Heartbreak in Titletown — Charger Press

Feb 7

Feb 7 Heartbreak in Titletown

Aayush Iyengar

2011. 2014. 2016. 2019. 2020. 2021. To an ordinary person, it may seem as though the previous list is a random selection of years over the last decade. But to many Wisconsinites, to many hardcore fans of the Green and Gold, those years are the only remnants of what has been a tragic, heartbreak-filled string of empty playoff runs that never culminated in the final prize: A Lombardi Trophy.

The Green Bay Packers are one of the most storied franchises in the history of the National Football League. With 756 all-time wins, they have the second-most wins of all NFL teams. In fact, the Packers have won the most championships of any team by far, with 13 championships. Generational talent has not been scarce either. From the immaculate play-calling of Vince Lombardi himself, the effortless football flinging of Hall of Fame quarterbacks Bart Starr, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers, to the dominance of players like Charles Woodsen and Reggie White, it would seem as though winning is the DNA of the Packers. However, that is only true to an extent.

Take the last three years as an example. Following two non-playoff seasons, which ultimately culminated with the firing of then-coach Mike McCarthy, 2019 did not hold much promise to Packers fans. But with a revitalized defense and a return in quality of Aaron Rodgers’ play, the Packers finished 13-3, good for the 2nd seed in the NFC and a first-round bye. The following year, though, was better than anybody could have expected. The defense seemed to have gotten better, but the real revelation was the rebirth of the Packers’ offense. Led by the season’s MVP, Aaron Rodgers had a season for the ages, throwing for over 4,000 yards, 48 touchdowns with an astoundingly-low 5 interceptions, leading the NFL-best offense to another 13-3 season, and their first first-round bye since 2011. Just this past season, even with the drama surrounding Rodgers’ tenure as a Packer, the team secured a second consecutive first-round bye with 13 more wins.

With an NFL-leading 39 regular-season wins over the last three seasons and over 100 wins over the course of the 2010s, logically, Packers’ fans should be thrilled with their dominance right? But the playoff success of this team, in the face of all their regular-season accomplishments, is what has left a sour taste in the mouths of the Packer nation.

In Aaron Rodgers’ tenure, he has played in five NFC Championships, a game that if won, guarantees a trip to football’s brightest stage, the Super Bowl. In his first appearance in 2010, an away game against a bitter rival, the Chicago Bears, his team did just enough, securing a trip to Dallas, where they would ultimately take home the Lombardi trophy. But since then, in the four following championships the Packers partook in, they have gone as follows. In 2014, after building a 16-0 lead against the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay went on to infamously mishandle an onside kick, and lose the game in overtime. In 2016, after beginning the season 4-6, Rodgers and the Packers’ turned their season around, “running the table” to finish 10-6. However, in the Championship against the Falcons, their luck ran out, losing 31-0 at halftime and ending their season with a 21-44 loss. In 2019, the aforementioned turnout year for the Pack, the entire team, from offense to defense to coaching was outmatched, giving up over 280 rushing yards and 37 points to the 49ers en route to another heartbreaking 20-37 loss to end the year. However, in 2020, it seemed like things would be different. Following their dominant 13-3 regular season and a home playoff victory against the Seahawks, the Packers, for the first time in the Aaron Rodgers era, had the opportunity to host the championship. Analysts and fans across the nation believed it was the Packers’ time, that it was the team’s time for the long-awaited return to football’s brightest stage. But as Packer fans angrily remember, this was not the case. Tom Brady, almost undoubtedly the GOAT football player, led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a memorable victory at Lambeau Field, ending the chapter of another season that began with so much promise.

Even this past year resembled a classic Packers’ season. It began with a struggle, a 3-38 drubbing by the New Orleans Saints, that made many of the Green and Gold hopeful panic right away. But the team righted the ship, knocking off many great teams, in the 49ers, the Rams, the Cardinals, and the Ravens on their way to a second consecutive number one seed in the conference and another 13 win season. Surely this was the year of the Pack. Just how much more playoff heartbreak can one fanbase endure? More was the answer. Throughout the game, the special teams’ miscues that plagued the team all season were put into a magnifying glass. The long kickoff returns they gave up, a missed field goal, and finally a blocked punt that led to the game-tying touchdown, were eventually too much to overcome, and the favored Packers fell once again to an underdog in a home playoff game.

With this loss, the futures of many core members of this iconic franchise have been blurred. Aaron Rodgers has been rumored to want a trade, Davante Adams is a free agent, and many others have their own big decisions to make before the beginning of the 2022 season. With a possible end to one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history tenure as a Packer, fans, unfortunately, will soon forget the regular season dominance that preceded such tragic playoff defeats. Even more tragic, however, is the fact that for the four regular-season MVPs, the four seasons of first-round byes, five appearances in the Championship game, and the countless Pro-bowl caliber players on the team over the last decade, the Green Bay Packers have only one ring to show for it and sad memories of the other promising but premature seasons.