The Packers losing to the Bears to end the regular season was not ideal. Ending the season with losses to two divisional opponents even less so. But lets take a moment and try and regain some perspective here.

Last season the Packers lost a game to Tommy DeVito. They dropped back to back games against bottom dwellers Oakland and Denver. They let Baker Mayfield come into Lambeau Field and turn into a combination of Tom Brady and Michael Jordan. Crushing Dallas in the playoffs was incredible, but the road to get there was not a fun one.

This season the Packers had essentially locked up a playoff spot with two weeks remaining. The Packers won back to back games with Malik Willis at QB. They won games in the last seconds with a kicker that actually showed up when they needed him. They blew teams out by 20 plus points multiple times.

Are there blemishes? Sure. I would’ve liked the Packers to have picked up one more divisional win. Could have done with a few less injuries. Would be nice to have a path that involved at least one playoff game at home.

At the end of the day though, this is still the youngest team in the league. They picked up an additional two wins from last year, and they have the ability to add more in the offseason with a cleaner cap then they’ve had in years. This is a regular season to be celebrated, so that’s what we’re going to do.

The Awards

Packers Rookie of the Year

Edgerrin Cooper. The 2024 draft class has been a mixed bag so far. First round pick Jordan Morgan and third rounder MarShawn Lloyd both missed a majority of the season to injuries. Third rounder Ty’ron Hopper has been a non factor while Javon Bullard has had ups and downs. This really came down to Cooper or 4th Round Safety Evan Williams. Both missed time to injury, but both have solidified themselves as starters moving forward. Cooper ultimately gets the nod because while Williams has certainly been one of the better rookies at his position, Cooper has been one of the better players at his position in the entire league.

Packers Defensive Player of the Year

Xavier McKinney: This was not a difficult call. The Packers targeted McKinney right from the beginning, signing him on the first day of free agency. His impact was immediate, transforming a safety group that was one of the worst in the league to a strength behind a much improved defense. He grabbed 8 interceptions, the most by a Packers player in 15 years. While he wasn’t able to catch up to the immortal Irv Comp, he was worth every penny the Packers sent his way.

2024 Green Bay Packers MVP

Josh Jacobs: In an ideal world this is going to Jordan Love coming off a season where he built on what he did in the back half of 2023 and where he firmly entrenched himself as a top 5 QB in the league. Unfortunately, injuries and inconsistent play from both himself and the WR group stopped that from happening. Love has played well this season, but Josh Jacobs has been the engine behind the Packers success this year.

Not only did Jacobs have to come into Green Bay with the expectation of being a three down back in a run heavy offense, he was tasked with replacing a fan favorite in Aaron Jones. Jacobs responded with the 6th most rushing yards in the league (despite essentially not playing the entire last game). He broke a franchise regular season record scoring touchdowns in eight consecutive games.

The Other Awards

Regular Season Game of the Year:

Packers Vs Texans, Week 7: There were more meaningful wins this year. There were more impressive wins this year. But all offseason the Texans were positioned as the Packers counterpart in the AFC. Both young teams with promising young quarterbacks. Love vs Stroud was a huge debate. Both teams had been trendy preseason dark horse Super Bowl picks. They came in with similar winning records, and at the end of the day Green Bay came up when it mattered most.

Regular Season Play of the Year

Malik Willis to Jayden Reed, Week 8:

This may seem like an odd pick, but hear me out. This is the exact kind of game this team was losing last season. Let an inferior opponent hang around. Starting QB out injured. In Florida. Instead Matt LaFleur calls this, and just a few plays later Brandon McManus was putting out the lights on his former team. This is the growth from last season that makes this regular season a successful one.

The 1st Annual Brandon McManus “We Have a Kicker” Award

Brandon McManus, Kicker

McManus was 95.6% on FG the regular season, 100% on XP, and should’ve had another game winner against Chicago if not for some dubious game management. What does this mean?

We have a kicker.

Playoff Predictions

With how the regular season ended, I don’t anticipate many people giving Green Bay a chance going into Philly. However we’ve seen this movie before. Philly is coming off a week where they rested starters. Their quarterback has missed multiple games with a concussion. Even if Hurts plays, this is an opponent that will be dealing with rust. That’s why Green Bay is going to steal a win. If the Packers get Romeo Doubs and Evan Williams back, they have a real shot at moving on to the divisional round.

Packers 24 – Eagles 21