It is certainly a disappointment that Green Bay will not participate in the final game of the 2025-26 NFL season, as the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks are set to battle it out for the title of Super Bowl Champion on Feb. 8.
Looking at the history between the Packers and the Seahawks and Patriots is very favorable toward Green Bay.
The Packers own winning records against both franchises, as it holds a 7-6 record over the Patriots and a 16-9 record over the Seahawks.
What has been interesting to see over the years, especially as of recently, is that some of Green Bay’s most memorable games have come against these franchises.
In possibly Green Bay’s most memorable game of the Super Bowl era, the Packers took down the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI, bringing the Packers its first championship in 29 years.
The game featured hall-of-famers on both sides of the ball for the Packers, as Brett Favre, who was at the top of his game, finished the game with 246 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.
On defense, Reggie White was the star for the Packers, he helped lead one of the greatest defenses of all time, capping off a Super Bowl victory with three sacks. LeRoy Butler was the other hall-of-famer on the defensive side of the ball, recording seven tackles and a sack. While the hall-of-famers certainly played a major factor in the outcome of the game, it was actually Desmond Howard who was the Super Bowl MVP, after returning a kick for a touchdown and icing the game.
Outside of the Super Bowl, Green Bay and New England rarely meet with both teams in separate conferences. That has robbed fans of Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady matchups for the most part. One game that both did partake in though came back in 2014.
In an instant classic game, Rodgers completed 24-of-38 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns. On the other side, Brady completed 22-of-35 passes for 245 passing yards and two touchdowns. While the battle of the hall-of-fame quarterbacks was the story of the game, the most memorable came right before half time. Rodgers connected with Jordy Nelson, who burned future hall-of-famer Darrelle Revis for a 45-yard touchdown, giving the Packers a 23-14 lead, which New England was never able to recover from.
As for Seattle, there are a number of instant classics to choose from when looking back at the history of these two teams.
The first of which came in the 2003 Wild Card Round of the NFC playoffs.
At Lambeau Field, both teams exchanged blows throughout the game that featured four lead changes. The Packers held a 27-20 lead late in the fourth quarter, before Seattle tied the game with a Shaun Alexander 1-yard rushing touchdown. From there, the game went into overtime.
During the overtime coin toss, Seattle won the toss, and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck famously told the official that Seattle wanted the ball and that it was going to score. Those words backfired on Hasselbeck, as during Seattle’s overtime possession, Packers defensive back Al Harris intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown, pushing Green Bay to the Divisional Round, while Seattle went home with its tails tucked between its legs.
The other memorable playoff matchup between the teams came in the 2014-15 NFC Championship game.
Green Bay jumped out to a hot start, going up 16-0 on Seattle in the second quarter. Looking like it was going to cruise to a victory, Green Bay was caught off guard when Seattle ran a fake field goal, which resulted in a touchdown reception by lineman Reggie Gilliam. That sparked a major Seahawks comeback, as Seattle clawed back to a 19-14 deficit with 2:09 remaining.
On the ensuing kick off, Seattle elected for an onside, which slipped out of the hands of Packers tight end Brandon Bostick and was recovered by the Seahawks. The game eventually ended up tied and went to overtime.
Russell Wilson avenged Hasselbeck and completed the overtime playoff victory against Green Bay with a walkoff 35-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse sending the Seahawks to the Super Bowl and Green Bay home.
While Green Bay did not match up with either team this season, the Packers did host Seattle in joint practices during training camp. Those joint practices were highlighted by a number of fights between the teams. In those joint practices, it became apparent that Seattle’s defense was hungry and physical. This gave Green Bay a quick look at the energy that it takes to play together as a team.
“As a team, when things happen, you have guys throwing punches at another guy that’s the part of the team you love to see,” said packers quarterback Jordan Love, about the fights. “Guys have to have each other’s backs out there. You know, we aren’t going to let one of our guys go out there and get beat up at all. You hate to see it, but you love to see the team have each others’s back going out and fighting for one another for sure.”
While the season ended in disappointment for the Packers, these joint practices with Seattle were an encouraging glimpse at what this Packers team is as a whole. Could seeing Seattle in the Super Bowl help strengthen that bond even more? Possibly, and that may come from the fight that Green Bay showed in August.
