It's the End of the Road

Final flag of the season. dwm photo

 The Packers ended the season on a three game losing streak. The way they lost left little hope for the 2025 season.

 

 We fumbled the opening kick-off and then threw two first-half interceptions. Amazingly, the Packers were only down ten points, and if they could have gotten things on track, they might have had a chance to win.

 

 The defense played a decent game but two unnecessary roughness penalties gave up critical yards when they were still in the game. Remarkably, they gave up only two field goals, they lost, 22 - 10.

 

Philadelphia is a good team, good enough to earn the second seed in the National Football Conference with a 14 - 3 record  The Eagles outplayed the Packers and Green Bay wasn't close to their best. I would have liked to see them play better.

Green Bay stayed relatively healthy during the season. They only lost quarterback Jordan Love for three games after he was hurt in the season opener. Several players missed a couple of games but were able to rejoin the team. 

 

Love signed a lucrative contract extension before the season, tying him to Green Bay for several years. I don't think the contract played a role in any decline as much as this being his second season as a starter. That gave teams time to do their homework and find ways to defend him. His injury hurt his progress as did new defenses, since experience is the best teacher, I believe Jordan will learn more by watching tape of the season and learn from it.

It's not just the quarterback. The coaching staff and talent acquisition people need to improve the team and every player needs to get better. 

Next year will be Jordan Love's third season as a starter. While the team improved over 2023, there is room to grow. I expect to see a better defense next season and an additional weapon or two for the offense. 

Love is the first Green Bay quarterback to take his team to the play-offs his first two seasons as a starter, something Bart Starr, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers didn't do. 2025 will be his third as a starter. One stat you will hear a lot next year is how Rodgers won the Super Bowl his third year.

 

Adding to the challenge are the other teams in the NFC North. Detroit could reach it's first-ever Super Bowl this year and looks to be a good team for several years. Minnesota exceeded expectations in 2024 and will probably be a candidate to reach the post-season again next year. The Bears seem to have their QB of the future, if they do it will be a fight to win the division or qualify as a wild card team next year.

The season's over. One and done in the play-offs after finishing 11 - 6 during the regular season. The next thing on the football calendar comes in April when Green Bay hosts the NFL college player draft.  

I'm hoping to get there although I haven't figured out how or when. The draft is unlikely to return to Titletown in my lifetime. It would be fun to see this event in person, by April, the sorrow over a premature ending to the 2024 season will be replaced with hope and excitement for next season, Go Pack, Go!