After having nearly a fortnight to heal, forget, or convince oneself that in the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter, there lingers a proposition for this Sunday that Green Bay Packers fans did not figure to be wasting a lot of time considering.
Namely, whom to pull for in the Super Bowl.
As if you need to be reminded, the Packers endured one of the toughest losses in franchise history on Jan. 18, losing the National Football Conference championship game to Seattle 28-22 in overtime. The Packers frittered away a seemingly safe lead and let slip away what was shaping up as a highly impressive prelude to a fifth Super Bowl crown.
There are two schools of thought after losing in the playoffs. One is to root for the team that beat you, the idea in this case being that the NFC title game was the real championship clash, and that the two best teams in football were on CenturyLink Field two weeks ago. No, we didn’t beat them, but neither did anyone else.
The other way to go is to irrigate the bitterness, feed the resentment and hope that New England simply disassembles those lucky, filthy neon dogs. See how they like it!
Of course, this assumes that folks can go from devastation to normal in two weeks, and that feelings aren’t still in tatters.
“I haven’t been able to even watch SportsCenter,” one fan intoned. “No sports at all. I’ll watch the Super Bowl, but I haven’t even figured out yet who to root for. I really don’t care that much.”
“I guess I’m for (New England quarterback Tom) Brady,” came another reply, which was soon followed by some retroactive hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing. “He’s alright. The Packers should be there, though. They just didn’t play four quarters against Seattle. They got too conservative in their play-calling. See? I’ve got to stop talking about it because I’m getting upset all over again.”
A prevailing notion among some pro football wags is that the NFC is still hands down the stronger conference, and that whomever the AFC trots out in the big game will get their lunch handed to them. To wit: Denver was supposed to have provided the Seahawks a tough challenge last year. Does 43-8 ring a bell? The biggest challenge in that game went to the announcers trying to make like the blowout was worth watching to the end.
You may remember that in Week 13, New England rolled into Lambeau having won seven straight, and looking for all the world like a team ready to assert itself as the new king of the NFL hill.
The Packers, you could say, took some of the air out of the Patriots’ balloon, jumping ahead early and staving off a late New England comeback to win 26-21. In that game, the final few minutes included a possession in which the Packers completed a third-down pass to keep the ball and run out the clock. In the Seattle debacle, the Packers drew criticism from their supporters for conservative play calling that ultimately helped keep the Seahawks in the game.
“That was the key,” said a green and gold clad shopper. “They played to win against New England and they played not to lose against Seattle. I’ll be pulling for the Patriots, I suppose. I just want to forget about this season. We’re still looking good for next year.”
That’s the spirit. Take heart. Milwaukee Brewers pitchers and catchers report to spring training next month. Aaron Rodgers is still great. Super Bowl or no, next year’s Packers schedule includes two more dates with that collection of tackling dummies four hours to the south.
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