Historically Successful Packers Will Give It Another Shot

The Green Bay Packers are familiar with the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

Thrill of victory? Since 2002, when NFL realignment created eight four-team divisions, no team has qualified for the playoffs more often than the Packers. As this year’s seventh seed, the Packers have qualified for the postseason 18 of 24 seasons since realignment. That’s tied with the Patriots for No. 1.

The Chicago Bears, who the Packers will play in Saturday’s wild-card game, are polar opposites, having reached the playoffs for only the sixth time in the past 24 seasons. That’s the second-fewest playoff berths in this year’s playoff field.

The problem, of course, is the Packers have tasted the agony of postseason defeat again and again and again. The Packers reached NFC Championship Games in 2007, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2020 but reached and won the Super Bowl only once. They also were the No. 1 seed in 2011 and 2021 but had nothing to show for it.

They’ll give it another shot, beginning with Saturday’s Round 3 against the Bears.

Of course, none of that history will mean anything when the game kicks off. Most of the players on this year’s team weren’t with the club when it won 13 games in 2019, 2020 and again in 2021.

More pertinent is the Packers’ recent playoff experience. While Green Bay reached the playoffs for a third consecutive season, Chicago last reached the playoffs in 2020. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams didn’t even play football in 2020; his senior season was wiped out due to COVID.

Chicago last won a playoff game in 2010, the season it lost to the Packers in the NFC Championship Game. First-year Bears coach Ben Johnson was a graduate assistant at Boston College at the time.

“When the stakes are higher, I think you have to focus on the little things a little bit more,” Johnson told reporters on Monday. “And so, catching the football when it comes your way, making sure you're tucking it properly, making sure that we play with good pad level, making sure that we're tackling well in space. All those things that aren't necessarily the most fun to talk about to the casual observer, those tend to get highlighted even more in the playoffs, in my opinion.”

The Packers with first-year starting quarterback Jordan Love went 9-8 in 2023 but routed the Cowboys in the wild-card round and almost upset the 49ers in the divisional round. Last year, the Packers finished 11-6 but were handled with relative ease at Philadelphia.

The Packers, due in part to injuries, will enter the playoffs with a four-game winning streak. Expectations are low outside the facility.

“I just been preaching there’s only one opportunity,” said safety Xavier McKinney, who reached the playoffs with the Giants in 2022 and the Packers last season. “I think that’s the biggest thing from regular season to the playoffs is one shot. It’s not you get a game, then you get another opportunity. No. It’s one opportunity. You got to make the most of it.

“So, that being said, the details have to be on point. The play style has to be on point. We got to be ready to go. We can’t take it for granted. I know people that have been in the league longer than I have and haven’t been to one playoffs. So, just letting them know to not take this moment for granted, and it don’t come around too often.”