The Green Bay Packers return from their bye week to prepare for a Sunday Night Football showdown against the rival Chicago Bears. The Week 13 bye is the latest in franchise history, but it arrived at a much-needed time, as the Packers hope to get David Bakhtiari, Za’Darius Smith, and Jaire Alexander back in action soon.
Green Bay has been successful in the Matt LaFleur era, finishing 13-3 in both his seasons as head coach and making the NFC Championship twice. A well-coached team with extra time to prepare is dangerous. Surely, LaFleur’s squad has done well with a week of rest before their next opponent.
How has LaFleur’s team fared post-bye week? Not great, Bob! Since LaFleur’s hiring, the Packers are 0-2 following the bye week in the regular season, and they were not pretty losses. However, since LaFleur not only led his team to two NFC Championships but earned two bye weeks as a top NFC team, those should count, too. The Packers are 2-0 following a bye week in the playoffs. That’s much better.
So, if the playoffs count, LaFleur is 2-2 coming off of bye weeks. Let’s take a look at each game.
2019: Week 12
San Francisco 49ers 37, Packers 8
Green Bay entered this game with a respectable 8-2 record. They’d lost a close game to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4 before getting crushed by the Los Angeles Chargers on the road.
The Packers would again get crushed in California by a team with a Bosa brother. The Niners manhandled Green Bay for four brutal quarters. Green Bay’s lone score came late in the third quarter on a short pass to Davante Adams, who doubled up on the two-point conversion.
Aaron Rodgers completed 20 of 33 passes for just over 100 yards. The offense struggled all day against an elite 49ers defense, with Jamaal Williams‘ 45 rushing yards and Adam’s 43 receiving yards leading the team, respectively.
Green Bay would later lose to the 49ers again in the NFC Championship.
2019: NFC Divisional Round
Packers 28, Seattle Seahawks 23
If you’re a Packers fan, thinking about facing Russell Wilson and the Seahawks in the playoffs probably does not bring you joy. But the Seahawks aren’t as scary in Lambeau Field, and this game was no exception.
Rodgers outdueled Wilson, who didn’t play as terribly at Lambeau as he usually does. Adams and Aaron Jones each had two scores on the day.
Green Bay held a massive lead at halftime, but Seattle mounted a comeback in the second half, scoring 20 points to Green Bay’s seven. However, the Packers would win the day with the stout defense. Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith had two sacks, while Kenny Clark had one.
2020: Week 5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38, Packers 10
LaFleur’s squad had an early bye week and entered the matchup 4-0. Once again, the Packers would get demolished in a warm-weather game after their bye.
Things looked good early on. As was tradition that year, Green Bay’s opening script worked well, and they took an early 10-0 lead. However, their fortune would crumble in the second quarter. Rodgers threw the third pick-six of his career and almost threw a fourth. He would complete only one fewer pass for six fewer yards than Tom Brady, but throwing two interceptions and getting sacked four times while Brady had two touchdowns and zero sacks made all the difference.
Mike Pettine’s defense played poorly, to put it lightly. The run defense was abysmal, and the pass defense wasn’t any better.
Like the previous year, the Packers would again lose to their post-bye opponent in the NFC Championship game.
2020: NFC Divisional Round
Packers 32, Los Angeles Rams 18
In this highly anticipated matchup, the league’s No. 1 offense took on the No. 1 defense. The Adams-Jalen Ramsey matchup was touted as a must-see leading into the game.
While Adams didn’t have the biggest day, his TD over Ramsey was straight-up disrespectful. The unstoppable force beat the immovable object handily, with big days from Rodgers, Jones, and Allen Lazard.
The Green Bay defense even outperformed the top-ranked Rams offense, with four sacks on Jared Goff from the combined forces of Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, and Za’Darius Smith. Krys Barnes led the team in tackles with ten.
The top-seeded Packers looked like the real deal until that fateful upset at home to the Buccaneers the following week.
The LaFleur era post-bye struggles seem like a coincidence at best. Both losses were to the eventual NFC Super Bowl representative. Thankfully, the 2021 Packers aren’t facing an NFC powerhouse following their bye. The Bears aren’t exactly a good team. They’re enduring the last days of the Matt Nagy era. Anything can happen, but the pattern of getting crushed after a regular-season bye and then losing to the same team in the NFC Championship seems destined to end.
