It’s going to take the Green Bay Packers a long time to get over the NFC Championship.
The Packers led by 12 points with less than four minutes to play then allowed Seattle to score two touchdowns, recover an onside kick, and covert two-point attempt before the Seahawks completed a game-winning touchdown pass in overtime.
After Russell Wilson threw an interception — his fourth of the game with less than five minutes to play — the Seahawks had less than a four percent chance of winning the game, based on a couple of different models.
Green Bay was the better team throughout the game, controlling the line of scrimmage and forcing Wilson into uncharacteristic mistakes. But as the old adage goes, you have to play 60 minutes.
In this case, it was a bit longer. Green Bay was great for 56 minutes, but now, all they can do is wonder and reflect. They let a big one slip and they’ll have trouble recovering. You don’t get these chances very often. Even when you have a quarterback as great as Aaron Rodgers.
Here’s what else we learned on Championship Sunday:
Why didn’t Packers attack Sherman?: When Richard Sherman suffered an arm injury in the third quarter, it looked like he was done for the day. He could barely move his arm and it would’ve been hard to imagine him being a proficient tackler — let alone cover a receiver or play the ball in the air. Which is why it’s even harder to understand why coach Mike McCarthy didn’t start targeting his side in the passing game after the injury. It would’ve given Green Bay an obvious advantage and even Aaron Rodgers seemed dumbfounded after the game that it wasn’t part of Green Bay’s strategy. Coach McCarthy is far too conservative overall and that came back to the bite them.
Seahawks cannot move on from Marshawn Lynch: Russell Wilson gets most of the credit — and usually rightfully so — but the Seahawks best player on offence all season has been Marshawn Lynch. He showed up again on Sunday. His performance (25 carries for 157 yards and a 26-yard catch) is a storyline that seems to be ignored in Seattle’s incredible comeback victory. All season long, there have been rumblings that the Seahawks are preparing to move on from Lynch after the season. It’s typical for runners at his age to begin to decline, but that hasn’t occurred at all. In fact, he had his best season yet and actually improved in the passing game. Lynch is an exception to the rule and the Seahawks have the cap room to bring him back for 2015. I understand the salary implications, but they would be taking a massive risk if they decided otherwise. He is the heart and soul of the offence.
Canadian connection for Seattle: Other than maybe Vancouver, no one would be dubbing the Seahawks as Canada’s team. Well, maybe they should. There was a huge impact by Canadians or players with ties to Canada in the victory over Green Bay. It began in the third quarter when Regina native Jon Ryan (who played in the CIS and CFL) took a fake field goal and threw a touchdown pass to rookie tackle Gary Gilliam. Then, when the Seahawks recovered an onside kick in the fourth quarter, it was former Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver Chris Matthews that came up with a recovery. Minutes after that, it was LaSalle, Ont., native Luke Willson who caught the improbable two-point conversion that gave Seattle a three-point lead in the final two minutes of the game. Somewhere in Seattle, they were singing “Oh Canada” on Sunday.
Colts not in New England’s league: Andrew Luck is 0-4 in his career against the New England Patriots and they have all been blowout losses. It would be easy to blame Luck for a tough game in Foxborough, but he’s just a symptom of a bigger problem. The Colts don’t have enough talent to be considered a legitimate contender. Beating Andy Dalton and a beaten up, declining Peyton Manning is one thing, but the Colts need an infusion of talent to jump to the next level. Take the last two players Indianapolis spent first-round picks on for example:Trent Richardson and Bjoern Werner were healthy scratches on Sunday. The Colts have missed on a lot of free agents and haven’t had great drafts the last two years. Luck is a superb quarterback but he needs more to work with. GM Ryan Grigson needs to step up this off-season.
New England has its best roster since Super Bowl years: At the same time, it’s hard to blame the Colts for being overmatched by the Patriots. Many of us were critical of Bill Belichick’s personnel decisions in the last couple of years, but he’s had a heck of stretch this past season. In free agency, New England signed cornerbacks Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner and receiver Brandon LaFell. All of them had an impact. Then, Belichick did even better work during the season — trading for Akeem Ayers and adding LeGarrette Blount after he was released by Pittsburgh — which gave New England much-needed depth down the stretch. With a power running game, a hard-nosed defence and a physical secondary, the Patriots have their best group since 2007 (their undefeated regular season) and a roster that is built to win in January. Seattle will have a tough time with Bill Belichick’s squad.
