GREEN BAY—Stay with me. We'll get through this together.
The Eagles are winning, 21-0, as I write this. Steelers Schmeelers. If the Eagles win, nothing more was lost at Lambeau Field on Sunday than a football game, albeit one of the wackiest, zaniest most unforgettable football games these old eyes have ever seen.
It was 38-31. It was heartbreaking. Who cares? It's done and the Packers are headed for a game in Chicago next Sunday, the winner of which will claim the NFC North title and its playoff berth, I hope.
Da Bears. Da Packers. The Steelers were just for practice. Hey, maybe the Steelers and Packers will meet in the Super Bowl. It could happen.
The Steelers are still alive in the AFC playoffs race. They needed the Bills to beat the Dolphins, the Jets to beat the Browns and Referee Carl Cheffers to take a crash course on what constitutes possession. We're still waiting for the latter.
Green Bay only needed to win to come within one more win of the NFC North title. It lost, but the Eagles are wackin' the Bears, 21-0, as I pen these words to you, and should that wackin' continue, the Packers and Bears are going to give us one of the best renewals of their age-old rivalry young Packers hearts have ever experienced. I can't wait. Go Eagles!
Be that all as it may, the Packers left Sunday's game with a major negative: Clay Matthews reinjured his thumb. Ouch!
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who came out of 60-degree temperatures to play a cool brand of cold-weather football on Sunday, was sacked only once. It was by Matthews and it was on that sack that Matthews left the game with a thumb injury that will debut his own soap opera this week, "Will Matthews play?"
Of course, we will return to the smash hit, "Will Rodgers play?" on Monday. Stay tuned.
Do you like the Packers? Do you like drama? Do you love both? This season is Nutsville and I wouldn't have it any other way.
On the way to this showdown in Chicago – I'm counting on you, Eagles – the Packers have given us the meltdown in Cincinnati, the rally in Dallas and the classic against the Steelers. Nutsville!
"Both teams overcame adversity. Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers," Mike McCarthy said.
Hey, the guy was born and raised there. He's got friends and family back home. Give him a break.
A game that was punctuated by no fewer than 77,999 fans lacking the good sense not to spend three hours and 25 minutes of their late Sunday afternoon sitting in a driving snowstorm, has now been committed to Packers lore. Two teams that don't play each other very often have now given us some very good memories over the past four years. Remember that last-play dandy in Pittsburgh in 2009? That Super Bowl XLV thriller?
Steelers fans showed up en masse. Their yellow towels mostly blended in with Packers fans' yellow cheeseheads, but if you listened closely, you could tell the difference.
Hey, how yinze doin', huh?
Welcome to Green Bay. Isn't it a lovely day?
It will be a very lovely night, should the Eagles hold onto this lead.
"We knew what was at stake. We knew we had our chance to not have to go home and watch the game," Flynn said.
Hey, don't worry about it, Matt. The Eagles got you covered. We hope. Complete game coverage
