HEARTBREAK!

Seahawks Stun Packers with Furious Late OT Rally

Shock.

Disbelief.

Stunned.

Anger.

Denial.

Then the sudden realization of what just slipped thru the fingers starts to set in.

It’s over… and we had ‘em. And as Aaron Rodgers so succinctly put it “We gave it away.”

In the end when the cold, stark reality of what just happened hits there is nothing but the bitterness of disappointment that comes with the reality that the Green Bay Packers were this close to moving on to the Super Bowl. The stunning, shocking, stinging loss that occurred when the Seattle Seahawks posted 15 points in the last 3:52 of the game, a game they would eventually come from way behind to win will burn for many years in Green Bay for anyone who calls himself a fan. The Packers Tramon Williams summed it up best in the morgue like locker room after it was over. “We were where we wanted to be,” Williams said. “We just didn’t get it done. We squandered away every opportunity for us to put that game away, and there’s really no excuse for it.”

Don’t blame the defense.

In the stunning come-from-behind 26 – 22 OT loss to the Seattle Seahawks the Green Bay Packers will have an agonizing flight home and a very cold offseason. With no attempt to take away from Seattle’s gutty performance the Seahawks did not win the game as much as the Packers lost it. All year long the Pack had trouble putting up 6 in the red zone. It came back to bite and now will haunt them. Mason Crosby had not only resurrected his career but was keeping the Packers in it when the offense sputtered. The special teams unit will take heat for this game as well. The special teams caused a fumble that led to 3 points but also gave up the play that got Seattle back into it when the Hawks boldly went for 6 on a successful field goal fake. After Russell Wilson finally got the Seattle offense on the board very late the onside kick was not only expected it was a given. Brandon Bostick will now have his name added to the unfortunate pantheon of rogue’s gallery of goats alongside Bill Buckner, Chris Webber, Leon Lett and Marty McSorley and when he not only failed to do his job he bobbled the ball that Jordy Nelson was designed to grab. The offense that dominated everything in the first half left a few points on the field when it sputtered near the goal line not once but twice.

This was far from one man or one play blowing the lead. This was a collective effort.

Bostick won’t be alone in this painful offseason. Mike McCarthy will have to answer why he did not go for the TD not once but twice on 4^th and inches as well as to why he abandoned his aggressive attack late in trying to sit on the lead. Dom Capers will have to answer why he stopped rushing Wilson late especially considering the Packers had already intercepted him a ridiculous 4 times. Special teams coach Shawn Slocum will have to account not only for the failure to properly execute the onside kick he will also have to account for the fake FG TD pass thrown by Jon Ryan to a wide open reserve lineman for the Hawks first score. Ha Ha Clinton- Dix will have to answer why he did not go after the high hanging lob as the Hawks attempted to go for 2 after the Seahawks first offensive TD of the day. Andrew Quarless will have to live with the drop on 3^rd and 4 when the Pack needed it most as Rodgers split the ‘8’ and the ‘1’ on his jersey. Morgan Burnett will have to answer why he chose to slide at midfield instead of advancing the ball to potential scoring range when he had a wide open field in front of him on the 4^th pick of the day tossed by Wilson. The entire offense will have to account for the continued, baffling inability to cash in from the red zone not just today but throughout the season. The offensive red zone sputtering was a problem all year.

And sputter in the red zone it did on Sunday. The Packers came out of the gate and dominated the ‘Hawks in every phase of the game and on every corner of the field. The Packers defense shone brightly and gave the Packers a championship performance. To be crystal clear the defense was so good it was as if the two teams had swapped jerseys before the game. How dominant was the Packers defense?

Try 4 INT’s and add a kickoff fumble recovery dominant. Try a Russell Wilson QB rating of 0.00 going into the half with Green Bay leading 16 – 0 dominant. Not even merely good – dominant and completely in charge of throttling Wilson and Seattle. The defense kept Wilson in the pocket and it wasn’t until late that Wilson was able to do anything. But when he did finally do something he did something spectacular.

The Pack took the field and the game by storm. On their first possession the drive ended when Richard Sherman picked off Rodgers in the end zone on a brilliant play. On the Pack’s next 4 possessions they scored 4 times. Aaron Rodgers looked fluid and mobile in the pocket and was carving up Seattle’s D. But two drives stalled just agonizing feet short of the end zone. Both John Kuhn and Eddie Lacy were stuffed from very short yardage and Green Bay settled for a pair of Crosby chip shots. Taking whatever points a team can get on the road is wise. But the fact is the Packers offense left at least 3 TD’s on the field by being unable to fully cash in a golden opportunity. Mike McCarthy speaks of establishing an identity and playing up to that. All season long McCarthy had been very aggressive in his play calling and twice he elected to take the points on a field goal instead of risking two 4^th down shots of less than a yard which, in turn, prompted Fox TV’s Troy Aikman to openly question the decision. McCarthy has had a very successful run in Green Bay and has done so by being aggressive. Even Rodgers addressed the very soft run, run, run, punt strategy late when twice Green Bay was held to 3-and-out that gave the ball back to the opportunistic Hawks.

The Pack took advantage early when Rodgers scrambled and hit Randall Cobb in the back of the end zone. Another Crosby field goal and Green Bay went in confidently staked to a 16 -0 lead. Even with the lead there was a quite case of angst building over the offenses not soring TD’s when they had the chance. Even as the 3^rd quarter opened the Packers defense still controlled the game. After a huge 3^rd down stop that forced the ‘Hawks into settling for an apparent field goal it was the special teams that got caught red handed.

 

As Seattle lined up for the FG try former Packer P Jon Ryan took the snap and rolled to his left. A.J. Hawk was caught in no man’s land and when he stepped up to challenge the expected run Ryan lofted the ball over his outstretched hands to rookie Lineman Garry Gilliam who was left unchecked in the end zone. S Sean Richardson was responsible for anyone trying to sneak out but afterwards said there was no call to expect the unexpected from the bench. Seattle had to resort to trickery as their offense was ground to a halt for the better part of 3 ½ periods.

The Pack’s offense put up another 3 pointer to go up 19 – 7. Then they sat back and turned it over to the D. Wilson finally shook the stink off enough to engineer a drive that closed the gap to 19 – 14 with just over 2 minutes remaining. There was not a soul in the universe who did not know what was coming next. Down 5 with 2 minutes left is automatic onside kick time. The Packers put the hands team out and as soon as the ball was lofted on the attempt the Packers TE Brandon Bostick went up and to grab it. And then missed it. The Hawks Chris Matthews gobbled up the gift and the 68,-000+ 12^th man in Seattle, a group held silent for the most of the game finally came to like and had something to cheer about.

Bostick is part of the “Hands” team, the onside squad whose sole responsibility is to catch and secure an onside kick. In that formation there are agile wide bodies and the most sure handed members of the Pack. Bostick is a wide body who was supposed to be a blocker that kept the horde off the sure handed Jordy Nelson. But Bostick inexplicably went for it with disastrous results. When the Hawks’ Chris Matthews grabbed the donation Wilson wasted no time in going for the kill.

When Wilson drove the Hawks to the Hawks first lead of the game the crowd had ample reason to go nuts. Marshawn Lynch took off on a 24 yard run that gave Seattle the lead at 20 – 19. There was not a soul in the universe who did not know what was coming next. Up 1 with just under 2 minutes left is automatic 2 point try time. The single point did Seattle no better than a 2 point lead and the 3 meant the Packers would only be able to tie unless lightning somehow struck. When the defense needed most to rise they almost did. As Wilson rolled right he was under siege when he lofted a prayer of a ball toward the goal line. Ha Ha Clinton- Dix already had 2 INT’s on the day but did not even come close to making a play on the ball as it gently settled into TE Luke Willson’s arms for the 22- 19 lead, the first lead they saw all day.

Rodgers led the Packers down the field as they stormed to tie the game with 19 seconds left. Rodgers is the MVP after all and Rodgers on a bad leg is better than almost anyone else on two. On the day he was far superior to Wilson in spite of his 2 INT’s.

Rodgers and the Packers would not see the ball again.

The Seahawks won the toss and in the most bitter of endings came when Wilson hit Jermaine Kearse for a 35 yard TD to end the Packers season and send Seattle to the Super Bowl. In playoff competition there are no moral victories. The sporting world found out the Packers can play defense at an incredibly high level. 4 INT’s and you can’t win a game? Holding Wilson to a pathetic QB rating of 13.8 and losing? That’s thirteen point eight. There is no typo. Wilson was stinko because of the Packers approach to him. They kept him contained largely in the pocket and his running was kept to a minimum. Morgan Burnett’s INT with just over 5 minutes left should have sealed it.

Should have.

Afterwards a dejected Aaron Rodgers patiently answered every question fired at him but left even more questions out there. "It's going to be a missed opportunity that I'll probably think about for the rest of my career," Rodgers said. "We were the better team today, we played well enough to win. We can't blame anybody but ourselves. We gave it away." He referenced the plays on the 2 separate 3-and-outs that were away from the usually aggressive Packers that included a 3^rd and 4 dropped pass by Andrew Quarless. “We weren’t playing as aggressive as we usually are.” said Rodgers. “(We were) Very confident we were going to win the game. The defense played great; forced a turnover on special teams. You can’t let them complete a pass for a touchdown on a fake field goal, you can’t let them recover an onside kick,” said Rodgers.

“We were on the cusp,” he said. “You just go home. Move on. This one is going to hurt for a while. We gave it away.”

Bostick was also inconsolable but found the strength to face the horde of media gathered around his stall. “I let my team down,” Bostick said. “I just reacted and thought I could make a play on it, but obviously I didn’t. I felt like I had my hands on the ball, and it just slipped through I guess. Then I just got hit, and I didn’t have the ball.” As soon as Bostick returned to the sidelines special teams coach Shawn Slocum tore into him. The sight of the dejected Bostick sitting alone on the bench was as painful to watch as the collapse itself.

Throughout the game the Packers defense throttled Seattle. Inexplicably after Burnett’s interception the Pack did not stop the Seahawks once on their final 3 possessions. There are so many ‘what-if’ plays that could have altered the outcome. What if Green Bay goes for it on 4^th down- twice? What if Burnett continues to run with the ball after the pick instead of inexplicably sliding? He had nothing but open field in front of him and could have set the Packers up for one more score. What if Quarless catches the ball? Or Bostick simply does his job? What if the special teams played for the potential fake? What if Clinton- Dix catches the one that went right through his hands, or he makes a play on the lollipop throw on the 2 point conversion? There are far too many of these scenarios form this to go down easily. This one will hurt for quite a while.

There are no words that can be written to ease the sting and pain of this defeat. Not for the players, not for the coaches, and not for the fans. There will many who will clamor for heads to roll. It is not necessary. A loss like this will make great fodder for the uninformed and the media talking heads. In being philosophical it is only a game. Our lives and homes are not at risk in the watching. Our families will still love us in the morning and we will get up to go to work. No one has died here and there are certainly worse tragedies that permeate the news every night. The fans will feel cheated and let down. So will the players and coaches who make their living in the game.

It is not our job on the line though. Our lives as fans will regain a center as soon as the loss can be catalogued and filed away if not accepted. In the 95 year history of the Packers there is not a loss of this magnitude that comes to mind. For almost 58 minutes the Packers were the better team. At the end of the game the Packers were still the better team and it means nothing. The Seahawks are the champions and in the fury of the last 5 minutes of the game into overtime they showed why they are champions and the Packers forced them to play like it.

In the end it was not enough. 56 minutes of brilliance is not enough.

It is far too soon and the wound is too fresh to be able to put it into perspective and move on. Being the 3^rd best team in the NFL carries little weight and there will be a long, cold winter until the draft, OTA’s and seeing what next season brings. Based on what we saw on Sunday the future is still very, very bright.

But for today the now is very cold, dark, and bleak.

We’ll see you all next season.