{image1}A failed 4th-and-1 and a converted 4th-and-26 wiped out a miraculous 4th-and-25 that had seemingly punched the Packers' ticket with destiny. And because of the first two, Green Bay's season ended at least four quarters too early Sunday in the cold, dark Philadelphia evening.

By all accounts, the Packers were the better team at Lincoln Financial Field, but Donovan McNabb was the best player in the building. McNabb's 106 yards rushing and his 28-yard, season-saving completion to Freddie Mitchell on the aforementioned 4th-and-long snatched the win from the Packers' grasp and thousands of exultant cheers from Packers' fans throats.

Easy come, easy go.

As exciting as the previous Sunday's win over Seattle was, the defeat to the Eagles hurt just as much. Not only couldn't the Packers come up with the one key play in regulation to seal the win, but they squandered a 14-0 lead and a turnover-less four quarters, rubbing a fistful of January salt in already painful season-ending wounds.

Of course, the ultimate mistake was Brett Favre's mystifying first-down heave to no one in particular on the Packers' first and only possession of overtime, but the field should have been vacated and the Green Bay locker room bathed in celebration long before that ever happened.

Three penalties on punt returns hurt Green Bay's field position through the course of the game, the final one pushing the Packers back 18 yards to their own 32 moments before Favre's interception.

Four downs inside the Philadelphia 5 resulted in no points shortly before halftime, and instead of a 17-7 or 21-7 lead, it was only 14-7 and momentum somehow belonged to the -- until then -- overmatched Eagles.

Favre's scramble with under three minutes left fell half a yard shy of a critical first down. Sherman, remembering both the failed 4th down as well as Green Bay's similar inability to run out the clock against the Eagles in November, turned aside his recent aggressive instincts and punted. A touchback and a 22-yard run on the Eagles' first play negated any field position advantage.

So, yes, it was an excruciating loss, but the Packers did manage to get one game further than they did last year. While that bodes well for 2004, Favre will also be one year older. Was this No. 4's last, best shot at getting back to a Super Bowl?

As attractive as an NFC Championship rematch with Carolina looks on paper, how much gas would the Packers have had left in the tank after two heart-thumping victories? We'll never know if momentum and destiny would have been enough to earn a trip to Houston.

There's always next year, though the Packers have work to do. Assuming Favre returns and Ahman Green stays healthy, Green Bay will again have a formidable offense. Javon Walker and Robert Ferguson developed nicely in 2003 and should become bigger threats next year.

But the offense isn't the primary concern. In no particular order, the Packers need the following to ensure a return playoff engagement and possible Super Bowl run come January 2005:

• Collective defensive will: Al Harris' winning INT return will be long remembered, but it wouldn't have been necessary had the Packers defense not allowed three long scoring drives to Seattle in the second half last week. The failure to convert Sunday's 4th-and-26 speaks volumes -- there are no Reggie White-type playmakers on this Green Bay defense. Remember White's late sacks that clinched Super Bowl XXXI? It may be cliché, but the Packers need someone to "step up" in critical defensive situations to become a championship team.
  
  
• Better special teams: Antonio Chatman did a great job of stabilizing the punt return team after last year's fright show on possession exchanges. But the return penalties Sunday were the latest part of a disturbing trend which included inconsistent punting by Josh Bidwell, generally short kickoffs by Ryan Longwell and mediocre-to-poor kick return coverage. None of these things definitively cost the Packers at any single point, but they made offensive or defensive momentum a very fragile thing, at times.
  
  
• Fewer turnovers: If the Packers had protected the ball better in the first half of the season, Sunday's game would have been played in Green Bay. The OT pick was simply Favre being Favre -- brilliant for five weeks, inexplicable for one moment -- but fumbles and interceptions cost the Packers dearly throughout the season and will continue to do so.
  
  
• More takeaways: The Packers needed just one play to cash in on the Eagles' early (and only) turnover in the first quarter. Despite 8 sacks, Green Bay didn't force another turnover for the rest of the game, and it cost them. On the year, the Packers had 32 takeaways, 13 fewer than 2002. While that number was good for 10th in the league in 2003, their turnover differential was 0 after being +17 in 2002. That's the primary reason the team needed a miracle to even make the playoffs.

Yet those concerns are all fodder for next season. This season won't recede from memory quite so fast. There was Green's NFC-leading 1,883-yard campaign. And Favre's amazing Monday night in Oakland. The Harris' pick which sealed an OT thriller in Lambeau. Sweeping the Bears. The win over Minnesota in the dome. The 97-yard TD drive that beat the Bucs. The final, incredible Sunday in Green Bay. And rallying from 3-4 to within a heartbeat of the NFC Championship Game.

"As disappointing as today is, there will be better days because we're a better football team,'' Sherman said afterwards. "And the character and the chemistry in our locker room is not going to go away. That's going to be there next year. As well as talent. As well as draft picks. As well as guys who are hurt are going to come back. So, I have tremendous confidence in the future."

It's only a shame the future feels so far away at the moment.