Worse Than A Blowout
by Mitchell Maurer on Nov 1, 2009 6:20 PM CST
Email
PrintThey were so close. So very close. I had already written them off, and then they started coming back, and started getting some calls, and when Jennings caught that touchdown, I really started believing.
It didn't take long to crash back to reality.
I'm feeling pretty numb right now. I might do a recap tomorrow. I might not.
A bit melodramatic? Absolutely. But I'm going to wallow in my sports-self-pity for a little while.
46 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
grant missing that more than easy 2PC catch
i think was the downturn of that game
Blasting one into a Christmas ham like her is so passe. - RWShow
i couldnt agree
Greg Jennings.. Future All Pro
by mkcubs21 on Nov 1, 2009 6:32 PM CST via mobile reply actions
I'm already looking up Sick-Day excuses for work tomorrow to work off the hangover that's coming
Looks like this is our WC competition:
Atlanta
Giants
Cowboys
Maybe 49ers, if they pull things together
I’m counting the Bears out of this one.
We're not better than any of those teams.
The same problems have plagued us all year and we’re not getting any better. We could hope for a 07 Giants-like run, or something like that, but don’t count on any of it.
We don't have to be better
We just have to win more games than them.
Jeez
vitaminx, if you think the season is done, just leave.
i couldnt agree
More mitchell just numb. Hate seeing the team make such a comeback and fall short. Got down to far early and couldn’t recover. I really feel were a good team just can’t get over the hump. Lots of season left but today hurts.
Greg Jennings.. Future All Pro
by mkcubs21 on Nov 1, 2009 6:34 PM CST via mobile reply actions
I'm not gonna hold my head down about the loss
Sure this loss sucked and was disheartening but the team never gave up and made what looked to be an early blowout into some competition. I still think this is a strong team that can only improve on things as the season goes on. Is the division out of reach? More than likely, but we can still play for the wildcard and hopefully make a run at something.
improvements
I don’t see it. Our personnel is limited. The OLine just isn’t very good, period. Our running game is below average. Our linebackers can’t seem to make plays in the backfield like Pittsburgh’s (our model). And since TT only builds through the draft, it probably won’t change anytime soon. sigh K that’s enough wallowing for me.
for me
its not even so much personnel, it’s their discipline. too many penalties and no ability to adjust to the flow of the game.
Frye is honestly gotta be one of the top 10 3rd Stringers in all of the NFL right now--colbyb
Same as the last game
How the heck did we not adjust? Bad playcalling in the first half, couldn’t get to Favre, good run defense for 3/4 of the game…that’s exactly how the last game went. Jeebuz. What a roller coaster ride of emotions.
McCarthy = Fail
How do you not go for it on 4th and 7 or 8 with 5 min left?
"I agree but dont agree"
first an offtopic point and then...
Hey guys, a big time digreesion here. Could you break things up into multiple threads next time? couldn’t get into the game day thread without my browswer crashing, so that sucked!
OK random thoughts on the game, state of Pack: The game was bad but what do you expect? in the last comment before the season started, I said my two biggest concerns were the kicking game and the offensive line. I never was convinced even after spitz and colledge supposedly put on 15 pds or so of weight and all the rest.
Secondly, I hate to say this, but the vikings remind me of the 1998, 1999 Broncos… a lot. Aging but still great QB, dominant RB, solid WRs who are getting open thanks to the first 2 factors. And a big bad punishing front line on both sides of the ball. ANd No way are we as good as the Vikes.
Forget excuses about drop balls, play-calling this or that. We are not as good as the Vikes, end of story.
Bottom line: We got beat a bigger, better team, more physical at every position(except maybe at WR)
Not having an offensive line is like not having a skeleton: you can’t walk, run or do anythign without one.
End of story.
Not having an offensive line is like not having a skeleton: you can’t walk, run or do anythign without one.
agree 1000%
"I agree but dont agree"
by juggernaut400 on Nov 1, 2009 6:43 PM CST up reply actions
We did ask for multiple threads...
"Who ever heard of the Cubs losing a game they had to have?" -Frank Chance
"If [Ruth] had [called his shot], I would have knocked him down with the next pitch." -Charlie Root
Upcoming games:
@ Tampa Bay – Win. Even we can’t play THAT bad.
Dallas – Loss. They’re hitting their stride right now and are getting better, like we should have.
San Francisco – Win. Fluky, close game.
@ Detroit – Win.
Baltimore – Loss. Big one.
@ Chicago – Loss. Doesn’t look good right now at all for us.
@ Pittsburgh – Loss. Big, horrible, no good one.
Seattle – Win. They’re packing it in for the year.
@ Arizona – Win. Give us something to play for.
That puts us at 9-7. That’s pretty realistic. Losing to the wildcard opponents is expected and getting a late mid first round pick is what we’re going to get. I don’t know what to expect for next year or if MM is going to start making adjustments.
I think the Chi-town game is winnable
It won’t be an easy game, but I think that one is winnable. Bears have shown the ability to not come out of the locker room.
Yeah the Chicago game should be a win
There secondary is bottom 3 in the league and their offensive line is just as bad as the Packers. I still see the offensive line as being below average but I’m confident Tauscher will be starting soon with how great Barbre once again played against a good opponent. I think Tauscher and Clifton/Lang solidify the line a little bit and they should be able to hold up better than the first game of the season. If they Bears d-line doesn’t go nutz, the Bears can’t win. I see a 10-6 record and fighting for a WC spot with whatever two good teams don’t win the NFC East (I think Dallas or the Eagles will win it), the Cardinals or the 49ers in the West, and the Falcons in the South.
I think Chicago is a win. agree with the rest
"I agree but dont agree"
by juggernaut400 on Nov 1, 2009 6:46 PM CST up reply actions
Their OLine is the only one worse than ours
"I agree but dont agree"
by juggernaut400 on Nov 1, 2009 6:46 PM CST up reply actions
Yeah
they even made our defense look awesome.
I still think they have the advantage playing in Soldier Field in the midst of playing division games and with a chance to get to the playoffs. The Bears are not a bad team, Cincinnati game excluded (they made us look worse than the score did too, though).
Funny you should say that
If Seattle had Hasselback, that game was a big L for them. And if Cleveland had a remotely capable QB, hell, someone of Kerry Collin’s level, today would’ve been an L for them as well.
But they didn't, and they don't
So it wasn’t.
What if Minnesota had Antoine Winfield today?
What if Detroit had Calvin Johnson and Matt Stafford healthy?
What if Cleveland had a capable head coach?
What if St. Louis had receivers and an offensive line to protect Bulger?
You could go on and on about those sort of things, but you never know and the result is still there. Great teams deal with injuries and weaknesses on their squads and work around them to get to the playoffs. Good teams like us have all the talent in the world but can’t get over the hump.
Of course count me in thinking and hoping that we at the very least get to double digit wins, which reverses our record from last year. The way this team rose up to play today though, doesn’t make me optimistic for that to happen.
I forgot to mention that
if we do beat Dallas or Baltimore I would give them the wildcard spot, but they won’t make any noise there.
I'm not saying...
But the Cards were lame ducks last year and figured it out. Just saying.
They also had the benefit of playing in the NFC West.
Where no one was even remotely good enough to challenge them all year until they got to the playoffs, where they turned it on and rocked it.
It's all about momentum
Yeah, they played in a weak division, but they were hot and carried it into the Postseason when it mattered. It’s a long season ahead of us, so stay positive. The Vikings are winning now. Fine, they will probably win the division. Fine. But, the playoffs is what matters. We need to figure out how to get there and we need to be on fire when we get there. All we need to do is get our OL fixed up. I know this team is capable of doing great things. We can and will succeed. You just have to believe!
Swing that by two games
Dallas and @Chicago and we get to 11-5.
"Who ever heard of the Cubs losing a game they had to have?" -Frank Chance
"If [Ruth] had [called his shot], I would have knocked him down with the next pitch." -Charlie Root
Wow, that's really pessimistic
Baltimore isn’t the defensive force they used to be. Chicago got absolutely destroyed by the Bengals a week ago. I think Dallas looks good but I don’t think they’re that much better than us. The only one I think will be really hard is Pittsburgh.
by Charlie Kelly on Nov 1, 2009 6:48 PM CST up reply actions
Not pessimistic, realistic.
Baltimore isn’t as good on defense but they’ve made up for it by improving their offense significantly with Flacco and his receivers. That’s exactly the sort of team that could own us on Monday Night like they did a couple years ago.
Chicago got destroyed by the Bengals, but we didn’t look very good against them either. Dallas is hitting their stride and actually improving and I think they might even win the division since the Giants’ weaknesses are getting exposed.
I think the Pittsburgh game is pretty much hopeless, especially when they’re healthy like they have been since last week.
What’s important to realize is that our four wins were a fluky last second touchdown win over Chicago (in a game both teams played horribly) and three against St. Louis, Cleveland, and Detroit arguably three of the worst teams in the league. We’re beating the teams that we’re supposed to but we can’t beat any of the elite teams to even remotely resemble a playoff team. That’s the mark of an 8-9 win team.
I wish I could argue with that last paragraph
but I just can’t.
Frye is honestly gotta be one of the top 10 3rd Stringers in all of the NFL right now--colbyb
Well, we did stick with the Bengals and were one snap from tying the game
And they are playoff caliber. Yes, we lost to the Vikings. Twice.
Dallas has one good win under their belt (Atlanta), the rest are against subpar teams. Ravens are streaky, it’s a matter of what team shows up (just like the Packers tonight). Pittsburgh does have Polamalu back, but they’re also way down the road so who knows what teams will show up for that game.
I’m as much as a realist as the next guy. But at this stage of the game, we have to play week to week. Crappy loss today. Now we get ready for TB, then move on from there. Playing out scenarios with games a month and a half away does nothing but to frustrate us needlessly.
"Ravens are streaky, it’s a matter of what team shows up (just like the Packers tonight)."
Ah, but in the case of the Pack, it seems it’s more which opposing team shows up, amirite?
Overall though, I join you in your optimism. I really don’t get this compulsion by sports fans to break down a team’s schedule and lay out wins and losses. Seriously, it’s straight-up guessing. It just seems so pointless; and that’s coming from a guy who’s posting comments on a sports blog on a Sunday night ;-)
This year has really revealed how reactionary football fans and analysts can get, from the SB (!?) predictions based on a nice preseason to predictions of GB being all better after clobbering two godawful teams.
I believe the Packers are an average team and average this year (with the bevy of really horrible teams) can easily win 9 games and make a playoff appearance.
I think the compulsion
is spurred on by the information overload that I’m getting every single week. Checking out matchups, absurdly premature playoff predictions, totally pointless power polls, and articles every week- not to mention recaps, previews and getting into silly arguments on comment sections in sports blogs. ;-)
But I agree. It makes a loss hurt a lot more than it should and a win feel better than it actually is. I know that it’s a lot of guessing, but not crazy to see what’s in store for us right? I was looking forward to the game today for reasons that went way beyond Favre- I was trying to see if 1. Our offensive line could hold up against a pass rush that owned us last time. 2. We could contain a truly good NFL offense (jury still out on our defense, but it’s much improved over Week 4) and 3. If, when circumstances dictate it, we could inspire ourselves to overcome “the hump” and make the plays needed to win (we certainly fell juuuust short of this). Seeing the results and, I’m sure, the endless gloating that is to follow is a bit, well, frustrating.
I think you are underestimateing the Ravens
They are much better than their record lets on IMO. I put them in my top 5 team ranking even when they were still 3-3
IDK
I see the Ravens as being like the Packers. They are a good team with really good talent but because of some hidden intangibles, they don’t seem to get the job done when it needs to be. Maybe it’s coaching (which I think it is for the Packers), but I don’t know. I think I would favor the Packers by the home 3 points in Lambeau and favor the Ravens by the home 3 points in Baltimore. I honestly think the Packers win the game because they will basically be coming off of a late season bye week from the Thanksgiving game and should be more rested and healed than the Ravens.
Arizona game
SF & Arizona have good defenses which can give the awful Packer o-line problems. Arizona did a number on the Giants and Manning. I wouldn’t count either game as a win. If Arizona has clinched a playoff spot by week 17, though, they probably mail it in. Hard to say. I’m thinking 7-9 or 8-8.
by uglyfatpimplynerd on Nov 3, 2009 11:00 AM CST up reply actions
no way
the Packers go 7-9 unless Rodgers goes down for the season or a handful of games. I don’t like the way McCarthy is coaching one bit and I don’t like the way the players are handling anything but the Packers already have 4 wins and they have three cupcake games in Tampa Bay, Detroit, and Seattle at Lambeau that almost automatically put them at 7 wins. Then that would leave them with six other games and they’re talented enough to go at least 2-4 in those games. That would make them 9-7. I see them going 3-3 in those games so I would predict 10-6 but who knows. 7-9 is way too pessimistic IMO.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
