Packers sore and stunned as Chiefs end dreams of the perfect season

THE Green Bay Packers suffered a shock 19-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, shattering their hopes of a perfect season as three more teams joined them in the National Football League (NFL) playoffs.

The New England Patriots wrapped up the AFC East division with a 41-23 win over the Denver Broncos while the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens both advanced, before their games had even kicked off, as other results went their way. With just two weeks of the regular season left, seven of the 12 postseason berths have already been snapped up, setting up a mad scramble for the last five spots.

After winning 19 consecutive games, including last season’s Super Bowl, the Packers were on the verge of a host of records when they slipped up against a struggling opponent that fired their coach and benched their quarterback in the past week. But the Chiefs (6-8) overcame their problems to produce their best performance of the season in the first game under interim coach Romeo Crennel.

Packers wide receiver Donald Driver admits the club are sore to see their perfect season end. “It hurts because that’s something special,” Driver said. “The perfect season is over now. We know we have five games left to win the whole thing. It’s been a year since we lost and that’s something special. We have something better to look forward to and that’s Super Bowl XLVI.”

With new Chiefs starting quarterback Kyle Orton throwing for 299 yards, Ryan Succop kicked four field goals and Jackie Battle scored the game-winning touchdown.

The Packers, who fell to 13-1 this season, badly missed injured receiver Greg Jennings and quarterback Aaron Rodgers was below his best, completing 17 of 35 passes for 235 yards while being sacked four times.

The result denied the Packers a chance of joining the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only teams to go through a season undefeated, as well as spoiling their bid to break New England’s 21-game win streak in 2003-04.

“I viewed an undefeated season as gravy,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “Our goal was to get home-field advantage and win the Super Bowl.”

The Packers were already guaranteed a first round bye and a home game in the second week of the playoffs.

If they win one of their remaining two games, or the San Francisco 49ers lose any of their last three, Green Bay will lock up the top seed in the NFC.

The Indianapolis Colts celebrated the end of an embarrassing run of 13 straight losses as they registered their first win of the season, beating the Tennessee Titans 27-13. The Colts have been without star quarterback Peyton Manning all season.

The Colts’ win over the Titans ensured the Steelers, last year’s AFC Champions, were through to the playoffs. Their divisional rivals, the Ravens, were also gifted a spot in the playoffs despite losing to the San Diego Chargers 34-14 after the New York Jets were beaten 45-19 by the Philadelphia Eagles and the Oakland Raiders fell 28-27 to the Detroit Lions.

New Orleans, Super Bowl champions two seasons ago, served notice they are hitting their peak at the right time with a 42-20 demolition of the Minnesota Vikings (2-12).

But the Houston Texans’ (10-4) seven-game winning streak came to an abrupt end when they were beaten 28-13 by the Carolina Panthers (5-9).