Green Bay Packers fans disappointed with 10-4; Lions fans are ecstatic

Dec 8, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; A Green Bay Packers fan holds up a sign during the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Lambeau Field. Green Bay won 43-37. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

For the faithful of the Green Bay Packers, Packers Nation can be a beautiful, but often a deceitful place.

Prior to the bumbling defeat to the Buffalo Bills the Packers were approaching the mountain top, the view was more vast than the uppermost row of Lambeau Field.

Home field playoff advantage was in sight.

Then along came Kyle Orton and the Bills, their defense delivered a punch in the mouth while Orton swooped in to steal the beer money.

The ol’ booby trap, the game Packers Nation was fretting about since the Week 11 victory over the Philadlphia Eagles.

Now heading into Week 16 with a 10-4 record, home for the playoffs looks like a distant memory. The Detroit Lions also with a 10-4 record are hungry and eager to unseat the Packers from their reign atop the NFC North.

But first the Packers need to get past the woeful Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Lions need to topple the pitiful Chicago Bears.

If both the Packers and the Lions emerge victorious this coming Sunday it sets the stage for a showdown in Packers News week 17.

I will let someone either more intelligent or with a budget take the time to decipher all the potential playoff scenarios. But at the end of the day the Packers simply need to keep winning.

Packerland is not a happy place right now.

There is disappointment and anxiety, concern that our 2014 Green Bay Packers will be taken away from us before we really even got to know them.

There is disdain for Mike McCarthy’s insistence on passing the ball when the running game was humming along and the Bills were playing two deep in the secondary and dropping their linebackers into coverage.

Fans are frustrated with Jordy Nelson and seemingly every other receiver’s inability to catch the ball. Shawn Slocum and the special teams are receiving the silent treatment.

And why can’t the defense tackle?

I am, of course, a descendent of Packers Nation residing in Portland, Ore., an American melting pot city with no NFL affiliation.

This means everyone has “their” team.

Packers fans are prevalent here, maybe only second in populous to the Seattle Seahawks. But crawling from the woodwork are Lions’ fans. And they are confident and not quite sure how to handle their team’s success.

Packers fans are down in the dumps because of a 10-4 record. Lions’ fans are ecstatic.

What I am getting at is all is not lost in Packerland.

Sure, home field advantage is desirable. The Packers are kicking tail at Lambeau Field. On paper it would make a lot more sense in terms of bringing home another Lombardi Trophy for the Packers to greet their opposition on the home turf.

But championships are not won on paper, they are earned between the lines.

And between the lines crazy things happen, anything can happen.

It’s the pundits, the talking heads on the four letter network, bloggers like me toiling for page views that paint a doom and gloom picture when the Packers lose to a team like the Bills.

Packers Nation, all is not lost, as Aaron Nagler from Cheesehead TV likes to say, “Lotta ball game left.”

Now prepare to assume your respective position on the couch, a bar stool, in the stands, however you do it, because this Packers team can still do something special.