Following a season-ending loss, especially one where the Green Bay Packers had victory in their hands, it feels impossible to reflect on the season that was or to look ahead to what might be.
The seventh-seeded Packers gave up a 7-point fourth quarter lead and lost 24-21 to the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night in the NFC Divisional Round.
“I don’t know. I can’t tell you,” said coach Matt LaFleur when asked how long it will take to get over this loss. “I know it’s hard right now to kind of see through everything. I am proud of these guys, but it’s more just the ability to keep competing and stick together.
“There were some tough moments in our season. We lost some tough games. And this is one of them, quite frankly. But I’ve got the utmost confidence that the guys in that locker room, our staff, everybody will stick together.”
What the Packers were able to do in 2023, especially on the offensive side of the ball, was lay the foundation that will now provide them with a jumping-off point into 2024 and beyond.
As an NFL season goes on, expectations, for better or worse, do change. But coming into 2023, the No. 1 question that the Packers needed answered was whether or not Jordan Love could be their starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. And we’ve known for some time now that the answer is a resounding yes.
Not only did Love show that he can be a capable starting quarterback, but that his ceiling can put him among the best in today’s game–which is the level he played at for an extended period of time. Over Love’s final nine games coming into the NFC Divisional Round, he completed 71 percent of his throws at 8.1 yards per attempt with 21 touchdowns to one interception.
Love has elite-level arm talent and was often at his best in must-win games down the stretch. Where he really grew as a quarterback was with his understanding of what defenses were trying to do to him, how to react to it, and in his split-second decision-making when things began to break down around him.
Love’s calm, cool leadership style also played a key role in this Packers team navigating those difficult stretches through the first half of the season.
“I think he’s had an outstanding season,” said LaFleur. “I know it didn’t end the way we wanted it to. I couldn’t be more proud of just who he is as a man, first and foremost, as a leader of this team. I know this one’s going to hurt him. I’m sure he’ll be really hard on himself.
“He’s just got to use it as fuel to continue to get better, but I think you saw so much growth throughout the course of the season, not only from just his ability to going out there and playing consistent winning football, but also I think he grew as a leader, and I think that’s very important obviously to be the franchise quarterback that I expect him to be for a long time around here. I love working with him.”
While coming into this season, there was youth and inexperience all around Love; looking ahead to 2024, there is going to be little turnover on the offensive side of the ball. The only free agents who saw somewhat regular playing time are Jon Runyan, Josiah Deguara, AJ Dillon, and Yosh Nijman, with only Runyan being considered a starter, and even he was splitting snaps with Sean Rhyan.
If there was any doubt about whether or not Aaron Jones would be back in 2024, he put those notions to bed, finishing the season with five straight 100-yard rushing performances.
All six receivers on the 53-man roster, along with Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft, will be back as well, with all eight of those players either in their second or third NFL seasons and still with room for growth. The depth, versatility, and speed of the skill position groups proved to be a real stressor for opposing defenses.
Even in the midst of all the uncertainty that surrounded this Packers offense over the summer and into the first half of the season, the talent on this unit was evident. However, what they needed was experience and to learn how to win.
That experience they gained throughout the season played a big part in the Packers being able to turn things around. There’s knowing the playbook, and then there is knowing how to handle a specific responsibility based on how the defense is defending you. By the end of the season, this young Packers offense got pretty good at the latter.
With the playoffs essentially beginning for the Packers in Week 16 in Carolina, you can put a check next to both of those boxes.
Although this loss certainly stings in the moment and likely will for some time, it’s also a typical part of the learning process for a young team. As a player, it’s one thing to be able to execute your responsibility, it’s another to do it on the road, in the playoffs, and against one of the best teams in football.
“Definitely,” said Love if this loss can be a motivator going into the playoffs. “That was the message in the locker room with all of our talks right now. Guys just stepping up and saying how motivating it is to be able to attack the offseason now. How motivated we will be by this loss.
“It’s definitely obviously, who knows what the group will look like next year, and things like that, but everyone in the locker room is definitely motivated to get back after it and get ready for next season.”
The defensive side of the ball comes with more unknowns for the Packers, specifically around the status of Joe Barry and the position coaches. But for the most part, the core of that unit will remain intact, with Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark, Preston Smith, Quay Walker, and Jaire Alexander all returning, along with some promising young players all having another offseason under their belts.
The Packers’ salary cap situation in 2024 won’t be great, but it will be improved from 2023, and they also hold five draft picks in the top 100 to continue adding to this roster.
With how much turnover there is in the NFL year over year, the 2024 Packers won’t be identical to the 2023 version. However, with the talent on this team, along with how young the Packers are and the experiences they gained – both good and bad – the foundation has been laid, and expectations are going to be high moving forward.
But, as we all know, nothing in the NFL is guaranteed either. Many thought that following the Packers Super Bowl win in 2010 that they would have been back at some point. Time will be needed to heal from this loss and to reflect on the 2023 season, taking away positives and things to improve upon, but then it’s time to “attack the offseason.”
“To be able to stand up in front of that group,” LaFleur said, “and, it’s a special group and I think that it’s a young group that there’s a lot of promise for the future, but nothing’s guaranteed and our guys are going to have to attack this offseason.
“And like P (Preston Smith) was talking to the guys with the championship mindset and they’ve got to put in championship work and we expect to get those championship results and so it’s going to be a very important offseason for us.”
