It’s fair to say that the 2024 season has ended in disappointment for the Green Bay Packers. If they considered it objectively, most fans would admit that this team would not win the Super Bowl. We didn’t need the defeat to the Eagles in the Wild Card game to tell us that. Indeed, the evidence was there in the regular season. The Packers were 0-5 against the three best teams in the NFC, losing twice to the Lions, twice to the Vikings, and once to the Eagles.
The Wild card defeat to the Eagles puts it at 0-6. Sure, some of the games were close (the Vikings won each of the two regular season games by 2 points), but it was clear that the Packers struggled against teams considered contenders in the sportsbooks’ Super Bowl odds. Yet, while it is unsurprising to exit early in the Playoffs, it was still disappointing. Perhaps it is a sense that the young Packers team has not progressed as quickly as many of us thought they would.
A Young Team with a High Ceiling
We should remember how young this team is. You’ll have heard the stats before: The Packers were the youngest team in the NFL this season and the youngest team to make the Playoffs in 45 years in this season and the previous campaign. There is undoubtedly reason to be optimistic. And while there are questions for Matt LeFleur and Brian Gutekunst to address, you can already sense that they preach patience.
Much of the focus will inevitably be on Jordan Love. The 26-year-old quarterback had his moments this season, but there is a consensus that he needs to improve. Some have pointed to the other members of the Draft Class of 2020, including the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow, and wondered whether Love lags behind players who have already led teams to play in Super Bowls.
Love Carries Only Some of the Responsibility
That said, Love’s late-season struggles (he did seem to be carrying injuries) were not the only reason for the Packers’ decline in form leading into the Wild Card weekend. The team was near to a man guilty of errors against the Eagles, which crept into their game later in the regular season. As the lynchpin, Love is responsible for much of what goes right and wrong for the Packers, but he is only partly responsible.
Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see what the management decides to do in the coming months. The Packers are not flush with cash, so you’d imagine it will be a case of minor tweaks to the roster. Josh Myers, Isaiah McDuffie, and Eric Stokes will enter free agency, which must be addressed. You can also argue that the team needs some depth at wide receiver and perhaps at defensive end.
Fans will likely clamor for improvements, but there should also be a recognition that this young team needs further development time. The team has seven picks in the NFL Draft, but there may be an argument about taking in some veteran help through a trade or free agency. Yet, this continues to be a question about having faith, not just in the team’s youth but in LaFleur and the trajectory of this rebuild. Patience is required to see whether the youngest team in the NFL can blossom into something special.
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