Packers 2011 Season. It’s Over Johnny. It’s Over. The End.

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OK, I’m having a little problem here. Admittedly, I’m still pretty shocked about the Packers loss to the Giants. I sat down to write a post-mortem, but I’m just staring at this blank computer screen and pondering where to begin. So, I think I’m going to need some audio and video aids to help me express my feelings…

Mike McTrautman: It’s over Johnny. It’s over.

John “Rambo” Rodgers: Nothing is over! Nothing! You just don’t turn it off! It wasn’t my war! You asked me, I didn’t ask you! And I did what I had to do to win! But somebody wouldn’t let us win!

Um, yeah, the Giants… Again.

As much as we all rejected the comparisons to 2007, the rosy-cheek Coughlin, Manning-face Eli and this band of underdog Giants marched onto Lambeau Field and once again took away what rightfully belonged to the Packers – another win on the way to the Super Bowl.

Both times, it was more than a loss, it was an embarrassment. In the 2007 playoffs, the Giants came into the frozen Green Bay tundra and won a game in elements only the cold-hardened Packers could supposedly withstand. The image of a thoroughly frozen and not wanting to be there Brett Favre (on the sideline just before he would go in and throw his final pass as a Packer) still haunts me.

This time around, the Packers were the de-facto best team in the NFL, with a 15-1 record and the probable NFL MVP at quarterback. But the Giants had an excellent game plan and other ideas. They forced the Packers into turnovers, and took advantage of their best mismatch – their wide receivers against the Packers’ secondary.

Just like Plaxico Burris in the previous playoff meeting, the Packers could not deal with the Giant’s big receiver, Hakeem Nicks.  The Packers couldn’t tackle Nicks, couldn’t cover Nicks and couldn’t catch Nicks. The Hail Mary completion just before halftime will go down as one of the most embarrassing moments in Packers history.

The Packers continued to fumble their way through the game (literally), yet despite being outplayed, still found themselves only 7 points behind with the ball on the Giants 39 yard line. Rodgers could not connect with an open Jermichael Finley on 3rd and five, and then was sacked on fourth down. The Giants marched down the field for a field goal, and after a Ryan Grant fumble on the next series, a Giants TD pretty much sealed the Packers’ fate.

So the Packers 2011 season has come to an inglorious end. In the “change is the only constant” NFL, this exact team as we know it, will never been seen again. It’s time to close the book on the 2011 Green Bay Packers.

It brings to mind a song by the Doors, aptly called, “The End”, which was also used in the soundtrack of one of my favorite films, Apocalypse Now. Here are the first few lines of that song.

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I’ll never look into your eyes…again

This is the end of what we thought would be a beautiful season. All our elaborate plans, our Super Bowl dreams, have been knocked from our hands like the sure touchdown throw that Aaron Rodgers never got to make. We’ll never look into the eyes of this particular near-perfect team again.

A new quest will begin soon, but for now, the sun sets on this Packers season. Visuals provided below:

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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.

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13 thoughts on “Packers 2011 Season. It’s Over Johnny. It’s Over. The End.

  1. I’m still stunned, too, Al. I couldn’t believe how the offense and coaching added to the season-long liability the defense presented. Oh well, I think it’s pretty clear what we need this off-season to make the 2012 Packers a legitimate contender.

  2. We gambled. we lost! We played in denial all season. “Our defense will turn it around” we thought. “Our pass rush will come around” we thought. “The coaches have a plan that they are saving for the big game” we hoped!

    The fact is we are a very good young team with a few old weak spots. The weak spots cost us our (expected and rightful) place in the sun. We have to address them now! We must get our pass rush back at the cost of a few “favorite” players release.

    Our secondary will be OK if we put pressure on the opposing quarterback. The best secondaries will fail if given enough time.

    Ted, If your out there? Be a man and release people that under preform. You have favorites that “we the people” criticize. Let them go. Feeling comfortable with mediocre players that you picked doesn’t hack it. Be merciless! We will forgive you! You did it with “Burt Favor” or whoever that was who preceded Rogers?

    I would rather have a (young, raw) driven player with an upside than a (old, wily) satisfied player on the down-slide.

    If you need room in the salary cap you know where to get it. If you need to “trade up” for a LB or DE like you did for CMIII than do it. I trust you.

    Complacency in football is recipe for defeat. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results! We did it each game this year with our pass rush!

    1. The last paragraph has to be directed at “—–“.

      Complacent as in not playing anywhere near the level and knowing he doesn’t have too.
      Insanity as in watching balls fall to the ground again and again and again…game after game after…

      I guess I’m one of those “MOFO” Packer fans that don’t believe in his ahem…greatness eh,Filet of Fish.

    2. brutally honest but right…hope as a Packer Owner Ted releases the ones who are no longer viable and just eating up money that could be best spent on a players who are hungry, teachable and driven to win, and injury prone sorry don’t care how much you love them if they can’t play and it happens often then find a stronger and healthier player to replace them.

  3. I just don’t get a lot of things.

    I don’t get 3 man rushes. I don’t get 6 or 8 dropped passes. I don’t get fumbles. I don’t get John Kuhn getting more touches than Greg Jennnings. I don’t get being a step slow all day at every position. I don’t get Rodgers missing Jennings. I don’t get how a team who made up for their weaknesses (defense) all year long is suddenly being incapable of doing it again. I don’t get that it HAD to be the Giants again. I don’t get how a Hail Mary succeeds. I totally don’t get how we were still within a TD late in the 3rd quarter, yet couldn’t do anything with the situation.

    And I really don’t get how all these things show up on the same day.

    The music’s over. Turn out the lights.

    1. I don’t get why Capers’ job is considered safe. He had a great year last year but sandwiched between two lousy years. Was last year a “Capers year” or were the sandwich years “Caper years”?

  4. Simple: We choked on O. The D went pretty much as expected – actually pretty well in the 2nd half.

    But the fumbles/drops… that wasn’t the team we watched all year.

    It’s not an excuse, but it didn’t seem like GB was even into the game. Wonder how much the funeral and emotions from the past week played into it?

    We’ll get better. NYG caught lightning in a bottle this year. We’ll get em back.

  5. Hmm… maybe it’s just me, but the End gets me thinking more Apocalypse Now than sunsets or Rambo.

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