In a place nicknamed “Titletown,” advancing to the divisional round of the playoffs isn’t typically celebrated as a resounding success, but the 2023 Green Bay Packers — in the first year of the Jordan Love era — exceeded all reasonable expectations and potentially opened a new Super Bowl window starting in 2024.
Consider it success redefined in a year of transition in Green Bay.
Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy labeled the season a “success” even though Green Bay gave up a late lead in San Francisco and lost to the 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round.
“As disappointing as the loss was, I still think the overall season was a success,” Murphy wrote in his monthly Q&A post at Packers.com. “We were a very young team (youngest in the league) and came into the season with a lot of question marks.”
The ascendance of Love at quarterback in his first season as the starter was a big reason for the “success” of the season overall. Now the Packers — who have enjoyed Hall of Fame quarterback play for three decades — have confidence in the standard remaining steady at the game’s most important position.
“The biggest question was how Jordan Love would perform in his first year as a starter,” Murphy wrote. “While Jordan (and the team) was inconsistent in the first half of the season, he finished the season playing at a very high level. We feel confident that Jordan is our quarterback of the future.”
The Packers are expecting to use this offseason to engage in long-term contract negotiations with Love, who produced 41 total touchdowns and almost 5,000 total yards of offense across 19 games in 2023.
Matt LaFleur guided a young team through tough times early and eventually had the Packers positioned as one of the NFL’s most dangerous teams in January.
While the Packers started 2-5, LaFleur’s team beat the Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs in three straight games to revive the season and then clinched a playoff spot with wins over the Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears in the final three games.
The biggest victory of the season? A 48-32 thrashing of the NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in the wildcard round.
“We were the youngest team to win a playoff game since the NFL-AFL merger. It was exciting to see our team come together as the season progressed,” Murphy wrote. “It is a real tribute to our coaches and players that we were able to turn our season around. I think Matt LaFleur did his best job coaching this year. While nothing is guaranteed, I do think the team learned a lot from our playoff experience this year, and that the future is bright.”
The one-year hiatus from Super Bowl expectations ends in 2024. Everyone in Green Bay has acknowledged that development as a team into a real contender isn’t guaranteed, but a real chance — given Love’s first season and all the young talented assembled around him — to start a new Super Bowl window exists starting next season. The groundwork — built through tough decisions, young player acquisition and development during a rollercoaster season — was laid in 2023.