Its been less than 48 hours, since the Packer's were demolished on Saturday night by Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers, and if you're a Packer's fan like me you're probably going through the 5 stages of grief. Maybe due to the fact of watching my sports teams crumble at the most inopportune times over a lifetime of fandom, I was able to forsee the collapse and start my grieving/healing process early. Use the chart below and accompanying notes/quotes to determine how far along in the healing process you are.
I hit this stage roughly towards the end of the 3rd quarter. San Fran was up 31-24, and Kaepernick had already sliced and diced the Packers Defense. The clock for the 3rd quarter mercifully ended, but unfortunately the 49ers now stood at the GB 2 yard line. 3 seconds into the 4th quarter, Frank Gore trots into the endzone, putting the 49er's up by 14.
Quote: "We can still win this! We're only down by 14, we've got A-Rodg, and we're getting the ball back with a full quarter to play. We just need a few stops and this game is ours!"
I hit this stage pretty quickly soon after Frank Gore's 4th quarter score. Packer's get the kick off, put together a respectable drive that takes off way too much time before finally having to punt. Tim Mastay's punt pins the 49er's at their own 7 with about 11:30 minutes left. A comeback is starting to slip away, but not impossible at this point. We just need a stop.
11 plays and nearly 8 minutes later, backup 49ers running back Anthony Dixon plows into the endzone, putting the 49ers up 45-24 with only 3:34 left on the clock. Hulk Mode time.
Quote: "What the fuck Capers! Pull your head out of your ass, quit blitzing, and stop them for chrissakes! God-dammit!"(This is what I was screaming in my mind, but I was watching the game at my buddy Dave's house and is young daughter was around. Even after a steady supply of craft beers spread over 7 hours, I was able to control my language. My girlfriend, Hannah, was not able to show the same restraint.)
This stage for me came and went fast. It lasted approximately 30 seconds, as I tried to determine if a comeback was even possible.
Quote- "Ok God, if you're up there, I promise to never (insert whatever vice weighs heavily upon you) again if you just let the Packer's score here, get an onside, score again, get an onside, score again..."
Once I realized there was no chance of a comeback, I hit stage 4 like a ton of bricks.
The most obvious stage of grief and probably the stage most Packer's fans still find themselves in as of Monday morning. It's a stage that virtually every sports fan finds themselves in at least once a year unless their team wins it all. It's just a fact of being a fan. The higher your expectations are for your team, the harder the fall feels when your team stumbles. And if your team, like my Packers, collapses in on itself like a sun going supernova it becomes unbearable.
You spend nearly 6 months following them, reading article after article about them, you talk about them with complete strangers and friends. And then its all gone. The pit in you're stomach feels like it will never leave. You'd swear a part of your soul is missing and its not coming back.
Quote- "The Packers are awful! Why did I let myself get sucked in again? How in God's name did I think they'd be able to win against a team that beat them in week 1 with an even worse QB? Life Sucks!"
But then there's a moment that all sports fans have. Its impossible to know what will trigger it, but it will happen to all of us, and it leads to stage 5.
Thankfully for my own sanity, I hit this stage within 10 minutes of the game's final seconds. My buddy Dave and I stood outside his house, smoking a cig, watching as a strange ice pellet storm raged, and just talked about the game and the Packer's road ahead. It was wonderfully cathartic. It's why alcoholics go to AA meetings. You need to release all the bad feelings and mojo and just talk about your situation with someone whose walked the same road. Someone who knows how you're feeling because they're dealing with the same issues. We're only human after all. We need to know that our emotions are not exclusive.
Quote- "All in all we still had a great year. Looking back, the 49ers were just a better team. We came back from a 2-3 record and an absolute robbery in the "Fail Mary" game to win our division and win a playoff game against a hated rival."
At the end of the day, we need to remember, its just a game. There will still be a season next year and the Packers will be one of the favorites. The sun will rise and life will go on.
If you still can't get out of your funk here are a few things to think about before next season:
* Aaron Rodgers is our quarterback, and he's only 29. If you follow the NFL religiously like I do, you know QB's hit their prime right at about 30, and there prime lasts until about 33-34. That means we still have 4-5 years of Rodgers dominating the league and making secondaries look foolish. We are blessed.
* The Packers are a young team on both sides of the ball. Look at our roster; Rodgers, James Jones, Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson, Dujuan Harris on offense, and Clay Matthews, Casey Hayward, B.J. Raji, Tramon Williams, M.D. Jennings, and A.J. Hawk on defense. Every player on this list is under 30. Virtually every team in the league would kill to have a nucleus of young talent like that.
* Our GM, Ted Thompson, knows how to fill gaps in the draft. Thompson, since his hiring, has proven that he can find talent in virtually any round of the NFL Draft. Do the Packers have holes? Most definitely. Our offensive line is a turnstile most games,and a few of our big names are getting older(Charles Woodson), but if any GM can plug those gaps through the draft instead of spending ridiculous amounts of money in free agency, its Ted Thompson.
If you are still worried, rest assured that you will have a moment of clarity some time before the start of the 2013 season when you realize how great our team is. You'll have forgotten about Colin Kaepernick running untouched at will against a defense that seemed equal parts lost and confused. You'll remember the good times and disregard the bad. A sense of hope and nostalgia will return and you'll cheer on the Pack as if nothing ever happened. And thats just the way it should be, because thats the way it's always been.
That's sports and thats what makes them great. Its one giant cycle of emotional up's and downs that repeats every year. It's what draws us to them, it's what drives us to buy t-shirts and jerseys that grown men we've never met wear. There's a connection and it's addicting; we can't get enough. Hope springs eternal, and I'm reminded of a quote from Shawshank Redemption. It's a quote that you can always go back to as a sports fan when time's are tough to find your center.
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
Hopefully I've talked you off the ledge, and you will be able to move on. I'm sure there are still some lingering questions you may have because of the game. I know I did. Here are a few in particular and how I would answer them.
Q: Is Colin Kaepernick an elite quarterback?
A: Hold the phones people; it is WAY too early to tell. First the facts. Kaepernick has only played 5 games TOTAL and before he manhandled the Packers, setting the record for most rushing yards by a QB in NFL history, his gameplay would be considered above average at best. He also has the benefit of playing with one of the top 3 defenses in the league giving him plenty of opportunities to wreak havoc.
Does he have a great skill set? Without a doubt. Anyone who watched the game saw a QB making pinpoint throws, running the option like a Heisman level college QB against a Div. II squad, and generally enforcing his will on every facet of the game. But one game, does not a player make. Once defensive co-ordinators have several hours of game film on Kaepernick and can plan effectively against it, there's a very good chance(almost a lock) that Kaeprnick will NEVER have as dominating a game as he had against the Packer's. We just happened to be the team that ran into the buzz saw and thanks to our Defensive co-ordinator, he never had to change his sterling gameplay. Which brings us to the second question.
Q: Should the Packers fire Dom Capers?
A: By far the biggest question that came out of the game, firing or keeping Dom Capers will be debated endlessly over the next few days. I tried to look at this objectively. It's too easy to have a kneejerk reaction after a game like that.
My take? DOM CAPERS NEEDS TO GO. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a great article in the Sunday morning paper, illustrating the stats of the last three Packer playoff losses and the numbers are just startling. Outside of that magical playoff run in 2010-2011, the Packer's defense rolled over and played dead three times to the average tune of over 40 points and 500 yards allowed per game in those devasting losses.
Sure, it's the playoffs and they were playing quality/elite teams each of those game, but that is no excuse for those numbers. As stated in the "things to think about", the Packers have great, young players in defense. So what happened saturday night? Nothing. Which is the reason we got stomped so bad.
Its hard to remember, but the Packer's were only down by 3 points at halftime and were going to get the ball right away. Kaepernick had shown what he was capable of during the first half, and a change in defensive schemes was needed. Blitzing "Kaep" was demonstrated to be the worst possible thing the D could do. It forced him out of the pocket while leaving the middle oof the field wide open, allowing him to run roughshod up the field.
So what does Capers do in the second half? He keep blitzing. Albert Einstein once said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If this is true, Capers needs to be committed immediately.
I admit, Kaepernick's throws were Rodgers-like for the most part but clearly between the running game and passing game, the passing game was the weaker link. Did Capers hang a linebacker to act as a QB spy, shadowing Kapernick at all times? Of course not. That would have made too much sense.
It begs the question "if Capers had made the appropriate changes would the Packers have won?". Truthfully, I don't know. The 49er's looked awfully dominant and momentum was definitely on their side. I wholeheartedly believe though, that if there was a change, ANY CHANGE, the game would have been a lot closer.
Q: Would the outcome of the game have been any different if Jeremy Ross is able to hold onto the punt he fumbled early in the second quarter?
A: A resounding YES. If you don't remember or have already buried the memory of the game deep into your psyche, here are the details leading up to the fumble: There were still roughly 10 minutes left in the half, the Packers are up 14-7 and had just stopped San Francisco at mid-field forcing them to punt. 20 seconds later, Ross muffs the punt at the GB 9. 3 plays later San Fran ties the game on 3rd down and rides a wave of momentum that carries through the rest of the game.
If Ross doesn't fumble, chances are the Packers drive and at least get a field goal and probably go into halftime up 10(17-7) with the second half kick-off coming their way. Instead GB's defense has to trot back onto the field with their backs against the wall after a huge stop and attempt to hold them to a field goal AT BEST. This was by far the biggest play of the game, and MCCarthy eluded to it as much.
That's all I've got for now. I'll have my picks for the Conference Championship games later this week as well as my picks for the major NFL awards.
Remember Packer's fans...There's always next year.
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