Now we're talkin'
Rockin' Robin posted:ChilliJon posted:I'd love to dig up the Eagles WC week thread to read all the "this ****'s in the bag" posts because everyone knew 2010's team was well on its way to Title number 13.
That's a bit of a strawman.
The point with the 2010 team wasn't that everyone knew they would win the Super Bowl. The point is, they were competitive on a week in and week out basis so you could at least envision a scenario where they make a long run.
This 2015 team isn't anywhere close to that. Sure, the record may be the same, but this team is imploding and their recent performances against playoff teams is as non-competitive as it gets.
Once again, that 2010 team never trailed by more than 7 points the entire season!! That's remarkable and the very definition of being competitive, regardless of their record going into the playoffs.
That's just a frank assessment; doesn't make someone a better or worse fan.
Save the strawman **** for someone else. When GB lost to Washington and Miami in OT in back to back weeks by a total of 6 points in 2010 just ahead of Brett Favre returning to Lambeau with first place in the North at stake no one was singing the ****ing praises of competitiveness. When Rodgers went down with a concussion in Detroit in week 14 with the team looking sluggish on offense no one felt the playoffs were a lock with a road trip to New England up next.
My point. Again. After the 10-3 win over Chicago to get Green Bay into the playoffs. No one felt like Green Bay going roadie for 3 weeks was a bet they'd have had no trouble making.
Wasn't the mantra in 2010 "FIDO"?
It could very well be the same this year.
From 2 totally different perspectives...
FIDO was Bak's in 2013. The years of grinding for playoff wins kind of blend together when a lot of them are strung together.
Tschmack posted:And another thing- we all follow the team. Some more than others. But the "don't criticize" crowd is pretty obnoxious too. Save the sanctimonious crap for someone else already.
Go play checkers if you think that moral victories count for something because this is goddamn chess. Hope MM and the boys come to play because you know MN would love to beat them this week.
Maybe, just maybe Rodgers and MM know a thing or two about the rook and pawn versus rook endgame.
That 2010 team was a sleeping giant and everyone knew it. Were there frustrations? Absolutely…the countless penalties at Chicago, the back-to-back losses in OT, the injuries on top of injuries, the concussion in Detroit, the weak red zone offense in the final vs. Chicago, etc.
But through all of it, there was reason for optimism b/c that team was so close to putting it all together. The defense stepped up when the offense struggled. The coach had the team rally behind the back-up QB in NE with his "we're nobody's underdog." The freaking Bears played all out in a meaningless game b/c they wanted no part of GB in the playoffs. So yeah, maybe every step of the way, people weren't saying this was a Super Bowl team. But people sure as hell weren't afraid of a #1 seed in Atlanta that beat GB on a last second FG after a big kickoff return or a #2 seed in Chicago.
Spin it however you want, but this is not the 2010 team. That team outscored opponents 388-240 and were never down two scores the entire season. This team is at 355-303, has been outscored by 11 points in its last 9 games, and has been completely dominated at times.
The current Packer team has an offense that's dysfunctional and the comparison simply doesn't work.
"Current" being the key word there Joe. The playoffs are 2 weeks away. The only thing that is dysfunctional is the idea that there is no possible way for the offense to find a way to start working by then.
I concede it is a longshot, but I would never rule McCarthy and Rodgers out completely.
The offense has been broken for weeks and if MM had the fix he would have applied it by now. I guess anything is possible, including Davante Adams beginning to resemble Jerry Rice.
I get the feeling you could write a book about the collapse of the 2015 Packers. There is a stink on this team that is unparalleled in all my years watching the Packers. Not comparing to other bad teams the Packers have fielded over the years either, I can deal with bad runs. There is something inherently wrong on the inside that hopefully isn't the house of cards that it's beginning to look like.
I think that's what is most disappointing is this team probably unraveled itself from the inside.
Love the blind optimism though.
The 2010 team was obviously better, there's no argument on that front. To me it's not about comparing the two teams, but pointing out that teams can get hot in the playoffs. 2010 wasn't a team expected to make a ton of noise in the playoffs, they barely got in. They had already lost to Atlanta and while I think most people figured GB would get past Philly, the run was kind of expected to end in Atlanta. They had an elite D, but had inconsistency on offense with the running game and had a ton of injuries. Guys turned it around and the O was dominant in the playoffs. That offense wasn't nearly as dysfunctional as the 2015 offense though, which is why there isn't much comparison. All it would take for this team to make noise in the playoffs is the offense clicking...the defense has kept them in games this year, the O just needs to straighten out. I'm not predicting that will happen, but this team is not hopeless.
Packdog posted:It was the waning moments of Sundays drubbing against the Cards. My wife says "do you really need to watch this fiasco till the end too??". I said, "suddenly I feel 40 years younger" (She didn't get it).
She said"this team owes you"....and that my friends is the point - this team owes me(us) nothing. Her, on the other hand...
If the Pack rallies, I will be watching...and enjoying every moment.
It is so ironic you said that to your wife. I said pretty much the exact same thing about feeling 40 years younger. She has only known me since the Packers have been good/very good and she doesn't know the despair I grew up with as a Packers fan. So as always I will think back to those days and it still reminds me how lucky of a fan I am to watch this team get in the playoffs.
What's so odd about this team is that in 5 years or so when people look back at just the scores of the games without seeing them, there are only 2 games that will seem out of place which are the Bears and Lions games at home. Somehow they may win the division with 11 wins, yet seems they've played poorly basically since Montgomery got hurt in the Chargers game.
3 of the losses are on the road to the #1 and #2 seeds in the NFC and the potential #1 seed in the AFC. Even if this team was firing on all cylinders, you wouldn't predict in retrospect they'd win those 3 games.
The other two losses they had a better than 50% chance to win on the last play of the game. And in the end those won't end up mattering if they beat the Vikings since even if they'd have pulled those 2 out, they'd still be the #3 seed.
The weird thing is the vibe I get watching the game. It's the same vibe I had in the 1980s where you go into games expecting them to lose. For the last 24 years, I've very seldom had that vibe in a regular season game (except for Sherman's last year and the games where Rodgers was injured in 2013).
I hope they regroup either this year or next year, but I have this worrying feeling that this is feeling more and more like it did at the end of the Holmgren era where there were a bunch of good players and good coaches around, but that the sum was a lot less than the parts. Some type of shakeup needs to happen.
MichiganPacker posted:3 of the losses are on the road to the #1 and #2 seeds in the NFC and the potential #1 seed in the AFC. Even if this team was firing on all cylinders, you wouldn't predict in retrospect they'd win those 3 games.
While the losses to Denver, Carolina, and Arizona aren't bad on paper (i.e, you weren't banking those as wins), what's disheartening is the way they lost those games. For five out of six halves they got completely blown out of the building and didn't look like they belonged on the same field. That's the difference between this team and 2010. You go into Atlanta, play your guts out, tie the game late on a bullet 4th down pass from Rodgers to Nelson, only to lose on bad kickoff coverage and a long FG, sure it's disappointing. But you can at least talk about how different it will be the second time around if a play or two changes.
What's the takeaway or cause for optimism after that beatdown in Arizona or Denver or Carolina for three quarters? It's just empty cliches that a team can win on any given day or everyone is 0-0 come playoffs. It's basically what a Browns fan tells themselves when the Patriots come to town.
Wow. Comparing the Packers to the Browns.
That's it. There's nothing terrible about losing to Carolina, Denver and Arizona on the road. The terrible part is not being able to compete.
They competed against Carolina, it came down to the last play. They competed until the last 2 minutes of the first half against Arizona, and then the wheels fell off.
You're setting the bar awfully low for competing.
Gotta start somewhere
ARI up 10-0 late in the 1st half
Daniels INT
Rodgers INT
ARI TD
17-0 Half time
1st play from scrimmage 2nd half and Starks fumbles
ARI scores in a few plays
24-0
It went from 10-3 or maybe 10-7 at the half with GB getting the ball to start the 3rd to 24-0 in about 6 plays.
They were still playing hard after that, but with the OT situation they were too depleted / over-matched.
If ARI keeps Palmer upright I don't see them losing.
I think CAR will be 1 and done.
Some of you are missing my main point. I'm not suggesting that the 2015 Packers and the 2010 Packers are a good comparison. I'm saying that many teams, like those noted in my original post, rebound from sub-par regular seasons to make a run in the playoffs.
Many dismiss the reference to the 2010 Packers. Fine. But I haven't heard anyone do the same for those Giants and Cardinals teams, which really had struggles late in the regular season.
I'm holding out hope that we can fly under the radar and surprise some. Perhaps our struggles will cause some to overlook us. For example, if we have a rematch, I wouldn't blame the Cardinals for looking past us.
Also, you would think that our record is 5-10 based upon the comments on this board. We're 10-5. Yeah, we had a couple ugly losses, but we were also a play or two from winning in the other three losses. We were in the hunt for the No. 2 seed until last week. It hasn't been an overly impressive season, but we're still finishing with at least 10 wins and a playoff berth. Most fan bases would be thrilled with that end result.
It's like watching a wounded cheetah drag itself behind a rock to die.
Lambeau Lobo posted:It hasn't been an overly impressive season, but we're still finishing with at least 10 wins and a playoff berth. Most fan bases would be thrilled with that end result.
Problem is we are not going to just face "fan bases [that] would be thrilled" to simply make the playoffs.
I suspect the Cardinals, Panthers, and even Seahawks fan bases will not be "thrilled" with the season short of a Super Bowl appearance.
Methinks not even fans of the formerly lowly Bengals are going to be thrilled to simply make the playoffs and bow out early. Again.
Henry posted:It's like watching a wounded cheetah drag itself behind a rock to die.
And a couple nosey gazelle wander behind the rock to watch the cheetah die and get their ****ing throats cut to ribbons.
In this story, the cheetah is the Packer offense. The rock is Dom Capers. The first gazelle is Teddy Bridgewater. The other gazelle is 2010.
I really never knew that football fans get their "thrills" from a football season.
I'll take the Vajeens not winning the division. That's where I'm placing my blind optimism.
But where will your "thrill" level be?
I'm as giddy as a school girl all the time already.
Rockin' Robin posted:....... But you can at least talk about how different it will be the second time around if a play or two changes........ It's just empty cliches that a team can win on any given day or everyone is 0-0 come playoffs. It's basically what a Browns fan tells themselves when the Patriots come to town.
Posted by GBFANFORLIFE:
"Wow. Comparing the Packers to the Browns."
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First RR was not comparing teams - just the fans of those teams.
Second, both of RR statements sound like fans of losing teams. I remember Bart Starr (when he was HC) saying the Packers were only 6 plays away (from what I can't remember). And those teams were going nowhere. My Dad laughed, and I said "then they should have made them."
Yet, the people who make a living reporting on games, no matter which one, always talk about the what if scenarios. I suppose they would be out of a job if they didn't. So it is no surprise us fans do too - successful or not.
Henry posted:I'll take the Vajeens not winning the division at Lambeau.
this. it's all I got right now.
well, that and the girl in the bikini looks kinda hot before she gets rocked.
If you watch football thinking your team is always going to lose because of who their opponent is, you should probably find something else to thrill you.
Hungry5 posted:
Captain Stubing throwing himself down gets me everytime. So does yellow bikinis Oakleys going overboard. What a priceless piece of film making.
This team doesn't make a run until MM and AR get on the same page. If that happens, we stand a chance. Right now they seem like they are fighting each other. If and when AR starts believing in what MM calls, and MM starts believing AR is going to carry out the offensive game plan, then we stand a chance of making a run in the playoffs. Until then, this team isn't going anywhere in the postseason.
The biggest thing they need to clean up are the turnovers and sacks. If they can accomplish that big if they have a chance, but they're going to be tight games. I imagine 12 is going to throw caution to the wind with regards to keeping the ball and running for any yardage that's there.
Hungry5 posted:There is a bit of truth to Kiel's post.
There is some perverted truth regarding his penchant for writing such posts.
The main thing I don't get about the optimism is the receiving corps. We lost our top receiver and lo and behold, the only guy with decent speed is Montgomery, gone for the year. Tack on the TE and this is a very slow set of receivers.
While I think TT could have planned to have more speed, who could predict Jordy out for the year, Cobb shoulder, Adams high ankle sprain and poor play, and Montgomery out for the year.
That is being ravaged.
Anyway, for me optimism has to somehow not see or underestimate the above.
Vs. fairly evenly matched teams it always comes down to turnovers and big plays. As bad as we were vs Cards(who are clearly better than us) if you take away the TOs it was more like a 24-14 game. I don't know if I see us beating Minn. (pretty evenly matched) if we don't win the TO battle since they would appear to have a better chance of breaking big plays.