MAYBE IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR THE PACKERS IF THE BEARS DIDN'T SUCK.

Yes, I have had a lot of fun with the suckitude of the Bears over the years.  In the wake of the Packers again coming up short in the conference championship game against an opponent they had lost to in a previous season, perhaps it is time to consider the competition within the division.  Let us first take stock.  "Run the table" season of 2016-2017: give up a lot of passing touchdowns to Atlanta in the regular season; win on the road to get to Atlanta, give up a lot of passing touchdowns to Atlanta.  (In the Super Bowl, Atlanta established, then gave up a big lead and lost to Tom Brady and the Patriots.)  New coach Matt LaFleur's debut season: give up a lot of rushing touchdowns to the 'Niners in the regular season; secure a bye and one game at home, exorcising some Seattle demons, then go to Santa Clara and give up a lot of rushing touchdowns to the "Niners.  (In the Super Bowl, San Francisco rushed out to a lead, then gave it up and lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.)  Most recent season: take advantage of the special coronavirus playoff setup to secure the sole bye and home field throughout the playoffs, despite giving Tom Brady and the Buccaneers fourteen points off two consecutive turnovers; then, at home, give Tom Brady and the Buccaneers fourteen points off two consecutive turnovers.  (In the Super Bowl, the Buccaneers will face the Chiefs.  Somehow, those franchises surround their quarterbacks with solid players on both sides of the line of scrimmage.)

The current Packer coach is owning the loss, which is what leaders do.

The pain came through in several of LaFleur's comments as he rehashed many of his own decisions throughout the game.

He lamented lacking a commitment to the running game on two goal-to-go series that ended in field goals, and on the two fourth-quarter three-and-outs following interceptions by Green Bay's defense.

"I put that on myself, just not calling the right plays," he said. "The stuff we did so well all season long, we kind of got away from it, in the second half, especially that fourth quarter. We just got out of our offense, and that's on me."

There's a lengthy post-mortem by Acme Packing.  "In a game where you force 3 interceptions off Brady, Rodgers goes for 342 and three touchdowns, and [receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling] has the game of his life, we would expect Green Bay to come away easily victorious. Green Bay out-gained, out-possessed-and out-first-downed the Bucs by considerable margins, but still lost."  Statistics, as the pundits say ...

Speaking of pundits, here's Bryan Dee.  "Even if you try and fail on 4th down, you can live with the fact that you went for it on your own accord."

It's always a tough gig coaching the Packers, because everybody in Packer Nation has heard what the standard is, and a few of us were around to see it.  But thus my post title.  The Packers are 11-1 against the division with Mr LaFleur coaching, and that gets a team a long way toward a good seeding for the playoffs.  But if the Lions and Vikings and Bears (oh, my) are always struggling, the challenges facing the Packer defense and offense aren't what they could otherwise be.  Last time the Packers got to the Super Bowl, they had to go through Chicago, and the Lions were better.