Chicago Bears fans were no doubt popping champaign when they saw the conclusion of the NFC Championship game last Sunday. Everything seemed handed to them on a silver platter. Tom Brady, of all people, threw three interceptions in the second half. Yet the Green Bay Packers managed just six points from them. Aaron Rodgers had a possible running lane for a touchdown to take the lead late but didn’t take advantage. Then his head coach baffled the NFL world by settling for a field goal rather than go for a TD with two minutes left on 4th and goal.
The Packers never got the ball back. Tampa Bay ran out the clock and advanced to the Super Bowl. Inexplicably, the Packers had lost. It was incredible to watch. They had the MVP of the league. They had home field advantage. They were arguably the hottest team in football and caught Brady on one of his worst days of the season. Yet they still failed to capitalize.
Sure enough, one enterprising fan took advantage with a Wikipedia edit.
Have to love that level of savagery. If only because it’s 100% true. Here’s a stat to back it up. Since 2007, the Packers have played in the NFC title game six times. They are 1-5 in those games. They fell at home to the New York Giants in ’07 then beat the Bears at Soldier Field in 2010. They finally got back in 2014 where they coughed up a 19-7 lead with 11 minutes left to fall in Seattle. Two years later they were railroaded in Atlanta 44-21. Yet their best was saved for last it seems with back-to-back losses in 2019 and 2020.
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Green Bay Packers are building an ugly legacy
People view them as one of the premier franchises in the NFL. Yet they also might be the most underachieving of the past 30 years. Think about this. They had Brett Favre from 1992 to 2007 and then immediately transitioned to Rodgers in 2008. That is one, long unbroken streak of first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback play spanning 29 seasons. They’ve had a losing record just four times during that run.
Yet they have just two Super Bowl championships to show for it. How is that even possible? While many Packer fans will say they’re happy with those two titles, the fact is most of them are likely grumbling this team should have a lot more. Brady by himself has six. Joe Montana has four. Even Troy Aikman has three. How in the world do Favre and Rodgers only have one each?
This is a cold reality that franchise is facing.
Rodgers is turning 38 this year. He has only so many peak seasons left in him. They’re about to see a big part of their roster gutted because of salary cap problems. The odds of them being able to score another transcendent QB after he leaves are astronomically low. Then where will they be. As a former player once said, “You only get so many bites at the apple.” The Green Bay Packers could go down in history as an organization that failed to capitalize on the greatest run of quarterback good fortune in NFL history.