I Don't Know

That is really the only thing I can use to describe what happened. I don't know.

Two of my bosses (one of whom is almost as much of a fan as me, and who was distraught, and one of whom is not even close (i.e. will now root for the Vikings because they are in the same division) and is seemingly going to move on with his life like nothing happened) tried to talk to me about the game. And I really couldn't say anything. It is almost hard to believe that it happened at all. Like it was some sort of elaborate dream/nightmare that I endured starting back in August, with everything coming crashing down yesterday. I'm not sure that it is fair to just look at yesterday to realize how insane yesterday was. I don't know.

I think to get the full effect, you need to start in the preseason. The whole season was a roller coaster that ended with a 500 foot drop into a brick wall. In the preseason, we dominated everything in sight, and went from possible playoff contender, but probably not a playoff team, to a trendy Super Bowl pick. Then the season shaky, eventually leading to the Tampa loss, which was rock bottom and everyone had unanimously counted us out of any chance of the playoffs (me included). Then everything clicked, on both sides of the ball (except for the 500 yd blip at Pittsburgh), especially on offense, and we rolled to 7-1, and were pretty big presumptive favorites at Arizona.

I had quit at least three times yesterday. Down 17-0, with the offense not working well, and the defense stopping nobody, I didn't have alot of confidence, and I was pretty bummed. Then, we get to 24-10, I'm feeling slightly better, but still not real confident. Then 31-10, I give up again. Then Rodgers starts matching Warner (who by the way, was placed in a Delorean by (Sports Bottle's) god before the game with the flux capacitor set to 1999) throw for throw, we get a ballsy onside kick and eventually things are tied up. Then, we make the mistake of allowing the Cardinals to get the ball back with more than 30 seconds and they march down into chip shot range (give up #3), and Rackers fucking gags. Then we win the toss and I scream, which should tell you right there the problem with the NFL playoff system. Basically, I was convinced that the coin flip was going to decide our season. Well, it turns out that 400+ yds, 4TD passes and a TD run can be wiped out by an unblocked blitzing corner. Enter the brick wall.

Oddly, that was possibly the least soul crushing, soul crushing loss I've ever experienced. Had we been up by three TDs and blew it, it would have been the worst ever. But the fact that the Pack's offense stepped up and played like they did, and McCarthy's decisions on offense and kicking that onside at the absolute perfect time led to a huge comeback made this easier to swallow. At least three times the game was over. We had no business winning that game. You could look at it one way and say "If we score 45, we should win 100% of the time" which is absolutely true. But if you give up 51, and lose the turnover battle 3 to 1, you should lose every time. I'm not at all taking this well mind you, but I'm not going to look back on this loss ten years from now and cringe/panic to change the channel ala: 4th and 26, The Interception/Ice Bowl III (NFC Title loss to Giants), Horse Tooth Helicopter/Super Bowl XXXII, The Fumble/The Catch II. And it SUCKS being on the wrong end of an all-time NFL classic playoff game. And believe me, we will be seeing replays of this game 20 years from now.

Now that I have the "positive" or rather non-negative things out of the way. FIFTY ONE FUCKING POINTS!?!?!!? I don't get it at all. I stole the defensive game plan, and here it was: 1) Don't get within 5 yards of anyone wearing red, they have AIDS; 2) let all of the receivers run free; 3) When they do catch a pass, leave your feet and dive at the receivers with one arm (this applies especially to any linebacker not named Clay Matthews); 4) All blitzing linebacker other than Matthews should get picked up by whatever running back stays into block (see the rest of the year); 5) Repeat. Did we just get completely out game planned on defense? We had the number one defense in the fucking league and we got WORKED. Warner was unreal, but most NFL caliber QBs are going to dominate when they are not being touched and throwing to wide open receivers. By the second half I was chuckling to myself, because I couldn't believe what I was watching. It became funny. And even funnier when we started doing the same thing to them. I can't come up with one single reason why it was that bad. Atari Bigby getting hurt doesn't help, but he wasn't that good to begin with. I don't know. We don't get to the playoffs without the defense, but that was despicable. I don't know.

I just don't know.

Super Sunday!

So today there is finally football on again. And if that is wrong, I don't wanna be right. The pregame shows begin in like 30 minutes, and will repeat everything they've talked about for the past two weeks. My wife has to work today, so I will be firmly planted in front of my TV watching it, since there isn't anything else on. Creighton made the questionable decision to schedule at game at 2 p.m., so I will check that out. Otherwise, it is nothing but blowing hot air about a football game, and the discussion about how the economy is destroying the Super Bowl because the Playboy party got cancelled. This year is the first year that I can remember that I haven't had some kind of plan for today. Inevitably my wife will get a bug up her ass that we need to have a party like the day before, and she ends up inviting a bunch of people over, but she has to work this year, and if you think I'm putting that shit together, you are crazy. Her work schedule even takes away the possibility of going over to a relatives' house. In fact, I only have like 2 beers in the refrigerator. I will probably have to muster up at least enough energy to get to Shopko Express to buy some beer. But there won't be any special meals or snacks going on, which will be wierd. Anyway, I think the Steelers win, I think they force Warner into some bad throws, and shut down Arizona's not so vaunted run offense. Big Ben will do just enough on offense, and the Steelers win 27-17.
Last week: 2-0
Playoffs: 6-4
Season: 134-125-7

OTHER:

Is it safe to panic about the Badgers yet? Not that winning at Northwestern is ever a given (noplace in the Big 10 is), but they have to win somewhere at some point. How many teams have ever lost six in a row and got an at-large bid? I'm going to guess the list isn't real long. They've got to go 7-2 the rest of the way in my calculation, and win at least one in the Big Ten tourney. I came to the realization last night that I hate almost every member of the Badgers:

-7th year senior Marcus Landry has been one of the most disappointing recruits in recent memory. He was supposed to be the next Alando Tucker. He turned into the next Ray Nixon.

-9th year junior Travon Hughes. Shows flashes, but also does some really stupid things (i.e. taking 25 foot jump shots with 13 seconds left on the shot clock).

-Jason Bohanon: reminds me more and more of Tanner Bronson every day. If you are 5'9", you better be able to shoot the three better than 35.5%.

-Krabbenhoft: actually don't hate him. He is what he is, but when he is probably your best player, you are in trouble.

-Nankivil, Leuer, Taylor, Wilson: should all get more playing time in my opinion.

I am done making excuses for the tough schedule, and large number of "good" losses. You can't rely on moral victories at some point.