The Green Bay Packers aren’t rookies when it comes to the playoffs. So of course that means they have some experience in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs. And quite honestly, they’ve had more success than they have had heartbreak. That usually happens later in the tournament…
But I digress. Later today, the Packers will face the 2nd seed Philadelphia Eagles in the City of Brotherly Love. I’m hoping our Love shines brighter.
This season has been quite the rollercoaster ride – many ups and downs, twists and turns, so obviously we should expect the playoffs to be of similar chaos. The not knowing is what kinda gets to my nerves. And when this kind of thing happens to me, I try to look for some historical trends to lean on. Naturally, I looked up the Packers wild card record since 1993, this being the first time Green Bay made the playoffs with Brett Favre under center.
Here’s what I discovered:
Wild Wild Card History
Since 1993’s postseason, the Green Bay Packers have played a total of fifteen wild card games. Out of those games, seven of them had ended with the victor winning by six points or less. Of those seven games, the Packers have won four of them and have lost three.
In Green Bay’s first playoff win in over a decade, the Packers’ quarterback Brett Favre threw a game-winning touchdown to Sterling Sharpe. This game ended with a score of 28-24 against the Lions. The Packers followed this one up with another win against Detroit in 1994. It ended 16-12.
Sadly, in 1998, the Packers lost a close one to the 49ers in a wild card matchup. This game is most remembered as The Catch Two with Terrell Owens making a game-winning catch. The game should have been remembered for a Jerry Rice fumble sealing the game for the Packers, but the refs missed it. And of course instant replay was not a thing that season. The 49ers won 30-27.
The next close wild card game was in the 2003 wild card which saw the return of Mike Holmgren to Lambeau. However, its legacy began with the infamous words, “We want the ball and we’re gonna score”. The Seahawks lost to the Green and Gold due to an overly cocky Matt Hasselbeck pick-6 in overtime.
The Rodgers’ Era
Six years later, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers found themselves facing off against another NFC West team in the Arizona Cardinals. The highest-scoring playoff game of all time, the Packers took the “L” in overtime when Rodgers fumbled the ball while being sacked. However, this game had its own controversy, as there was an obvious facemask on the sack against Rodgers. The game ended 45-51 Cardinals.
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers learned from their 2009 wild card loss to the Cardinals and were able to win their wild card matchup against the Eagles in the 2010 playoffs. This game ended 21-16 and was a springboard leading to Green Bay hoisting the Lombardi. The Packers had one more close wild card matchup in the 2010s when the Packers lost to the 49ers on a last second field goal.
Wild Overview
Overall, the Packers have played a total of fifteen games. Having won ten of them, they only lost five. Of their five losses, the Packers lost three of them by six points or less. The only two they lost were big losses against the Falcons in 2002 that ended 7-27 (the Michael Vick game) and the Vikings in 2004 where they lost 17-31 (a game in which Randy Moss pretended to “moon” the fans at Lambeau).
In the ten wins, the Packers have averaged a score of 30.5 points per game while their opponent has averaged only 18.7 points per game. When the Packers have won, they have dominated.
In the last three wild card games, the Packers have done even better. They averaged a score of 40.33 points per game while only allowing the opponent to score an average of 21 points per game, which is honestly heavily skewed by the Cowboys scoring garbage time scores during last season’s wild card matchup that ended 48-32.
The Green Bay Packers have an excellent history of phenomenal play during wild card weekend. We can only hope they are able to continue to carry on the tradition this afternoon against the Eagles.
Either way,
Go Pack Go!
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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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