For the first time this season, the Packers showed real toughness. I'm talking about the team reeling, nearly blowing a 20-point fourth quarter lead.
I like to see what a team is made of when the chips are down. With 5:50 left, the Packers clung to a 6 point lead. It was a one possession game. And the offensive line showed grit...helping Ryan Grant squirt free for one first down, and Brandon Jackson slip through the line to get so close to another first...Mike Singletary foolishly used his final timeout to challenge the spot.
The call was upheld, the 49ers lost their final timeout...and the Packers got the crucial first down needed to let the sand in the hour glass slip through and drain the clock.
I said the team would go on a 3 game winning streak over this stretch to go to 7-4. Which means toughness in winning 3 games in 12 days. Tough enough, and now they'll even have to show more tenacity by doing it without two of their toughest veterans, as Aaron Kampman and Al Harris are lost for the season with ACL tears in their left knee.
And now the Lions have shown grit. Sure, Detroit had to beat the woeful Browns on the final play on the game. But the top pick in this year's draft, Matthew Stafford became an overnight hero and legend in Lion land by seperating his shoulder on a stupid hit by the Browns, and after Eric "Man-moron" Mangini called timeout to allow Stafford to stay in the game (no timeout would have taken him out of the game due to the injury), Stafford showed true moxie by firing the game winning TD to give the Lions a 1-point win.
Sure, it's going to take a lot of toughness to finish out the season shorthanded. But isn't that what fans have looked for out of this team all year? If the season ended today, the Packers would be in the playoffs with a 6-4 record and the top tiebreaker, conference record would tilt in their favor at 5-3. Tough times don't last, tough people and teams do. And you shouldn't want it any other way, Packers fans.
Emails at lallan@todaystmj4.com
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