Last night was amazing for Packers fans across the nation! It has been 14 years since our last Super Bowl win, and it was great to return to the title game and take the trophy home again!
I have been a Packers fan for as long as I can remember. My grandfather has always been a Packers fan, and I picked it up from him when I was a kid. I still remember the Super Bowl win in 1997 and the close game in 1998, but it was nothing like last night. I am lot older now, more interested in football. I understand the game so much more than I did 14 years ago (because I was just a kid then). So this win was so special! Couple that with the fact that two guys from my hometown and high school play for the Packers, Chad Clifton and Justin Harrell, and it was the set up for a great moment!
The road to the Super Bowl was not easy this year. Although we were a pre-season favorite, and the team was confident that they could make it to Texas, injuries killed us in the opening weeks. We lost several of our key players in the first few weeks of the season, like Justin Harrell, and we all began to wonder if it would slip through our fingers yet again. We were 3-3 at the end of Week 6, and with losses within our division, we knew we would have to fight to stay alive. Knowing our backs were up against the wall, we came out with a streak of wins and helped lead to the firing of 2 coaches... oops!
But injuries were the story of the season, and after his second concussion, Aaron Rodgers was out for half of the Lions game and all of the Patriots game. Both resulted in a loss, but one key to this season is that we never lost by more than 4 points. In fact, we never trailed by more than 7 in any of the 20 games! At that point, we were in playoff mode. Although we were not in the playoffs yet, we had to win out, beating both the Giants and the Bears (the big rival)! And we did!
So the playoffs began, and we were at the bottom of our conference. We had to take the long road, and beat the 3 best teams in the NFC: Eagles, Falcons, and Bears, which we did. That set us up to play the toughest team from the AFC, the Steelers, placing the NFL's top 2 defenses in the biggest game of the season. That match-up led to an epic Super Bowl, and as expected, some of the games key moments were results of big defensive plays.
But the Packers could not have made it without #12 Aaron Rodgers! He put up numbers in the playoffs that were out of this world. He was calm, focused, and had his eyes on one prize. Nerves did not get to him. The hype of the game never bothered him. He went out last night, as he did throughout all of the playoffs, and played his game! He led the team to victory and earned his first Super Bowl... along with the "Championship Belt!"
Last night was epic, amazing, and one night Packers fans will never forget. Championship #13, Super Bowl #4, belongs once again to the Green Bay Packers, and the trophy is back home where it belongs! The 2010-2011 season is one that I will not soon forget. There were some amazing plays, amazing moments, and it all culminated in one last amazing game!
Matt
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