Make or Break

I hate labeling games as must-win games.  I absolutely hate it.  It’s the last thing I want to do.  It adds almost too much importance onto an already important situation.  However, the Packers must-win against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, a “make-it or break-it” game, in my point of view.  The Packers sit at 4-5 in the NFC North with the Bears tied with the Minnesota Vikings at 5-4 atop the divison.  If the Packers win, they are guaranteed to stay in second place and could possibly tie for first if the Vikings lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday.

Chicago has always been a thorn in the side of the Packers.  In the midst of the Packers 13-3 season, two of the games the Packers lost to were to the Bears.  Those games showcased a specific weakness in the Packers.  With their success last year, those games were overall expendable.  This year, however, the Packers need these two wins against Chicago.  If Green Bay loses, they will have to win out, no question.  They would drop to 4-6 with games remaining against the dangerous Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints.  The chances of them making the playoffs serverely decrease with those games remaining on the schedule.

Fact is, this game is the season.  Kyle Orton has done a masterful job with the offense.  If the Packers lose Sunday, all we’ll get is bunch of Brett Favre-humping, as to the assumed fact he is the reason the Packers have done poorly so far this year.  Favre would not be having more success than Aaron Rodgers this year; Favre was lucky.  The 2007 Packers barely had any injuries.  The media will be all over Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy who have both done a masterful turning this team around.  The Packers need to win to prove all the doubters wrong.

Time to make-it or break-it.