Oh-Fer

Packers 29 - Panthers 32

Thought the Monday night stage might spark a fire under the Pack. If it did, it didn't reach most of the players until the fourth quarter, when we played catch-up. Carolina had scored first, and we did answer in the first quarter, but then they piled up 19 unanswered points. Two more turnovers didn't hurt. And even after we started rallying, allowing a 60 yard punt return didn't help. "Tackling" an opponent by escorting him for 30 yards is also not quite as effective as, say, stopping his forward progress.

The last quarter of this game felt better than the first three, much like the third game felt better than the first two. In the end, though, none of them have been victories. Last year, we started at 1-4, so it's not like we don't know what four losses in a row feels like, but this really is a different team than we had a year ago. Nobody's predicting much greatness for us, either. Last year, it seemed like people were still in our corner. This year, we're on the outside looking in.

I think we'll be 1-4 for the second year in a row after Sunday's game. We'll see if we can string together some wins here. If we can't improve and get healthy (both physically and mentally), though, I don't know how we'll get much more than five wins out of the season. As so many have pointed out already, of course, in the NFC North this year, even that may get us our fourth consecutive Division Championship!

Oh, and rookie Terrence Murphy got a bruised spine in that how-were-there-no-flags-on-that-play hit. He's out for the season. Add him to the long list of injuries after Monday's game, and 1-4 still won't be easy.