Five reasons the Packers lost the NFC Championship

This one's going to sting for years. The Seattle Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers 28-22, but the Seahawks had an awful lot of help from an awful lot of Packers. When Packers fans clear the tears from their beer cheese soup, they'll have no shortage of targets for blame ... and unlike the previous Fail Mary loss to Seattle, this time the refs aren't one of them. Let's consider the culprits, shall we?

1. Mike McCarthy's conservatism. Twice in the first 10 minutes of the game Green Bay found itself with fourth-and-goal within literal reach of the goal line, and both cases McCarthy folded and settled for field goals. Those weren't the only reasons the Packers lost, but failing to put up an insurmountable lead early gave the Seahawks enough hope to clamber back into the game. On the road, hostile crowd, brutal defense on its heels ... why not go for the throat before many of the fans have found their seats?

2. Morgan Burnett. With five minutes left in the game and Green Bay up 12, Russell Wilson loosed another one of his errant passes that ended up in Green Bay's hands. Burnett caught the ball at midfield and clearly had room to run. Whether he panicked, whether he feared fumbling, or whether he, like most of the rest of America, believed he'd just clinched the game for Green Bay, Burnett hit the ground and slid. Had he moved further into Seahawk territory, he could have set up, at the very least, another field goal that would have further tighened the screws on Seattle. Instead, the Packers soon punted, and less than two minutes later, Seattle was in the end zone for the first of its three late touchdowns. That would be immediately followed by something even worse for Green Bay, though.

3. Brandon Bostick. Heaven only knows why tight end Brandon Bostick decided to get fancy and go up for an onside kick reception instead of blocking for the far more sure-handed Jordy Nelson right behind him. That bounce off Bostick's helmet landed in Seattle hands, and barely 30 seconds later, the Seahawks had scored an improbable go-ahead touchdown. Oh, but the pain wasn't done for Green Bay yet.

4. Half the Packer secondary. After scoring that go-ahead touchdown, Seattle was up one with 85 seconds left. So of course they had to go for two to prevent a potential game-winning field goal. But did Green Bay's secondary have to stand around watching as Russell Wilson heaved a ball that was far more duck than hawk? Luke Willson grabbed it, Seattle tied up the game, and the collapse was nearly complete. But still, there was one more question...

5. Why didn't Green Bay target sore-armed Richard Sherman? The Seahawks' all-everything cornerback set the tone for this game early by intercepting an Aaron Rodgers pass in the end zone with spectacular authority. But a collision with teammate Kam Chancellor left Sherman's left arm so sore that he held it against his body as if in an invisible sling, play after play. And yet, Green Bay either never noticed Sherman's injury (or perhaps thought he was faking for effect), and thus never took advantage of a huge matchup edge.

So there you have it: a collapse for the ages, with plenty of blame to go around. This one's going to hurt for a long, long time in Wisconsin.

from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/14Uj5ty