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Rob Demovsky, ESPN writer
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The locker room was practically empty, except for Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney. It was his first press conference after signing as free agents with the Green Bay Packers last offseason.
However, from the moment Jacobs and McKinney walked into Lambeau Field, they could feel what had happened less than two months earlier. They felt the Packers’ last-minute playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC divisional round seeping through the walls.
But as disappointed as everyone in the organization was about the loss, there was a sense that a window to the future had opened for the NFL’s youngest team, led by a rising star in quarterback Jordan Love. .
“From day one, it’s been mentioned,” Jacobs said of the loss, shortly after arriving in Green Bay. “Just among the boys, it’s been mentioned.”
In 2010, there was a similar mood among those who had just joined the Packers, months after the team lost an NFC wild-card game, 51-45 in overtime, to the Arizona Cardinals during the first trip of the quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the playoffs.
“You could tell he was a driving factor,” recalled Packers tackle Bryan Bulaga, who joined the team in 2010 as a rookie first-round pick. “It seemed like it was more of a determining factor that we could go further, and we know we can do more. I didn’t really know, because I was a rookie, but you could tell other guys felt like this team had more.”
That 2010 team won Super Bowl XLV. Can this Packers team continue the same path to a championship? The 2009-10 and 2023-24 Packers have a lot in common.
Both had a young quarterback headed to their second consecutive postseason. Both were wild-card teams that few outside considered favorites for the Super Bowl. Both had young squads. The 2010 team won a championship by participating in every playoff game on the road. This year’s team, the No. 7 seed, begins its quest on the road against the second-seeded Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC wild card round (4:30 p.m. ET, Fox).
“When you go through things like that, and on a young team, you have those experiences and you go through the losing end. It helps you learn,” said McKinney, the safety who signed with the Packers during the season. low season.
“It’s not necessarily that they lost, you’re learning from that situation. The next time it comes up, you know how to handle it and how to approach it… That added fuel to the fire. And just adding pieces (me and Josh) to what they already were.” doing, I think it really helps bring it all together.”
Although the 2010 team came into the playoffs on a high note, having to win its final two games just to make the postseason, this season’s team has limped in with back-to-back losses.
EL TIEMPO Extension 51-45 The loss to the Cardinals in the first game of the 2009 playoffs is the highest-scoring postseason game in NFL history. It ended when Rodgers was hit by Cardinals cornerback Michael Adams and the ball fell directly into the hands of linebacker Karlos Dansby, who went in for the game-winning touchdown.
“I think there were a lot of guys that still had some scar tissue,” Bulaga said. “The way that game ended still bothered them.”
Rodgers & Co. would have to wait another year to play their second playoff game.
Love and the Packers played in two playoff games last season. They opened the postseason by defeating the Dallas Cowboys 48-32 in the wild card round before the 49ers eliminated them 24-21 in the divisional round. San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:07 left, and the game ended seconds later when Love threw an interception.
“I did [watch that]”said Jacobs, who was a member of the Las Vegas Raiders at the time. “They should have won.”
Both the 2010 and current Packers teams featured rosters loaded with young players. Rodgers was in his third season as a starter. Love is in its second. The team’s 2010 opening day roster had an average age of 25.5 years old, making it the fifth-youngest team in the league. This season’s Packers were the youngest in the NFL for the second consecutive season at 25.1.
But the 2010 team had a couple of veteran players who had been chasing a Super Bowl for years. Cornerback Charles Woodson was in his 13th NFL season, receiver Donald Driver in his 12th and offensive tackle Chad Clifton in his 11th. The 2010 team was also plagued by injuries throughout the season, leaving 15 players on injured reserve by the time it reached the Super Bowl.
This season’s team has only two players aged 30 or older. One of them, kicker Brandon McManus, has already won a Super Bowl title with the Denver Broncos.
“There was more veteran leadership in 2010 than what we see now,” said Bulaga, who still follows the team closely as a radio analyst for ESPN Wisconsin. “But what stands out to me the most is that they were still young squads, not just me, but there were many injuries that happened in 2010 that forced many young people to come into action.
“It’s not that the injuries have forced [the 2024] equipment to play with young boys. “It’s just a young team and these guys have a lot of experience from the previous year, which will help them get to these playoffs.”
Although the 2010 team needed to win its final two games of the regular season to make the playoffs, this team clinched its playoff spot on Christmas Day.
The 2010 team also proved themselves in the regular season against teams they would face in the postseason. They opened the season with a road victory over Philadelphia, the same team they would defeat in the wild card round to begin the postseason. They beat the Chicago Bears, the team they would face in the NFC Championship Game. And they lost on a last-second field goal to the Atlanta Falcons, the team they would face in the divisional round.
“The old saying [goes]winning becomes a habit, just like losing can become a habit,” said quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, the only member of the current staff who was with the Packers during 2009-10. “So if you’re winning “Near the end of the year, you feel like you’re going in the right direction, and then you make the playoffs and then you do your best.”
The 2024 team opened the season with a loss to the Eagles and was winless in four games against the NFC North leaders Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. Their only win over an NFC playoff qualifier came against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5, when the Rams were depleted by injuries en route to a 1-4 start.
“It’s not about who we can and can’t beat,” Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon said. “We can beat everyone. If we figure out how to finish, we’ll win games.”
“Now it’s playoff time. It’s win or go home. So either we figure out how to finish or we go back to the crib.”
OFTEN IN THE playoffs, it all comes down to the quarterback. And the advantage usually goes to those who have some playoff experience. Not since Tom Brady in 2001 has a quarterback won a Super Bowl in his first season as a full-time starter.
It took a while for Rodgers to adjust during his first playoff start. His first throw of the 2009 loss to the Cardinals was intercepted. Two plays into the Packers’ next possession, Driver lost a fumble and the Packers quickly fell 14-0. And it was Rodgers’ fumble in overtime that secured the win.
Love’s first foray into the playoffs went much more smoothly. The Packers started fast and Love finished with three touchdowns and no interceptions in the win over the Cowboys. But it was Love’s interception in the final minute that ended their initial postseason run in the divisional round against the 49ers.
“It didn’t work out, but it can only help everyone who was a young player at the time experience what it’s like in the playoffs, and then experience what it’s like to lose in the playoffs, because you remember it.” Clements said, when asked how Love could benefit from his first postseason experience. “It’s a lot more fun to win than to lose, and I think everyone remembers that.”
Even those who weren’t a part of it last year, like Jacobs and McKinney, feel it.
“Those guys are veteran players,” Bulaga said. “So that’s something that allows them to read a room very well.”
