NFC playoff field brings emotional charge for the Packers
This is a different version of the Green Bay Packers, but don't get it wrong. Several of these players have been around for the last couple of years, and they know who they will face. For multiple reasons, the playoffs are also some kind of revenge tour for the Packers. After beating Mike McCarthy's Dallas […]
This is a different version of the Green Bay Packers, but don't get it wrong. Several of these players have been around for the last couple of years, and they know who they will face. For multiple reasons, the playoffs are also some kind of revenge tour for the Packers.
After beating Mike McCarthy's Dallas Cowboys, the Packers are in the NFC's final four. And have you seen what the other teams are?
The San Francisco 49ers are the opponents on Saturday. It's the same team that eliminated the Packers in the postseasons of 2012, 2013, 2019, and 2021. Over the first two ones, no player on the current roster was there. But in the last two, the head coach was Matt LaFleur, and players on both sides of the ball participated in the games. Especially in 2021, when the Packers team was actually better and lost because of a special teams mistake, left a sour taste.
These are the players on the current roster who had snaps in that 2021 playoff game: guard Jon Runyan, center Josh Myers, running back Aaron Jones, tight end Josiah Deguara, running back AJ Dillon, running back Patrick Taylor, linebacker De'Vondre Campbell, defensive tackle Kenny Clark, edge Preston Smith, edge Rashan Gary, safety Darnell Savage, defensive tackle TJ Slaton, cornerback Jaire Alexander, linebacker Isaiah McDuffie, tackle Yosh Nijman, and guard Royce Newman. Cornerback Eric Stokes also played in that game, but now he's on the injured reserve and won't be available.
On the other side of the NFC bracket, there are also well known rivals. The Detroit Lions are from the same division, obviously, but they were also the team responsible for finishing the Packers season in 2022 — it wasn't in the playoffs, to be fair, but it was an elimination, de facto playoff game in week 18.
And the Lions face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They also have gone through a transformation over the last year, with Tom Brady's retirement, but the Bucs beat the Packers in the 2020 postseason NFC Championship Game. That game, considering how well Green Bay had played, was one of the traumatic finishes for an Aaron Rodgers-led team in the playoffs.
"These last three teams that are in the playoffs are the last three teams that ended our season the last three years," right guard Jon Runyan said. "It's kind of insane."
This is not a season of revenge or about the past for the Packers. Rather, it's much more about the future. But the players know what a postseason game means, and they are not ready to give up in spite of the fact that the team has already exceeded expectations.
"It's coming together at the perfect time," Runyan added. "There are other teams that started really hot and kind of fizzled out towards the end of the season, and for us it was the opposite. It gives us perspective about where we were and how far we've come and how much further we still have to go."
The next challenge is the one with the most emotional charge, and also the biggest challenge on the field against the first overall seed in the NFC. But it's also a chance for this young team to see where they are at in their developmental process.
"We know it's a great challenge, but it's a great opportunity as well," said head coach Matt LaFleur. "And that's how we will approach it. We know we're gonna have to play our best ball."
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