Things sure felt different on Saturday night at around 11:30 than they did when the final whistle reverberated through Lambeau Field on Dec. 7. The Packers had just beaten the division rival Chicago Bears 28-21 and sat at 9-3-1 on the season.
They had dispatched the rival Detroit Lions, who’d been consistently beating up on Green Bay in recent years, not once but twice, and looked like a potential NFC North champion and a sure bet for another double-digit wins season.
And then these same Packers bumbled and stumbled their way to four straight losses as injuries to key players piled up, the offensive line at times looked lost, special teams woes continued, and the defense laid an egg in an overtime loss in Chicago, adding insult to injury.