Packers: 10-0

It was late into the fourth quarter of yesterday's game before Wayne Larrivee was able to say, "and there is your dagger!"

I don't find it exciting to watch a close game. I find it stressful.

Any stress I experience during the game is quickly erased when the Packers chalk up another win.

From Vic Ketchman, Packers.com:

Right from the beginning, it was evident the Packers were not clean in their execution, to use the vernacular of the team’s head coach, Mike McCarthy.

From a drive-sustaining run out of punt formation that included two fumbles by punter-turned-runner Tim Masthay, to a one-yard touchdown run by defensive-tackle-turned-runner B.J. Raji that capped the Packers’ first offensive series, it was clear the Packers were not on top of their game. Somehow, however, they managed to beat the visiting Tampa Bay Bucs, 35-26, and remain undefeated.

“He probably should report the next time. We got away with one there,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said of Raji, who neglected to report eligibility to the referee prior to his touchdown run, but somehow managed to have his 337 pounds ignored by Referee Al Riveron’s crew.

The football gods were on the Packers’ side on this November Sunday at Lambeau Field. The gods were with the Packers when rookie D.J. Smith inexplicably dived on an onside kick that was rolling dead shy of its mandatory 10-yard distance, and the gods were still with the Packers when wide receiver Jordy Nelson misjudged what would be a game-clinching pass from Rodgers, and was fortunately able to adjust to the throw and run the ball down.

“Take your hat off to Tampa Bay. They challenged us. We played the game poorly. We laid the ball on the ground too much. It wasn’t the cleanest game,” McCarthy said.

It was and is, however, win No. 10, and it sets up a long-awaited showdown in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day.

“For the division title?” Rodgers said in repeating the question. “No, we have six games left, but it’ll go a long way if we win.”

Yeah, it’ll go a very long way.

I am praying that the game against the Lions isn't close. Getting Thanksgiving dinner together is stressful enough. I don't want to add the stress of a close game to the mix.

It's fantastic that the Packers are 10-0.

I certainly can handle a loss, last year the Packers had 6; but I really don't want it to happen on Thursday, not on Thanksgiving, not to the Lions.

Whatever the final score, I'm thankful that the Packers are having such success this season.