Shoutouts & Callouts

Six games into the season, and following three straight losses for the Green Bay Packers, I wrote that the team was right where I expected them to be, given the youthful roster and the transition it went through over the offseason. I also wrote that I’d be curious to see how the final 11 games went and what sort of progress the team was making for 2024 and beyond. 

Those 11 games have been played and, with the Packers clinching a playoff berth following a 17-9 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, it would be hard to call the 2023 season anything but a success — regardless of what happens in the postseason. 

Have the Packers been perfect along the way? No, far from it. There has been some maddening inconsistencies. How could the same team that beat the Lions in Detroit on Thanksgiving and then knocked off the reigning Super Bowl champs then lay eggs in back-to-back games against the New York Giants and Tampa Bay — and then nearly lose to the woeful Carolina Panthers? 

But the same team that was finding ways to lose close games early in the season, aside from a Monday night meltdown in the Big Apple, found ways to win those games down the stretch. Sunday’s win against Chicago was a great example. 

Driving back from Green Bay I heard a comment on the postgame coverage calling the game, “17-9 and it wasn’t that close.” That’s pretty much spot on. There wasn’t a single drive on Sunday where the Bears defense truly shut down the Packers’ offense. The score should have been at least 13-6 at halftime if not for a missed field goal and poor clock management by the Packers right before the end of the half. And the Packers were likely on their way to another scoring drive midway through the third when the Bears forced a turnover on what was going to be a first-down scramble by Jordan Love. 

In reality, Sunday’s game was a microcosm of the Packers’ regular season — flashes of promise mixed with mistakes that made things more difficult than they needed to be. Yet, down the stretch with the season on the line, the Packers delivered. 

After settling for a field goal when Bo Melton’s diving attempt in the end zone was ruled incomplete — I thought a butt equaled two feet, but I digress — the Packers defense responded with a stop that included a key sack by Karl Brooks. From there, the Packers ran their four-minute offense to near perfection. 

What’s more, any question remaining that Love is in fact the Packers’ quarterback of the future, was answered with two key plays down the stretch — a 15-yard completion to Jayden Reed on third and 2 and another 15-yarder to Tucker Craft on third and 7 that set up Aaron Jones’s game-clinching first-down run two plays later. 

Success in the NFL ultimately comes down to how well a team can execute on third and fourth downs. Love and the Packers offense passed with flying colors down the stretch. 

Obviously, the Packers have exceeded my expectations this year. I predicted them going 8-9 and missing the playoffs by a game. While I wasn’t far off, I’m glad that the Packers ended on the right side of the .500 and playoff coin. 

Whatever happens from here on out is house money. Call me crazy, but I feel the Packers have more than a puncher’s chance Sunday afternoon in Dallas — I mean how many ways have we seen a Mike McCarthy-led team find a way to lose in the postseason? Should the Packers pull off the upset it would likely be curtains the following week against a San Francisco team that’s playing at another level. But the fact that they are even in the playoffs — with a first-year starter at quarterback and the youngest roster in pro football — is icing on the cake. 

That doesn’t mean there isn’t impetus on the Packers — especially the defense — to perform well. Joe Barry’s unit, for as well as it played against Minnesota and Chicago, still was responsible for meltdowns against Tampa Bay and Carolina the two weeks prior. A playoff blowout could, and likely should, end Barry’s up and down tenure in Green Bay. 

Aside from that question, Packers fans should be very optimistic about the future with a young core of receivers that will only continue to improve along with Jordan Love. 

Am I saying that Packers are a year or two away from perhaps winning a Super Bowl? I’m not going to go that far, but I will say I’m far more confident in saying that could happen than I was 12 weeks ago.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].