This may be the dumbest article I've ever read. I'm not trying to be a homer here, but this columnist from the Seattle Post-Intelliger seems to have no grasp on reality. I imagine he hasn't watched a single Packer game this year.
Hawks will break through mystique of Lambeau Field Saturday, January 12, 2008 Last updated 12:17 a.m. PT
By TED MILLER P-I COLUMNIST
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Snow fell on Green Bay on Thursday night, and Lambeau Field, the NFL's preeminent cathedral, donned a familiar white coat.
Yet, on Friday, that snow mostly melted, making much of the throng that showed up to help shovel the stands a superfluous, though charming, piece of local color.
The frozen tundra of Lambeau Field? Game-day weather will be mild, and, in any event, the playing surface is now a scientifically advanced grass turf supported by a synthetic component developed in the Netherlands (it would take me four paragraphs to explain it but, no, you can't smoke it).
And it's heated underneath.
Standing in front of the stadium under the statues of Vince Lombardi and Curly Lambeau, then wandering through the majestic venue that produced so many John Facenda moments, evokes a magical history that is the cornerstone of the league that most obsesses U.S. sports fans.
And if you want to buy a Ray Nitschke throw-back No. 66 jersey, it costs $285, which means it would be pricey even if it were hanging up at Mario's and sewn by Brioni.
Folks couldn't be nicer here, and their publicly owned franchise is quaint and inspiringly successful. But the real world doesn't completely fade away driving up Highway 41.
History and atmospherics won't matter Saturday because the reality is the 2007 Packers aren't anything special, despite a 13-3 record.
The Seahawks will beat Green Bay and advance to the NFC Championship Game because they're a better team. Their players are better. Their coaches are better.
They aren't playing Bart Starr or Jim Taylor or Reggie White. They're playing one of the NFL's youngest teams. Half of the Packers starting lineup hasn't appeared in a playoff game and their entire roster owns only 94 games of postseason experience, compared with 240 for the Seahawks, whose lone starting neophyte is rookie defensive tackle Brandon Mebane.
That means the bye week won't help the Packers; it will hurt them. Some guys will come out tight; others will be too emotional. Early, critical mistakes will set the tone.
What about Brett Favre? Who's more savvy and experienced than a future Hall of Fame quarterback who's started 253 consecutive games?
Ah, but there's a catch. There's Favre in the regular season and there's Favre in the postseason, and the latter is a better guy to face.
Since being upset by Denver in Super Bowl XXXII a decade ago, the Packers are 2-5 in the playoffs with Favre leading the way. In those games, Favre has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns -- 16 and 11 -- and earned a tepid passer rating of 70.8.
Those two victories were wild-card wins over San Francisco and, yes, the Seahawks in 2003. And, yes, Favre played well that day, passing for 319 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, outdueling his pressing former understudy, Matt Hasselbeck.
But Favre is only 3-2 against the Seahawks since Mike Holmgren left Green Bay for Seattle, throwing eight interceptions with six touchdowns.
As the Packers' unquestioned leader, Favre will be under incredible pressure to manage his teammates' emotions as well as the game. The last time the screws tangibly tightened -- the Packers' marquee visit to Dallas on Nov. 29 -- Favre went 5-for-14 with two interceptions before leaving the 37-27 defeat with shoulder and elbow injuries.
That game was on the road, you say. Well, the Packers haven't exactly been dominant in home playoff games of late. Other than the overtime win over the Seahawks, they've been blown out in their other two home playoff games since 2002. The Falcons beat them 27-7 six years ago, and the hated Vikings bested them 31-17 in 2004.
Favre threw six interceptions with two touchdowns in those games.
Perhaps the Packers don't have to worry about a lackluster home-field advantage because the Seahawks aren't worth a poo away from the friendly frenzy of the beery hoards at Qwest Field.
The Seahawks have won just a single playoff road game in team history (1983) and are 7-10 on the road over the past two seasons.
Yeah, but see, --the Seahawks want the ball and they're going to score.
The first incarnation of that phrase, of course, slipped out of Hasselbeck's mouth during the coin toss before the ill-fated overtime period in 2004. The second came when Hasselbeck made light of his past brashness just after the Seahawks beat Washington last weekend.
Hasselbeck is a different guy four years later, and so is his supporting cast. Back then, he was just finding out what it took to be an NFL starter. Now, he's an established Pro Bowl quarterback with an outstanding defense watching his back.
The Seahawks no longer see themselves as a league upstart merely trying to prove they belong. Which is why Vegas making them an eight-point underdog seemed to have some legs as a motivational device this week.
"We are clearly the underdog in this game," Holmgren said. "By a lot. No one gives us much of a chance to win this game."
How beautiful is that woe-is-us, media manipulation? Please, someone frame that.
The upset is coming.
Lambeau Field is one of this nation's great sports venues. A first approach produces goose bumps.
But the team it houses won't send the dedicated folks in green and gold home happy Saturday.
