Typically, the storylines surrounding the Packers as the season draws closer focus on three things:
- Newly drafted players
- Second or third-year players poised to become good or great players
- How the Packers will fill the gap at (insert position group)
It’s fun getting to know the newest Packers and speculating which young guys already on the roster might break out. It’s also fun to second-guess general manager Ted Thompson a bit and wonder how the Packers will fare at (insert position group) with no shiny new outside free agent on the roster to help.
But this offseason, the storylines surrounding the Packers have been different, and I don’t expect it to change any time soon. Everyone is still talking about the meltdown in Seattle. They want to know how the Packers are going to respond. What changes will be made to prevent it from happening again? What did the Packers learn? Can they recover? Will they use it as motivation? How in the hell did that happen?
Yes, it gets old hearing about that miserable day over and over again. But we better get used to it, because we’ll be hearing about it for a while. The usual Packers pre-season storylines will still be there, but they’ll take a back seat to the “How will the Packers get over what happened in Seattle” angle.
To think that the Seattle debacle will just go away to make room for another story on the Packers fourth-round draft pick or Casey Hayward is wishful thinking. This Seattle storyline is sticking around for a while. To wish otherwise is the equivalent of wishing that only the positive aspects of government receive media coverage instead of only the scandals. You might have a point, but the scandals and negativity will garner more attention than the feel-good stories each and every time. That’s just the way it is.
If hearing more about the Seattle loss in the buildup to the 2015 season annoys you, you might want to steer clear of Packers’ coverage before the the opener vs. Chicago. The Seattle storylines will be coming fast and hard. And even if (when?) the Packers win 10-13 games — several in memorable fashion — in 2015, the Seahawks meltdown storyline will still be there come playoff time. That’s just the way it is.
Besides not letting a similar meltdown happen again, there’s nothing the Packers can do to stop it.
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Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .
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The best option is not to react regarding issue… This is the fastest way we can do to make that story pale away…
As a golfer, I am fond of repeating to myself, “You’re only as good as your next shot.” That way, I avoid “getting a big head” about it if my last shot was a good one and beating myself up unnecessarily if it was a duff. The Packers, or any other team for that matter, are only as good as their next game.
It certainly provides a possible insight into your psyche, Nemo. I don’t intend that to be either a positive or negative comment, BTW, just interesting. As a pretty good but not great golfer, I played against myself and the course, and probably subscribed to your way. I preferred to block out how I was playing and concentrate on technique/form. Each shot is discrete. As a better tennis player, with a tendency to play down to the level of my opponent, I’d remind myself that I often enough had another whole gear available, and think about what I how I was playing versus what I was capable of doing.
With MM removed from play calling, it won’t happen again. Mike McCarthy will be remembered in history for this meltdown just as Mike Sherman is remembered for his meltdown in Philly. To me, the difference between the two is Sherman over thought his conservative call not to go for it on 4th down w A Green whereas MM was just gutless to stop playing to win with an almost insurmountable lead.
They can do two things to stop that kind of talk:
1. STOMP Seattle in week 2.
2. Win the Super Bowl this year.
I think both will be happening. 🙂
No problem for me. I trust players have a bad taste in their mouth and that will inspire them to greatness. Can not see how it can not.Hell, I cant wait for some redemption this year!
As Bearmeat said, they have to win the super bowl to make most people forget about it or at least feel better getting 1 of 2. It was the biggest loss in their history or at least the top 5. As a fan I won’t ever forget it. I now know how Oiler fans feel when they lost to Buffalo. The only way the Seattle loss cannot affect you would be if you suddenly got altzheimers or aliens abducted you and you requested “missing time” to be the Seattle game.
Ted
Oh I’m never going to be over that, or fail Mary. Just want to focus on this year. Revenge or bust.
These are professional athletes and they should be able to move past their difficult loss to Seattle. The off-season changes and the fresh start of a new season should be helpful in moving the team past the end of last season. Hopefully the team comes into this season with the awareness that they need to work harder and that they need to play all out for 60 minutes in every game regardless of the score or the opponent. I think we will learn very quickly how well the Packers will respond to their collapse when they play Seattle in the second game of the season. The outcome of that game could be a big factor in their 2015 season. This team has demonstrated resilience before, particularly after the OT loss in Arizona in 2009, they came back in 2010, despite numerous injuries to win it all. Go Pack Go! Thanks, Since ’61
A good start would be getting a respite from such articles on allgbp. I hope that comment is sufficiently pointed. Winning a super bowl or two should work. Beating Seattle multiple times would help.
Ya I guess as long as there is a story the MEDIA will keep beating it to death!!
As it’s part of history, the record will stand and show it for what it was – an on-field manifestation by the players of the psyche and temperament of the coach.
Mike McCarthy is an excellent coach for the Packers, but he is who he is. He’ll never have the cold-heart of an assassin, the ability to pull the trigger when the rectacle is on the brain-pan, to be able to heartlessly step on the neck of an opponent struggling in the trap and put it out of its misery. He’s just too conservative, too nice. But he’s probably the right man for the Packers for that very same reason.
As satisfying and chest-thumpy as things like Super Bowl wins are for fans, a reasonably rational one can also accept that epic, historical meltdowns and failures can be the yang to that yin in the milieu of the NFL.
So as long as he’s guiding the ship, there’ll be chances for more Lombardi’s right along with those cheese melts. But on balance, I’ll figure out a way to deal with it and enjoy things as they play out. No matter what anyone says.
Not crazy about when the sports media brings-up certain games from the past, but it is what it is. I think the one about Holmgren allowing Denver to score so they could get the ball back with more time on the clock is another. It really doesn’t matter. In the Seattle game you could blame McCarthy for play calling or Boykin for screwing-up the OSK. If either hadn’t happened, the Packers win that game. They played a game and they lost, period. It doesn’t matter how, as long as the team learned something from it, doesn’t repeat the mistakes and improves.