Courtney Cassel
As a die-hard Bears fan, the Packers are my sworn enemies.
But I have to say after watching the OT in Sunday’s NFC Conference Championship, I did feel the tiniest pang of sympathy for Green Bay.
Seahawks as NFC Conference Champions
The Packers were so close to becoming NFC Conference Champions and go to Super Bowl XLIX they could taste it.
Especially after keeping Seattle’s offense at bay for the first 3 quarters of the game and fighting tooth and nail for every yard against the Hawks top ranked defense.
But who knew at halftime with a 16-0 point lead that the Seahawks were about to do something never seen before in the NFL.
With just 3:52 left on the clock and down by 12, Seattle managed to tie things up with the Packers, win the coin toss, and score the TD in overtime to set an NFL record comeback for conference championships.
Josh Sitton, who we’ll see playing OG in the Pro Bowl on Sunday, couldn’t believe it all ended for his team at CenturyLink:
“Anytime you feel like you should have won, it’s tough to get over. And when it’s the last one, it’s very difficult to get over. You feel like it’s a waste of seven, eight months. What’s the point of getting this far? I’d have rather not even made the playoffs.”
And it’s not only Packers players and fans who don’t quite agree with the way things worked out in the #GBvsSEA contest.
Here’s why:
- Green Bay Outplayed Seattle
The Packers have been improving on all fronts this season. Despite being the underdog, they managed to hold the lead for the majority of the game – and that’s with a limping Aaron Rodgers. The fact is that Seattle was supposed to have the advantage on Sunday with their top tanked defense outweighing GB’s offensive strength – but it didn’t look that way to me. - Rodgers Outperformed Wilson
All the talk of Rodgers’ torn left calf turned out to be true, but it didn’t stop him from pushing his team to tie up the game in the last few minutes. Wilson on the other hand had one of his worst performances of the season. He threw 4 picks, making him one of the first NFL QB’s to be picked that many times in a championship game and still win.
Russell Wilson’s 1st completion came with 3:58 left in the 2nd quarter, the longest completion drought to open a game in his career
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 18, 2015
- The Overtime Rules are Stupid
5 years ago, after the Saints vs. Vikings NFC debacle, the NFL changed the Overtime rules so that a first-drive field goal is insufficient to win the game – but a Touchdown still counts. Obviously keeping things fair is a tall order with so many agendas at play, but let’s at least give the players a fighting chance to win based on skill. If the NFL took a leaf out of the CFL’s book and mimicked their rules, then maybe the NFC Conference Champion wouldn’t be determined by a first-possession dictated by a coin.
Now I’m a realist, so I know the better team can’t always win. But why not change what we can to take luck out of the equation?
That way next time the Seahawks win the NFC Championship (as they seem to be doing every year now) there won’t be any question of whether or not they deserve it.
