Should Green Bay Packers Be Considered a Bust This Season?

The Green Bay Packers fell short of their goal of a second Super Bowl win. Does that equal bust?

After going on one of the best Super Bowl runs in NFL postseason history last season, the Green Bay Packers were the most dominant team in the NFL during the 2011 regular season. They went 15-1 and were poised to repeat their success in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Packers were defeated by the Giants in their first playoff game.

It is an interesting discussion to have as to whether or not this team was a bust this season. To find the answer, one must first determine what a bust is. Obviously, the bare-bones definition of a bust would be a team or player that does not live up to the expectations placed upon it or him.

According to that definition, the Packers are most definitely a bust, since they were on a mission from the get-go to get back to the Super Bowl. This pattern of winning the Super Bowl as a major underdog, dominating the next regular season and then having a quick exit in the next year’s playoffs is not new.

After the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl, that win propelled them to a 12-4 season and a first-round playoff bye. They were then bounced out of the playoffs by division rival Philadelphia 23-11.

Sound familiar? It should.

The two teams are very different, but their storylines during each of their Super Bowl runs and the aftermaths are extremely similar. Were the Giants considered a bust then? It was a controversial point. The Giants, unlike the Packers, had the built-in excuse of losing their best receiver, Plaxico Burress, who had just shot himself in a club and been arrested.

The Packers’ expectation for themselves this season was a Super Bowl victory. According to the bare-bones definition I outlined above, this team was a bust this season. Every man on that team would not be satisfied with anything less than another Super Bowl.

However, the fans’ expectations are exactly the same. Granted, all of the Packers fans were hoping their team would repeat as Super Bowl champions. But don’t we, as fans, always temper our expectations?

Fans are always ready to lose, always teetering on the brink of despair as their team fights in a very close game. The expectations of fans are different from those of the players.

Another thing to consider is that NFL football’s primary purpose in this world is to entertain fans. Pure and simple. As a result, another understated and maybe even subconscious expectation is to be entertained. Ultimately, the fulfillment of that expectation is really the most important for the NFL as a whole.

I seriously doubt there are very many Green Bay Packer fans who would say their team was not entertaining this season. I also seriously doubt there were any other NFL fans who watched this team during the season who weren’t entertained.

So, in that respect, the Green Bay Packers are not a bust because they fulfilled the fans' expectation of being entertained. They provided fodder for so many sports TV and radio shows to go over all the talking points that come up with any dominant regular-season team. Will they go undefeated? Can they keep this up in the playoffs? Will they keep winning in spite of their weaknesses? We heard it all, and we all ate it up. We were entertained.

Fans should not consider the Packers a bust because they were entertained by a great regular season and a team that played at an extremely high level most of the time.

The Packers’ own players should consider themselves a bust because they wanted nothing less than another Super Bowl and failed at that goal.

Bust status is based on expectations and the fulfillment of those expectations. The 2011 Green Bay Packers were and weren’t a bust.