Was The Packers Loss Shocking? Because It Shouldn’t Have Been

By: Toby Christie – Follow on twitter @Tobalical

What a magical season the Green Bay Packers were having in defense of their fourth Super Bowl trophy. After one of the greatest regular season campaigns a team has ever posted in NFL history, the Packers were exiled immediately – some would even say shockingly - from the playoffs by a now red-hot New York Giants team.

However don’t count me as one of the many who are shocked by the quick exit from the 2012 NFL tournament.

In fact for weeks I had been clamoring the fact that not only would the Packers not finish 16-0, but that they would do just what they did this weekend – lose in their first playoff game of the season. Don’t believe me? Just watch some recent episodes of the Brain Dead podcast…

When you come out like gangbusters like the Packers had for the first 13 games of the regular season, you become a little complacent. You start to believe you are too good to be beaten, you feel invincible – especially when you are the defending champions. This is when you ultimately succumb to a trap game, as the Packers did in week 15 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

However many felt that because of the week 15 loss, the Packers were still the favorites because they no longer had to worry about the pressures of the undefeated season, but I contest that pressure is the only thing that was keeping them going.

If you look at the Packers last five regular season games, you realize that they came into the postseason stumbling. After utterly dominating any team in their path through week 12, the Packers finished the season with a near loss to the same Giants team that just knocked them off, a loss to Kansas City, a much closer than comfort game against a Chicago Bears team with Caleb Hanie at the helm, and a four point win over their divisional rival Detroit Lions.

Over the five game stretch the Packers had just one unanimous victory, a 46 to 16 slaughter of the Oakland Raiders, but with how the Raiders fell apart over the second half of the season, that victory doesn’t carry nearly the weight that it did then.

The Packers finish to their impressive regular season, is mainly why everyone else shouldn’t have been surprised they would be immediately ousted as champs, but as the week dragged on there were many more reasons to believe it would be one and done for the Pack, but the mainstream media missed it completely.

There was no way that offensive coordinator Joe Philbin’s mind could be 100-percent on football. The guy’s son was found dead this week, and despite not being with the team all week during practice, Philbin called the plays Sunday.

Heading into the playoffs Greg Jennings was rusty, and sore as he had sat out the last few games with a sprained MCL. Aaron Rodgers’ unquestionable No. 1 target wasn’t at 100-percent, and it showed on Sunday as he only caught four passes for just 40 yards. 

Aaron Rodgers couldn’t be as sharp as he had been after sitting out the final game of the regular season. Rodgers put up 45 touchdowns to just six interceptions on the season, all the while he tallied the best quarterback rating of all-time (122.5), but sitting in week 17 smothered the timing and momentum that he had built up.

The team as a whole appeared to just be looking ahead to the NFC Championship game as Sunday’s loss unfolded. Following the game Aaron Rodgers had some somber thoughts that provide insight as to what it’s like trying to defend a Super Bowl.

This Packers team honestly knew they were great – and they were for 17 weeks – but if you don’t finish nobody remembers you. Unfortunately the only way they will ever be remembered (as far as 2012 goes) is for their one-and-done playoff appearance.