It was halftime, the Packers were leading 16-0 in the 2014 NFC Championship Game at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.
I was on my laptop, clicking up Expedia to look over possible flights to Phoenix for the Super Bowl. I found a nice depature right before ex-Packer Jon Ryan pulled a fake field goal for a touchdown to make it 16-7. No sweat, I still confirmed that flight as Mason Crosby kicked a field goal to make it a 19-7 game in the 4th quarter.
Checking out return flights, Russell Wilson ran one in, then came the infamous on-side kick before Marshawn Lynch scored with a wide open 24 yarder. Now my fingers were nervously scrolling when the two point conversion put the Seahawks in front.
I finally had to delete the booking even though Crosby made a clutch kick to force overtime.
On the opening possession of OT, Jevon Kearse beat Tramon Williams and incredibly, the last flight of the season was back to Green Bay.
The Packers return to the Link Thursday night with a lot less on the line but it could be the end of the line in the 2018 season for the loser.
Both teams are markedly different so in the land of Starbucks, let's match them up.
The Espresso
That would be the running games. The Packers rely on one, the Seahawks on three. Aaron Jones cemented his status as the lead dog with his 145 yard, two touchdown effort last week against the Dolphins. The Packers need to keep serving up their version of a ground espresso so there's balance and the other Aaron, Rodgers, can deploy the play action and keep game against the Seattle defense.
The Seahawks are the NFL's top rushing team with equal servings of Chris Carson (497 yards), Mike Davis (346) and rookie Rashaad Penny (254). Throw in Russell Wilson's 210 on the ground and Seattle piles up over 152 a week.
Which team runs it better and slows the other will win.
The Iced Coffee
Putting a big chill in the Packer defense effort are the injuries to Nick Perry, Kentrell Brice and Kevin King. All three stayed home and it will force coordinator Mike Pettine to come up with creative combinations again. They worked well when the players started dropping last week against Miami, but that was with Brock Osweiler quarterbacking, not Wilson. Kyler Fackerell, Reggie Gilbert, Raven Greene and Bashaud Breeland have to step up again.
Cappuccinos
If the run games are stunted, which quarterback will get the time to make plays in the passing game? The offensive lines will need strong, cappuccino like efforts. Seattle has two players who have gotten home on quarterbacks, Frank Clark with 8 sacks and Jarran Reed with 5, accounting for over half of the Seahawk's total of 23. The Packers on the other hand, have had 15 different players record at least a half sack among their NFL leading 31 on the season. Gilbert told me this week he's noticed a lot of offensive linemen are making last minute declarations at the line of scrimmage trying to figure who and where the Green Bay blitzers are coming from. Advantage Packers.
Lattes
The unmistakable brew serves up the intangibles that could swing the game. The first favors the home team as CenturyLink is a decided advantage. Yet in both the Fail Mary and NFC title game losses, the Packers rose above the noise and seemingly had both games in hand. The Head Coaches, Pete Carroll and Mike McCarthy, have faced off six times. Carroll won the first three when his roster was loaded with not only Wilson, but Lynch and the great Legion of Boom defense. All three of those games were played in Seattle. McCarthy has won the last, all regular season games at Lambeau. So this is the 7th and deciding game. McCarthy is 10-4 on short rest games. Who will come up with the better game plan on short notice?
I think the Packers have a real shot in this one. Seattle's 4 wins came in a five week span against teams that were floundering, Dallas, Arizona, Oakland and Detroit. But Green Bay is still 0 for the season on the road. The breakthrough will have to wait. I like Seattle to squeak out another one 24-20.