We all knew it was going to be a tough season once the pro-bowl guards were allowed to leave Titletown. We knew it wasn't going to get much better when the front office didn't pick up any free agents to help bolster the spotty defense. We understood that this may be the last year for our great future hall of fame quarterback. But I don't think there were a lot of people expecting or even contemplating a season such as the one we find ourselves in at this point in time. 1-7 at the midway point is hard to choke down.

A record of 1-7 has only been accomplished four other times by our beloved Packers, and not since 1986 under Forest Gregg. And only one of those disastrous years did the team finish with a .500 or better record. In 1984 Forest Gregg finished at 8-8. And to finish with an 8-8 record this year would be quite a feat but only because it seems this year's Packers just can't find a way to win.

Sunday at home against the ailing Pittsburgh Steelers, who were without Jerome Betties, Willie Parker for the entire second half, and starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Packers still failed to find a way to win. And to top it all off, the Steelers came into Lambeau with Charlie Batch as their starting QB. Charlie Batch ... who had to check his own personal bio to find out what position he played because it had been so long since he was actually a starter for anyone in the NFL. If any Super Bowl contender looked ripe for the picking it was Pittsburgh on Sunday. But the fruit died on the vine.

The Packers are not playing their best ball of recent memory. I mean, Longwell continues to be off the mark and missed another what should have been an easy one, the defense played pretty well against the "second and third stringers" for most of the afternoon but couldn't help put any points on the board, and while the offense was surprised with an expected running game from Samkon Gada, they failed to do anything with it. As they have done in past games, the Packers pushed themselves down into the Steelers' end of the field twice in the final period, and only trailing by 10 points. And yet both of those drives characterized the Packers' entire season thus far ... Close but no cigar. Both drives stall on failed forth down conversion attempts because they were too far out for Longwell to even try and yet stalled when the offense couldn't get the needed yards.

If we take a minute to dissect the game we see that if the Steelers' defense doesn't put a touchdown on the board via a fumble, if Longwell makes that missed 31 yarder in the first half, the game is tied in the forth quarter. But as I said earlier, oh so close but Green Bay couldn't find that one little ingredient to get them over the hump and pull out a victory. The entire season, save for the opener against Detroit, the Packers stay close enough to win the games but end up losing by the slimmest of margins. I believe the 10 points against both Steelers and the Vikings are the widest margin of defeat this year.

Like many, I'm tired of playing the "Blame Game" this year and wonder to myself, is this payback for the previous decade when things came so easily with the young kid from Mississippi? Is this the football gods' way of evening out the past decade when we were on top of the heap every year? If so, then we will just have to live with it.

In a dismal year when things continue to spiral out of control and a .500 season seems out of reach, what else do we, as Packer fans, have left to cling to but the realization that all good things must come to an end and that the future will be brighter as we bravely enter into the rebuilding stages of what is still a great and legendary dynasty. So I suggest to stop looking to blame someone for what is an inevitability in this day and age of free agents in the NFL, and do what's important. Enjoy the last year of Favre's lustrous career, remembering to give a big thanks to the kid from Mississippi for all that he's done for the Green Bay Packers these last 15 years. Because as painful as it may be to watch the walls of Lambeau crumble, Brett Favre is finishing up his hall of fame career and this losing season has got be harder on him then any of us sitting at home.

Okay, maybe we can still blame just one person. Keep your fingers crossed that his is also the last year we have to be subjected to the coaching inadequacies and stupidity of Mike Sherman.

Until next time ... Keep Driving Forward.