Giving It Away Like The Lottery

Well, look at it this way. On defense, we didn't have KGB or Charles Woodson. Aaron Rodgers, the QB of the quickly-approaching future, didn't look bad at all. When you lose the three-time MVP early in the second quarter, there's only so much rallying you can reasonably expect to see, and let's face it, the Cowpiles didn't get to 10-1 for nothing.

So, yes, we're now effectively two games behind them in the race for homefield advantage, and can only realistically hope for that if we win out from here. But that's not a completely unrealistic hope -- this game was the summit and it's downhill for the rest of the regular season (Oakland, St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit are our remaining games). We're still only one win away from locking up the division, and two wins away from locking up a first-round bye in the playoffs. Yes, it would have been better had we won, and yes, an injured elbow on Brett Favre's throwing arm is a Katrina-like disaster. But it's not the end of the world, Packer Backers.

Favre has ten days to get better before the Raiders come to our frosty house to visit. And you know, they play the games on the field, not on paper -- there's no guarantee Dallas will win its divisional playoff game (likely against Tampa Bay).

Still, 147 penalty yards -- two of those penalties were pass interference calls within our own five-yard line, leading to two Dallas touchdowns, which exceeded the margin of victory. That's giving the game away.