GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers are stumbling into the postseason and it’s hard to feel confident in their chances of making a run when they get there.
Saturday night’s dispiriting effort against the Baltimore Ravens was the third gut punch in a recent string of them: losing their best player in Micah Parsons to a torn ACL and relinquishing a nine-point lead in Denver, collapsing late for an unfathomable loss in Chicago and now, as head coach Matt LaFleur said, suffering a “humbling” loss against the Ravens in which the visitors were in “complete control the whole game.”
If the penultimate regular-season game showed how the Packers respond to two consecutive weeks of crushing adversity, can they rise from the mat in time for the wild-card round in two weeks?
“We’re in such a result-oriented business,” LaFleur said after his team’s loss locked up the No. 7 seed for the third consecutive season. “It felt like we had a pretty good week of practice, but when you come out here and you put on a performance like that, it doesn’t necessarily feel that way. I don’t think anybody was relieved that we made the playoffs … we still had a ton to play for. It was the same routine in regards to how we went about our process in regards to how we prepare for a game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough. That’s the bottom line.”
For starters, the Ravens ran for a whopping 307 yards on 53 carries, good for an uber-efficient 5.8 yards per rush. That’s the second-most rushing yards against the Packers since 1978, according to Pro Football Reference, trailing only the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles over that stretch. The Packers have done their fair share of manhandling this season against the likes of Detroit, Minnesota and others, but running back Derrick Henry and Baltimore’s offensive line were the bullies on this night.
The Ravens averaged 2.17 yards before contact per rush, according to TruMedia. That would rank first if placed among team averages this season. The Ravens also averaged 3.62 yards after contact per rush, which would also rank first among 2025 team averages. The Packers were tied for ninth in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game (103.8) entering Saturday, but they looked like those high school defenses Henry used to run through with reckless abandon.
“This was just embarrassing,” linebacker Edgerrin Cooper said. “They came out to play. We didn’t.”
LaFleur was asked if the Packers expected the Ravens to try running the ball down their throats all game and offered a one-word answer: “Yeah.” So why then did coordinator Jeff Hafley’s defense appear so woefully unprepared for an expected task?
“I gotta go back and take a look at the film,” LaFleur said. “That was tough to watch.”
“We got our ass whooped,” nickel Javon Bullard said. “Call it like it is. I mean, s—. We knew what they were doing. They ran the ball. We couldn’t stop the f—— run. Point-blank-period. And we got to fix that s— tomorrow if we want to go past the wild-card game in the playoffs. If we don’t, we’ll be sitting our ass right back in Green Bay.”
The Packers have lost their two best defensive linemen for the season in Parsons and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt. It has shown, especially on Saturday, even after Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones took a shot at Parsons’ run defense (he was stout against the run over 14 games). Playing without Parsons and Wyatt is a justifiable excuse for lackluster fortitude up front, but there’s no excuse for the magnitude of what we saw Saturday at Lambeau Field.
Henry started the night bulldozing his way down the field for 48 yards on seven carries, capping off Baltimore’s opening drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. The Ravens ran 10 times for 65 yards over the 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive that took over eight minutes off the clock, and didn’t stop sticking to what they did best in front of backup quarterback Tyler Huntley. Henry’s 25-yard touchdown scamper untouched through the left side in garbage time was a fitting microcosm for just how lopsided the fight was in the trenches, as the veteran finished with 36 carries for 216 yards and four touchdowns.
“It’s embarrassing having the opponent coming into our house and the way they were celebrating and talking to us and just feeling the complacency and the energy on the sideline,” defensive end Lukas Van Ness said. “Frankly, it’s unacceptable. Starting with myself, the defense and honestly, all three phases. At this point of the season, we gotta find a way to play collective and be better. Definitely embarrassing.”
Added safety Evan Williams: “Rarely somebody outschemes you for 300 yards. At the end of the day, this game is always about play style and it just didn’t show up like we needed it to.”
The good from Saturday night? Malik Willis continued looking like a bona fide NFL starting quarterback, but that doesn’t really matter for a Packers team that will turn back to the $220 million Jordan Love once he clears concussion protocol and the playoffs start. It matters more for Willis, who’ll deservedly be eyeing a Brink’s truck when free agency starts in March. As it pertains to the next two weeks, though, nobody would blame the Packers or their fans for feeling uneasy entering Chicago, Philadelphia or an NFC West city in a win-or-go-home setting after how the last three weeks have gone.
Malik Willis ran for two touchdowns and threw for another against the Ravens. (Kayla Wolf / Imagn Images)
First, they lost a nine-point lead against the AFC’s potential top seed on the road, but that paled in comparison to losing Parsons for the rest of the year and likely the start of next season. Then, they blew a 10-point lead with less than four minutes remaining with a chance to seize the division’s top spot. Now, they get outmuscled against a team with its back against the wall and with the NFC North crown still up for grabs, suffering their first double-digit loss of the season while allowing more points in the first half (27) than they did in 13 of their previous 15 games.
The defense held firm for the majority of that 22-16 overtime loss in Chicago, but a defense without Parsons and Wyatt, and with this cornerback group, probably won’t inspire much confidence in the playoffs. Special teams are always a wild card in Green Bay, especially in the postseason. And can Love lead a shootout win if need be? Can running back Josh Jacobs overcome what’s ailing him and road grade again? There’s more uncertainty than exclamation points on the roster, and then there’s the question of whether LaFleur, his staff and the team’s leaders can bring out the character necessary to author a turnaround needed to keep a season alive after such a debilitating stretch.
“I just have a feeling that when we understand the urgency that needs to be put forth and when we play good opponents and in games that matter, you see our best ball come to life,” Williams said. “We just have to understand that every game matters. How you do anything is how you do everything. And that’s the truth. Who you are on a Tuesday when your body’s hurting is going to be who shows up on Sunday. I don’t have any hesitation about the character of the guys in this locker room. I feel like everybody’s going to respond in the right way.
“It doesn’t feel good in here and that’s a testament to our culture because you never want to get comfortable losing. How do you move forward? We have to learn from these lessons and hold the standard that you’ve held for 16 weeks. I feel like we can’t let one loss deter us from what we are and what our identity is. For 13 weeks, I think we played dominant football, and we can’t forget that. We can’t lose track of that.”
It’s completely fathomable that the Packers waltz into Soldier Field and upset the Bears in the wild-card round, if that indeed is the matchup. Green Bay has outplayed Chicago for the vast majority of their two games. The Athletic’s NFL Playoff Simulator gives the Bears a 75 percent chance of earning the No. 2 seed and the Packers might prefer that matchup to one against the Eagles or an NFC West foe.
To turn that possibility into reality, and especially to advance even deeper, the Packers have plenty of work remaining. And if Saturday night’s disheartening performance is any indication of what they’ll truly be made of come playoff time, the outlook is bleak.
“We got punched in the mouth tonight,” Van Ness said. “We got embarrassed tonight and it’s one of those that you walk away (from) with a feeling that you don’t want to feel again. We walked away with that feeling last year when we lost in that first round and that’s a feeling that’s got to stick with you and you’ve got to come with on game day. So again, I think we’re going to look in the mirror. I think we’re going to come together. This will be a good wake-up call for us and we’ll be alright.”