Green Bay Packers

2005 Stats

2005 Season Summary

The Green Bay Packers were coming off four consecutive playoff appearances entering the 2005 season but had fallen short each time in the playoffs. The biggest heartbreak and disaster of all occurred in 2003 when they had Philadelphia down to their final play before extinction on a 4 th and 26, only to allow the Eagles to convert and go on to win the game.

A matter of time

Despite this first glance of success, a deeper look revealed that in both 2003 and 2004 the Packers won with mirrors, or more precisely, the one-man magic of quarterback Brett Favre and were, in fact, not a solid team which was exposed in post season. Green Bay had stumbled out of the gate in both of those seasons only to have Favre rally them in the second half of the season both times. Some savvy pro football bettors were claiming that it was only a matter of time before the balloon would burst in Titletown.

An eventful 2005 offseason saw head coach Mike Sherman be stripped of his general manager duties in favor of Ted Thompson. Sherman brought in respected Jim Bates to take over as coordinator of his 25 th ranked defense, which hurt Green Bay through all of 2004.

Preseason play began at Lambeau Field against San Diego . The Pack was a solid 60% ATS in home exhibitions under Sherman and got the cash in a 10-7 win as 3-point dogs.

Green Bay lost both SU and ATS in their next two exhibitions at Buffalo 7-27 as 6-point dogs and at home to the Patriots 3-27 as 3-point dogs. The New England loss drew fire from Packerland as the offense, ( Sherman 's “baby”), looked inept.

The preseason finale was in Tennessee against the Titans, who were traditionally one of the NFL's top exhibition moneymakers. Green Bay proved to be a bargain as 7.5-point dogs and won SU 21-17 to finish preseason play at 2-2 both SU and ATS.

Stumble out of the gate again

Green Bay would open their season at Detroit in a key NFC North showdown against a Lion team touted as ready for a breakout season in 2005. Detroit was installed as a 3-point favorite and the Packers were known for their struggles when playing indoors. Many bettors had no hesitation laying the field goal and were paid in a 17-3 Lion win. As was the case in their previous two seasons the Packers were about to stumble out of the gate again.

The home opener was next against lightly regarded and rebuilding Cleveland and the Pack was installed as 6-point chalks. Green Bay lost a stunner 24-26 to not only shock the state of Wisconsin but also burn a lot of gamblers' cash.

Resurgent Tampa Bay visited next and Green Bay, incredibly enough, was installed as a 3-point dog. The Packers were fooling few sharp bettors anymore and garnered little respect as the line showed. Green Bay fought hard in a 16-17 loss, getting the cash, however. They now stood at 0-3 SU.

Next was a trip to Carolina for a Monday Night rematch from the previous season against the NFC South contending Panthers. Green Bay won and covered 24-14 the previous season in this situation but lost 29-32 this time as 7-point dogs, sneaking in with a late “backdoor cover.”

The start of another comeback campaign?

Standing at 0-4 SU the Packers came home to face displaced New Orleans . Green Bay had fallen so out of favor with the general betting public that they were a mega-bargain laying only 3 points in a 52-3 annihilation. Looking sharp in their first win, many fans and gamblers wondered if this was the start of another comeback campaign to gain the playoffs. The Packers entered the bye on a good note and had two weeks off to heal and mount a serious playoff charge.

False Hope

Green Bay was fortunate to draw the scandal ridden Vikings at Minnesota after the bye. The Vikings were totally written off at this time and were installed as only 1-point chalks. But Green Bay had traditionally struggled indoors, particularly at the Metrodome. But that fact was overshadowed by the media hype about Green Bay always coming back from slow starts coupled with Minnesota 's season supposedly being ruined. Minnesota won a hard fought battle for survival 23-20 to get back into the race while Green Bay 's win against New Orleans was proven to be nothing more than a cause for false hope.

Down and out

The Packers next traveled to red-hot Cincinnati and were installed as 9.5-point dogs, getting a cover in a 14-21 loss to fall to 1-6 SU but 4-3 ATS, which indicated that they were still playing hard for Sherman .

Next came a home game against struggling but still contending Pittsburgh . Green Bay was a 3-point dog and lost 10-20, falling down and out for 2005.

Public gets blindsided

With the pressure off of them Green Bay traveled to NFC South contender Atlanta for another dreaded dome game. Completely written off as done by the general public and with their notorious dome woes the Packers were installed as 9-point dogs. Nobody could see the Packers winning this one and, as is often the case in gambling, when the public cannot see something coming the public get blindsided. Green Bay stunned Atlanta with a 33-25 SU win and cover.

Into the abyss

The win at Atlanta inspired a bump in Green Bay 's price for their next game at home against the Vikings for Monday Night football. The Pack was installed as hefty 6-point chalks against a Viking team that had won and covered 3 of their previous 4 games. Minnesota prevailed 20-17 to push Green Bay once and for all into the abyss.

The loss to the Vikings began an ugly 2-5 SU and 0-5-2 ATS end to the Sherman era. The Packers were unable to overcome neither their injury problems nor Favre's erratic play. Green Bay finished dead last in turnover margin and Sherman finished without his job as he was fired the day after Green Bay defeated former coach Mike Holmgren and Seattle 23-17.