The Packers have yet to beat one of the NFC’s best teams, but they’ll have plenty of chances in the playoffs.
A year ago, the Packers were just happy to be at this point. Left for dead at midseason, it took a tremendous second-half effort just to get the Packers to the playoffs at all, and everything that came afterward was gravy.
But expectations changed accordingly, and with the Packers looking to build on their impressive finish to 2023, the team was expected to be among the conference’s elite teams. And in some ways, they’ve been elite. But in the most important way, they haven’t.
Whatever good things the Packers have done on the field this year, there’s the simple reality that they just haven’t beaten anybody that could broadly be considered an elite team. Their most notable wins this year came against the Rams and Texans, both playoff teams, but hardly among the elites of either conference. The Rams, too, were pretty beat up when the Packers faced them, and might present a much different challenge if the Packers faced them today.
So can the Packers change the narrative in the playoffs? One win against one of the NFC’s best might not completely change the story of the 2024 Packers, but it’d be a start. And if the Packers still think of themselves as Super Bowl contenders, they’ll need at least two wins against the conference’s best teams to get there.
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