Any one that truly loves a sports team has what I like to call “The Loss”. The Loss is a simple concept. Root for a team long enough and there will be that game. It’s the one that’s the right combination of hope, the feeling that you’re going to win, and then the moment it all gets ripped away. Even when your team is one of the most storied franchises in sports like the Packers, there is always a few games that qualify.
One of two things happen after The Loss. A fan can either accept that most seasons won’t end the way you hope, and that you need to enjoy the smaller moments that happen in a season. Or, they fixate on what needs to happen to get to the ultimate goal, and if it isn’t reached then the season was a waste. I find the first thing to be a much more enjoyable way to engage with sports as a whole.
For fans of a certain age bracket, I suspect 4th & 26 might be that game. My loss, and I suspect many Packers fans closer to my age share this, is the 2014 NFC Championship. I went in feeling dubious about our chances, and the team did everything they could to build my hopes up. With five minutes left I had written a text to my father telling him “We’re going to the Super Bowl”. Some part of me must have known though because I never hit send. Twenty minutes later I had thrown the remote across the room and went to bed.
It took me a while to get over it. When I finally did I decided to enjoy each season for the week to week moments. I tried not to let myself attach every bit of enjoyment to whether or not my team won the Super Bowl. This might be insane for a fan of a franchise with the moniker “Titletown” but it makes sports a far more enjoyable endeavor for me.
The 2024 Season
To the point above, I wanted to talk about a few of the things I’ll remember most from this season.
The Malik Willis Redemption Tour
Because it happened so early in the season, it’s easy to forget how absolutely insane this two game stretch was. Jordan Love injures himself at the end of the first game and there is a 24 hour stretch where the sky is absolutely falling. Talking heads from every show saying that the Packers couldn’t win with Malik Willis. Rex Ryan saying that if Mike Vrabel couldn’t win with him, Matt LaFleur certainly couldn’t. Which is a truly insane take when you compare the two coaches records.
Not only did Willis play well, he played so well that Green Bay won both games he started (and a game he played a full half of) and left Tennessee under fire for choosing to keep the wrong quarterback.
Xavier McKinney’s Interception Streak
“X gonna take it from you” became a widespread saying on socials among fans and McKinney parlayed those turnovers into his first All Pro and a Pro Bowl spot. McKinney was perhaps the most impactful free agent signing on the defense since Charles Woodson.
“AND IT’S BLOCKED”
Yes the streak ended this year. Yes the team was a blocked kick away from not winning a divisional game this year. I don’t care. Of all the ways the Packers have beaten the Bears over the course of an eleven game winning streak, this will be the funniest. It might not have the lasting impact of “I own you, I still f*&*ing own you” but it will still be something I look back on fondly from this season.
Packers Record First and Only Shutout of the Year
The Saints have played an interesting role in the first two years of the Jordan Love Packer era. Love recorded his first home win as a starter against them in dramatic fashion in year one. Then the Packers followed it up with the only shutout of the ’25 season (and unfortunately their last win of the campaign)
Still, it’s incredibly difficult to shut out a professional football team, even with all of the injuries the Saints had. It was an effort reflective of the changes Green Bay made on defense and a reason to be very excited for next year.
The Packers 2025 Outlook
It is easy to go full downer after getting dropped in the wild card round. Especially after the team’s offense puts out a performance like the Packers did. But there are a lot of reasons to be excited for the 2025 season.
Jordan Love will be healthier. They haven’t said it, and they might not say it at all, but it’s pretty clear that the early injuries to Loves lower body had a lasting impact on his season. He was less willing to step up into the pocket, less willing to scramble, and just seemed uncomfortable for long stretches of the season.
Despite all that he still put up very solid stats
Add in a veteran or two at the WR spot (which is almost a necessity given the combo of drops and injuries this year) and I anticipate a much improved Love next year.
The other thing that fans need to realize? Brian Gutekunst and the front office have discovered a loophole in the team building system. They have money. For the first time since Gutekunst brought in Adrian Amos, Preston Smith, and Zadarius Smith the team has actual cap space to play with.
The Packers can sign whoever they want to. The youngest team in the NFL, winners of double digit games, can go out and add whoever they want to to an already strong roster. There are some clear spots of need on the team, in some order CB, Edge and WR. The Packers can use free agency to fill at least one or two of those spots, then go into the draft with a full compliment of picks and the ability to simply grab the best players available.
I know it sucks right now. Watching the playoffs and wondering “what if”. But even if your the type of fan that comes out of the season judging it a failure for not winning it all, there’s plenty of reasons to go into the offseason thinking that they’ve got a real shot next year.
