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Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker doesn’t talk with the media very often.<\/p>\n
When he does, though, he often has something interesting to say.<\/p>\n
Saturday was one of those nights.<\/p>\n
In the wake of the\u00a0Packers\u2019 31-27 collapse against the hated Chicago Bears\u00a0in an NFC Wild Card game, Walker may have summed up Green Bay\u2019s loss and its 9-8-1 season better than anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I want to sit right here and say we should have won the game, we didn’t execute and that’s been a problem for us,\u201d Walker said. \u201cHonestly just finishing games. Putting guys away.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven before I got here, I feel like this always been a part of this organization when it comes down to big games, like finishing games. Nobody care what you did in the first half. It just comes down to when the fourth quarter hits double zeros or whatever the case may be, do we have more points than them? And that hasn’t been the case at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
No it hasn’t.<\/p>\n
Green Bay\u2019s year \u2014 and\u00a0possibly the end of coach Matt LaFleur\u2019s seven-year tenure\u00a0\u2014 will best be remembered for an inability to close out opponents or beat inferior foes<\/p>\n
The Packers held a 10-0 lead over Cleveland in Week 3 with 3:38 left and seemed well on their way to improving to 3-0. Instead, the Browns scored the final 13 points of the game, including a 55-yard field goal from kicker Andre Szmyt as time expired.<\/p>\n
Green Bay led Dallas, 13-0, in Week 4 before settling for a 40-40 tie.<\/p>\n
The Packers lost at home to Carolina, 16-13, despite being a 13.5-point favorite.<\/p>\n
Green Bay led Chicago, 16-6, with 2 minutes left during its second regular season meeting on Dec. 20. But Chicago rallied to force overtime, then won it in the extra session when Caleb Williams hit D.J. Moore with a 46-yard TD pass to give the Bears a stunning 22-16 win.<\/p>\n
The key play came when Green Bay\u2019s Romeo Doubs fumbled an onside kick with 1:59 remaining and the Packers holding a 16-9 lead. The Bears then drove for a game-tying score, and won it in overtime.<\/p>\n
The Packers, who started the season 5-1-1 and were 9-3-1 in mid-December, finished the year on a five-game losing streak and just one game over .500.<\/p>\n
When asked why this team couldn\u2019t finish, defensive tackle Colby Wooden struggled to find answers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s an excellent question man,\u201d Wooden said. \u201cThat\u2019s an amazing question. And I know it sounds crazy to say we\u2019ve got to finish. But (expletive), we\u2019ve got to (expletive) finish. You\u2019ve got your foot on somebody\u2019s throat you\u2019ve got to crush them. Pont blank. Period. We weren\u2019t able to do that. So yeah, this will stick with us all offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green Bay safety Javon Bullard called Green Bay\u2019s late-game collapses \u201cembarrassing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t take our foot off the gas,\u201d Bullard said. \u201cWhen we got somebody down, we gotta put them away. That shit, it\u2019s starting to get damn-near embarrassing. We can\u2019t do (expletive) like that and expect to win these big games going against these good-(expletive) teams. We\u2019re gonna have to get our (expletive) together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Packers were in complete control against Chicago, racing to a 21-3 halftime lead and holding a 21-6 lead heading to the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
But after Green Bay scored touchdowns on its first three drives, it managed just seven points on its final eight possessions.<\/p>\n
The defense was even worse, becoming just the third team in NFL history to allow 25 fourth quarter points in a playoff game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just finishing games,\u201d running back Josh Jacobs said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the biggest thing. Mental stamina, physical stamina throughout the game, closing people out. We were up damn-near 20 points. It\u2019s no way you should lose games in this league when you\u2019re up that much.\u201d<\/p>\n
But once again, that\u2019s exactly what the Packers did.<\/p>\n
And now a season that began with great expectations ended with another playoff meltdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to the playoffs, we should be rolling,\u201d Walker said. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t have to go through these type of things, especially (when) we struggle with that early on in the season. Sense of urgency gotta be up, but at this point I can sit right here and say that over and over, but it’s win or go home. It’s a do or die situation, so we just gotta \u2014 I don’t really know what to say. It’s over with now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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