Pack is back

It had finally started to sink in. The Green Bay Packers are back in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1997.

When I woke up this morning, I was looking forward to turning on ESPN, as I do every morning, and hearing all the reaction from the team I’ve supported my entire football-watching life. Instead, I’ve heard only about the team the Packers beat, the Chicago Bears.

The biggest news from the NFC championship game seemingly isn’t the victor, it’s that the losing quarterback didn’t finish the game. I can only hope that the Jay Cutler story dies a quick death, but knowing how ESPN likes to kick a dead horse whenever there’s a so-called controversy, I doubt this one will go away anytime soon.

But rather than lambaste Cutler, like everyone else has done, I’d prefer to focus on the winning team. Strange, I know.

It wasn’t the prettiest effort of Green Bay’s playoff run, but it’s obviously worth a whole lot more than the more impressive wins over the Eagles and Falcons. Just like those previous two games, I was literally on the edge of my seat (or on my feet) for all 60 minutes. Super Bowls maybe old hat for Patriots fans, but it’s been a while for Packers fans, and I didn’t feel legitimately confident until Aaron Rodgers took a knee on the final play.

The Packers are the NFC’s No. 6 seed. They needed to win in the final week of the regular season just to make the playoffs. And now they’re the early 2½-point favorite to win Super Bowl XLV. It’s been quite a journey, and with Green Bay’s scary-good defense and Rodgers, a young QB coming into his own, my preseason Super Bowl pick looks pretty good.

Of course, I picked the Packers to lose the Super Bowl to Baltimore. I already was wrong on the opponent, so hopefully I’ll be wrong about the result, too.

Oh, right, there was another game on Sunday. Check the blog tomorrow, because I know Scott has some choice words about Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (one of the more overrated players in recent NFL history).

Personally, I was still trying to wrap my head around the Packers’ win, and with the euphoria of watching your team earn a spot in the Super Bowl, I really didn’t care who won the AFC game. I rooted for the Jets, only because a New York win would have allowed me to tie Rick McGowan for the season in our Daily News football picks. But finishing dead last in “The Showdown” means little to me now that, for the first time in 13 years, the Packers will play for the NFL title.