A week ago, the Green Bay Packers could hardly do no wrong. They were a team showing great improvement and on the rise. Then progress came to a grinding halt on Sunday when the New England Patriots came to town and promptly disposed of the Packers 35-0.
It's the 2nd time this season the Packers were shutout at Lambeau Field. It marks the first time the team has been shutout twice in the same season at home since the 1934 season. You have to go all the way back to 1928 for the last time it's happened twice at Lambeau Field.
Brett Favre had one of those days. He would have had a hard time throwing one in the ocean had he been standing right next to it. His passes were all over the place. Then Favre unfortunately got hurt and left near the end of the 2nd quarter and never returned.
And the running game, which had been showing so much improvement, all of a sudden disappeared as well. Ahman Green had 55 yards on 22 carries against the Vikings last week. This week, he managed just 43 yards on 17 carries.
The Packers may have spent a little too much time thinking about the wildcard playoffs instead of their opponent. But even more likely, the Packers just aren't that good. The Packers are getting there, but it is, what it is. They ran up against a team that was somewhat desperate to end a 2-game losing streak and needed a win. It's hard to keep a good team down, let along a good team that had some urgency behind its cause.
The loss isn't the end of the world because it came against a non-conference opponent. That's the way the Packers need to look at it. They can't get discouraged with a big loss. Get back to work and get it pointed in the right direction.
