Collapse. Crumble. Choke. Whatever word you want to use, the Green Bay Packers did it on Sunday. They were in the driver’s seat to representing the NFC in the Super Bowl, with no one else in the car.

The only problem was, the Seattle Seahawks were that late straggler running after the city bus, and the Packers stopped and let them on.

This is all to say, the Packers probably should be preparing to play the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in just under two weeks. But they let the defending champs back up off the mat, and the Seahawks showed championship mettle in mounting a historic comeback.

So give credit to the Seahawks for taking advantage of the opportunity(s) given to them, but let’s talk about what the Packers did ”“ or didn’t do ”“ to give the Seahawks a chance.

With as many bad plays as the Packers had at the end of the game, their downfall started much earlier. They were on the road with early momentum against the most confident team in the league. And they went conservative. The Packers twice kicked field goals inside the 5-yard line instead of going for the touchdown.

Don’t get me wrong, points of any kind are huge against one the league’s best defenses, but if you can get seven instead of three, you do it.

It didn’t hurt the Packers too much, as they did jump out to a 16-0 lead, which stood until midway through the third quarter. The Seahawks cut the deficit to 16-7 on a touchdown pass from their punter to an offensive lineman ”“ hard to fault the Packers on a play that 31 other teams would have bit on as well ”“ later on in the quarter.

The lead increased to 19-7 in the fourth quarter, which saw the Packers make the majority of their mental mistakes. The first came with 5:13 left in regulation, when Packers safety Morgan Burnett got his hands on Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s fourth interception of the game. Burnett had room to scramble and return the pick, maybe for a touchdown, but instead inexplicably slid after returning it four yards.

That would have been a smart play if there were less than two minutes remaining, and the Packers could run out the clock, but not with 5:13 left. To make matters worse, the Packers did try to run out the clock, as they handed the ball off to Eddie Lacy three times for a total of minus-4 yards. And thanks to two Seattle timeouts, just 1:12 ran off the clock.

The Packers still had a two-touchdown lead, which was good, because the Seahawks needed just seven plays to cut the deficit to 19-14. But there was only 2:09 left at that point, and the Seahawks needed to convert an onside kick to keep their hopes alive.

So out goes the hands team for the Packers on the kickoff, giving Green Bay its best chance to secure the kick. But the Packers’ most trusted receiver ”“ Jordy Nelson ”“ didn’t even get to touch the ball, even as it looped his way. His blocker, Green Bay tight end Brandon Bostick, inexplicably ”“ seems to be a recurring theme ”“ leapt in the air to corral the kick. Bostick rose above the crowd ”¦ and failed to grab the ball, instead letting it conk off his helmet and into the arms of Seattle’s Chris Matthews.

The Seahawks scored a touchdown four plays later to take the lead, and from there it was anybody’s game, with the Packers needing a classic Aaron Rodgers crunchtime drive just to tie it with a field goal and send it to overtime.

I, personally, don’t like to use the word “choke” when it comes to sporting events, as there are always two teams and countless plays and scenarios which allow epic comebacks/collapses to happen. But the Packers had this game in the bag, needing only to avoid mental and physical mistakes to secure that Super Bowl berth. But the Packers checked off every item on a list of things not to do.

So now they will be doing what the rest of us will be doing on Super Bowl Sunday: watching the game.

They could have been ”“ and should be ”“ playing in it.

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.