First off, sorry to hear that about your cousin man. That is terrible.
And everything you said is spot on. I just see it way too many times, teams that LOOK like they are building something great........thinking their great season and progression will continue into next year, only to come falling back down to Earth. Falcons after their superbowl, us after our superbowl, Bengals after theirs, hell even the Lions have fell back down to Earth. I feel like they also wasted a golden opportunity.
We had an opportunity to only be 2 wins from a superbowl, and today was as good as any chance to come away with a win. It was indeed a wasted opportunity no matter how much heart we showed, because next year we could very well end up going right back down to the dweller.
Am I happy we finally played some meaningful football this year? Of course, but to be happy just because we didn't embarrass ourselves is setting the bar EXTRA low, especially since we SHOULD have won that game.