It has by no means been a perfect season for the Green Bay Packers, but the 2023-24 season has been about achieving two things. The team needed to find a way to transition out of the Aaron Rodgers era with a competitive blueprint for the future and determine whether Jordan Love was The Guy at quarterback. The Packers have answered both questions through 17 games and a bonus of a playoff spot to go with it. Therefore, they can enter the postseason playing with proverbial house money, especially considering the pressure mounting for the Dallas Cowboys.
When Rodgers emerged from his ayahuasca haze and quiet time in the darkness to announce to the world that he wanted to continue playing football, but for the New York Jets, Green Bay fully turned the page and focused on supporting Love’s development at quarterback. Despite missing a combined 30 games from the three individuals who could make Love’s job the easiest — David Bakhtiari, Christian Watson, and Aaron Jones — Love found a way to throw for over 4,100 yards and 32 touchdowns, including 18 touchdowns and just one interception over his final eight games.
The season had its share of peaks and valleys. Love threw three picks in a road loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Packers had a Monday night debacle against Tommy Cutlets. But they had highs, such as dominant performances against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving and the Minnesota Vikings on New Year’s Eve. Through all the injuries, the defensive frustrations, and the rookie mistakes, it was impossible to overlook the positivity and unbridled optimism for the future that pulsated through the concourses of Lambeau Field after clinching a playoff spot on Sunday afternoon against the Chicago Bears. Contrast that to the crushing Week 18 disappointment against Detroit last season, and the collective vibe of the fanbase has done a complete 180 in one calendar year.
The Packers will be riding high as they head south to Arlington, Texas, this weekend to face the Cowboys, who backed their way into winning an NFC East title thanks to the Philadelphia Eagles’ collapse. Dallas hasn’t made an NFC Championship game since the 1995 season, and it has two traumatizing losses to Green Bay in the playoffs over the past decade. Everything is bigger in Texas, including the stakes of this game and the pressure on Mike McCarthy to deliver a win against his old team. From Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb to Micah Parsons, the Cowboys are a fully formed Super Bowl contender hoping to finally win another Lombardi Trophy. The Packers will have the benefit of being young and dumb. The rookies and second-year players have never experienced playoff football before, lacking the external pressures that will be lasered in on the home sideline.
If the Packers get blown out, they can hold their heads high and file the game away as a check-the-box experience for the young core. If they’re competitive yet still come up short, then the taste of the playoffs will linger and only motivate the team further. Matt LaFleur is no stranger to playoff games, having coached in five in his time in Green Bay. He will have the team loud and loose and ready to mix things up at Jerry World. LaFleur’s job isn’t on the line. The core of the team knows what it is, and nothing that happens on Sunday will drastically change the longer-term trajectory of where the Packers are headed.
There aren’t many fans truly delusional enough to think that Green Bay will win the Super Bowl this season. The team still needs a few more playmakers, a bit better defense, and just a smidge more luck with health, too. However, with the offense poised to be as healthy as it’s been all season with Luke Musgrave back, Watson trending in the right direction, and Aaron Jones playing seemingly as well as he ever has, the pieces are there to sneak a playoff-opening win against Dallas. Stranger things have happened in the playoffs, and the Jordan Love we’ve seen over the past two months just might be the guy to pull it off this weekend.
