Okay, I don’t get it, Packers fans.

Green Bay is on a tremendous roll right now having ripped through two division champions on the road despite an injury-plagued season and is a game against long-time rival Chicago away from reaching the Super Bowl.

And for the second time in four years the green and gold has reached this point, last losing to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game on a frigid night at Lambeau Field, after Brett Favre threw a bad interception to end the season.

That was an upset loss, as Green Bay was the top seed following a 13-3 regular season in 2007. But that stuff happens. Any given Sunday, yada, yada.

How about sustained success? The team is 21-11 the past two regular seasons with two playoff appearances, and, again, the Packers are in the NFC Championship game for the second time in four seasons. Furthermore, with a lot of depth and a collection of young skill players on both sides of the ball, the team would appear destined to stay competitive well into the future.

Yet many Packers fans still can’t stand Ted Thompson.

Much of the angst still revolves around the departure now-likely-retired of Packer legend Brett Favre. I guess I could understand some anger from Favre loyalists early on, figuring the legend had done enough with the organization to write his own ticket out of town – and back in again when he changed his mind.

But I’ve always found it hard to blame Thompson too much for being ready to move on when the undecided one first announced his supposed retirement. He dealt with Favre’s growing diva-ness for awhile and eventually decided the team had to cut the cord. How can true fans of a team hold too long a grudge over that?

And Aaron Rodgers, who could have and, I believe very likely would have, politely asked out of town had Thompson turned the reigns back over to Favre at that point, if only because he’d sat the bench patiently for as long as he had, has turned out to be a heckuva a quarterback of the future and the present.

He’s developed into a top four or five quarterback in the NFL – if not higher – and he’s virtually assured that the team’s two decade stretch of relevance under Favre and, to a lesser degree Don Majkowski, stretches well into a third and possibly a fourth, assuming he stays reasonably healthy.

Then, earlier this season the rancor toward Thompson stemmed from his unwillingness to dip his toe into the trade market after Ryan Grant got hurt. Instead of dealing draft picks for someone like Marshawn Lynch (we here at Zoneblitz were among his critics for that move, or lack thereof), Thompson stood pat, squeaking by with Brandon Jackson and John Kuhn, then unveiling late in the year his latest secret weapon, James Starks.

Starks, from the mighty college powerhouse of Buffalo, needed time to recover from some injuries. He debuted late in the season, then exploded onto the scene in Green Bay’s Wild Card game at Philadelphia.

He was less prominent in the Atlanta game but provides at least the threat of a run game to go with Rodgers’ arm and a cadre of receivers who can all go off at any time. And beyond this season, Starks looks to me like one of those late round finds teams have to hit on every now and then to stay good well into the future.

Furthermore, Thompson and his team have advanced to the NFC Championship game while overcoming the losses of Ryan Grant, Jermichael Finley, Nick Barnett, Mark Tauscher and many other lesser named players. Sure, nobody lets teams use injuries as an excuse in the NFL. They happen to everyone. But I would argue there aren’t many teams that could have withstood the losses Green Bay suffered during the season.

Sure, there’ve been bumps in the road. His drafts have included some duds (Justin Harrell?), but who can’t say that? This season, an ugly loss to Detroit late in the season put a playoff berth at risk and an earlier flub against Washington seems unexplainable now. But they made it through and against Atlanta Saturday night, the Packers looked scary good.

Yes, Thompson has had some struggles. But he’s had some spectacular successes, as well. And if the Packers can get past the Bears, who will provide a tough road block, it’ll be Thompson’s most spectacular success yet.