Four games left in the regular season and the Packers are already mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Oh, it was so crushing to see the Packers lose to the Bears 19-7, especially when our defense held the Bears out of the end zone and the Pack was beating the point-spread… until Brett threw that interception returned for a TD with 3 minutes to go. That cost me a bottle of wine in a bet with my Bears fan co-worker. It’s also weird that with a 2-10 record, we’ve only scored three points less all year than our opponents (a 52-3 win will do that for you).
Now all I have left to cheer for is the Packers beating out the Lions to not be the worst team in the North. We play them this weekend, then the Ravens, which may be the only two games we can possibly win this year, since the other two are the Bears and the Seahawks. Of course, both those teams may take it easy and rest their starters, so who knows? The Lions have yet to play Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and those teams are likely to be playing hard for playoff position.
The real question is: will Brett retire after this year? Part of me thinks if he doesn’t, he should. He’s leading the league in interceptions (21) which have been the death knell of the Pack in at least three games this year. On the other hand, he’s fifth in TD passes (19), but combine that with a 75.9 QB rating (about the middle of the pack, and below Houston’s David Carr!) and if it were anyone but a three-time NFL MVP / first-ballot hall-of-famer / NFL record consecutive games started by a QB player, he’d be riding the pine by now. Maybe Brett’s hand-eye coordination is still reacting to the speed of defenses in the 90s, defenses that are much faster now.
But can a competitor like Favre ride into the sunset on a 4-12 season (I’m dreaming of two more wins, please), his only losing season in Green and Gold? Will he need to answer the bell just one more time, to try to right the ship and get the Pack back to at least respectability? He already holds the #2 position to Dan Marino in passing yards, attempts, completions, and TD passes. He could surpass Marino in those last two categories if he played one more decent year.
What I need most from Favre, though, is 13 more wins as a starting QB. Then he will surpass his nemesis, former Denver QB Bucky Horseface, to clinch the all-time record for wins by an NFL QB. (Great joke I heard from a fellow Elway hater: “John Elway was so revered by the Denver Broncos that after he retired, they put his face on the helmets.”). If we pull out the two more wins this year, that means I need an 11-5 season next year (only one of the greatest single season turnarounds in NFL history… but the Chargers did it a few years back…) Brett will move into third all-time for consecutive games played, break Elway’s record, and lead the Pack into victorious home playoff games at Lambeau.
As it should be.
