Greg C.
Cheesehead
Is there anybody out there who still thinks the Packers have a homefield advantage? Opposing teams sure don't. What happened?
It all goes back to that playoff loss to the Falcons in January 2003. My sister was at that game. She said that at the beginning, the crowd was just as fired up as ever. Then they got strangely silent, watching their team get whipped. At halftime, she heard boos, and at first she wondered why the crowd would be booing the Falcons. Then she realized they were booing the PACKERS. She had never heard that before.
Fast forward to the next official home game, the season opener against the Vikings in the "new" Lambeau Field. Once again, the Packers got their butts handed to them at home by a team that was no better than they were. Another landmark home loss, the next month, was the come-from-ahead loss to the Chiefs. That was the final humiliation.
For three seasons now, Lambeau Field has not been a safe place for the Packers to play. They come out tight and they do not feed off the energy of the crowd. If the crowd starts to get edgy, the team gets tighter. But what really makes it bad is that when the crowd gets fired up, that makes them tighter too. It's like they don't feel worthy of the Packer tradition. That's one of the reasons why I think there should be a coaching change. This team has gotten into a bad frame of mind. I would love to see a new coach come in and make it a top priority to take back Lambeau Field.
It all goes back to that playoff loss to the Falcons in January 2003. My sister was at that game. She said that at the beginning, the crowd was just as fired up as ever. Then they got strangely silent, watching their team get whipped. At halftime, she heard boos, and at first she wondered why the crowd would be booing the Falcons. Then she realized they were booing the PACKERS. She had never heard that before.
Fast forward to the next official home game, the season opener against the Vikings in the "new" Lambeau Field. Once again, the Packers got their butts handed to them at home by a team that was no better than they were. Another landmark home loss, the next month, was the come-from-ahead loss to the Chiefs. That was the final humiliation.
For three seasons now, Lambeau Field has not been a safe place for the Packers to play. They come out tight and they do not feed off the energy of the crowd. If the crowd starts to get edgy, the team gets tighter. But what really makes it bad is that when the crowd gets fired up, that makes them tighter too. It's like they don't feel worthy of the Packer tradition. That's one of the reasons why I think there should be a coaching change. This team has gotten into a bad frame of mind. I would love to see a new coach come in and make it a top priority to take back Lambeau Field.