Windy Soldier Field gets best of Packers' Ryan
It's ironic that Green Bay punter Jon Ryan last year won an award for courage and inspiration named after … Ed Block.
When it comes to punting and the Green Bay Packers, that's one of the few times word "block" has been used in the last decade or so.
That's because the Packers had not had a punt blocked in 12 years -- that's 929 kicks -- heading into Sunday's game against the Bears.
But all of that changed at bone-chilling Soldier Field. The Bears blocked 2 Ryan punts en route to a 35-7 victory.
To add to the nightmare, Ryan had to chase down a mishandled snap in the first quarter and had a 9-yard punt against the wind late in the second quarter.
"I've never had a game like that," Ryan said. "I don't think the weather got into my head at all. I came out before the game and felt great.
"During the game, the wind was moving the ball around. It was hard to catch it real clean. But the Bears are a good pressure team and we knew they would be coming."
Granted, the team's 12-year streak without a blocked punt wasn't the most glamorous stat out there. With Brett Favre setting passing yardage and touchdown records in recent weeks, it's not like Green Bay fans have been watching games in bars and yelling in triumph at the big-screen TVs every time Ryan got off a successful punt.
But it was still a pretty long streak that ended Sunday.
"It (the streak) has been brought to my attention before," said Ryan, who is in his second season with the Packers. "That's not something we think a lot about. You never want a punt blocked.
"When you go into any game, you don't think about what happened in the past. But you have to have thick skin as a kicker or a punter."
The botched punt plays -- plus the Bears' defense and an assist from the cold and windy conditions -- helped to guarantee the Packers (12-3) will not gain the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
The best they can do is finish tied with Dallas (13-2) and will lose the tiebreaker because the Cowboys whipped the Packers 37-27 on Nov. 29.
Ryan just wants to put this nightmare behind him.
"If you can't learn from something like this, it's pointless," he said. "We'll look at the film and move on to next week."