Like Getting A Lump Of Coal In Your Stocking » Brats & Beer

Posted on December 26, 2005

The happy holidays took a turn for the worse yesterday afternoon as the Packers floundered against the Chicago Bears. You can’t say that Green Bay wasn’t generous with the gifts, though: four interceptions from Favre, one returned for a touchdown, two missed field goals by Ryan Longwell, and a defense that gave up 135 yards rushing. Oh, yeah, and they handed the Bears the NFC North Division crown. Someone run that tape of coach Lombardi yelling, “What the Hell is going on out there?”

It’s hard to hand out individual blame for a game like that in a season like this, but those two missed FGs were absolutely critical against a team that doesn’t give up points easily. Longwell didn’t throw bartender/punter/place holder Ryan Flinn under the bus afterwards, but that’s the only explanation I can come up with. Next year maybe we should sign someone just to hold kicks or teach Craig Nall how to hold, because he’s not doing anything else on that squad and doesn’t run the risk of getting injured. Of course, Briggs stepping in front of that pass to Henderson and taking it in for the score was pretty much a back-breaker. The throw could have had a little more heat on it, I guess, but it looked like Briggs just read it perfectly.

About the only bright spot to come out of the game, if there is one, is that the Packers looked for the most part like they were playing to win. I was afraid they’d completely given up after the loss to the Ravens, but I think they rebounded and found a way to regroup. The execution just wasn’t there, as Mike Sherman is fond of saying these days. So hope springs eternal, and we’ll wait and see what kind of New Year’s party they’ll throw at for the Seahawks next week at Lambeau.

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