Packers ‘Savor’ NFC North Title But Have Eyes on Bigger Prize

It wasn't a thing of beauty but the Green Bay Packers beat the Baltimore Ravens 31-30 on Sunday. The Packers won the NFC North but that's not the title they're chasing.

The Green Bay Packers won the NFC North on Sunday. T-shirts and hats were handed out. But the Packers have larger goals, so the staff at M&T Bank Stadium will be happy to know that the visitors’ locker room wasn’t coated with celebratory champagne.

After back-to-back trips to the NFC title game resulted in bitter defeats, the Packers have bigger and better championships on their mind.

“That is always the first goal is you have to win your division,” coach Matt LaFleur said after a 31-30 victory over the Ravens made him a perfect 3-for-3 in terms of division championships. “That guarantees you a home playoff game and it really gets you in the dance, and that’s ultimately what you’d like to do. I think it’s fair to say that the ultimate goal is everybody has the same ultimate goal, and that’s to be the last team standing at the end of the year. And until we do that, I don’t think we’ll be satisfied.”

The verdict over Green Bay might have lacked style points. It entered the game a league-best 11-2 against the spread, meaning not only did the Packers routinely win games but they routinely surpassed expectations.

The Ravens, meanwhile, looked like a team with no hope of hanging in there against one of the NFL’s top teams. The Packers have battled some key injuries; the Ravens have been decimated by injuries. The most-injured team in the NFL lined up without their starting cornerbacks, starting safeties and two of the top backup cornerbacks. They lost their starting slot defender before halftime, meaning the entire starting nickel package was out for a showdown against Aaron Rodgers.

Oh, and 2019 MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson was inactive, too. Green Bay was a staggering nine-point road favorite against one of the top teams in the NFL. And it played like one for large swaths of the second and third quarters. But it failed to deliver the knockout, and almost paid for it. The Ravens were one two-point pass away from potentially springing the upset and knocking the Packers out of the No. 1 spot in the NFC.

But, as was the case at Arizona earlier in the season, a crumbling defense held together just long enough to make the decisive play. The combined breakup by safety Darnell Savage and cornerback Eric Stokes allowed the Packers to escape with their 11th win of the year. They’ve beaten five teams with winning records, including four on the road.

If the outside world is worrying about style points and point spreads and blood-pressure rates, the words Rodgers shared with his teammates in the huddle at the end of the game are worth considering.

“You have to savor these a little bit,” Rodgers recalled. “These are special. It’s just the first step in our goals. A lot of times the coachspeak – I’m not saying that Matt did this – but a lot of times there might be coachspeak that takes over and says, ‘Hey, you know this is just one goal and we have bigger goals and stuff,’ but I think it’s important to keep that perspective on how special accomplishing this is three years in a row. So, just to enjoy it, to savor it, savor these moments. These are special moments.”

In 2019, the Packers were a surprising 13-3 in LaFleur’s inaugural season but were overmatched in an embarrassing NFC Championship Game at San Francisco. In 2020, the Packers were a dominant 13-3 but blew a golden opportunity to slay Tom Brady’s Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field.

You only get so many opportunities to win a championship. This might be the last dance for this group. Everyone knows the uncertain future of Rodgers. With huge salary-cap problems and Davante Adams’ upcoming free agency, who knows what this team will look when it reconvenes for OTAs in five months.

Whatever flaws this team might have, focus is not among them. The Packers aren’t looking ahead but they know darned well the opportunity that’s within their grasp.

“We have high expectations in the locker room, but we have to enjoy winning,” safety Adrian Amos said. “We’re grateful for the win, we’re happy that we won this game, but it’s a week-by-week thing. We enjoy this today and then we get back to work tomorrow. The locker room, everybody is happy that we accomplished our first goal, because our first goal was always winning the North. Now it’s time to keep working and keep building and stacking games and building that momentum going into the playoffs.”