In just over 24 hours, the Packers' Super Bowl stock jumped through the roof.
But if they should belittle the New York Giants on Sunday night the way they did Seattle after Saturday's inauspicious start, there will be questions posed about just how strong the Packers' investment portfolio is when they travel to Arizona in February.
Two quick Ryan Grant fumbles at home Saturday had Packer backers losing their grip on their gametime libations, dropping their bratwursts in disbelief. That is until Green Bay went crazy over the next 46-plus minutes to turn a show-stopping 14-0 deficit into a 42-20 laugher for Brett and the gang.
Accustomed to having all eyes on him, it was as though Favre slapped Packer nation's collective butt reassuringly as he carved up the Seattle secondary the rest of the way.
Then there's the guts of Grant. Eerily reminiscent of Dorsey Levens, the guy Brett was handing the ball to in 1996, the first-year back showcased the ice water that coarses through his veins.
After his two turnovers, Grant didn't just eclipse 200 yards and score three times to more than make amends. He punished every Seahawk he could along the way, something no fan could predict when the Packers reached their Week 7 bye with a handful of seemingly-marginal backs.
One day later, the Giants moved the championship game to the most historic venue in the league, Lambeau Field, by knocking off the Dallas Cowboys in Big D.
The last two paragraphs are the good news.
Now here's the bad stuff.
If the Pack should land in the southwest in a few weeks, their playoff itinerary will have only taken the club through matchups with the Seahawks and Giants, two clubs that didn't garner a whole lot of postseason optimism.
Then there's the issue of the last seven regular-season victories, all against teams that couldn't post winning records in 2007.
Such preparation hardly carves a club out of wood, but as was evident Saturday the Packers are playing on a whole different level than clubs like Seattle. In fact, with the Giants' Sunday-evening upset, the only team in the NFC (Not-so Fantastic Conference) that struck unadulterated fear into the hearts of Packer fans has now jumped to its off-season itinerary.
I've always been irritated when analysts question a team's prowess strictly according to the opponents it has and hasn't beaten.
Even if they weren't beating the '85 Bears on their way to a playoff berth, the Packers were winning by nearly 20 points per game.
Sounds like the team the Packers would likely meet in 'Zona, the New England Patriots, who made a living this season drubbing foes.
Forgive me if I'm getting ahead of myself. But turnabout is fair play and Packer backers have been chiming "Championship." since the early weeks of the season.
I know why they play the games and, now so do the Colts and the Cowboys. But the Packers should make short work of the Giants, even if they're not quite the same club that Green Bay crushed, 35-13, in New York. Also, the Patriots ought to pull the plug on the Chargers in Foxborough.
There's no questioning that the Packers haven't exactly pitched their way past murderer's row to get to where they are. But, they're where they need to be and it's time to throw out the records.
Even those of the busters you've beaten up to get by.
- Christopher Heimerman is the sports editor at The Monroe Times. He can be reached at sportseditor@themonroetimes.com
