Packers star offers blunt reality check about what's coming for Green Bay
The Green Bay Packers had a solid season, an 11-6 record and the second consecutive appearance. Even though the seventh seed in the NFC and the wild card elimination wasn't what the team was expecting, the most disappointing aspect of the season was the underwhelming 1-5 record inside the NFC North—which included two losses to […]
The Green Bay Packers had a solid season, an 11-6 record and the second consecutive appearance. Even though the seventh seed in the NFC and the wild card elimination wasn't what the team was expecting, the most disappointing aspect of the season was the underwhelming 1-5 record inside the NFC North—which included two losses to each of the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.
And the Packers know things aren't getting much easier than that in the future. Safety Xavier McKinney, named to the First-Team All-Pro after his first year in Green Bay, admitted how tough he expects the division to be moving forward.
"For sure. I knew that early, though," McKinney told Ari Meirov on the "NFL Spotlight" podcast when asked if he thought the NFC North was difficult. "When I saw everybody winning, I'm like 'Damn.' I thought when I was with the Giants, that division was good. But this one is way better. It's gonna be a tough division, it's a lot of good teams."
For the future, McKinney thinks the Chicago Bears will also be a tough opponent after hiring former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as their head coach.
"I mean, you got four teams that are playoff-contending teams and Super Bowl-contending teams," McKinney pointed out. "I think the Bears are gonna have a really good team, especially with (Ben Johnson) now. So it's gonna be tough."
At the same time that the Packers expect challenges, they are not afraid of it. Xavier McKinney was one of the leaders of the defense—not only in terms of performance, but also inside the locker room. And he speaks for everyone.
"We accept the challenge," he highlighted. "We can't wait to compete with these teams every year."
The NFC North had a curious season in 2024. In the regular season, the four teams went 45-23, and 12 of these losses came from the Bears. The Lions, Vikings, and Packers made the postseason. However, all three teams were one-and-done in the playoffs, which included a surprising Lions' loss to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round. The Packers and the Vikings lost in the wild card round.
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