History Gives Packers Chance To Reach Playoffs

For more than three decades, it’s been a revolving door of teams entering and exiting the NFL playoff picture.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jul 28, 2023 10:06 PM EDT

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – What goes up, must come down.

The opposite can be true, too. What goes down, must come up.

After the Green Bay Packers missed the playoffs last season with an 8-9 record, expectations are relatively low with training camp under way. With the transition from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love at quarterback, an incredibly young group of pass-catchers that could have Luke Musgrave in a featured role and what’s been an underachieving defense, it’s not expected to be a bounce-back-Pack sort of season.

At FanDuel Sportsbook, the Packers are +160 to qualify for the playoffs and -210 to fall short. By implied probability, the Packers have been given 38.5 percent chance to reach the postseason.

Could history intervene?

Each of the last 33 seasons, at least four teams have gone from out of the playoffs one season to into the playoffs the next. With 14 of the 32 teams qualifying for the postseason, there’s ample opportunity. In fact, seven teams did it last year.

Moreover, 19 of the last 20 seasons, at least two teams have gone from out of the playoffs one season to winning their division the next. The reigning NFC North champions, the Minnesota Vikings, did it last year.

“I think it’s a big question mark,” left tackle David Bakhtiari said on Friday when asked if he agrees with team President/CEO Mark Murphy’s contention that patience will be required. “There’s a lot of guys who haven’t played a lot of football. It’s a new look, and that’s exciting because you don’t really know what to expect. When teams are going to be scouting us, we can even say specifically on the offense, you know, how much film are they really going to be able to look at?

“Having a young team, there’s growing pains. I remember when I was a rookie, you just have to mess up, which is fine. It’s what you do once you mess up and how you respond to it. I think that’s the patience thing we’re talking about. The duration of time, I mean, who knows? Could be two weeks. Could be 12 weeks. That’s how this team can respond, the identity we establish as we go week in and week out.”