Tale of Two Halves

Packers 20 - Vikings 23

I wish the second half could have just been a carbon copy of the first half. Or that Edinger had missed that 56-yarder at the end so that we could've had the third half to dominate. Alas, wishes are not granted for Packers fans this year.

The first quarter was scoreless but not uneventful; we sacked Culpepper thrice. It was awesome. The 10th-ranked defense in the NFL looked like they deserved their standing. Lots of runs, so the quarter ended fast.

We continued our third possession in the second quarter, and that possession ended with a perfect 22-yard toss and beautiful one-handed catch, from Favre to Driver. Then the 'queens continued their error-filled play with a fumble on fourth-and-one/turnover on downs. We turned around and scored again. Even when it looked like Minnesota was going to do something -- they returned our kickoff for 72 yards -- we denied them -- KGB recovered a fumble we forced on their first play after that. That turned into three more and we ended the half up 17-0. Brett completed his first 13 passes in a row and must have had a perfect QB rating by halftime.

The only pieces of bad news in the half were that 1) Longwell missed a 53-yarder, and 2) Fergie went out when he hyperextended his knee after a 44-yard catch.

Then we came out for the second half and went three-and-out, missed a 42-yarder, and went three-and-out again. Meanwhile, we let the 'queens score on all of their possessions. In the end, we lost when their kicker, who just sucked in their last game against the Bears, kicked a field goal that was three yards longer than Longwell's longest miss (and 14 yards longer than his shortest one).

Fourth regular-season game in a row against the Vikes that was decided by a field goal. Unfortunately, this time it was their field goal.

So, how is it that a team can have the 10th-ranked defense and Brett Favre leading its offense, and start the season 1-5?! We've now lost four of those by three points or less, so we're close, but close doesn't give you a W.

Too bad, dammit. Saying "we're one of the better sucky teams out there this year" isn't much consolation.