Nobody's Perfect

The remaining members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins can breathe a little easier, pop their annual bubbly and savor the only NFL unbeaten season as the biggest threat to their perfect year since the Patriots of ’07 has now fallen. Green Bay’s run at the perfect season is now a memory as the Kansas City Chiefs played inspired ball under first game coach Romeo Crennel and dumped the listless Packers 19 – 14.

For the Packers this game can be viewed as a cautionary tale of what can happen when a very good football team doesn’t show up to play. This was easily the Pack’s worst performance of the year, but it may also serve as a reminder for the playoffs as to what is needed if they are to be successful in the ultimate goal of repeating their Super Bowl run from a season ago. For Kansas City there is elation and renewed hope that they can somehow salvage what has been a disappointing year. Given the glaring inconsistencies of the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos, both of whom lost on Sunday, Kansas City finds itself still mathematically alive and well in the AFC West.

For Green Bay there is less a sense of devastation and more a sense of relief as the inevitable loss hardly spells doom for the NFL’s runaway best team. While Kansas City exposed the Packers on defense it can hardly be said the Packers were whipped.

Green Bay played an uncharacteristically sloppy game with multiple penalties and some ugly drops. Collectively the Packers that took the field did not remotely resemble the point scoring machine that has marauded through the NFL this year. It is a measure of how good the Packers are that the Chiefs played as well as they are capable while the Packers were so out of sync as to defy description yet Kansas City won by a mere 5 points.

Aaron Rodgers had by far his weakest game of the year and yet his numbers for the day are by any normal standard a good day at the office for any other NFL QB. Rodgers day was 17 of 35 passes for 235 yards and 1 TD. Another QB would be pleased with this performance. But Rodgers is not any normal QB. Not Rodgers, not this year. His game this year is so red hot that this game is his worst showing of the year.

But Rodgers does not bear the brunt of this loss. Jordy Nelson’s 4 penalties- 2 alone for offensive pass interference – were an early indicator of how the game would shake out. Jermichael Finley added to the Pack’s troubles by dropping no less than 4 passes right in his hands. The number of Packer passes that hit the turf harmlessly was something not seen in Green Bay in over a year. The pass rush, an eyesore all year long, was nonexistent and Kyle Orton carved up the D with one pass after the next over the middle to wide open receivers. Even Head Coach Mike McCarthy was not immune; on a long pass to TE Leonard Pope it appeared that Pope fumbled the ball through the end zone and out of bounds, a play that had it been challenged would have given the Pack the ball at the 20 and would have kept at least 3 points off the board. McCarthy instinctively grabbed for the red flag immediately, and for whatever reason thought better of throwing it. Whether it was his decision or that of his video coaches McCarthy did not go with his gut reaction and may be kicking himself today for it for leaving the flag in his pocket. For the Packers the poor showing was an across the board bad showing with no one exempt from criticism.

But to criticize in light of the Packers stellar play all year would be unfair and unrealistic. McCarthy and Rodgers have said all along that eventually Green Bay would have a game where its offense would not be in sync. This game certainly qualifies. The lackluster play did not limit itself to the offense; this was a collective effort, one that the team will forget quickly. K Mason Crosby joined in the futility as he missed on 2 consecutive attempts at 50+ yard field goals, pushing both wide right on his first try and then again after the Chiefs were flagged for a penalty.

Rather than a sense of despair over a perfect season ended the overwhelming feeling coming from the Pack is relief that the distraction of a perfect season is over and the focus can now be placed where it belongs, back on focusing on the playoff run. The Streak, as it has come to be called, became larger and more cumbersome with every passing week. As the victories piled up so did the Packers confidence.

But the yoke of pressure that came with The Streak hung heavy on the necks of the Packers. With every win and each passing week the talk became more of a perfect season and can it be done. Lost in The Streak was the fact that this is a damn fine football team and even a great team has a hard time winning in the NFL.

Opportunity presents itself in many ways. Vince Lombardi would have loved this situation. Deep in the season a playoff and divisional title sewn up and only playing for home field advantage and an unexpected loss. Jerry Kramer once said “The old man (Lombardi) hated an unbeaten season, and in a weird way he loved it when we lost because it gave him an excuse to chew our asses and ride us even harder in preparing the during next week.” Now that Green Bay has tasted defeat MM will no doubt serve it up in heaping portions and force feed the troops to remind them they are not perfect and are beatable.

The Chiefs deserve credit for executing a game plan that brought The Streak to its end. Orton was masterful in protecting the ball and keeping Rodgers on the bench.  While KC’s running game was anything but underwhelming the mixture of runs with off speed screen passes, counter plays and short flat throws repeatedly exploited the over aggressive Packers who missed tackles and left far too much space for KC’s receivers to operate, chewed up the clock and kept the chains moving. The Chiefs also employed a ground attack that while not spectacular kept the Packers D off balance and kept the clock ticking. On this day Orton found the right combination and posted good numbers at 23/31 for 299 yards and 0 TD’s. While Orton is considered to have had a great day his numbers are, in fact only slightly better than those put up by Rodgers, and yet Rodgers had an ‘off’ day.

Of concern to MM and DC Dom Capers is the pass rush as it has gone into the witness protection program. Orton had the time to pick out wide open receivers on too many plays and little pressure came from either the line or linebackers. Also telling were the number of slips by DB’s Sam Shields, Tramon Williams, Charles Woodson and Morgan Burnett who repeatedly had the feet skate out from underneath them on the pasture that doubled as Kansas City’s home field.

The dreaded injury bug crept back into view as both RT Bryan Bulaga (sprained knee) and rookie T Derrick Sherrod went out, and Sherrod will be done for the season with a broken leg. LT Chad Clifton’s expected return will not occur soon enough for the beleaguered line. With top WR and RB Greg Jennings and James Starks already out with knee injuries along with LB Desmond Bishop, the Packers will look to somehow heal and regroup and get healthy while completing the regular season.

It would be very easy to play Chicken Little and spell the demise of the Pack after this game. From the noteworthy side the packers D stiffened on 3 goal line red zone attacks and kept KC to field goals, and the lead KC enjoyed was never more than 12 points which has been consistent with the Packers MO in the past two years. This is a veteran bunch, a team that knows adversity on a first name basis. This is hardly an epic fail; it is only a loss in the middle of what is otherwise a fabulous season.

Without the burden of whether or not to play his key players and go for immortality the entire team can take the high road, take a look at this game and move forward with their eyes all focused on the bigger prize. The Streak can now be called what it really was – The Distraction. And both are now over.

The good teams take games like this in stride, regroup, and refocus on their next task at hand. The Bears will make the perfect foil for Green Bay to get back on track. Lombardi would use the opportunity to reinforce and drive his message home. McCarthy will rekindle the fire and turn it up hotter on his own team, knowing full well the real goal begins in 4 weeks.

The dream is over; back to reality. And the reality is the Packers sport a 13-1 record and are still the team to beat. The bottom line they have to get back to the business of playing that way.