Wow, is really all I can say. This has been quite the ride. One more victory from football immortality.  Lets jump into the match up!

Steelers and Packers for all the marbles at JerryWorld in Dallas, TX. 

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For the first time since 1941 the Packers and Bears will meet in the NFL playoffs.  Only four times have the two teams been in the playoffs the same year and on Sunday they will meet with a trip to Dallas and Super Bowl XLV on the line.

When the Packers have the ball: The Bears have done a very nice job the last two meetings slowing down the Packer offense.  Green Bay scored just 27 points in the regular season meetings (the Packers had 28 second quarter points vs. Atlanta). Aaron Rodgers lit up the Falcons with 3 passing touchdowns and he ran for another, but he hasn't been able to get on track against the Bears this season. The Bears lead by Julius Peppers get after the quarterback all day.  If Chicago can get after Rodgers and bring him down the Packers will be in trouble. Green Bay has little to no running game.  James Starks had a great day against Philly, but hasn't proved he can be consistent, especially against a tough Bears team.

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With all this talk on my last post about people liking other teams, I thought I should start a new thread and give my two cents.

There are only three respectable reasons for calling a team "Your Favorite"

1. You grew up in the region.

2. You have a family member that is older than you who brainwashed you as a small, impressionable child.

3. A random team that you begun liking for no apart reason (when they weren't good) and you followed them religiously for at least 10 years.

*Yankees/Lakers/Celtics do not fit with the criteria from #3 even it was during a down time in the teams history due to the amount of titles.

Also, you are not allowed to have two "favorite" teams in one sport!

While I will admit that I am "halvsy" when it comes to Minnesota and Wisconsin sports. I grew up in Minnesota with a father who was a big Packer fan. I bounced around teams for a while in the late 90s, even ashamed to say I wore a Terrell Davis jersey during Super Bowl XXXII, before my dad took me Lambeau for the first time when I was 12 in 2000.  Got to see the Packers beat Peyton Manning and the Colts, asked a question on the Mike Sherman Show, and have been bleeding Green & Gold since.

I am also a Twins, Wolves and Wild fan and that has to do mostly with the fact that those were the teams I could watch locally on a nightly basis. I am a Badger though fan because for some reason you can watch more college events out of area than professional. The Badgers were always on at my house. I don't know if I ever even realized how big of a Brewer fan my dad was until we got the MLB Extra Innings package.  My friends give me so much crap about being a halvsy, but it really doesn't bother me.

I definitely realized after the Rose Bowl loss took me about an hour worth of Andy Dalton jokes to get over that my favorite team by far is the Packers.

Lets hear some of your  stories and I am just dying to hear how these Yankee fans justify that crap!! No one should ever be a Yankee fan, I am sorry it just shouldn't happen. How is it even fun??

My true Packer fandom began in 2000 with my first trip to Lambeau Field, before that I was young and bounced around between that years hottest team.  But since then I have experience heartbreak after heartbreak in the playoffs. 

I want to know what game sticks in your mind the most over the last few years.  The top two nominees to me are the 2004 Divisional Playoffs in Philly and the 2008 NFC Championship.

The 2008 NFC Championship for me was by far easier to get over. I dont think the Packers would have stood a chance against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.  Once I saw the way the Giants pass rush went after Brady I knew we would not have fared well.  Especially the way Burress and Manning torched our more than suspect pass defense in the title game.

I dont know if I have still fully gotten over the 2004 Divisional Playoffs.  We had that game! I have no doubt we would have gone into Carolina and won. Then Super Bowl XXXVIII would have been a toss up.  I understand that in the NFL it is hard to say for sure we would have won, but there wasn't anyone who doubted we were destined for Houston.

If the Packers can go into Philly and win it will help ease the pain of that unfortunate loss.

Lets hope the Packers can get on a role and we can go to Dallas to spoil Jerry Jones' party!

OT Chad Clifton, LB Clay Mathews, CB Charles Woodson and S Nick Collins were the four Packers named to the Pro Bowl. 

I thought I would get a post started for the three guys that I think got snubbed. QB Aaron Rodgers, CB Tramon Williams, DT B.J. Raji. All three of those guys had fantastic years and deserve to be in the Pro Bowl.

Williams deserves to be there over Charles "Another Dropped INT" Woodson.

Raji should be there over Aaron Smith and Jay Ratliff.  Mostly because they play for such a crappy teams. Raji was a main stay on a defense that had a depth chart that looked like swiss cheese.

Only reason Brees is in over Rodgers is because his team is 11-4 and he won Super Bowl XLIV.  Rodgers has kept this team together through tons of injuries and has just one INT since week 7 and that one was all on Jennings. I understand that he missed a game, but 27 TDs and 9 INTs are pretty impressive.

Hopefully this wont even matter cause the Packers will be preparing for Super Bowl XLV in Dallas that week anyway!!

So I have known for a while that Twins were planning on taking two catchers to the postseason, for some reason (not doing my best Ron Gardenhire impression) i assumed the second catcher would be Morales. Cause lets be honest WHAT IS BUTERA GOING TO DO HANDLE THE YANKEE PITCHING STAFF TO DEATH?!?!

Morales hit .311 in 119 at bats in 2009. Yes, Morales did look overmatched in 163 and the Post season last year but are you really expecting Butera to come in and pinch hit in late game situations at Yankee Stadium with the game on the line.

And has anyone else realize the only nice thing Dick and Bert ever have to say about Butera is how well he handles a pitching staff?? Come on, man!!

How in the world does Ted Thompson pass on an opportunity to get Marshawn Lynch!? Seattle didnt give up hardly anything to get him!!

I know TT hates making trades and signing Free agents for some reason... but at what point is he going to realize, ITS TIME TO WIN NOW!!

We will not win the Super Bowl with John Kuhn getting the majority of the carriers. While I dont necessarily believe that Lynch would have been the answer for this team, he was really our only option at this point.  A guy that has had success in this league and could have easily run for the 1,200 yards we lost in Ryan Grant.

Right now, teams dont need to worry about a threat from the running game so they can stack their defense to stop #12 and the talented Pack WRs.  All we need is a guy who can occasionally run for a 100 yards and a score, just to make opposing defenses worry about the run.

TT needs to starting making some moves to improve this team for the now! Not for 3 or 4 years from now... We have the talent to win the Super Bowl we just need a few different faces here and there. Come on, TED!!

Option 1:

C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson

Spiller is a dynamic back who can do a multitude of things. He can run between the tackles, catch the ball out of the backfield and return kicks.  Adding him to our backfield might be the missing link to an offense with NFC title aspirations.  If Spiller is still around at No. 23 the Packers would have to take him. Spiller and Grant would compliment each other very well.  He may need to work on pass protection, but I believe that will come in time.

Option 2:

Taylor Mays, SS, USC

Mays is a freak of an athlete who would have been a top-5 pick if he would have left school early.  He struggles in coverage, but so does Atari Bigby! The upgrade over Bigby would be enormous.  Having Mays and Collins patrolling the secondary for the next 10 years could be something special.  Mays has the potential to turn into a defensive game changer against the run and roaming the middle of the field (a Polamalu or Sanders type). Rumor has it he is struggling at the Senior Bowl, but you can't challenge his natural ability. 

Option 3:

Bryan Bulaga, OT, Iowa

The offensive line is by far the Packers greatest need.  The two above options would be luxury items.  Bulaga is a big  tackle who is hard working.  He missed three games in 2009, but not due to injury, he was extremely ill.  He might not be as strong as some tackles, but still has room to improve that area.  If the Packers bring back Clifton or Tauscher back he wouldn't be pressed into immediate duty, being he is only a junior.

This is just my opinion, get the debate started!!

The OT interception at Philly wasn't the biggest "stomach punch" by Brett Fave in Green Bay.  The game however, is the biggest stomach punch of my life as a Packer fan.  Everything seemed to be going our way. (Nate Poole vs. Minnesota, Favre vs. Oakland). We were a miracle fourth down conversation from a date with the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship game.

There were three plays that could have changed that game.  Nick Barnett being in the right coverage on Fourth and 26. (I saw a story about how Barnett should have been deeper on the play, essentially taking away McNabb's lane to Freddie Mitchell). Mike McKenzie knocks down the ball rather than going for the interception on Philly's game-tying touchdown. And of course last but not least, Favre's throwing that dreadful interception.

I have no doubt we would have won the NFC Championship.  And our chances against the Patriots would have been much better than three years later in 2007.  Our defensive line could not have handled Brady they way the Giants did.  Manning and Burress torched us, what would Brady and Moss have done?

Even though having lost to the Eagles gave way to the (in my mind) greatest Super Bowl in my lifetime, it still stings far worse than the loss to NYG.