Well that about sums it up doesn't it? Or maybe this does it better: !@!#@&#@*(&#@@(#&@(!. See that? That's how I was talking by the end of that game last night........in punctuation. It was straight out of the Exorcist! I was even forced to run on the treadmill last night and I haven't run on a treadmill since 2008 when Favre threw the pick to end the NFC championship game. When I turn to exercise you know it's a special kind of brutal.

Anyhow I was going to wait until tomorrow to write this, but it's one of those blogs that if it doesn't get written now I'll never be able to go back and examine it. I didn't talk to anyone the day after 4th and 26 in 2003 and two days later I couldn't bring myself to even think about it. I never got that emotion out. I'm 160% sure that I'm going to go into a rage out of the blue one day and I'll be screaming about how we dropped our safeties back 28 yards when the Eagles needed 26. But that is for another day. Thoughts from a season endi...nope it's too soon, can't even type it.

- If you page down you'll read that I fully anticipated that the Cardinals would come out strong, which happened, and that the Packers would recover, which happened. But that is where my predictions being true ceased. Honestly it was obvious who the playoff tested team was and it showed in the first quarter. Cardinals were calm and collected while we traveled back in time to week 8 where penalites, sacks, and turnovers were the order of the day. It was a buffet of bad football through 15 minutes but to the Packer's credit they gathered themselves, came back, and turned in a truly remarkable performance that came up just short in the end.

- Which leads me to look back to the final week of the regular season, who had the better strategy; the Cards or the Pack? Well after yesterday's game I would argue that both made the right moves for their own team. This Packers team has never been in the playoffs as presently assembled, and with a young, untested team, you need to keep momentum on your side and build up their confidence. Meanwhile the Cards rested their starters because their team as presently assembled won the NFC last year. They know that playoff football is a different game and knew what to expect once it got to that level. When the Packers make the playoffs next season they'll know what to expect and be better prepared. Guaranteed Rodgers doesn't make the mistakes he made in the 1st quarter of this game again when he returns to the playoffs.

- Step 1: Throw the ball to Jermichael Finley, Step 2: Profit. That should be all the offensive playbook reads next season. What a beast. Nearly set a tight end record for receiving yards in a playoff game when he got over 150. Behind Rodgers he might be our second most valuable player. Not to mention he was wearing a Brewers hat in his post game wrap up. Finley=my new favorite player.

- It's too bad this game didn't lend itself to the run more because Ryan Grant had a solid day in limited action. 11 carries for 65 yards. I realize we are a pass heavy offense blah blah blah, but he needs to be more of a focal point of our offense next season.

- Dear Jordy Nelson, slip on the turf once? Fine. Slip on the turf twice? Not fine, get a change of cleats for God's sake! Fumble on your third kick return? Don't come back on the field for the second half. Nice TD catch.

- Seriously a REAL kick returner has to be a priority in the offseason along with a corner and an offensive tackle. Josh Cribbs just turned down a one year offer from the Browns and I'm pretty sure he scored 300 of the Browns 250 points this season. Meanwhile Desmond Howard may have our last kick return for a TD in Super Bowl XXXI. Sign. Cribbs. Now.

- Two players who I feel the most bad for? Rodgers and Woodson. Woodson because he played flat out dominant football all year, up to and including yesterday and once again will not have a Super Bowl ring to show for it. Rodgers because you know he wanted to get that first playoff win to prove that he can win in the clutch. He's not without blame, that interception he just plain forced. It was down right Favrian. And he missed Jennings who was WIDE OPEN on the first play of overtime. But as has been the case this season he was pressured on that final play and fumbled it. How frustrating a moment did that have to be for him? You battle all the way back all afternoon long, finally tie it, win the toss in overtime and don't get the win. As sick as we are as fans he has to be dying about that overtime drive. The only thing I can relate it to in my life was one time in 4th grade while playing a spirited match of 4 square all recess long and had managed to stay in the coveted 4th square for the duration of recess. That is until my buddy Jaymon hit a wicked shot that bounced once in my square, and as I was trying to knock it back took a reverse spin and bounced the fatal 2nd time in my square. Just as the bell rang. Devastated. My Dunkaroos didn't even taste good at lunch. So yeah, that's probably how Rodgers felt.

So there you have it, 185 heart attacks later, game over man, game over. Which is surprising because I picked them to win and during the course of my life I'm like 17% accurate with my picks. Had an off day I guess. Even Jimmy the Greek didn't get them all right. On a final note people on blogs and facebook wanting McCarthy and Thompson fired after this game are all sorts of crazy. This team was 6-10 last year. A 5 game improvement in one year is tremendous. Remember how many times Holmgren and Favre lost in the 90's in Dallas before they figured it out? No one was calling for them to get fired. This team will be better next season, and I can say with confidence that we will win the Super Bowl in 2010. Bonus word: super.