The Green Bay Packers won 13 regular-season games, captured the NFC North title, earned a first-round bye, won a home playoff game and were one game away from playing in the Super Bowl during Matt LaFleur’s first season as the head coach.
An enthralling, captivating and mostly unexpected 2019 season ended Sunday in San Francisco, the result of a 37-20 defeat to the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.
The Packers, a team that missed the postseason each of the previous two seasons, got to the doorstep of the Super Bowl but were unable to overcome the talented and top-seeded 49ers on the road at Levi’s Stadium, a venue that hosted two of the team’s four losses in 2019.
LaFleur’s team, a heavy underdog, watched the 49ers raise the George Halas Trophy as NFC champs and advance to Super Bowl LIV. It was a difficult moment for a team that never blinked and kept on winning.
The Packers won 14 total games, more than the 2017 and 2018 teams combined.
It was an enchanting season. The Packers beat the Chicago Bears in the NFL’s season-opening game at Soldier Field, went to Dallas and stunned the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, overcame the Chiefs in Kansas City, stuffed the Carolina Panthers at the goal line to finish a win and bounced back from an earlier defeat in San Francisco to win six straight games, including a thrilling 28-23 win over the Seattle Seahawks at Lambeau Field.
The Packers won nine games by one score or less. They swept the NFC North.
They just ran out of gas in the NFC title game.
The 49ers got four rushing touchdowns by Rasheem Mostert and another smothering defensive effort to vanquish Aaron Rodgers and the visiting Packers by a 37-20 final on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
In the short term, the defeat will be harshly viewed as another lost opportunity for Rodgers to get back to the Super Bowl. In the long-term, it could end up being a valuable stepping stone for one last great run with Rodgers as the Packers quarterback.
The 2019 Packers did not bring home another Lombardi Trophy to Titletown, but the captivating season was far from a failure. Teams so rarely win 14 games in an NFL season. This team lost to a better club and finished one win short of getting back to the promised land.
However, the goal of playing in another Super Bowl sure looks much closer.