The Green Bay Packers were one of the hottest teams in football entering the postseason last January and still fell two wins short of making the Super Bowl. This time around, the Packers are limping into the playoffs with back-to-back losses and what now appears to be an incredibly difficult path to the Super Bowl, starting Sunday in Philadelphia.
The Packers lost games to the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears over the final two weeks and are the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoff field. In Sunday’s season finale, the Packers gave up a punt return touchdown, saw Jordan Love and Christian Watson go down with injuries, turned the ball over two times and botched a pair of late-game scenarios.
“We have to wipe this as soon as possible,” coach Matt LaFleur said after Sunday’s 24-22 loss to the Bears. “It’s a new season now. Everybody is 0-0. We knew we were going to have to go on the road, so we’re gonna have to go on the road to Philly.”
The Packers will face the NFC East champion Eagles, who finished 14-3. The two teams met in the NFL’s season opener in Brazil, where the Eagles overcame a halftime deficit and beat the Packers 34-29.
After a 2-2 start, the Eagles have won 12 of the last 13 games, including seven straight wins at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Packers had won five of six games coming out of the bye week but dropped back-to-back games with a chance to improve their standing in the NFC playoff field.
“Certainly, didn’t want to go into the playoffs like this. But that’s our circumstance,” LaFleur said. “We have to be tough-minded, we have to be critical. We have to flip the switch as soon as possible. It’s a whole new season. We know we have a tough road ahead of us, but it’s one the guys are going to attack, for sure.”
LaFleur said players had “strong words” in the locker room following Sunday’s loss. Now it’s time to flush the disappointing finish to the season, lock in this week and find a way to get back to playing at the team’s standard to start the postseason.
The Packers and Eagles will kick off from Philadelphia at 3:30 p.m. CT on Sunday. If the Packers win, they will go on the road to play the top-seeded Detroit Lions at Ford Field in the divisional round.
“We know it’s going to be a great challenge. Philly is a hell of a team,” LaFleur said. “This is like March Madness from here on out. Anything can happen.”