Steven Helmer Publications

Here are my thoughts from today's 38-10 Green Bay Packers ' victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field. There are no apologies for winning in the NFL. However, the Packers got a lot of help from the 49ers in this one, both because of San Francisco's injury woes, including starting quarterback Brock Purdy, and the various mistakes the 49ers made during the game. Still, it was better than seeing the Packers once again beating themselves. I am starting to have some concerns about Jordan Love. He escaped the game without turning the ball over but not without seeming to try to do just that. Two dropped interceptions and two near fumbles could have single handedly changed the outcome had they gone another way. I'm not saying the Packers made a mistake making him the franchise quarterback, but he sure does seem to be going through a bit of a sophomore jinx as their starter. I wasn't crazy about how the Packers closed out the first half. I won't fault the...

Here are my thoughts from the Green Bay Packers' 24-21 playoff loss at the San Francisco 49ers last night: I am really sick of losing to those guys. Green Bay has now lost five in a row against the 49ers, but this one felt especially heartbreaking because for around 55 minutes or so of the game, it really felt like they would pull off the upset. It reminded me a little bit of when Green Bay had the lead against the Seattle Seahawks late in the game a few years ago and collapsed to lose it. This was a game that came down to missed opportunities. Another Anders Carlson field goal miss allowed for the 49ers' go-ahead score late in the game. The failed 4th-and-1 early on (which I agree with Matt LaFleur, it was a bad ball spot by the refs) stopped the team's early momentum and kept at least three points off the board. Two dropped interceptions by the defense could have been game-changers. You just can't let the top-seeded team stay in the game like that. They had the 49ers...