It is difficult to select one play throughout a team’s season to pinpoint why it finished how it did, but for the 2025-26 Packers, one moment in particular paved the way for Green Bay’s early playoff exit.
Late in Green Bay’s Week 15 matchup with the Denver Broncos, star pass rusher Micah Parsons went down with a non-contact knee injury while chasing Broncos quarterback Bo Nix. Parsons’ knee injury resulted in a torn ACL, ending his season and beginning a long offseason of recovery.
While Green Bay was in a position to make the playoffs, which it ultimately did, losing one of the best players in the league proved to be a nail in the coffin, as the Packers lost each of the final four games of the season.
Before Parsons was injured though, the Packers looked like one of the top contenders to win the Super Bowl.
After a disappointing end to the 2024-25 season, Green Bay retooled, trading for Parsons and giving quarterback Jordan Love another offseason of much-needed development. This quickly gave Packer fans hope as Green Bay came out of the gates hot and destroyed the Detroit Lions in a highly anticipated matchup, with Parsons recording a sack in his debut.
The Packers rolled through its next game against Washington in a similar manner, by utilizing a heavy pass rush and making its opponent make the mistakes.
After starting 2-0, Green Bay went to Cleveland, where it faced Joe Flacco for the first time this season. In a defensive slog, a Brandon McManus missed kick proved to be the difference, as the Browns pulled off the upset and handed the Packers its first loss of the season.
Looking to bounce back, the Packers traveled to Dallas in a Sunday Night Football that was expected to be a major matchup, as Parsons returned to the team that just traded him. Parsons continued to shine in this game, as he recorded two quarterback hits and one sack, but the game ended in a 40-40 tie.
In an incredible offensive performance, both Love and Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott finished the game with 300-plus passing yards and three passing touchdowns.
After the tie to Dallas, Green Bay got hot. It avenged its loss to Flacco, by beating him in the second matchup after he was traded in-season to the Cincinnati Bengals after Joe Burrow went down with an injury.
Shortly after the Bengals win, Green Bay took down Arizona before traveling to Pittsburgh in one of the most anticipated matchups in recent memory, as this was the first time Aaron Rodgers was playing against Green Bay. Green Bay’s offense was too much for Rodgers and Pittsburgh to overcome as Love outdueled his former mentor, throwing for 360 yards and three touchdown passes.
Tight end Tucker Kraft also staked a claim as best tight end in the league during this game, as he finished with 143 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions.
“I told (Rodgers) that I have a lot of love for him, so it was very fun to go against him,” said Love, on his interaction with Rodgers after the game.
Green Bay’s three-game win streak came to a screeching halt during its Week 9 matchup with the Carolina Panthers. While Carolina would eventually win the NFC South and make the playoffs, losing to the Panthers in a cold November game felt like a bad loss.
In a 16-13 loss, Green Bay’s (to this point) stellar defense was run all over, as Panthers running back Rico Dowdle picked up 130 yards and two touchdowns. Stalling in the red zone, two turnovers and a missed field goal proved to be too much for the Packers to overcome as well.
Even though the loss stung, Kraft went down with a knee injury in the game, ending his season as he was later diagnosed with a torn ACL.
Looking to rebound on a Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay once again lost in a boring defensive matchup. After no points were scored through the first two quarters of the game, Philadelphia jumped out to a 10-point advantage after a DeVonta Smith touchdown in the fourth quarter. Green Bay was unable to make up the double-digit deficit, as it scored just seven total points.
Sitting at 5-3-1, while nowhere near out of playoff contention, it felt like the season was getting away from Green Bay. The Packers looked themselves in the mirror and ripped off four straight victories over the New York Giants and each of the three divisional opponents.
These games were highlighted by Love throwing for a career high four touchdown passes against the Lions and Keisean Nixon coming away with a game-ending interception of Bears quarterback Caleb Williams in the first of three matchups between the teams.
The four straight wins pushed Green Bay’s record to 9-3-1, giving the team the lead in the division and setting its eyes on coming away with the NFC’s top seed in the playoffs.
That’s when the season took a turn though. Green Bay’s next matchup came at Denver. With no playoff scenarios at stake in this game, a win would have been great for the Packers, but getting back home without any major injuries was the number one priority. Parsons was eventually lost for the season and (while it wasn’t fully true at the time), so were the Packers’ chances at contending for a Super Bowl.
After losing Parsons and losing to the Broncos, the Packers suffered three more losses to end the regular season.
The first came against the Bears, after Green Bay collapsed in the fourth quarter. Chicago scored 13 points in the fourth and after recovering an onside kick pushed the game to overtime in a game started by back up quarterback Malik Willis. Green Bay’s possession in overtime stalled, and Chicago finished its comeback by Williams connecting with DJ.J. Moore for a walkoff touchdown.
Looking to bounce back, Green Bay dropped its last home game of the season to the Baltimore Ravens, after Ravens running back Derrick Henry recorded the best game of his hall-of-fame career, finishing with 216 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns on 36 carries.
Finally to end the season, even with losses in each of the last three games, Green Bay had locked up the NFC’s seventh seed, it took on the Minnesota Vikings. Love and Willis both sat out the game, as Clayton Tune was given the start at quarterback. Green Bay’s offense struggled, as it was only able to pick up 121 total yards and three points, losing 16-3 and ending the season on a four-game losing streak.
Even with the injuries to Parsons and Kraft and the regular season ending as it did, vibes were high as Green Bay and Chicago matched up for the third time.
The Packers went into the game favored, which may seem odd, but given that the Packers outplayed Chicago for seven out of the eight previous quarters it made sense. Even with the disappointing end to the regular season, Love said that this matchup against the team’s biggest rival are the moments that players get up for.
“Its definitely a rivalry game,” said Love, before the Wild Card matchup. “Since I have gotten here with the Packers, it is something you understand what it is playing in this game. I think it has amped up over the years and with us splitting, going 1-1 on the season, it is going to be at an all-time high this week.”
Green Bay came out of the gates hot, going up 21-3 at halftime. Things all changed when the fourth quarter came around though. Green Bay once again collapsed, leading to a 25-point quarter for the Bears giving Chicago the 31-27 victory, ending the Packers season.
When looking at the season as a whole, there were some good and some bad, but injuries to Kraft, Parsons, Elgton Jenkins, Devonte Wyatt and Zach Tom, on top of inconsistent play for McManus, Nixon and Josh Jacobs proved to be too much for Green Bay to overcome, ultimately ending the season in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs for the second straight season.
