A team that went 15-1 during the regular season shouldn't lose to another team that went 9-7 during the regular season. Especially at home. That it was my Green Bay Packers on the wrong end of that horrible loss makes it even worse. It was like a bad dream, and it still seems unreal to me. Unfortunately I won't be waking up from this bad dream anytime soon.
It reminded me of a couple other losses that happened back during the 2004 season.
The 2004 Steelers went 15-1. In the playoffs, they barely beat the Jets in the divisional round before losing at home in the championship game by 14 points to the Patriots. The good news here is that the 2005 Steelers bounced back to win the Super Bowl.
Unfortunately it also reminded me a lot of the 2004 Packers, who lost to the Vikings at Lambeau by 14 points in the wild card game. Before that loss, the Packers had beaten the Vikings in Minnesota by 3 points (just as the 2011 Packers beat the Giants by 3 points back in December). In 2005, it got even worse as they fell to 4-12 and missed the playoffs.
There were many changes after that 2004 playoff loss. Head coach Mike Sherman was fired as GM and replaced by Ted Thompson. The defensive coordinator was replaced. A few key veterans were allowed to leave in free agency. And the Packers showed what the future had in store when they drafted Aaron Rodgers in the first round.
It's unlikely that such significant changes will take place this offseason, but maybe we shouldn't be surprised if there are some coaching changes and several roster moves in the coming weeks.