‘When You Believe, Miraculous Things Can Happen’

In an unthinkable turnaround, the Green Bay Packers have gone from 4-8 to the precipice of the playoffs.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Jan 2, 2023 8:05 AM EST
Original:
Jan 2, 2023

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With a 4-8 record following a loss at the Philadelphia Eagles, the Green Bay Packers’ NFL playoff hopes stood with one foot in a grave and their other foot on a banana peel.

“We have a five-game stretch. We’ve got to win all five and probably need a little bit of help,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said that night.

Rodgers believed what he said. Four wins and more than a little a bit of help later, the Packers are a victory over the Detroit Lions from earning an unthinkable spot in the playoffs.

“I still believe in myself and felt like it just takes one [victory] sometimes,” Rodgers said after the Packers clobbered the Minnesota Vikings 41-17 on Sunday at Lambeau Field for a fourth consecutive victory.

“Kind of strange, but when we were sitting at 3-6 and I looked at the next three – at the time Tennessee was playing really well, obviously the Cowboys play well and Philly was No. 1 in the league – and I just felt like if we get one of those, we can win the next five and 9-8 was going to get in.

“I couldn’t really go around saying that because you don’t really want to say, ‘Hey, if we can just get one of these next three, we can make the playoffs.’ But in my head, that’s what I was thinking.”

So, after a victory over Dallas was followed by losses to Tennessee and Philadelphia, the Packers outscored the Chicago Bears 18-0 in the fourth quarter. The offense scored back-to-back touchdowns in the third quarter and ran out the final 9 minutes against the Los Angeles Rams. The defense ended three consecutive drives with interceptions during the fourth quarter at the Miami Dolphins.

Those victories, and a whole bunch of losses by the teams ahead of it in the playoff race, set the stage for back-to-back home games against the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions.

“The last two at home I thought would be winnable, even though Minnesota obviously has had a really good season,” Rodgers continued. “Dome teams in the winter and just the way we’ve played over the years in December and January, our record is pretty damn good with me starting.”

The Packers celebrate AJ Dillon's touchdown. (USA Today Sports Images)

By the time the Packers came out for introductions on Sunday afternoon, their playoff chances were 100 percent in their hands.

“It goes back to the speech I gave after our last loss,” cornerback Jaire Alexander said after helping shut down Vikings star Justin Jefferson. “I said we’re going to see who really cares, and everybody’s been picking it up and it’s been showing, so that’s pretty much it, man.”

The leaders’ message resonated. There might not have been universal belief that the season could be saved but nobody quit, either.

“It always goes back to the locker room,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “You can sit there and preach whatever you want, but they’ve got to buy into it and that’s a credit to the guys in our locker room. I think Gutey [general manager Brian Gutekunst] and his staff do such a great job of bringing in high-character people.

“In times of adversity, you find out what you really have, not only from our coaches, our players, but really everybody in the building. And I think everybody stuck together. I never felt at one point that there was any finger pointing. So, that is a credit to everybody in our organization.”

All of that is well and good but, ultimately, the team needed to play better and the coaches needed to coach better. Rodgers has been fine but it’s not like in 2016, when almost every game was a masterclass in quarterback play as he dragged an injury-plagued team all the way to the NFC Championship Game.

Rather, this is a team that has been getting a little bit better every week. In 2016, there was the expected hero: Rodgers. In 2022, there have been two unexpected heroes: receiver Christian Watson, who missed so much of the first half of the season with injuries, and Keisean Nixon, who hadn’t been an impact kick returner since he was in junior college in 2016.

“That’s what you don’t account for and on paper it happens,” Rodgers said.

Watson and Nixon have provided game-turning plays. The turnovers have come in bunches. The offensive line has jelled. The run defense has improved. All that has turned into an avalanche of momentum.

“Sometimes you’ve got to fool yourself a little bit into believing a little bit more,” Rodgers said. “But I definitely had faith I was going to go down scrapping, for sure. But I do believe in the power of manifestation and I do believe in momentum and I believe very strongly in the force of the mind. And when you start to believe something strongly, some miraculous things can happen.”

For Rodgers, this has been one of his worst seasons and one of the most memorable. He threw for only 159 yards against the Vikings. Statistically, the four-time MVP has looked like just another mediocre quarterback for most of the season. His passer rating is the worst of his career; the only number on the stat line that’s up is interceptions.

But this will be a season to remember, however it ends.

“In the end, the love of the game. That’s why we play this game, for the incredible runs and moments and special things coming together,” Rodgers said. “When it’s all said and done, it’s the moments and it’s the way you make people feel that I think last. And when you can spark a little bit of hope, it’s pretty special to be part of that moment.

“The fact that we came back from 4-8 and put ourselves in the position to make the playoffs is pretty special. Now, a lot has happened in our favor and that’s pretty obvious. Every game that needed to go our way just about went our way. … I know not many people in that locker room – and definitely not many people of you people – believed we’d be sitting here at 8-8 controlling our own destiny going into Week 18. It’s pretty special.”

It's a one-game season now for the Packers. Beat the Lions on Sunday and they’re in the playoffs. Detroit’s having a special season, too, having turned around a 1-6 season by winning seven of its last nine games. If momentum and destiny are real, Green Bay will figure out a way to win that game, just like it’s figured out a way the past four weeks.

“We’re going to have a good story to tell, you know what I’m saying, but we’ve got to finish it,” safety Adrian Amos said. “We finished this week and now we’re 0-0. We’ve been in playoff mode for a while. We’ve got to continue going into this week.”