Fool’s Hope: How Packers Made Playoff Run, One Step at Time

How did the Green Bay Packers have a chance to earn a playoff berth on Sunday night vs. the Detroit Lions? With a four-game winning streak and an incredible amount of good fortune.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With a 4-8 record, seven losses in a span of eight games, a broken thumb and, now, injured ribs, Aaron Rodgers believed the Green Bay Packers had a chance to somehow make a run into the NFL playoffs.

Sort of.

“There was something in there that had hope, but it was a fool’s hope at the time,” Rodgers said on Wednesday. “So much had to happen, which is why I had to wrap my head around the scenarios and find a peace in that.

“I still go back to that Chicago game and that fourth quarter, which gave us a lot of confidence, and since then we’ve practiced with a different level of energy. There’s been a lightness in the locker room and a lot of positive things that you give you confidence that this team has a chance to make a run.”

The Packers have made that run. They’ve won four in a row headed into Sunday night’s game against the Detroit Lions. With a victory, the Packers will earn a spot in the playoffs after being counted out by most analysts and even the fans.

“They don’t know how to count,” running back Aaron Jones said after the Packers routed the Vikings on Sunday. “Never count us out.”

Here is a week-by-week look at how the Packers went from the brink of elimination to leading the chase for the final playoff spot.

Through Week 12: Packers Were 4-8

After losing at the Philadelphia Eagles, the Packers were three games out of the No. 7 seed with five games remaining. Actually, with the Commanders and Giants holding the final two spots and owning head-to-head wins over the Packers, they were four games out.

“Obviously, when you lose games, you’re putting yourself farther out there,” Rodgers said after the game. “We have a five-game stretch. We’ve got to win all five and probably need a little bit of help.”

With Rodgers dealing with injured ribs, the questions weren’t about the playoffs. They were about inserting Jordan Love into the lineup.

“Aaron’s the starting quarterback,” coach Matt LaFleur said a day after the game, echoing what he said the night before. “He’s battled through a lot throughout the course of his career. It’s pretty well documented and I think he’s been able to play at a pretty high level through a lot of different situations. So, we’ll take it one game at a time and make the best decision moving forward.”

Playoff Standings

1: Philadelphia Eagles (10-1, NFC East leader)

2: Minnesota Vikings (9-2, NFC North leader)

3: San Francisco 49ers (7-4, NFC West leader)

4: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6, NFC South leader)

5: Dallas Cowboys (8-3)

6: New York Giants (7-4)

7: Washington Commanders (7-5)

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8: Seattle Seahawks (6-5)

9: Atlanta Falcons (5-7)

10: Detroit Lions (4-7)

11: Green Bay Packers (4-8)

12: Arizona Cardinals (4-8)

13: New Orleans Saints (4-8)

14: Carolina Panthers (4-8)

15: Los Angeles Rams (3-8)

16: Chicago Bears (3-9)

Through Week 13: Packers Were 5-8

The Packers were perilously close to falling all the way to the bottom of the NFC standings but outscored the Chicago Bears 18-0 in the fourth quarter to escape Soldier Field with a 28-19 victory.

“A win against the Bears is always a little more special,” Rodgers said after the game. “There were other things involved: the all-time win total was cool, another fourth-quarter comeback. I told the guys in the locker room we’ve played good enough to beat anybody in the league and at times played poor enough to lose to just about anybody. Our highs have been pretty solid.”

In other games, the Giants and Commanders tied, and Atlanta and New Orleans lost as Green Bay moved from 11th to 10th.

Playoff Standings

1: Philadelphia Eagles (11-1, NFC East leader)

2: Minnesota Vikings (10-2, NFC North leader)

3: San Francisco 49ers (8-4, NFC West leader)

4: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-6, NFC South leader)

5: Dallas Cowboys (9-3)

6: New York Giants (7-4-1)

7: Seattle Seahawks (7-5)

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8: Washington Commanders (7-5-1)

9: Detroit Lions (5-7)

10: Green Bay Packers (5-8)

11: Atlanta Falcons (5-8)

12: Arizona Cardinals (4-8)

13: Carolina Panthers (4-8)

14: New Orleans Saints (4-9)

15: Los Angeles Rams (3-9)

Through Week 14: Packers Were 5-8 at Bye

The Packers were on their bye but got a bit of help when Carolina went into Seattle and knocked off the Seahawks and the Giants were trounced at home by the Eagles. Still, they remained stuck in 10th place and two-and-a-half games out of the playoffs with four games to go.

Before those games were played, general manager Brian Gutekunst talked to reporters. Asked if he regretted committing to Rodgers via a contract extension, he said: “No regrets, not at all. Obviously, heading into the season, being the No. 1 seed the last two seasons leading into this season, a lot of high hopes, right? We were certainly expected to be competing for a championship, and we are still in it. If we’re able to dig our way back into this thing, we still feel like we have the ability to do that.”

Playoff Standings

1: Philadelphia Eagles (12-1, NFC East leader)

2: Minnesota Vikings (10-3, NFC North leader)

3: San Francisco 49ers (9-4, NFC West leader)

4: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-7, NFC South leader)

5: Dallas Cowboys (10-3)

6: Washington Commanders (7-5-1)

7: New York Giants (7-5-1)

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8: Seattle Seahawks (7-6)

9: Detroit Lions (6-7)

10: Green Bay Packers (5-8)

11: Carolina Panthers (5-8)

12: Atlanta Falcons (5-8)

13: Arizona Cardinals (4-9)

14: New Orleans Saints (4-9)

15: Los Angeles Rams (4-9)

Through Week 15: Packers Were 6-8

The Packers came back from their bye and put together a strong second half to beat the injury-ravaged Los Angeles Rams and eliminate the defending champs from playoff contention.

With that Monday night victory, the Packers remained in 10th place in the NFC but moved within one-and-a-half games for the final spot in the NFC after the Giants marched into Washington and knocked off the Commanders. Plus, the 49ers went into Seattle and beat the Seahawks. So, two teams ahead of Green Bay lost.

“I do. I do,” Rodgers said when asked if he believed the team could run the table. “Now, we’re going to play three better football teams, but I do. Definitely.”

Why? “You win a game, vibes are pretty good and we’ve just been practicing a little bit better. The energy’s been a little bit better. It’s hard to put your finger on it. We’ve played a couple of teams we should have beat, so, that being said, it’s still tough to win in the league. And I’ve said it earlier, I think we can beat anybody. We can also lose to anybody. But when you win a couple in a row, it starts to give you some confidence. Now we’re playing against some better football teams down the stretch that we can go to Miami and win.”

Playoff Standings

1: Philadelphia Eagles (13-1, NFC East leader)

2: Minnesota Vikings (11-3, NFC North champion)

3: San Francisco 49ers (10-4, NFC West champion)

4: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-8, NFC South leader)

5: Dallas Cowboys (10-4, wild card)

6: New York Giants (8-5-1)

7: Washington Commanders (7-6-1)

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8: Seattle Seahawks (7-7)

9: Detroit Lions (7-7)

10: Green Bay Packers (6-8)

11: Carolina Panthers (5-9)

12: New Orleans Saints (5-9)

13: Atlanta Falcons (5-9)

Through Week 16: Packers Were 7-8

It was a Merry Christmas for the Packers, who not only went to Miami and earned a pivotal win over the Dolphins but got every bit of help imaginable in what could be the defining outcomes of the season.

The sixth-place Giants? Lost at Minnesota on a 61-yard field goal. The seventh-place Commanders? Routed at San Francisco. The eighth-place Seahawks? Lost at powerhouse Kansas City. The ninth-place Lions? Upset at Carolina.

So, while the Packers remained in 10th place, they moved within a half-game of the Commanders for the final playoff berth. Plus, Green Bay had the conference-record tiebreaker over eighth-place Seattle and the opportunity to pull ahead of ninth-place Detroit in Week 18. All it needed was Washington to stumble once in its final two games.

“I’d like to be, you know, 10-5, 11-4 but, considering where we were a few weeks ago, a lot of has happened in our favor,” Rodgers said. “All the games that needed to go a certain way went a certain way. Now, there’s obviously much left, but we’ve played meaningful games in December, we won all three of those. Now we’re playing meaningful games in January, and we’ve got to win those.”

Playoff Standings

1: Philadelphia Eagles (13-2, NFC East leader)

2: Minnesota Vikings (12-3, NFC North champion)

3: San Francisco 49ers (11-4, NFC West champion)

4: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8, NFC South leader)

5: Dallas Cowboys (11-4, wild card)

6: New York Giants (8-6-1)

7: Washington Commanders (7-7-1)

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8. Seattle Seahawks (7-8)

9. Detroit Lions (7-8)

10. Green Bay Packers (7-8)

11. Carolina Panthers (6-9)

12. New Orleans Saints (6-9)

Through Week 17: Packers Were 8-8

Once again, the Packers won – a 41-17 manhandling of Minnesota for a signature win – and got help. To have a chance, the Packers needed to win their final two games and the Commanders needed to lose one. With Washington coach Ron Rivera going back to Carson Wentz (for some reason), the Commanders lost at home to the Cleveland Browns. Deshaun Watson threw three touchdown passes and Wentz threw three interceptions.

Incredibly, the Packers had gone from four games out of the final wild-card spot to controlling their playoff destiny, even while still in ninth place in the NFC, because of the conference-record tiebreaker vs. seventh-place Seattle and the opportunity to beat eighth-place Detroit on Sunday night.

“It just takes one sometimes,” Rodgers said after the Minnesota game. “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.

“Felt like we were going to beat the Bears; Rams at home was a good matchup for us; Miami was a wild card, I thought, and the last two at home, I thought, would be winnable even though Minnesota, obviously, has had a really good season. [Two] 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. Things you don’t count on: Keisean Nixon. I knew he was talented but maybe didn’t see game-breaker. Christian Watson. You know, at 3-6 he wasn’t a big part of the offense. So, that’s what you don’t account for and on paper it happens.”

Playoff Standings

1: Philadelphia Eagles (13-3, NFC East leader)

2: San Francisco 49ers (12-4, NFC West champion)

3: Minnesota Vikings (12-4, NFC North champion)

4: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-8, NFC South champion)

5: Dallas Cowboys (12-4, wild card)

6: New York Giants (9-6-1, wild card)

7: Seattle Seahawks (8-8)

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8: Detroit Lions (8-8)

9: Green Bay Packers (8-8)

Packers vs. Lions Preview

Packers, Lions and big-game experience

Packers-Lions Wednesday injury report

Packers make another big move in Super Bowl odds

Packers grapple with Damar Hamlin tragedy

Packers vs. Lions: Insider perspective

Packers vs. Lions: Previewing Detroit’s offense

Packers vs. Lions: Previewing Detroit’s defense

Packers add touchback-producing kicker to practice squad

It’s one more one-game season for the Packers

Packers-Lions saved for Sunday night

Packers Report Card: Which unit gets A++++?

The Packers kept faith even at 4-8

Keisean Nixon didn’t think he’d play until he woke up

NFC Standings: Games 13-16

Cliff’s Notes: How did the Packers pass the Washington Commanders and Seattle Seahawks in the race for the final playoff spot? Here are the NFC standings from the final four games.

1. Green Bay Packers: 4-0

1. San Francisco 49ers: 4-0

3. Detroit Lions: 3-1

3. Dallas Cowboys: 3-1

3. New Orleans Saints: 3-1

6. Minnesota Vikings: 2-2

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2-2

6. Carolina Panthers: 2-2

6. New York Giants: 2-2

6. Philadelphia Eagles: 2-2

6. Los Angeles Rams: 2-2

12. Seattle Seahawks: 1-3

12. Atlanta Falcons: 1-3

14. Washington Commanders: 0-3-1

15. Chicago Bears: 0-4

15. Arizona Cardinals: 0-4