"Even when things started to turn around, I did not believe they could beat the Chiefs or make the playoffs or beat the Cowboys in their building."

I would add to that list beating Detroit in their building as well.

Re: Super Bowl commercials. The last few years, the commercials have just not been that great to me. Maybe it is my age but there were some commercials where I had to ask myself 'what was this commercial advertising for?"

The first half was somewhat ho-hum but the second half was a pretty exciting game. Also, I just couldn't stop thinking that the packers had a real shot at playing and winning this year's Super Bowl.

RE: next year? It is easy to get caught up in the 'we should be better next year as we are a year older and if we can just have another draft class like this last one' thinking! I think we could be better for all the reasons but to go further in the playoffs? Who knows, I will be satisfied with seeing improvement in all phases of the game, and let the playoff/super bowl chips fall where they may!

Al I would have rather seen the Niners win but I do not like them either. At least they are not gaining popularity and selling merchandise with people that are in love with a meaningless singer. I did not watch the commercials because they have been on the decline for years. I did not watch the half time show because Usher does not interest me. I was forced to watch Swift cheer and get excited when the Chiefs did something good. I do not care that she is happy or what she is eating or drinking. Why does the NFL show her so much but they do not show the common family members of the players? Oh silly me it all about the money.

Sorry for all those Swiftees out there that might read this comment but this is just annoying. Seeing her is worse than seeing bad calls from the officials.

The Super Bowl loss was very difficult to take. The thing was, everybody in my Packer Fan friend circle was absolutely sure Brett was going to take s to the winning TD. When that last 4th down pass fell incomplete it was met with utter shock and silence. Hard to take for sure but we all believed we'd be back in the SB for our revenge very soon.
The loss to the Seahawks was a different matter. It was a slow build of mounting dread. Even with the McCarthy decisions to kick field goals the feeling niggled at the back of my mind that we might regret not being more aggressive. I watched in disbelief and anguish as one horrible thing after another went wrong, and we knew it was wrong!! Sorry but I'll never get over that game. There was no 'feeling' that we'd be back 'next year'. It was the culmination of a number of years of playoff losses that we were favored to win. Still havn't been able to watch highlights. That game represents a 'blank' whole in my brain...

The way the game started, I decided to sit out by the firepit in the back yard with the dog and my woman and listened to it on the radio till after half time. Watched about the last 1/4 and OT. Had to keep track of the score for the pool I was in.

I think I was able to cast a vote, but I'm not sure. It kept bouncing me around. Doesn't make any difference Al. It's like choosing between getting your foot or your hand amputated. Both choices suck and always will. The bright side is that those loses may not be a permanent handicap.

Am I right if we meet the 49ers again next year because they lost in SB they would come to Lambeau next year. Don't know why I thought that but why I was puling the Chiefs to win plus the Reid tie to GB years ago. Halftime at SB has become a total joke and waste of time and agree commercials have lost their appeal.

I couldn’t name a Taylor Swift song if my life depended on it but I just can’t get as stirred up about it as some people around here. Anyway , I would much rather see shots of good looking women jumping around than some beer belly with his shirt off wearing a stupid hat and slopping his beer on the people in front of him. Call me crazy…..

The Super Bowl is such an odd way for the NFL season to end: a football game that is staged for non-football fans. It's worse for me, because after being able to mute the commercials all season, I actually have to listen to them. What a horror. I hate all commercials. The whole broadcast this year seemed weird and gloomy, with all of the disaster movie commercials, the weird Jesus commercials, the Kennedy commercial, etc. And the halftime show as usual reminded me of how out of touch I am with modern pop music.

I enjoyed the first half because I find it refreshing to watch some good defense every once in awhile. I didn't want either team to win but found myself pulling hard for the 49ers just because they haven't won one in awhile. I don't think there's anything wrong with Shanahan. The Chiefs are hard to beat in the playoffs. It's like going up against Novak Djokovich, although at least the Chiefs are not as unlikable as that guy.

And yes, the playoff loss in Seattle was worse than the Super Bowl loss because of the way it went down. There is still a scuff mark in our basement ceiling from when I jumped up from the couch and raised my hands over my head when the Packers "won" the game with that late interception. Hearing that Julius Peppers is being inducted into the Hall of Fame reminded me of that game. He's the one who told the guy who intercepted the pass to fall to the ground instead of returning it. Playing to lose.

FYI, No poll is showing below the article. As for the ‘Niners not knowing the rules, the captains certainly should have. Shanahan is engaging in spin, but I think his point going against a gassed D on the other side is at the very least a factor. In other news, Can’t believe I’m looking forward to the Underwear Olympics.

"Rashan Gary - I'm excited to see him playing from a three point stance"
I hope the three point stance materializes. Another player, who even more than Gary that will benefit is LVN. He is built for playing this way. Adding leverage to his quickness and power, he will be a completely different beast to deal with.

Losing a Championship, IMO, hurts a lot more than losing the Seattle game. Especially when Favre overthrows Freeman by a mile on what could have been a GBP TD. Did Favre want Elway to get a ring? Before you scoff, remember that Favre handed the sack record to Strahan, in the Giants game, when we played them. The talk on the Super Bowl loss to Denver, around here, was that Favre overthrew Freeman, on purpose. Sad, but there it is.

"...maybe because the Packers did with the Super Bowl in teh 1996 season."

Pruf reeding is not a skyll for mee ether, Jirsee Al:-))

The Seattle loss was brutal and worse than the Broncos loss. All the Packers needed to do is make one play out of nine or so miscues. Comedy of errors that almost seemed choreographed between the Packers O, D and STs.

Losing the Super Bowl was worse for me than the loss to Seattle in 2014. Yes, the loss to Seattle was a horrible way to lose the game, any game.

But losing in the Super Bowl hurts more at least for me. When the Packers get to an SB they need to win. We never know when they are going to reach that level again given the number of variables that are part of making it that far in a season with injuries, poor officiating, a missed FG or PAT along the way, coaching decisions, etc.

Since SB2 the Packers have reach the SB just 3 times in the last 56 seasons and have won 2 of the games. That's including 30 years of HOF QB play from Favre and Rodgers. It's not easy to reach the SB and the chances don't come along very often for any team. KC is the first team to repeat as SB champs in 20 years.

Playing in the SB means if not now, then when? Just ask the 49ers and their fans. Al, nice job as always. Thanks, Since '61

...I spent most of this past season underestimating this Packers team. I spent too much time doubting their ability to win games...

This was true for much of my 2023 season as well. The early stretch where the boys were making so many mistakes had me wondering if the coaching staff was up to the task. The Lions Thanksgiving game, Minnesota away, Cowboys and San Fran game were absolute highlights. It was a blend of my lowered expectations and the surprise of taking down the favorites that made the season ending so uplifting.

As for the Super Bowl - it was too much makeup (on the pig). The game was very much trench warfare and I thought that the 49ers were winning that battle. More McCaffery should have sealed the deal. Mahommes showed why he is the king and heir apparent to Brady.

Shanahan's rose -
I do question how good of a HC he is. He has had some of the best players in the league, and some of the best defenses. His offense is supposed to be a juggernaut that is unstoppable regardless of who is playing. Yet, they have not won the super bowl, and then you hear players talking about not knowing the rules. The decision to receive the ball in OT, is what ultimately cost them. It gave the Chiefs the advantage.

Past season -
The biggest thing this year was we just didn't know what to expect. We expected a lot of rough moments on offense due to the youth. There was so much newness on offense, and defense we were hoping they would carry us, but Barry and his soft coverages late in games blew 6 4th quarter leads, and almost blew the Saints game as well. We definitely didn't expect them to beat the Chiefs. And we didn't expect them to beat down the Lions and the Cowboys like they did.
This was an odd year overall. But ended great setting us up for next year nicely.

Rashan Gary -
I think Gary is more explosive in a 3 point stance. Just like LVN. I think they are gonna thrive with Hafley. Now whether they stand up or are down often, we will see. But I believe they will be in the 3 point more often.

Christian Watson -
Watching Watson against the Cowboys you got to see who the number 1 WR was. It was Watson. The amount of attention he drew showed who they feared. He really needs to figure out his hamstring issues though. It will be interesting to see if the strength and conditioning staff changes will make a big difference.

It probably is because it's the fresher of the nightmares, but the loss in Seattle still stings. Any onside kick evokes the memory for me a brings a bit of nausea along for the ride. The Super Bowl loss left me in disbelief and with the disappointment that we were no longer perfect in the big game forever.

I thought the Dunkin' commercial was funny; playing off last year's spot that had Ben at the Drive-thru window.

I don't think it's at all obvious whether or not to receive the ball with those OT rules. You could look at it like the college OT, where you want to get the ball second so you know exactly what your offense needs to do, but there is also a fatigue factor. The Niners defense had been on the field for awhile before OT, and it would've been hard for them to go right back out there for another potentially long drive. Then the Niners offense would take the ball against a very well-rested KC defense. College OT possessions are short, and fatigue is less of a factor.

We tuned in to the Super Bowl pre-game and I would have thought our football players had won the Nobel Peace prize or were on their way to conquer a marauding, threatening invader. So over-the-top and egocentric. It was more Hollywood than the Oscars.

Re: Taylor Swift. This ongoing, overwrought display is a PR relationship which is clumsily attempting to steer a narrative about both parties. Let me guess... It will be 'over' in several weeks as their successful careers will 'undermine their best intentions to live happily ever after'

I unfavorably compare every half-time show to Prince and turn it off. Will Hip Hop ever go away?

I could only tolerate about 35% of the entire ordeal.

For me it'll always be the 2014 game -and the '97 game hurt bigtime, too. My wife and I had finally saved up enough for a "Real" vacation to the Diamond resort in Cozamel, Mexico. When I'd called to enquire if I'd be able to see the Super bowl game the answer was "probably not". It turned out we did get the game there but I'd asked various people to tape the game for me and getting all those tapes afterward just reinforced the loss to me. But the 2014 loss was more visceral to me as we were outplaying Seattle big time. Wilson's QB rating at half-time was 0.0. Zero point zero and he ends up with the MVP for the game! The 2014 game hurt more because we "Knew" that the Packers would win the Superbowl if they were in it. Sigh. Still hurts.

Watson was sidelined by a hamstring in the college post season in 2021 (from memory). It could well be that the tissue healed imperfectly, causing subsequent proclivity for further issues. Hopefully the medical professionals can figure that out now he’s getting specialist attention.

How come nobody told me it was grumpy old man day? 😡

It's not a popular opinion but to me the Super Bowl is a farce. The NFL, media and sponsors have made the championship of professional football into the modern version of Ringling Bros.

It's a game between the Chiefs and 49'ers. It's football, just like the four months it was played prior. It was a good game as Stupid Bowls go.

I've often thought about how real football fans could make the product better. Here's my take:

1) Start the season 30 days sooner so the Super Bowl would run in mid-January and not in mid-February. It's done in February so TV can rake in bazillions. It's also sweeps month so CBS programming will look good. Does the broadcast have anything to do with the game? No but the cart is pulling the horse.

2) Fans could object to the price of tickets. I haven't seen a game in Lambeau since 1992. Too expensive. I almost had a coronary when I saw the price of this year's Stupid Bowl tickets.

3) Cut back on the number of games to 16 and leave it there. The symmetry is nice with 32 teams. It also helps the players who seem to get really beat up. The NBA has a problem with it's stars resting during key games. In the NFL the stars are too often hurt, especially late in the year.

4) With 32 teams don't have AFC-NFC inter-conference games. Teams in each conference would only play each other during the season.(Update: you would need to have one inter-conference game to make 16, or go to 15 games and one more playoff, etc.) The conferences would play each other would be in the Super Bowl, hence a real championship game. The rivalries within each conference would also be amped up. This is why the first two 'Super Bowls' were so good. Neither team had seen each other during the year.

5)Don't force fans to buy subscriptions to see NFL games. Between college and pro games I had to buy a bunch of subscriptions I didn't want. The NFL was built on 'free' TV, something the greedy gizzards in New York have forgotten.

Yes, all unattainable mind farts on my part, as none of this will ever happen. It just makes me sad to see the game so focused on money and leaving many behind.

SuperBowl losses sting, but every playoff game is a one-and-off winner-take-all matchup. I think the SB loss hurt less because there was a dull malaise that spread over that team as the season wore on--the Holmgren drama, who's coming back, etc. With the cloud hanging over that team, there was a feeling of forboding that made that one-and-off failure less of an issue than the brutal failings at the end of the Seattle game. That Packers team was playing in a way that got hopes up, and they were dashed like having your fingernails ripped out one by one.

I watched the whole SB game and enjoyed most of it. The commercials were junk this year. Didn't care about Taylor Swift. I thought the first half, while low-scoring, was physical and entertaining. KC's defense bailed them out until they got their offense on track. SF struggled to make the chunk plays their offense thrives on.

You don't send someone out to the coin flip who doesn't know what YOU--as the head coach--want them to do if they win the toss. You reap what you sow. Shanahan's one of the best game coaches in the league, but these SB failures will taint his legacy, yes. He's going to win one (or more), yet.

Packers--I don't think Runyan is worth the second contract. I think if he tests the market and doesn't get much action, that might bring him back on more team-friendly terms to be the backup All points toward, but we know what he is, which is an average-ish NFL IOL. Look for the next guy with a higher ceiling.

Watson's inability to stay on the field is exactly why I wouldn't be afraid to nab a WR they like in rounds 2-5 if one presents himself at the top of their board. In a league where teams win by scoring points, I'd rather have the embarrassment of riches supporting the young QB.

Reserving judgment on the 3-4/4-3 switch...these days, those base looks don't count for a whole lot, but it shapes how you orient your depth pieces. I think this transition will be a quick one--the DL the Packers have are a bunch of 3Ts and Slaton. They should have a regular rotation that works pretty quickly...still wish they'd find that stud 3-down DT to complement Clark. It takes some of the pressure off an LB group that's been underwhelming for a long time, but puts it squarely on a DL group that hasn't been awe-inspiring, either. The question of the off-season for me is how they handle that strong-side off-ball LB position--that's an important dude for 2024.

I thought the Walken commercial was easily the funniest but I had been watching a couple of episodes of the Kevin Pollak Chat Show on YouTube with Pollak doing Walken and also Titus Welliver talking about meeting him. So maybe I was primed to enjoy that one.

I actually enjoyed the entire Super Bowl. It thought the defensive performances in the first half were indicative of what you'd expect in championship play. The second half featured teams showing that they know how to win games. What's wrong with that.

I certainly didn't think the Packers were going to win some of the games against good teams that they won either. But, I always think that during the regular season any team can win on any given week. My expectations throughout the season were that any victory was a plus for a developing team like the Packers. And they over-achieved! The real champions show up during the playoffs. The real champions know how to win games when they count. And that's what happened this year. Both Super Bowl contenders won conference championships by finishing like champs. The Niners took care of business against the Packers when it mattered most. At the end of the game!

The reason why the Seahawks loss hurt so much was because the Packers didn't know how to finish them off. I remember watching Al Harris and a few other players joking around on the sidelines with just over 5 minutes left in the game and I thought to myself, "these guys are going to blow it." And they did! That pissed me off more than anything!

3rd and 5, two minutes left, game on the line, Spagnola comes out with a 2 down linemen front and seven defensive backs. Poor Jersey Al in his neanderthal robe would have been apoplectic had Barry done it. Just noting, it's the players who win games.

SF had an inferior quarterback. KC did not.

I thought it was a very enjoyable Super Bowl because both defenses were mostly outstanding, particularly in the first half. I also loved a couple of the violent one-arm tackles, one of them occurring on special teams. To me, THIS is football, much more so than an offensive showcase with little resistance on defense.

Speaking of Year 3, I'm also looking at Quay Walker--I think some new and better coaching could turn him into a star, maybe even quickly.

As far as Taylor Swift goes, she was shown for less than a min total...54 seconds and you crabby old curmudgeons cant handle that?? Good grief...not her fault she goes to the game that her boyfriend plays in....tell ya what, the NFL loves it...and no, I dont know or havent listened to a single song by her, .....now if you ask my daughters!!!

2014 NFCCG for me. I attended that game with CHTV's own Corey Behnke and by golly, we had front row seats for that debacle. Still ticked.

GPG

I don't think the bloom is off Shanahan. In the past 10+ years every SB has been won by a team with an elite QB, Flacco and Foles being the exceptions. He may finally have one now but it is too early to say. So for now I think he has done a great job with the talent he has (and they do have talent!).

Al, the good news is that we aren't postulating how the Packers COULD rebuild (after a hypothetical disastrous season where Love tanks, the rookies wilt, the o-line become turnstiles and the D resemble the keystone cops).

All of your points raised today are blissful whimsy..... "first world problems", if you may ...... and today, that's OK with me!

I dislike the 49ers as our nemesis of late in a lopsided rivalry to their advantage against the Packers, but do admire Shanahan for leading his team to almost a draw with the Chiefs -- who are to be congratulated for seizing the victory by a slight edge.
I think we're a society that is too much into the blame game, rather than the Teddy Roosevelt approach of acclaiming both sides of valiant combatants in the arena.
***
I grew up in the 1970s as largely a child of television and a willing consumer of commercials. I remember fondly the Pepsi puppy commercial with the catchy jingle written in part by Barry Manilow, and the Mean Joe Greene Coke commercial with the awed little boy saying in his East Coast accent, "Really, you can have it."
To some extent, I'm still into television to a perhaps excessive degree, but much less so the manipulative commercials. I mostly tuned them out during the Super Bowl, especially as the ones I saw turned me off.
Sad to say, IMO, we the people of America are being dismissed and demeaned by Big Business and Big Government in collusion.
They try to divide us so as to distract us from their tiny elite taking over almost all of the ownership and control of our country. (To prevent socialism, reform capitalism.)
Now, sickeningly, even the NFL Industrial Complex is part of the oppression of the common man with their BLM-inspired slogans of condescension and condemnation.
Not too long ago, as I remember it, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wouldn't allow Peyton Manning to wear black high tops during a game to honor the death of the great Johnny Unitas.
Nowadays, the NFL sneers at its most loyal fans as supposedly an unruly rabble of backward bigots.
To me, America should be truly celebrated for the incredible progress it has made in race relations over the last half-century.
To go even further, I doubt any country in human history has gone so far to welcome so many people of diverse colors and cultures.
If at some point we say enough of unlimited immigration, it is only because too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
***
As postscripts, and offerings of interest for the offseason:
(1) Our own legendary coach of the Packers, Vince Lombardi, was in effect a pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s by the way he integrated his team as equals, all of his players fully recognized and respected as men in teamwork for the triumph of the Green and Gold.
See the two-part biography of Lombardi that first aired on the NFL Network in 2013 for the centennial anniversary of his birth; also, consider Bill Curry's moving commentary as part of the documentary series, "America's Game," about the 1966 Packers as the champions of the first Super Bowl.
(2) I'm currently reading a biography of a prominent Confederate general, James Longstreet, who after the Civil War was vilified by very many in the South for cooperating with the North and working with blacks for their civil rights. No statues for him.
He even fought alongside blacks (and was actually wounded) in a battle in New Orleans that was a white uprising which included former Confederate soldiers. As of today, I'm in the midst of reading about this Canal Street Coup of 1874, which seems to have resulted in Longstreet relocating to Georgia, about an hour away from where I have been residing for about the past five years.
I'm proud to say that Longstreet also converted to Catholicism, another despised group in American history; along with Jews, Catholics and blacks have been deemed enemies of the nation by the Ku Klux Klan.
Anyway, the name of the just-published book, by Elizabeth Varon, is titled: "Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South."

Not to be argumentative, but the BIGGEST disappointment was 2011, where we went 15-1 (and could have been 16-0) and then lost our first playoff game.
The Szotman

Steve Young (49ers) Emeritus doesn't think a team can win the SB without a bona fide Franchise QB.
Shanahan cannot handle a real Franchise QB because he cannot give the freedom a real QB requires..Shanahan won't win a SB.

Super Bowl commercials do so much to disrupt the flow of the game. And they so often fail by trying too hard. And slightly altering themes from prior years.

I still have visions of Ha Ha grossly misjudging a high looping cross-field pass in 14. And Peppers...the veteran presence...blowing it by playing not to lose and telling Burnett to go to the ground. So many horrific scenes. 2014 Seattle was much more traumatic.

Come on Al, do a little proofreading. Especially the last paragraph. I expect better.