There are losses, and then there are existential losses — the kind that don’t just beat you on the scoreboard, but sit you down afterward and ask uncomfortable questions about your relationship with professional football.
This was one of those.
In “Nix Picks Nixed,” Chris and Dave come off the Broncos loss sounding less like angry fans and more like two men slowly realizing they’ve spent decades emotionally investing in a sport explicitly designed to betray them. The Packers didn’t just lose to Denver — they unraveled. A game that felt controlled, winnable, even promising, collapsed under the weight of interceptions, injuries, dropped opportunities, and that familiar sinking realization: oh… this again.
Jordan Love goes from efficient to frantic. A first-half passer rating north of 120 crashes into the abyss. A first-down bomb meant to be a knockout punch instead becomes the moment everything turns — momentum, confidence, and ultimately the season’s ceiling. Meanwhile, Micah Parsons’ injury doesn’t just remove a player; it exposes the structural fragility of the entire defense. Once the pass rush disappears, the secondary’s limitations scream into the open air.
And yet — this is Packers Therapy, so despair is never left unattended.
Chris zooms out, grounding the loss against real-world tragedy, reminding us that football misery still lives in the realm of privilege. Dave zooms in, questioning whether caring this much is rational at all. Is fandom a fool’s errand? Is being teased by annual relevance worse than being terrible outright? Are the Packers just good enough to hurt you forever?
They talk chess. They talk officiating incompetence. They talk coaches making five-out-of-ten decisions in billion-dollar enterprises. They talk dropped interceptions, special teams malpractice, and the unique psychological damage caused by a team that’s almost elite.
But they also talk gratitude. Perspective. History. Shared memory. The simple truth that Packers Therapy itself exists because venting — together — is the only way to survive weeks like this.
The sun still comes up. The Packers will still play again. And somehow, inexplicably, we’ll still be watching.
Because this isn’t just football.
It’s therapy.
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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/packerstherapy
PayPal: Packerstherapy@yahoo.com
Posting its first show in 2005, Packers Therapy is the longest-running Packers podcast on the Internet. Hosts Chris and Dave began the show as a way of capturing the spirited chats the two co-workers had about the team around the office. The two have no pretense about being experts: they are just two opinionated shareholders who love the team, follow it closely, but don’t always see the Packers fortunes eye to eye.
The guys encourage comments and questions via their Twitter feed @PackersTherapy or email to packerstherapy@yahoo.com and read and respond to as many as they can during each show.
Packers Therapy is a part of the Packers Talk family of podcasts, serving up five distinct podcasts to satisfy the most fervent of Packer fans. Variety is the spice of life, so subscribe to Packers Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow Packers Talk on Twitter and Facebook.
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