Brats & Beer

The Packers Are 4-1 So Why Am I Disappointed?

It’s been a couple days now since the Sunday night debacle, I’ve calmed down a little bit, and Mrs. BratsNBeerGuy has called off the suicide watch. (Apologies, by the way, for my “bitter haiku” from the other night.) I’ve had a chance to put the loss into perspective, and I’m feeling better about everything. Though I still don’t like it.

It is true that the Packers are still 4-1 and leading the division with an excellent (okay, pretty good) chance to make the playoffs, so it’s not the loss itself that is disappointing. It’s not even the fact that it came against the Bears. It really all comes down to the way Green Bay lost the game that is most upsetting.

With four turnovers (fine, five if you want to get technical about it) and twelve penalties, the Packers basically handed the game to Chicago. They gave up a 10 point lead at the half. And what’s really hard to accept about all that is that this team demonstrated through four games that they are better than that.

I guess what really bothers me is this loss has shaken some of my confidence in the team and my fear is there might be the same loss of confidence in the locker room. I hope, though, that leaders on the team — who have been through tougher spots than this — can rally the young guys and get them back on track.

Hopefully from all this the locker room gains a sense of urgency to get these problems rooted out. Ball security, execution, not committing stupid penalties, these are the things that need to be drilled and drilled again this week as the Packers prepare for the Redskins. (A call to the league office to get that “lining up over the center” thing sorted out should also be on the to-do list. What a bunch of bullsh*t — pardon my French.)

The past is the past and now we move on. Favre will go back to playing within the system and not throwing to the other team’s linebackers, James Jones will get his mojo back, and the defense will go back to bringing the hammer on opposing quarterbacks. After that terrible second half on Sunday night, Washington should be a good test of how this team bounces back from adversity.