Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love Among Top 10 Packers Stories of 2023
GREEN BAY, Wis. – 2023 is coming to a close. To state the obvious, it’s been an eventful year for the Green Bay Packers.
The year began with a bang as Keisean Nixon's kickoff-return touchdown and four takeaways by the defense helped the Packers upset the Minnesota Vikings 41-17 at Lambeau Field to give them a chance to earn an unlikely spot in the playoffs following a 4-8 start.
The first game of the calendar-year was a must-win home game against the Vikings. In a nice bookend, the last game of the calendar-year is a must-win game at the Vikings. A lot happened in between. With that, let’s look back at the biggest stories for 2023.
Packers Lose to Lions, Changing of Guard in NFC North?
The Packers' big win the previous week over the Vikings gave them a chance to finish the season 9-8 and get to the playoffs.
With Aaron Rodgers under center in the playoffs, who knows what could happen next?
It was not meant to be. Jared Goff, Jamaal Williams and the Detroit Lions came into Lambeau Field with nothing to play for and left with the Packers' season in their hands. Rodgers and the offense struggled. The final pass of his career in Green Bay was intercepted.
Rodgers walked off the field for the final time as a member of the Packers and embraced Randall Cobb. It felt poetic at the time. An era was over. The great unknown was on the horizon.
Aaron Rodgers Saga Ends With Trade to Jets
April 24, 2023, was the day the Packers as a franchise made their shift.
Rodgers and the front office had been in a power struggle for the last three offseasons when the two sides finally agreed it was time to part ways.
Rodgers wanted to play elsewhere, and the Packers wanted to get a look at the quarterback they spent a first-round pick on in 2020.
When it was all said and done, after weeks of negotiations, the deal was done. In sending Rodgers to the Jets, like he wanted, the Packers moved up from No. 15 to No. 13 of the first round and added a second-round pick in the 2023 draft. Plus, they gained a conditional pick for the 2024 draft, with the pick moving from the second round to the first round if Rodgers played 65 percent of the offensive snaps.
While this divorce felt like it was a long time coming, it was a monumental shift for the Packers, signaling their intentions to start rebuilding.
Packers Take Three Pass-Catchers, Start Historic Youth Movement
Surely, with Aaron Rodgers sent to the Jets, the Packers moved up from 15 to 13 to target a wide receiver to help Jordan Love, right?
Wrong.
The Packers did what they usually do in the first round and selected a defensive player. This time, it Iowa pass rusher Lukas Van Ness.
When the draft shifted to its second day, GM Brian Gutekunst went to work reshaping the weaponry for his young quarterback.
Ultimately, Gutekunst picked three players, all of whom were pass-catchers.
Tight ends Luke Musgrave (No. 42 overall) and Tucker Kraft (No. 78) represent the largest investment Green Bay had made at the position since selecting Bubba Franks in the first round of the 2000 NFL Draft.
After Gutekunst traded back twice, he selected receiver Jayden Reed at No. 50.
The picks netted in those trades allowed the Packers to select receiver Dontayvion Wicks and defensive tackle Karl Brooks.
Each of those players have been solid contributors.
Once Gutekunst made his picks, he chose to not add a veteran receiver to a roster that was historically young. The oldest receivers in the room were second-year players.
I Still Own You
Perhaps Aaron Rodgers said it best on Oct. 17, 2021, at Soldier Field.
After rushing for a touchdown that put another game at Soldier Field on ice, Rodgers proudly told the Bears' faithful that he owned them.
When the Jordan Love era began at Chicago on Sept. 10, 2023, Love looked to make an amendment to Rodgers' words.
Chicago, which felt the reign of terror was over, could smell blood and looked to make a statement on its home field in the first game of the season.
Love came out firing, throwing a touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs on the team's first possession.
The Packers led 10-6 at halftime before scoring 28 points in the second half, highlighted by a pick-six from Quay Walker, for another blowout of the team's oldest rival.
Love and the Packers' statement was loud and clear. Rodgers may be gone, but the Packers still own the Bears.
Jordan Love's First Home Start
Jordan Love's first two starts of the season came on the road. That meant he had to wait until the end of September for one of his big moments.
Love was introduced to the Lambeau Field faithful just minutes before the team kicked off its home slate of games against New Orleans on Sept. 24.
The ovation was loud.
That's the loudest things would get at Lambeau Field until much later in the day.
The Packers' offense was putrid through three quarters, putting up zero points. The feel-good story of Love in his first start at home had shifted quickly.
But the Packers' offense came to life in the fourth quarter.
Love scored twice, including a game-winning touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs with 2:56 remaining.
Jameis Winston got the Saints into field goal range, but Blake Grupe pushed a 46-yard field goal wide right. The Packers, in improbable fashion, won their home opener.
Rashan Gary Signs Contract Extension
Rashan Gary announced his presence in a big way in Jordan Love's first home start against New Orleans.
As much attention went to the offense, it was Gary's one-man wrecking-ball performance that kept the team in the game.
Coming off a torn ACL, Gary was playing on a snap count but set a career high with three sacks.
About a month later, almost one year to the day after Gary was injured at Detroit, the Packers rewarded him with a four-year, $96 million contract extension.
Gary is clearly one of the team's best players and cornerstones for the future and was rewarded as such.
Packers Upset Lions on Thanksgiving
The Packers hit the low mark of their season when their record dipped to 3-6 after a loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
A week later, Jordan Love hit Romeo Doubs for a game-winning touchdown at Lambeau Field against the Los Angeles Chargers, providing a win that not many saw coming.
Love and the offense would stare down a much stiffer test just four days later.
When the Detroit Lions came to Green Bay two months earlier, they pummeled the Packers. The final score was 34-20, but Detroit led by a margin as significant as 27-3. It was a beatdown.
Thanksgiving, a day in which the Lions are always in the national spotlight but rarely of relevance, was supposed to be a coronation.
Love and the offense didn't get the memo. Love hit Christian Watson for 53 yards on the first play of the game to set a tone that would carry the rest of the day.
Rashan Gary had three sacks and two forced fumbles, and the Packers won 30-22. It was their biggest win of the season to date.
Jordan Love Outduels Patrick Mahomes
The victory at Detroit was Green Bay’s biggest win of the season for less than two weeks.
The Kansas City Chiefs, the defending Super Bowl champions led by MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes, strolled into Lambeau Field with fond memories of facing off against Jordan Love.
Love's first career start came in 2021 at Kansas City on short notice when Aaron Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19 just days before their matchup. Love and the offense mustered just one late-fourth-quarter touchdown.
This game, however, was much different. Love led the offense to scores on five of its seven possessions. He threw three touchdown passes, including a beauty to Christian Watson in which Love showed his full growth as a quarterback in the pocket.
Love admitted after the game that he had the game against Kansas City circled.
He played what is probably his best game as a pro, and the Packers held off a late rally from Mahomes and the Chiefs to win 27-19.
Joe Barry’s Defense Battered by Baker Mayfield
If Joe Barry were a politician, he would not be doing well in national polls.
Given his track record at previous stops in Detroit and Washington, that’s been true since he was hired. Coordinators are traditionally punching bags for the fanbase. Barry has been no exception.
After the Packers held the Chiefs to 19 points, perhaps he had earned some goodwill with the fanbase.
Whatever good was earned from that game was quickly flushed down the drain with back-to-back poor performances culminating in an embarrassing loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Baker Mayfield, a quarterback on his fourth team in three years, posted the first perfect passer rating ever by a visiting quarterback at Lambeau Field.
The Bucs won 34-20, but likely could have named their score with their ability to move the ball through the air.
The loss was the Packers' second in a row to knock them down to 6-8 and put their playoff hopes on life support.
Jaire Alexander’s Shoulder Sacks Season
One of the oddities of the season has been Jaire Alexander's absence.
Hie missed three games with a back injury but suffered a shoulder injury in his return to action against the Rams. While he was limited participation for every practice for a month, Alexander missed six consecutive games.
LaFleur admitted after Alexander missed the team's 34-20 loss to Tampa Bay that the team may have miscalculated how much time Alexander would miss.
Regardless of those miscalculations, the reality is the Packers have been missing one of their best players for most of the season.
When Alexander did return, his season took another bizarre twist when he nearly botched the coin toss before the 33-30 victory over Carolina after he was not announced as a team captain.
He would proceed to take what could be perceived as a subtle jab at Joe Barry.
"Uh, yeah, it is. Honestly,” he said when asked if he was surprised the Panthers rallied. “But we just got to play the call that's called," Alexander said, though he did acknowledge it was a “a pretty good game plan.”
Following the game against Carolina, the Packers determined that Alexander made a miscalculation of his own.
Alexander was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team following his pregame actions against Carolina.
When asked if there was more that led to Alexander being suspended, LaFleur said that there's never just one thing that can lead to discipline like this.
"The decision to suspend a player is never easy and not one we take lightly. Unfortunately, Jaire's actions prior to the game in Carolina led us to take this step. As an organization, we have an expectation that everyone puts the team first.
"While we are disappointed, we had a good conversation with Jaire this morning and fully expect him to learn from this as we move forward together. We look forward to welcoming him back next week as he is a valued member of this team and will continue to be in the future." Brian Gutekunst said via a press release from Packers.com.
Alexander's suspension was just another bizarre chapter in what has been an odd season for the two-time All-Pro.
