passing game from Jeff Janis. The speed, and the knack for hitting the home run that we have all been praying for. I won't question why they were not involved more in the offense earlier on-Coach McCarthy and his staff see the players day in, day out, and playing wide out in the NFL is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. But suddenly, the receiving corps that we were all concerned about a few weeks ago looks much stronger. God help opposing defenses next year if this group can stay on the field.
The tackles. Bulaga and Bakhtiari are still limping around, but they played effectively tonight. They won the battles they had to. A few times, Bakh got some help from John Kuhn, but after missing several games, the offensive line was noticeably much better against the Cardinals today than they were three weeks ago. Actually, beyond a couple calls that went against Josh Sitton, I thought the whole line performed well.
The defense. Once upon a time, my head might have exploded after Larry Fitzgerald's back-breaking catch and run into the red zone. But now I think I can see it for what it was-the D took a chance on blitzing Carson Palmer, and in this case, Julius Peppers broke off his coverage for a chance to hit the QB, and Palmer made a nice play to get the ball to the future Hall of Famer. Fitzgerald might not be as fast as he once was, but he was not going to be denied on that play. Beyond that final push, the Packers defense played outstanding. Sam Shields return was huge. His coverage skills allowed for more pressure on the quarterback, and Carson Palmer was out of rhythm all night. BJ Raji had a dumb penalty, but otherwise he and Guion, both, played well in stopping the running game. I also liked what I saw from Jake Ryan. He's progressing nicely. And I can barely contain my unbridled enthusiasm for our two rookie D backs. Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins are the real deal. In fact, if you look at the 2015 draft, it could very well be Ted Thompson's best. Randall and Rollins, Ty Montgomery, and Jake Ryan all look like they could be long time starters for the Pack. Brett Hundley has the makings of a star, and I like what Aaron Ripkowski offers at fullback. Plus, I hope the Packers bring Kennard Backman into the mix at tight end. He and Christian Ringo might make contributions in 2016.
We lost, but strangely enough, I at at peace tonight, and ready for the next season to get here...quickly. Show me #87 running and catching passes again, and soon!
For the season overall, the biggest plus was the performance and contributions from our rookies; especially on defense.
I'll ditto for the development of our 2nd and 3rd year players.
Another plus was gaining more playoff experience for more players, in spite of the loss last night. The Packers were a different team entirely in the playoffs, and I believe it was that experience that made the difference.
The biggest minus was injuries. It's amazing how quickly positions thought to be deep and talented can change to weak and under-performing. Then too many guys trying to play through various injuries just compounded the problems.
Another big minus was the (seemingly) turmoil within the coaching staff. Not something we're used to seeing, and in spite of what ARod said, there was plenty of finger-pointing and bitching over the last 10 games of the regular season.