How Packers went from playoff favorites to an early offseason

Like many Green Bay Packers fans, leading into the 2022 NFL season we believed we were bound for the Super Bowl.

The Packers have an MVP quarterback, All-Pros across the defense, and a great running game to support Aaron Rodgers. But after the loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the 2022 NFC divisional playoff game, we thought it was over for the Rodgers era in Green Bay, thus sparking what could be a rebuild.

When Rodgers signed his three-year, $150.8 million contract on March 14, 2022, the Packers decided to run it back and keep the Super Bowl window open for another season.

Fast-forward a year later, and the Packers sit eliminated from the 2023 playoffs after having a disappointing season.

What went wrong this past season? Was it poor quarterback play, losing close games, or stars not playing up to their potential?

Whatever the case is, with the roster Green Bay had, there is no excuse for the lack of success they experienced during this NFL season. Regardless, let’s go over what exactly happened to the 2022 Green Bay Packers.

The infamous drop

I hate bringing this up, but since Christian Watson has turned into one of the best rookies in the 2022 draft class and it’s been a defining moment for the young receiver, it’s important to talk about.

On the first play on offense for the Packers this season, Watson runs a go route, using his blazing speed to run right past former All-Pro corner Patrick Peterson in the wide open field.

Rodgers throws a deep shot that was going to be a walk-in touchdown for the young star, yet he dropped it. Watson would have started his NFL rookie season with a 75-yard touchdown on his very first play in the league.

The drop is not a huge issue now seeing as Watson finished his rookie campaign with 41 catches 611 yards and nine total touchdowns, but it seemed to be a key moment in stalling the development of the best receiver on the Packers.

Rodgers grew less trustworthy of his new toy and this led to a major lack of production from the highest drafted wide receiver by the Packers since Javon Walker back in 2002. This ultimately limited the production of not only Watson but led to one of Rodgers’ worst statistical seasons of his career.

Who knows what happens if Watson catches that ball. Since the drop he has proven that it was a fluke and that brings hope for his future in Green Bay. As for the beginning of this year, however, it was definitely a part of the early season struggles for the team.

Non-complementary football

It seemed as if the Packers all season were three different parts of a team coached by three different head coaches with different goals in mind.

The offense was either “too complicated” for the young guys on the team and needed to be “simplified” or it was just never being played in rhythm.

On the defensive side of the ball, the amount of first-round picks (seven) starting along with other very solid pieces could never play a full four quarters of good football.

The Packers had the 20th-ranked defense in the NFL this season and were one of the worst against the run. This weakness was on full display during the Week 12 game in Philadelphia, when the Eagles ran for over 300 yards, including Jalen Hurts rushing for over 100 by himself.

When the defense finally started to be opportunistic and playing the way they were anticipated to during the offseason, it was too late, the Packers were already 4-8 and on the cuff of being eliminated from the post-season during the last month of the schedule.

Some speculate that there needs to be change at the defensive coordinator position or if there was division between the players.

When asked after the Week 18 loss to Detroit about potentially moving on from defensive coordinator Joe Barry, Matt LaFleur said: “I don’t anticipate a whole, if any, staff changes at all.”

In Joe Barry’s second year with the team his defense ranked 20th in DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) and 17th in both yards allowed and points – all bottom half of the league numbers.

With the talent on the defensive side of the ball, the way the unit preformed most of the season was miles off of what was anticipated last offseason.

While the offense struggled most the season and the defense underperformed, the special teams unit was oddly similar.

Green Bay started the season using second-year wide receiver Amari Rodgers as a return specialist. This did not work out well for the team.

Amari had five fumbles this season with most coming as a return man. His inability to keep the ball in his hands forced the Packers to move on from him after the Cowboys game.

After his release, a man by the name of Keisean Nixon took over as return man and from Week 10 on, he may have been one of the few reasons the Packers were able to make a late-season push for a potential wild-card playoff spot.

In the seven games Nixon started at returner, he managed to be the only return man in the NFL to surpass 1,000 yards returning, he brought a kickoff 105 yards out the back of the end zone for a touchdown against the Vikings, and had the most 50+ yard returns in the NFL.

He made the Packers’ special teams, well, special.

However, just like the late turn around for the defensive side of the ball, the use of Nixon seemed to be too late in the season and was not enough to complete the stretch the team needed to make it into the postseason.

Poor quarterback play

If Aaron Rodgers having his worst statistical year in his career was on your 2022 Packers bingo card, then congrats, you won.

After coming off back-to-back MVP campaigns in 2020 and 2021, everyone assumed that Rodgers was going to be able to continue the very high level of play going for another season, but alas, that was not the case.

After not having a single game in which Rodgers eclipsed 300 passing yards and only one game with three or more touchdowns, Rodgers looked like a shell of his former self at times during the season.

Not playing in rhythm, not trusting his vision, and checking down when he had guys running open across the field. Something was off with the Packers quarterback throughout the year.

The poor play could be attributed to the injuries Rodgers dealt with, a broken thumb he suffered against the Giants in London and a rib injury he suffered late in Philly, but even 12 said that those are just excuses and they did not hinder his ability to compete week in and out.

Now that we are in the offseason, we face another long road ahead.

Will Rodgers retire? How many of the veterans on the team will stay for another season? The number of questions will be astronomical and honestly I have no idea what lies ahead, but all we can do is wait with anticipation and trust in what the organization does, as always – Go Pack Go!