Nostra-Damon: Regular Season Weeks 14-16
In part five, I peered into the Green Bay Packers’ future and foresaw the series of unfortunate events that befell them in weeks eleven through thirteen. If you missed part five, then click here to catch up! This week, I unveil the mysteries that are to take place for the Packers in weeks fourteen through sixteen. The Packers are 6-6 at this point in the season, but fate has smiled upon them. They still have a chance. This is Nostra-Damon: Peering Into The Packers Future Part Six.
Week 14: Packers at Giants
The New York Giants season could not have gone any worse for them. After starting the season 3-1, they caught the injury bug and lost six straight games in a gauntlet of a schedule. The Giants finally won one against Washington, just to lose to the Patriots prior to their bye week. Due to the onslaught of early season injuries and a late bye week, their chances at the playoffs became nonexistent.
The Packers had proven to be inconsistent all season and were coming off a four-game losing streak. The past four games were tough but the Packers were in each and every one of the games, including the prior week’s contest against the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Consequently, this built up some confidence for the Green and Gold.
Nostra-Damon: On Fire
The Packers decided to try something different compared to normal. They won the coin toss and decided to receive to begin the game. The Giants kicked off and Keisean Nixon housed it! When a team is on the road, it is important to keep up the energy on the sideline. Nixon provided that spark at the beginning of the game.
The Packers defense came out on the field and were able to stimy the Giants run game and were able to successfully fluster Daniel Jones with their pass-rush. The Packers linebackers had been a strength on the defense all season long and they hit a groove, so to speak. The pass-rush had been on fire with Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, Preston Smith, and Kingsley Enagbare all in rotation. Additionally, the Packers had learned to attack with their speedy inside linebackers and sent Quay Walker in as an additional rusher successfully on multiple occasions.
Quickly, the Green Bay offense were on the field, and just as quickly were off the field when Jordan Love threw a dime to rookie tight end Luke Musgrave in the seam. Musgrave fought off a couple of would-be tacklers and ran the rest of the way for a 70-yard score.
This type of energy continued through the rest of the game and the Packers won easily.
Giants 7-Packers 45
The Packers broke the four-game losing streak in a dominant fashion.
Week 15: Buccaneers at Packers
Since Tom Brady retired in the off-season, the Buccaneers had had a rough go of it. They had a carousel at the quarterback position: they had started four different quarterbacks in the season and had John Wolford starting against the Packers. In week 15, the Buccaneers were 4-9 and were in the running for the number one overall draft pick and a chance at Caleb Williams.
Nostra-Damon: Sidenote
A week before this game, on December 9th, Caleb Williams was announced as the Heisman Trophy winner for the second year in a row. Williams was the second player to have earned the award in back-to-back years since Archie Griffin in 1974 and 1975. This solidified Caleb Williams as the number one overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
Now back to the Buccaneers at Packers.
The game wasn’t that close. The Packers kept their rhythm going from their matchup against the Giants. Jordan Love had stepped into the role as the leader of this franchise very well at this point. There were still some mistakes here and there but they weren’t as prevalent as they were at the beginning of the year. As the temperatures began to drop, AJ Dillon took on more of a role for the Packers, allowing Aaron Jones to simply focus on being a playmaker. The young weapons for the Packers had solidified themselves well.
The Packers defense had been on fire as of late and the Buccaneers couldn’t move the ball very well at all. Because of all of this, the Packers won fairly easily.
Buccaneers 10-Packers 28
Week 16: Packers at Panthers
The Packers headed to Charlotte, North Carolina on a two-game winning streak and a record of 8-6. They were very much still in the hunt for the playoffs. On the other hand, the Panthers started the season 0-6. Bryce Young took some time to get adapted to the NFL’s speed, but once he did, he became almost unstoppable.
Since starting 0-6 the Panthers had gone 7-1, giving them a total record of 7-7 heading into the game against the Packers. Because of this, the Panthers still had a ton to play for this season.
Christmas came early on Christmas Eve thanks to this game! It was a slugfest. Jordan Love and Bryce Young threw for over 400 yards and scored a ton of points. It ultimately came down to who possessed the ball last in this one, which just so happened to be the Packers.
The Jordan Love-led Packers drove down the field and set up an Anders Carlson’s field goal to win the game with three seconds left. Carlson kicked the ball and it went up and to the right.
But not enough to miss it. It just barely went left of the right side crossbar: the Packers somehow won again.
Packers 31-Panthers 28
The Packers are now 9-6 with two games remaining. The Lions are 8-7 (who split both games with the Packers) and the Vikings are 7-8 (who lost to the Packers earlier but play them next week). The division is still up for grabs and a wild card spot is available for the taking. Find out how the regular season ends next week on Nostra-Damon!
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Damon is a diehard, fully-immersed cheesehead who currently lives in southern Missouri. He teaches at a local high school and has a family YouTube channel about all things Packers. You can follow him on twitter at @packersfamily and on YouTube at The Packers Family.
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