On December 12, 2010, Aaron Rodgers elected not to slide and took a big hit from a Detroit Lions defender after scrambling down the middle of the field before halftime. That hit resulted in a concussion that caused him to miss the next one and a half games. The Packers lost that game to the Lions as well as the next game in New England with Matt Flynn at quarterback.
That was the last time the Packers lost a game before this past Sunday in Kansas City.
Green Bay made far too many mental mistakes to beat anyone, much less a team as motivated as the Chiefs (they fired coach Todd Haley just days before). Receivers dropped passes left and right, the defense missed tackles, and left guys like Leonard Pope open all day long.
After months of the undefeated talk, the 19-0 season is no longer a possibility, which isn't all bad.
When the Packers lost to the Lions last year despite being huge favorites, the Packers woke up. They lost their next game, but not many teams would play Tom Brady the Patriots all the way down the last possession in Foxborough with their backup quarterback.
Having to win their next two games, the Packers destroyed the Giants at home and had one of their best defensive showings of the year against the Bears to win their last two and sneak into the playoffs as the six seed.
Starting with that Giants game, Rodgers won his next 19 games, including the playoffs, which spanned more than a full calendar year.
Losing to Kansas City will do similar things for this team.
They don't have to answer the exact same questions week after week about going unbeaten, which has to get irritating. You can tell by some of the player's responses that they're sick of talking about it. The Patriots were 18-0 going into the Super Bowl and lost. It's better to get that loss out of the way now when it won't hurt you.
Another thing to consider is week 17. In what should be a completely meaningless game against the Lions at Lambeau, the Pack no longer have to play their key players. Chad Clifton hasn't played in several weeks since severely injuring his hamstring and is now out with a bad back. Greg Jennings is scheduled to miss another two weeks with a knee sprain. James Starks missed this past Sunday's game with ankle and knee injuries. Instead of rushing these guys back, they can rest for an extra couple weeks before starting the playoffs.
The biggest reason why this loss is a good thing for Green Bay is that it will get them refocused at the task at hand. As Mike McCarthy stated, going 19-0 is "gravy." McCarthy and the Packers know that winning the Super Bowl is the only thing that matters and they still have an excellent chance to do that, especially since one win in their last two assures them home field throughout the playoffs.
Now that the 19-0 talk has ceased, they can get back to focusing on what they need to do to win the the big one. When a team drops as many passes and misses as many tackles as they did on Sunday, that shows a lack of focus, not a lack of execution or talent. Having the majority of sports talk focused on you for a couple months and your own section on ESPN's bottom line will do that. Players can only hear about how great they are for so long before they start to believe it and give a lackluster effort on the field, something they've been getting away with for a few weeks.
They needed to be brought down a peg or two and get the hunger back that brought this franchise a ring last season.
This loss should get this team back in the right frame of mind, which is why their best ball has yet to come.
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