Well, it may have been one of the strangest football games Packers fans have seen in a while, but when the snow settled, Green Bay had a bevy of records broken, including two by the unlikeliest record holder in franchise history.
The day began for many Packers fans with a thud. Many figured that most of the starters would not play most of the game, but they had probably at least anticipated seeing the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Charles Woodson, and Clay Matthews suit up.
Nope.
Properly assessing the meaningless nature of the outcome of the game and with bigger goals in mind, coach Mike McCarthy ruled any key player out that had as much as a sniffle for Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions.
Detroit needed a win or an Atlanta loss to remain the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs. They got neither, but it wasn't for a lack of offensive firepower. While the headlines will laud Matt Flynn, his counterpart, Matthew Stafford nearly matched him throw-for-throw.
Until it mattered most.
Regardless of anything else, the Packers are headed to the playoffs, but not before enjoying a few days off after a long, hard fought 15-1 season has come to a conclusion; a regular season capped off with an interception of a quarterback that had just torched them all afternoon long. In many ways, when Sam Shields picked Stafford off, that was a perfect microcosm for the way the Green Bay defense has performed all season long.
While this wasn't a game of any consequence for Green Bay's seeding, there were some things that were very good, some things that were horrifically bad, and a thing or two that had no business belonging on a football field in the first place.
We call it the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good
Matt Flynn was good. Very good. Very, very good. Record setting good.
Last week, Aaron Rodgers tied a Packers record with five touchdown passes in one game. For Rodgers, still the NFL's MVP frontrunner, last week marked the first time in his 62 starts that he had that many scoring tosses in one game. His understudy, Flynn, took just his second start to break the mark Rodgers tied.
In fact, not only were Flynn's six touchdowns in one game a new team record, so was the 480 yards he threw for.
"Well, it's clearly one of the best performances I've been a part of," McCarthy said to reporters after the game. "I can't say enough about Matt Flynn. The whole world got to see what we see every day. He's a talented young man, he has full control of the offense and just the way he plays, he's very even keeled."
Cecil Isbell. Bart Starr. Lynn Dickey. Brett Favre. Aaron Rodgers.
Meh. Yesterday's news.
This may very well have been Flynn's final game as a Packers player. Barring injury to Rodgers, Flynn will only be a spectator for however long the Packers run in the playoffs lasts, and then it is off to free agency. Fortunately for him, every time he has been given a chance to shine, he has done just that. There will certainly be a quarterback-hungry team that will back a Brinks truck up to the Flynn residence in Baton Rouge and start unloading wads of cash.
"I didn't look at it as trying to prove anything to anybody or trying to prove myself to the rest of the NFL," Flynn said after the game. "I didn't look at it like that. There's a lot ahead of this team and lot of great things ahead of this team this year."
Also good was the play of Pro Bowl (alleged) snub Jordy Nelson, who had nine receptions for 162 yards and three touchdowns.
By the way, for all of the hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing about Nelson's absence from the Pro Bowl roster, keep in mind a few things. 1) You don't want any Packers in the Pro Bowl because that means they aren't playing in the Super Bowl. 2) Almost every alternate that wants to plays in the game does so because of the Super Bowl teams and injured players depleting the original roster. 3) What wide receiver do you leave off? Greg Jennings? Larry Fitzgerald? Steve Smith? Calvin Johnson? If anyone got snubbed, it's New York's Victor Cruz. In all honesty, Jennings is the one that probably doesn't deserve to be on the roster.
But I digress.
Jermichael Finley dropped the first pass thrown his way but caught the next seven. That was definitely good. Donald Driver showed he can still play after streaking down the field for Flynn's fifth touchdown pass of the day. Driver would be hard pressed to ever get any bad marks because he has always been so fundamentally sound.
Also good was Ryan Grant again. First of all, I think Ryan Grant s one of the true gentlemen in the Packers locker room. He is thoughtful, generous, and has a bright future in front of him when his playing days are over. However, needs a change of scenery. The Packers don't use him very well, as evidenced by his 80-yard touchdown catch on a screen pass. He needs to see more of that. Grant still has burst and purpose as a runner; however it's not always clear the Packers realize this because of the other toys Rodgers has to tinker with.
The Bad
Oh, good grief when will I have to stop talking about the putrid Green Bay defense? Matthew Stafford lit the Packers secondary up (albeit one without Charles Woodson or Clay Matthews) to the tune of 520 yards and five touchdowns through the air.
I know that the Lions have one of the best receivers in Calvin Johnson. I also know that they have a former No. 1 overall draft selection in Matthew Stafford. Furthermore, I know the Packers two biggest playmakers were inactive.
Doesn't matter. 520 yards surrendered through the air is inexcusable. What compounds the Packers secondary's awful performance against the Lions was that the referees blew a touchdown call on Titus Young when replays showed he dragged his second foot in; and Calvin Johnson just dropping a sure touchdown pass late in the second quarter.
520 yards and five touchdowns for Stafford? The Packers are lucky it wasn't 550 yards and seven touchdown passes.
"We'll go back and continue to work on things that are necessary, McCarthy tried to make us believe after the game. "The things I concern myself with are the tackling, assignment, gap integrity and things like that. Clay and Charles not being there, that definitely makes a difference."
The Ugly
I don't like using the officiating as an excuse. Ninety-five percent of the time they are very good officials who do their job quite well. Sunday was not one of those days. Lions coach Jim Schwartz was irate late in the second quarter when Stafford's pass to young sailed to the back of the end zone. Young deftly went up for the ball and came down with it, barely dragging his foot as the rest of him crashes outside.
The call was flat-out wrong. However, because the play was not ruled a scoring play the booth never got a look at it; because Schwartz already used his challenges, referee Walt Coleman never did either. If he had, the whole complexion of this game could have been different.
Also ugly: Desmond Bishop's slap to the facemask of Stafford after the whistle was blown in the third quarter. Automatic 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, right?
Not in Des' mind. He immediately put his arms out as if to say "What? Not me!" Yes, Des, you. Smacking a quarterback in the face while an official is standing 10 feet away will get you flagged every single time.
Just dumb.
Playoff schedule:
Wild Card Weekend:
Saturday, Jan. 7: Cincinnati at Houston (3:30 CT) and Detroit at New Orleans (7:00 CT)
Sunday, Jan 8: Atlanta at New York Giants (12:00 CT) and Pittsburgh at Denver (3:30 CT)
The Packers first playoff game will be Sunday, Jan. 15 at 3:30 CT vs. either the Giants, Lions, or Falcons.
Doug Russell has been covering Milwaukee and Wisconsin sports for over 20 years on radio, television, magazines, and now at OnMilwaukee.com.
Over the course of his career, the Edward R. Murrow Award winner and Emmy nominee has covered the Packers in Super Bowls XXXI, XXXII and XLV, traveled to Pasadena with the Badgers for Rose Bowls, been to the Final Four with Marquette, and saw first-hand the entire Brewers playoff runs in 2008 and 2011. Doug has also covered The Masters, several PGA Championships, MLB All-Star Games, and Kentucky Derbys; the Davis Cup, the U.S. Open, and the Sugar Bowl, along with NCAA football and basketball conference championships, and for that matter just about anything else that involves a field (or court, or rink) of play.
Doug was a sports reporter and host at WTMJ-AM radio from 1996-2000, before taking his radio skills to national syndication at Sporting News Radio from 2000-2007. From 2007-2011, he hosted his own morning radio sports show back here in Milwaukee, before returning to the national scene at Yahoo! Sports Radio last July. Doug's written work has also been featured in The Sporting News, Milwaukee Magazine, Inside Wisconsin Sports, and Brewers GameDay.
Doug and his wife, Erika, split their time between their residences in Pewaukee and Houston, TX.
