Packers Endure One of Worst Days in Franchise History

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In 2020, the Green Bay Packers were the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and quite possibly the best team in the NFL. We’ll never know it, though. On New Year’s Eve, left tackle David Bakhtiari suffered a torn ACL at practice.

The Packers lost the NFC Championship Game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Aaron Rodgers was sacked five times, with all five at the hands of the offensive tackles.

Entering Sunday’s game at the Denver Broncos, the Packers looked like they might be the best team in the NFC. We’ll never know it. On Sunday, the Packers lost to the Denver Broncos. The score was completely inconsequential. Defensive end Micah Parsons is believed to have suffered a torn ACL.

#Packers edge Micah Parsons, believed to have suffered a torn ACL, finished his season with 12.5 sacks and a significant piece of one of the NFL’s best defenses. But his injury knocks him out for the end of the regular season and beyond. pic.twitter.com/iMpQjwk6Pw
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 15, 2025

“It doesn’t look good. I’ll leave it at that,” coach Matt LaFleur said.

The Packers’ Super Bowl chances died on Dec. 31, 2020. And they died again on Dec. 14, 2025.

In a world filled with hyperbole, this is not: Sunday is one of the worst days in Packers history. Maybe not as bad as the fart-in-the-wind Packers blowing a chance to be repeat Super Bowl champions when they lost to the Broncos. But not far from it.

Parsons’ season, obviously, is over. Compounding problems, the injury happened so late in this season that he’ll almost certainly miss the start of next season. When will Parsons return to form? And will it be too late in terms of the team’s championship hopes?

Heck, will Micah Parsons ever be that Micah Parsons? There is no reason to believe he won’t, but you never know, especially with a player who relies so much on his explosiveness.

It’s an absolutely crushing blow to a player who had revolutionized the defense at the cost of two first-round picks, Kenny Clark and $186 million. The Packers, finally, had a Super Bowl-worthy defense. He was their best player on that side of the football since Charles Woodson. Maybe even Reggie White.

He was a truly elite player, a player who made opposing offensive coordinators sleepless before games because of his game-wrecking ability and quarterbacks sleepless after games because of the pain he inflicted.

“Hurt to see,” said fellow defensive end Rashan Gary, who knows what it takes to come back from a torn ACL. “Will be missed on this defense. All I know is that gives us more guys up front more opportunities when they come to rush to cause havoc. With his absence, we got to step up front.”

Yes, they do.

From one perspective, the Packers made the playoffs the last two seasons without Parsons. In 2023, they were close to reaching the NFC Championship Game with a first-year starting quarterback. These Packers, with or without Parsons, are better than those Packers because of the ascendance of Jordan Love alone.

Statistically, even with Parsons’ brilliance, the defense this season isn’t all that much better than the defense last season. So, clearly, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley knows what to do and maybe he’ll be able to create a pass rush.

“The season ain’t over,” safety Xavier McKinny said. “So, sh**, we’ve still got work to do and we’ve still got obviously with this loss, it puts us in a different spot, but we’ve still got a chance to do what we want to do – win the division and make a big run in the playoffs.

“So, yeah, obviously, guys got hurt today, but that don’t mean the season’s just over. We’ve just got to keep working, keep finding ways where we can get better, we’ve got to try to be as healthy as possible and that’s just what it is.”

From the other perspective, let’s be real. Parsons is irreplaceable. Without his league-leading eight sacks in the fourth quarter or overtime, the Packers wouldn’t have been 9-3-1 and in first place in the NFC North entering Sunday.

Here's the latest NFC playoff standings with the conference's Week 15 games complete. ⬇️https://t.co/wGfUs1ZhwC
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) December 15, 2025

According to Next Gen Stats, Parsons had an NFL-leading 78 pressures. The next three Packers on the list, Rashan Gary, Kingsley Enagbare and Karl Brooks, had 79 combined. Like the old recruiting message, Parsons was an Army of One.

Devonte Wyatt, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury a few weeks ago, had 16 pressures. That’s a total of 94 by their best pass rusher and their best interior pass rusher. That’s more than their next four players, Gary, Enagbare, Brooks and Lukas Van Ness, combined. Parsons (12.5) and Wyatt (3.5) combined for 16 sacks. Everyone else on the roster has 17.

Gary hasn’t had one since getting Aaron Rodgers twice in Week 8. Lukas Van Ness hasn’t had one since the play in which he injured his foot against Cincinnati in Week 6.

With no pass rush, coupled with suspect cornerback play, the Packers’ Super Bowl hopes are 6 feet under.

“Same thing that goes through my mind when I see any player, for that matter,” coach Matt LaFleur said “You don’t wish that on anybody. It’s obviously tough. We all know what type of player he is and the impact he’s had on our football team. To lose somebody like that, it’s tough. Like I said, nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to find a way. Guys got to rally around one another.

Rallying and stepping up and next men up sound good. But just like Luke Musgrave is not Tucker Kraft, Gary is not Parsons.

Even though they fell from the No. 2 seed to the No. 7 seed, the Packers have a good chance to make the playoffs. With Detroit losing at the Rams, they remain a game-and-a-half on top in the race for the final postseason berth. So, there’s some wiggle room.

“We’ll be ready by Saturday,” Gary said of the rematch against the Bears in Chicago. “This what I say: For the rest of the season, what we got? Three more opportunities? Watch how the front play. We had a meeting at the end, brought all the guys up, understanding that there's going to be a lot of opportunities the next three weeks and we got to take advantage of it, so you going to see how we play.”

If how the front has played this season is any indication, it’s not going to be good enough. Not to make history, anyway.

The Packers with Parsons had a chance to make a run for the Super Bowl. Not anymore. Not after one of the worst days in Packers history.

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