The script looked similar – 13 regular-season wins, NFC North champions, No. 1 seed in the NFC – but the final act felt like it could finally be different for the Green Bay Packers in 2021.
No truly dominant team in the NFC. Key players returning from injury. A better defense. Another MVP season from the quarterback. Just two home wins away from a Super Bowl appearance.
But football is a cruel game, and instead of making a title run, the Packers stumbled over their own feet in the divisional round and were once again stunned at home well short of the Super Bowl, providing a shocking but all-too-familiar end to another otherwise great season.
The Packers started the year getting blown out in the summer sun of Jacksonville and finished it watching helplessly as Robbie Gould’s game-winning field goal split the uprights in the snow at Lambeau Field.
It’s time to hand out some awards for the 2021 season: