The performance of the Green Bay secondary in 2011 was tainted by the loss of Nick Collins in Week 2. Through just a few games, fans and experts discovered Collins' substantial value to the proclaimed best secondary in football. It became evident that second-year safety Morgan Burnett couldn't carry Charlie Peprah's weight the same way Collins could in 2010.

Miscommunications between the safeties and cornerbacks were common, resulting in home run plays from the opposition. The meeting between San Diego and Detroit (at home) were particularly painful as big receivers Vincent Jackson and Calvin Johnson teed off on Tramon Williams. At the same time, the Packer secondary managed their same turnover prowess for most of the season - despite close to no pass rush up front.

This year's Green Bay Packers looked like a team on a mission. Like a team destined to end up in Indianapolis and atone for the franchise's Super Bowl loss 14 years ago in San Diego. Since that fateful day on the West Coast, the Packers have had some of the toughest playoff defeats of all the teams in the NFL. Where does Sunday's loss sit on that list? 

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The Packers confirmed Sunday the abnormally long list of flaws that had fans of the 15-1 NFC North champs on the edge of their seats all season long. The deep-rooted problems lie on defense, though miscues like dropped passes and fumbles played a major role in the loss. It was sheer sluggishness that cemented the Packers' fate though, as Green Bay kissed their magical season goodbye in front of a hopeful Lambeau audience.

Let's pretend for a second that the Packers at least played a fundamentally sound game, free of turnovers and dropped passes. We suddenly have a ball game...but would it have even translated into anything? Sunday proved that Green Bay's reliance on a 40-points-per-game offense wasn't going to cut it down the stretch. The defense simply wasn't good enough to bail out any less-than-perfect performance by the offense.