Five Worst Playoff Disasters For Packers This Century

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The bully news is nan Green Bay Packers person knowledgeable truthful galore thrills of triumph that they’ve reached nan playoffs astir seasons. The bad news is nan Packers person felt nan sting of truthful galore agonizing defeats.

Right erstwhile you deliberation nan Packers can’t perchance find caller and horrible ways to lose, they beryllium you wrong.

Saturday night’s NFC wild-card crippled was a meltdown of monumental proportions. The Packers led 21-3 astatine halftime, 21-6 entering nan 4th fourth and 27-16 pinch 6 1/2 minutes to spell but mislaid 31-27.

But because nan Packers person perfected nan creation of snatching conclusion from nan jaws of victory, that’s not moreover nan worst playoff nonaccomplishment this century.

Here’s our ballot of nan 5 worst since 2000.

5. Block Party

In 2020, nan Packers went 13-3 to gain nan No. 1 seed but mislaid nan NFC Championship Game to nan Buccaneers successful beforehand of only a smattering of health-care workers owed to nan pandemic.

In 2021, nan Packers went 13-4 to gain nan No. 1 seed again. For nan divisional information against nan 49ers, Lambeau Field was large and frozen. All season, though, location was a elephantine elephant successful nan room. It was Green Bay’s typical teams.

With nan Packers clinging to a 10-3 lead pinch astir 5 minutes to go, Jordan Willis plowed done agelong snapper Steven Wirtel. With individual protector Henry Black deciding not to protect, Willis blocked Corey Bojorquez’s punt. Talanoa Hufanga recovered and returned nan loose shot 6 yards for a game-tying touchdown.

The Packers went three-and-out connected nan ensuing possession and nan 49ers won connected a walk-off section goal.

Of course, it mightiness not person travel to that had Marcedes Lewis not fumbled pinch nan Packers starring 7-0 and driving toward much points.

4. Frozen Favre

On nan Saturday of nan 2007 divisional playoffs, nan Packers spotted nan Seahawks a 14-0 lead earlier rallying for a 42-20 win. A time later, nan No. 1-seeded Cowboys were upset 21-17 by nan Giants.

Just for illustration that, Brett Favre successful a renaissance play had been fixed homefield advantage for nan NFC Championship Game.

With a kickoff somesthesia of minus-1, Favre’s 90-yard touchdown walk to Donald Driver gave nan Packers a 7-6 lead. Early successful nan 4th quarter, pinch nan Packers approaching nan reddish zone, Favre was intercepted but moving backmost Ryan Grant forced a fumble that correct tackle Mark Tauscher recovered astatine nan Giants’ 19. On third-and-3 from nan 12, Grant mislaid 7 yards, truthful nan Packers had to settee for a game-tying section goal.

On nan past play of regulation, nan Giants’ Lawrence Tynes missed a 36-yard section goal, which sent nan crippled to overtime.

You cognize nan rest. On nan 2nd play of overtime, Favre connected what would beryllium his last play pinch nan Packers was intercepted by Corey Webster. Tynes’ 47-yard section extremity sent nan Giants to nan Super Bowl.

“I’m not going to opportunity I thought we had this one, but I felt for illustration everything had fallen into place,” Favre said afterward. “All that was near was to play nan game.”

3. “F nan Packers”

There’s astir apt nary request to rehash what happened conscionable a fewer days ago.

During nan regular season, nan Packers gave up little than 25 points successful 13 of 17 games. On Saturday, they gave up 25 points successful nan 4th fourth alone.

“We’ve sewage to proceed to beryllium aggressive,” protect backmost Javon Bullard said connected Monday. “Players, coaches, everybody. As a team, we’ve sewage to proceed to beryllium aggressive. When you sewage your ft connected somebody’s neck, man, there’s 2 types of group successful this world. You’ve sewage 1 feline that’s conscionable going to put your ft connected their cervix and support talking sh** and you’ve sewage nan different feline that’s going to put him retired while he’s down.

“So, we’ve sewage to beryllium that squad that’s going to put group retired erstwhile they down. We ain’t do that this year. We didn’t do it nan past game, we ain’t do it successful nan erstwhile crippled earlier that, truthful that’s thing that we’ve sewage to find wrong ourselves to beryllium amended adjacent year.”

2. Fourth-and-26

In 2003, nan Packers were scuffling on astatine 6-6 earlier they caught fire, ending pinch a four-game winning streak that included Brett Favre’s unforgettable 399-yard masterpiece astatine nan Oakland Raiders successful nan aftermath of his father’s death.

If location was a team-of-destiny feel, it intensified a week later. In an NFC wild-card crippled astatine Lambeau, nan Seahawks forced overtime connected Shaun Alexander’s 3rd touchdown tally of nan game. What followed was nan astir celebrated coin flip successful NFL history.

Seattle backmost Matt Hasselbeck won nan flip and proclaimed, for each nan world to hear, “We want nan shot and we’re going to score.” On third-and-11, Hasselback served up a 52-yard pick-six to Al Harris.

So, Green Bay took a five-game winning streak to Philadelphia to look nan top-seeded Eagles. The Packers had nan crippled each but won connected Bhawoh Jue’s 18-yard sack of Donovan McNabb connected 2nd down and his breakup of McNabb’s walk connected 3rd down.

That group up fourth-and-26. The Packers’ safeties played excessively heavy and McNabb deed Freddie Mitchell for an improbable first down. The Eagles kicked a section extremity to nonstop nan crippled to overtime, Brian Dawkins intercepted Brett Favre connected Green Bay’s first play of overtime and won connected a chip-shot section goal.

1. Brandon Bostick

The 2014 NFC Championship Game will everlastingly beryllium remembered by Brandon Bostick’s disastrous determination to drawback an onside footwear that was meant to beryllium fielded by sure-handed Jordy Nelson. The reality is it took a calamity of errors to support nan Packers from going to nan Super Bowl.

The Packers led 16-0 astatine halftime. Really, though, nan crippled should person been complete successful nan first 30 minutes.

On third-and-10 from Seattle’s 29 connected nan opening possession, Aaron Rodgers thought he had a free play, went heavy and was intercepted by Richard Sherman. No emblem was thrown, though.

After an interception, nan Packers started astatine Seattle’s 19 and settled for Mason Crosby’s 19-yard section goal. After a fumble, nan Packers started astatine Seattle’s 21 and settled for different 19-yard section goal. After a agelong punt return by Micah Hyde, nan Packers started astatine Seattle’s 33 but kicked a 40-yard section goal. Two much interceptions grounded to nutrient immoderate points.

Before Bostick’s blunder, nan typical teams made a elephantine mistake. On fourth-and-10 from nan 19 precocious successful nan 3rd quarter, nan Seahawks ran a clone section extremity and punter Jon Ryan threw a touchdown walk to trim nan separator to 16-7.

Still, it was 19-7 pinch astir 5 minutes near erstwhile Russell Wilson threw an interception to information Morgan Burnett. Julius Peppers told Burnett to springiness himself up, which eliminated what mightiness person been a agelong return. The Packers punted, and past each hellhole collapsed loose.

A 26-yard walk to Marshawn Lynch group up Wilson’s 1-yard touchdown tally that made it 19-14 pinch 2:09 remaining. From there, Bostick flubbed nan onside kick, Lynch scored nan go-ahead touchdown and a gimpy Rodgers drove nan Packers to a section extremity to unit overtime.

Seattle won nan overtime coin flip and won nan crippled connected Wilson’s 35-yard touchdown walk to Jermaine Kearse.

“I messed up successful nan NFC Championship Game, and spot me, it hurts,” wrote for Sports Illustrated a mates weeks later. “I’ll astir apt deliberation astir my domiciled successful nan botched onside footwear each time for nan remainder of my life. It haunts maine for illustration a recurring nightmare.”

Honorable Mentions

How achy is Green Bay’s postseason history? These slayer losses didn’t make nan list.

In nan wild-card information successful 2009 astatine Arizona, nan red-hot Packers tied nan crippled astatine 45 and forced overtime connected Aaron Rodgers’ touchdown walk to, of each people, Spencer Havner. Green Bay sewage nan shot to commencement overtime, Rodgers sewage deed successful nan facemask and fumbled, and linebacker Karlos Dansby returned nan fumble for nan game-winning touchdown.

In nan divisional information backmost successful Arizona successful 2015, nan wounded Packers someway forced overtime connected 101 yards worthy of Hail Marys to Jeff Janis, only to suffer erstwhile Larry Fitzgerald was wide unfastened and ran done Green Bay’s secondary for a summation of 75 to group up his winning touchdown.

For years, Rodgers longed to big an NFC Championship Game. He sewage his wish successful 2020. During COVID. So, successful a mostly quiet stadium and pinch nary practice from Mother Nature, nan Packers hosted Tom Brady and nan Buccaneers. Brady threw interceptions connected 3 consecutive drives successful nan 2nd half, but nan Packers turned them into only 1 touchdown.

Late successful nan game, Matt LaFleur opted to footwear a section extremity to trim nan separator to 31-26 alternatively than spell for it connected fourth-and-goal astatine nan 8. Brady ran retired nan timepiece erstwhile Kevin King was flagged for walk interference connected third-and-4.

“I’m conscionable beautiful gutted,” Rodgers said. “It’s a agelong season. You put truthful overmuch into it to get to this point. We had our chances.”

The 49ers ousted nan Packers successful 2012, erstwhile Colin Kaepernick ran circles astir nan Packers, 2013, erstwhile Kaepernick led nan 49ers to a walk-off section extremity connected a miserably acold night, and 2023, erstwhile nan Packers blew a fourth-quarter lead, Anders Carlson missed a section extremity and Jordan Love threw an interception.

“We had an opportunity to triumph that crippled and didn’t capitalize connected it,” Love said. “It’s a reliable measurement to extremity nan season.”

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

More Green Bay Packers News