NFC North Champions!!!!!!

• What an amazing return for Aaron Rodgers and Randall Cobb!! And against Jay Cutler and the Bears!

Enjoy your vacation, Jay.

• The final Green Bay drive lasted 15 plays, including THREE fourth-down conversions, the final of which was this dagger in the Bears' heart that came with under a minute left in the game:

• I have to give credit where credit is due. Fullback John Kuhn, whom I like a lot but think should be cut, made this play possible by taking out Julius Peppers just enough to prevent the sack. Chicago blitzed seven men, which meant Peppers was coming free at Rodgers. Kuhn was smart enough to recognize the situation at the snap and handle Peppers. Thanks, Kuuuuuhhhhnnn!

Look how close Peppers got!

• Said Cobb of the catch, "Oh my gosh, it was in the air for so long. I had so many thoughts going through my head -- You better not drop it. If you drop it, they're going to kill you, everybody. You better catch it. Just catch it." Cobb had only two catches in the game; both were touchdowns.

You can't imagine how much I missed doing Randall Cobb
Google image searches the last 10 weeks.

• How much faith do Rodgers' teammates have in him? Here's what Packers defensive lineman Mike Neal had to say: "I didn’t even get off the bench. I knew he was going to make it.”

• The Cobb touchdown was the most exciting of the game, but Jarrett Boykin had the weirdest touchdown of the season. Rodgers' arm was hit on a pass, which caused him to fumble the ball, but because the ball went forward, it looked like an incomplete forward pass. The ball was just lying there until Boykin picked it up. Boykin and Rodgers looked at the ref to see what was going on, realized the whistle had not been blown, and Boykin took off for the endzone while everyone else stood around.

• Even when Aaron Rodgers makes a mistake, it's works out for the team.

When will Chicago learn? Don't. Mess.
With. Aaron. Rodgers.

• It was a great first half for a suspect Packers' defense, which forced three three-and-outs and a fumble in the Bears five possessions.

• I have a lot of faith in the Packers, so I'm not one of the fans who dooms them after a bad loss, but there are times where things certainly did not look good. Here's a chart of the Packers' probability of making the playoffs by week.

• So how awesome was Jordy Nelson? 161 yards on the day, including some big-time first downs. 

It was kinda cute when Chicago players tried to tackle him.

• It was nice having Jordy and Aaron reunited. Must have felt good for Nelson after having to try to catch pass attempts from Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien, and Matt Flynn.

• Can anyone explain to me what the heck Nick Perry was thinking when he barely pretended to try to tackle Matt Forte? (Fast forward to 2:50.) I hoped he got benched for that. 

• I love camera cuts to Kevin Greene, who's always wild-eyed and flailing on the sidelines. The linebackers coach seems even more intense than his players, and not a little bit crazy.

His hair's long now, which amplifies the crazy-man look.

• I really like linebacker Jamari Lattimore, but “Lattimore was out of position on the play” is becoming a familiar refrain.

• Mike McCarthy is a fairly stoic man and never seems to get too excited. He has the most anti-climactic challenge flag throw -- he just drops it! Not like some other coaches:

We'll get to Jimmy later.

• Speaking of McCarthy, WHY did he not go for two ??? Eddie Lacy scored a touchdown at 11:38 in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 28-26, with the Bears leading. A two-point conversion obviously ties the game -- what does an extra point give you? Now, if the Bears go on to score a touchdown, an extra point does keeps it a one score game (it'd be 35-27), but the Packers would still need a two-point conversion. I just don't understand why you don't go for the tie when you have the chance!

• The Wisconsin Badgers football team is in Orlando for some bowl game or something, and they all made sure to catch the Green Bay game. Here's how they reacted to the ending -- check out the dude wearing the Matt Forte jersey:

• The NFL admitted that it completely screwed the Packers over last week. Thanks. That makes it all better. 

• Tony Gonzalez played his final game on Sunday after 17 years in the league. I remember when I was really little and my older brother would let me help pick his fantasy football team, I would always pick Tony Gonzalez because I had heard he was pretty good.  

• Don’t do it, sir!!!! 

• The Carolina Panthers stole the division from the New Orleans Saints with a win over the Falcons on Sunday. Carolina had NINE sacks in the game!

• Sucks to be Arizona. The 10-6 Cardinals will be watching the playoffs from their couches as the 8-6-1 Packers host a game. Ah, well, that's life.

• Eli Manning had a rough end to a rough season, ending the campaign on crutches after spraining his ankle against Washington. 

Do you think Eli's mom ever warned him about his
face getting stuck like that?

• In case you haven't heard, Peyton Manning is pretty good.

• Of the eight 5,000 yard passing seasons in NFL history, four of them belong to Drew Brees.

Okay, I don't like the Saints, but that's darned impressive.

• Good news, everybody - the NFL says that ACL injuries are down! Oh, but they're not counting injuries that happened in OTAs, training camp, mini camp, or practice. Still -- look how safe the game is!

• Um, I guess Philip Rivers gets credit for trying?

• Ditto for the Lions punter.

• So, after Tony Romo got injured, 41-year-old former Cowboys quarterback Jon Kitna texted head coach Jason Garrett saying he was available, if needed. Garrett took him up on the offer and Kitna signed on as an insurance policy. I've read a few things about Kitna before and he sounds like a cool guy -- he's promised to donate his NFL paycheck from the game to the high school where he now teaches.

• Speaking of things you don't hear from NFL players very often, Josh McCown, who will certainly have suitors in the offseason, says he's not sure he will even play next season. McCown wants to spend more time with his family, who has remained in their East coast home while he plays in Chicago.

• San Diego sneaked into the playoffs with a little help from the officials. Most controversial was the refs' failure to call a 5-yard penalty on San Diego for illegal formation during a missed Kansas City field goal (which would have won the game, knocking San Diego out of the playoffs and giving the Pittsburgh Steelers the final berth). You can't have more than six players lined up on one side of the snapper, and San Diego clearly had seven. 

• I had a bigger problem with the refs declaring San Diego's Eric Weddle's forward momentum stopped on this fake punt play. Weddle looked like he was still gaining ground, but the refs' call negated Kansas City's ensuing forced fumble, recovery, and return for a touchdown (which would have won the game, knocked San Diego out, and given Pittsburgh the playoff spot). Either way, sucks to be Pittsburgh.

• Minnesota doesn't have much to look back over fondly from this season, but the emergence of rookie receiver/returner Cordarelle Patterson is a bright spot. Look what he does here with pretty much zero help from his blockers:

• The Oakland Raiders haven't been able to much with the mess Al Davis bequeathed them, but they should be able to do something next season -- they have $66.6 million in cap space!!

I would put a picture of Al Davis here, but he terrifies
me and I don't want nightmares.

• So Baltimore averaged 3.8 yards per passing attempt on Sunday! 3.8!! And yet Joe Flacco's making about $20 million this season (on average). That's about $909,000 per touchdown. Or, to put it another way, about $1 million per interception. I like that stat better.

"And there's nothing they can do about it!"

• On the opposite end of the spectrum is Nick Foles, who had a crazy good stat season, throwing 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions!

• Clay Matthews doesn't look like he'll be back any time soon, which is sad. But how adorable is he as a guest at a two-year-old's tea party?

Why didn't I enter this stupid contest??

• The Lions have an interesting future in front of them. They collapsed in epic fashion while their division was in free fall: after starting 6-3, they finished 1-6, despite holding the lead in the fourth quarter in every loss. They have a salary cap mess on their hands, having the highest payroll in the league this season. They have a quarterback who threw 19 interceptions and says he will not work with a quarterbacks coach. And now they have to find themselves a new coach after firing the hot-headed Jim Schwartz.

• I hope Jim Schwartz lands somewhere. The league just won't be the same without his snappy and sullen press conferences, his weekly outbursts on the sidelines, and his uncalled-for abuse of headsets.

• If your team didn't make the playoffs and you're feeling down, check out this collection of vines to make you feel happy.