It’s Groundhog Day, again.
You’d be forgiven if that’s how you were feeling at the end of this Green Bay Packers 2025 regular season. A season that began with so much promise ended with them right back where they were a season ago. The Packers finished with the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs and saw a divisional foe take home the NFC North crown.
This time, it was the Chicago Bears.
Optimism gives way to injury
There were plenty of reasons for optimism after the first two games of the season.
The Packers beat the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders by two scores with a dominant-looking defense, thanks to big-time trade acquisition Micah Parsons.
Unfortunately, Parsons will not be around for postseason play after suffering a torn ACL in the team’s Dec. 14 loss to the Denver Broncos. Everything on this team starts and stops with him. It took him all of one snap as a Packer to prove his worth as he got immediate pressure on Jared Goff, forcing a quick throw that led to a Lions punt.
From there, Parsons took off, emerging as a potential candidate for the NFL’s defensive player of the year.
Unfortunately, with his season ending early, that caused the rest of the Packers’ defense to be in the position they were a year ago.
Last year, Green Bay’s defense was good. Of the three units on the team, they were playing the best football by the time their season ended in Philadelphia.
The defense was good for the first 58 minutes of a full game without Parsons, dominating Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears. Unfortunately, the game is 60 minutes long, and the Packers’ defense faltered alongside the special teams. What looked like a massive win turned into a 22-16 overtime loss at Soldier Field.
The following week, they were bludgeoned by the Baltimore Ravens for more than 300 rushing yards. That’s the second time the Packers have allowed 300 rushing yards in a game since 2022.
Ultimately, the defense took a break in Week 18 against Minnesota with many of their key regulars taking a back seat.
If Green Bay is going to make a run in the postseason, they will need to play much better on that side of the ball. Their pass rush needs more from guys like Rashan Gary, who had 7.5 sacks in the first two months of the season but was shut out in the final two months. Lukas Van Ness battled through injuries and was not as productive as the team hoped he would be in this third full season.
In the secondary, they struggled at the end of the year without Parsons on the field. Carrington Valentine was benched. Nate Hobbs was injured for most of the year, and Keisean Nixon had more downs than ups. They added Trevon Diggs for the final game of the regular season, and his role in the postseason will be interesting to watch.
Golden opportunity tarnished
Offensively, the biggest storyline coming into the year was Matthew Golden. Golden was met by a roar from the Lambeau Field crowd that saw the Packers take a receiver in the first round of the draft for the first time since 2002.
Expectations went through the roof. Golden was being talked about in some circles as the team’s top target from the time the season opened. The Packers, of course, explicitly state that they do not want to have a top receiving target. They prefer to spread things around, and that worked to a disadvantage for Golden.
Between injuries in the middle of the season and being stuck behind four veterans the Packers liked coming into the year, Golden was not as productive as they’d hoped. He had some high flashes, and the team remains excited about his future, but his rookie season was disappointing.
One of the reasons Golden did not get as many opportunities is due to the return of Christian Watson. Watson defied the odds, returning from a torn ACL that he suffered in January 2025. His first game saw him catch four passes for 84 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
By the end of the season, he was the team’s top target. He finished the season with a little more than 100 yards fewer than Romeo Doubs, the team’s leading receiver, despite playing in only 10 games. He also finished tied for the team lead in touchdowns.
Sophomore slump for Jacobs?
One of the question marks on offense is the status of the run game. Josh Jacobs was brilliant in 2024 as the key cog in Green Bay’s offensive machine and the one setting franchise records.
His encore was not up to the same level. Jacobs fell short of the 1,000 yards threshold and battled injuries for most of the season. He is going into postseason play with two of his worst games as a Packer being his most recent performances.
He took a back seat in Week 18 against the Minnesota Vikings, and perhaps two consecutive weeks of limited touches will have him fresh for postseason play. The Packers will need him.
Despite the struggles he’s had this season, he’s still one of their most important players.
Choices for Policy
When the season ultimately ends, all eyes will shift to the new man in charge. Mark Murphy retired in July and gave way to Ed Policy as the team’s new leading man.
Policy will have decisions to make regarding the contract status of general manager Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur.
Both entered 2025 with just two years remaining on their contract, and Policy stated he does not want to have a lame duck situation for his coach or general manager.
If the Packers flame out in the postseason, does Policy ask whether LaFluer, Gutekunst or both are the right men to lead the Packers back to Super Bowl glory?
They’ve both won significantly more than they’ve lost, but after Sunday’s loss to Minnesota, the Packers are now 37-30-1 since 2022. They’ve won one playoff game since losing the NFC Championship Game at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
