Do we have to win a Lombardi for this season to be a success?

[GreenBayGal]

I let you have it alright! I let you have it with a "like." So take that!
Why?
Because I welcome you to the 'Great season no matter what' club.

LOL...I love Ya, Man.

 

[greenandgold]

Well, it would kind of guarantee a success now, wouldn't it?

 

[LAG]

We need another Lombardi to add to the case.

 

[weeds]

I seem to be the minority in this group in thinking that, while a 5th Lombardi would be SWEEEET, without it, our season could still be a success. Of course I like to set the bar high, high, high, but if we make it to Indy & come home w/o the trophy, I will still be very proud of our team for it's accomplishments. We already have a 7-0 starting record which will be 8-0 in eight days. That's an accomplishment in itself. Also, beating the snot out of Chicago & MN will make the year memorable. Always trying to look on the bright side, that's me. Ok, forum, now let me have it.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to step outside, spin three times and spit. You may unknowingly be bringing down upon us, the wrath of the "thing". Optional penance might be watching Super Bowl 32 ... I warned my son against watching it...but, does he listen to the old man? Noooo....ooooo...ooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

 

[ExpatPacker]

I like what Bill Russell once said about your goals as a team and what counts as success. The point is to keep getting there, meaning getting there so that you are in a position to win the championship. No team is ever going to win all the time, but if you put yourself in a position to keep getting there, that's not a failure.

 

[GeeDogWarrior]

I remember thinking that 07' was a success cause we had that ole' gunslinger magic and were 13-3 (just like the 90s') and almost made the superbowl....then I noticed the patriots were angry over going 18-1 and not winning the superbowl, then I noticed there were a couple of other 13-3 and 14-2 teams that didn't win championships and people forget about them easily...
meanwhile, people still talk about Bill Walsh's 10-6 49ers team that won a superbowl, or the 6th seed steelers...
then I remembered, I really hated having to look back on the 96' Packer season on wikipedia for a source of pride and wondering if we'd ever win another one....

I sort of puke in my mouth a little having to hear that the steelers have "the most superbowl wins of any nfl team" ...
so umm... yeah, I had to correctly set my standard of what I consider is a successful season and that standard is the Packer standard, and that standard is SUPERBOWL OR DIE!
The only success is winning the lombardi, it is everything!

 

[gwh11]

Here, success is measured by expectations. Do the majority of pundits and fans expect the Packers to roll through the schedule and wind up in the Super Bowl? If they don't, are they falling short of expectations? How would the coaches and players answer the question? I think there would be major disappointment if another trip to the SB was derailed by a playoff loss at home. With the current state of the the team (Rodgers not injured, for example) and the talent of the players and coaching staff, it would feel less than successful if they were eliminated before the SB.

 

[GreenBayGal]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to step outside, spin three times and spit. You may unknowingly be bringing down upon us, the wrath of the "thing". Optional penance might be watching Super Bowl 32 ... I warned my son against watching it...but, does he listen to the old man? Noooo....ooooo...ooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Update: I went outside, spun three times & spit. For extra measure I stuck a sharp stick in my eye & lit my hair on fire. Well worth not having to endure SB 32 again.

 

[PackMan13x]

I love every second of watching my team play and if they happen to win it all it's just a bonus.

 

[weeds]

Update: I went outside, spun three times & spit. For extra measure I stuck a sharp stick in my eye & lit my hair on fire. Well worth not having to endure SB 32 again.

{Father Weeds makes sign of cross} Your sins are forgiven my daughter. Go forth and sin no more. {Ahem... I have a Latin version of that but it sounds pretty bad.}

 

[DevilDon]

I'd consider a status quo for the champs to be a successful season. Anything less is going backwards.
Teams move up and down all the time in the NFL. If you've held championship status all season and retain it you're in the black even though there is no transition up or down. It's impossible to go higher than the peak.

 

[SanDiegoCheese]

My dad thinks that we need a loss before hitting the playoffs to give a sense of urgency, show that a loss can happen. While I would LOVE to see a 19-0 Packers team, my dad makes a good point that a loss may help us avoid complacency. Just so long as the loss doesn't come in the playoffs or to a division team

I feel that same way, nothing motivates you like a failure (yes, a loss is a failure) As long as that loss is in the regular season, and not against a division team, I'll take it.

Another reason is added pressure that playing for perfection brings:

Reminds me of what Michael Jordan once said about his 1991 Bulls (they weren't playing for perfection, rather the wins record) "Once, we and everyone else realized we weren't going to win 70 games we played MUCH more relaxed and a HUGE pressure was lifted off our shoulders." Michael Jordan - AirTime DVD.

They ended up winning the 1991 NBA championship, and 5 years later break the wins record (which still stands at 72-10)

SUPERBOWL = ULTIMATE SUCCESS

 

[Jules]

Yeah you need the title again. Of course if you don't, you get a slight pass for winning it all last year.

But, being the best by far in the league you should win it. Also, would be a shame to waste a year of Rodger's in his prime. Have to win as many SB's while he is young. Once you age it just gets tougher and tougher..........

 

[peteralan71]

My mouth simply waters at the thought of all the records Aaron Rodgers will have at the end of this year if he keeps playing this way, and he probably will. But ya, a Super Bowl is more important than that

 

[DevilDon]

I remember thinking that 07' was a success cause we had that ole' gunslinger magic and were 13-3 (just like the 90s') and almost made the superbowl....then I noticed the patriots were angry over going 18-1 and not winning the superbowl, then I noticed there were a couple of other 13-3 and 14-2 teams that didn't win championships and people forget about them easily...
meanwhile, people still talk about Bill Walsh's 10-6 49ers team that won a superbowl, or the 6th seed steelers...
then I remembered, I really hated having to look back on the 96' Packer season on wikipedia for a source of pride and wondering if we'd ever win another one....

I sort of puke in my mouth a little having to hear that the steelers have "the most superbowl wins of any nfl team" ...
so umm... yeah, I had to correctly set my standard of what I consider is a successful season and that standard is the Packer standard, and that standard is SUPERBOWL OR DIE!
The only success is winning the lombardi, it is everything!

Yes, that's the perception of the rest of the NFL fanbase. If you have been a fan of the Packers franchise for a long time you remember Lynn ****ey and Don Majkowski's heroics in single games. Wins were scarce for years and that's why those years are special to longtimefans.
No need to puke in your mouth hearing from Steeler fans. Just tell them that the Steelers were founded in 1933 and the Packers had three titles before they were born. So that gives us 10 over their 6. The Steelers are one of a few early teams to have no excuse with modern vrs old teams. They just never got it done. It took them 40 years to get their collective behinds together to be champions.
Double into the fact that the Packers are clearly a better team this year, will seal the deal on their 5th Lombardi and you'd have to be an idiot (or a Steeler fan) to not recognize that the Green Bay Packers are and will continue to be the shining star of the NFL.
Oh wait, the Packers are owned by the fans and not the Wrinkly Rooneys and don't play at Ketchup Field. Oh yea, they are a PROUD franchise. Honestly, I've never once met a fan of another team who can talk smack. If you reduce it to a history thing they are all left standing by the wayside. Welcome to the fanbase of the defending champions, the most storied franchise in NFL history, the team by which all others are judged.
Yea, it's like that!

 

[skibum55]

The Packers did it. I assume the Steelers did it among their 4 but not sure. Did the 49ers ever do it? Dallas did with Aikman-Emmitt-Irvin. New England did.
None have 3-peated.

I agree we need the trophy to consider this season a success. But it's been a great season along the way already.....

List of repeat Super Bowl Champions:

Green Bay - I, II
Miami - VII, VIII
Pittsburgh - IX, X and XIII, XIV
San Fransisco - XXIII, XXIV
Dallas - XXVII, XXVIII
Denver - XXXII, XXXIII
New England - XXXVIII, XXXIX

 

[gmann001]

Yes. Considering we accomplished the ultimate goal last year with even less of our starters, to not do it this year with the way we're playing would be failure.

If the Packers don't win the Superbowl, I think there'll be more coverage on "why the Packers didn't win" than there would be for the team that actually does.

Just from all the media hype, etc. since the offseason, I think if the Packers don't win it... they'll be considered a disappoinment.

As for me, a sweep of the Bears and a sweep of the Vikings ALWAYS says it was a successful year.

 

[Ceodore]

I don't think a superbowl loss necessarily means the season is a failure. However I would probably call the season a failure if they at least didn't make it back to the SB.

 

[FrankRizzo]

I don't think a superbowl loss necessarily means the season is a failure. However I would probably call the season a failure if they at least didn't make it back to the SB.

That's how I felt in 1998 when we went back, as expected, easily, and then were heavily favored.
When we lost, I was not even close to crushed.
Why not?

Well because I was still on a high from the title the previous year as it was SO joyous.
Also, I liked Terrell Davis from Fantasy Football, and I felt Elway deserved a ring.

But now looking back, and remembering all the failures Farve had after that for us, I really wish we would have won the 2nd on the repeat.

However, this just gives the good guy Arod a chance to again, one-up the old gunslinging, ******-texting hilbilly.

 

[Forget Favre]

LOL...I love Ya, Man.

Right back atchya babe!

 

[Vrill]

This team has Super Bowl aspirations. We are the defending champs. People expect us to twopeat (is that a word?) - So yes, anything other than bringing another Lombardi home would be deemed unsuccessful.

 

[Packerlifer]

Do we have to win a Lombardi for this season to be a success?

Most teams would love to start out 7-0 and would take that alone, but I was wondering how you guys would gauge this season as far as being successful? Is it winning the division and making the playoffs? Winning one playoff game? Going to the SB? Winning the SB?

How many remember 1997 and that defending Super Bowl Champion Packers team losing Super Bowl XXII to Denver? A great season by any measures: 13-3, third straight divison title, repeat NFC Champions, big pregame favorites to repeat in the SB. After that trip Ron Wolf said of the Super Bowl XXXI team," We were just farts in the wind."

After winning a Super Bowl anything less than a repeat diminishes if it doesn't approach negation of the following season.

 

[thepackers1fan4]

Do we have to win a Lombardi for this season to be a success?

Most teams would love to start out 7-0 and would take that alone, but I was wondering how you guys would gauge this season as far as being successful? Is it winning the division and making the playoffs? Winning one playoff game? Going to the SB? Winning the SB?

Well obvious everybody's goal at the beginning of the season is to win the SB but I think a successful season for any team would be to win the division and go to the playoffs.

 

[Jules]

How many remember 1997 and that defending Super Bowl Champion Packers team losing Super Bowl XXII to Denver? A great season by any measures: 13-3, third straight divison title, repeat NFC Champions, big pregame favorites to repeat in the SB. After that trip Ron Wolf said of the Super Bowl XXXI team," We were just farts in the wind."

After winning a Super Bowl anything less than a repeat diminishes if it doesn't approach negation of the following season.

I think Aaron would love to do what the Packers with Favre didn't do. Repeat.

When you repeat you instantly get that cool dynasty talk too and everything. Didn't Aaron tell the fans after the SB win that the Packers would repeat? I believe him.

 

[DocSkittles]

Any season is successful when you cap it off with a conference championship, or even better a Super Bowl win. However, after suffering through the late 70's, 80's and early 90's I'm happy with any winning season and grateful for every win the Pack posts on the board. Hopefully this wave of being a solid team lasts for a long time to come, but don't forget it wasn't all that long ago when a something as simple as a .500 season was hoped for. In my view, the Packers, no matter if they win the SB or not, are always winners because of the tradition, history and fan base they bring to the game. I was proud to be a Packer fan when they stunk and am I just as proud now, although it is a little nicer to be able to rub the garbage talkers noses in it now.