Packers Memo - High and Low

Well, that was disappointing.

A 17 - 14 loss on Lambeau Field to the Chicago Bears when there were many opportunities for the Packers to claim victory.

The Bears deserve a tip of the hat for their play, but Green Bay and its fans will be parsing this one in search of 4 more points until next Thursday's game.

The high was being able to watch and vicariously join in the standing ovation welcoming Brett Favre and cheering the retirement of his number.

It was seeing a bright looking Bart Starr and his wife, Cherry, enter the stadium to an equally fervent reception.  And watching Bart and Brett embrace at midfield is a moment for his Packer fan's memory bank.

It doesn't seem fair to say the Packers weren't ready for this game or looked past it - their recent stretch of 3 straight losses before righting the ship in Minnesota - should have prevented that.  The short work week before the game was the same on both sides of the ball, so I'd call that equal.

Missed opportunities for scoring, fumble, and an interception spelled disaster on Thanksgiving night.  It felt at times like there was too much tryptophan in the player's systems.  Four chances to win from inside the Chicago ten with a minute to play and the Pack came up empty - it was a final gut punch after a day of gluttony.

Jolted back to a 7 - 4 mark from the goal of reaching 8 - 3 reduces the "margin for error" for the team.
Depending on how the Vikings voyage into Atlanta goes, Green Bay could be looking up again at Minnesota in the division standings.

Only five more games remain:  at Detroit (who started the 3 game losing streak), then home for the Cowboys to ride into town before road trips west to Oakland and into the desert to play the Cardinals. Finally, those purple and gold fellows return to Lambeau for the finale.

While I wonder a little if these guys are still full -fledged Super Bowl contenders, I'm holding on to the get hot and stay hot theory for the end of the season and play-offs.

They can do better than they showed the Bears - and they need to in every game they get to play from here on out.

Go Pack!

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