The Green Bay Packers re-established themselves as serious contenders in 2024, finishing the regular season with an 11-6 record. They did lose in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, but it was against a Philadelphia Eagles team that went on to win the Super Bowl in a dominant fashion. While the season ended on a bad note, there was still the silver lining that Green Bay had made the playoffs in back-to-back years with a promising young core.
That core returns in 2025 with even more exciting pieces, and that’s why it was bizarre to see someone predict the Packers will miss the postseason in 2025. That someone was ESPN’s Ben Solak, and he made the prediction in a recent piece looking at 100 different storylines for the 2025 season.
In the bold prediction part of the story, which Solak prefaced with a message to fans to not remember these projections unless he’s right, the analyst said Green Bay will miss the playoffs. Solak’s reason for this prediction was that the Packers don’t have a pass-rush presence or a dominant receiver, two things Solak considers “nonnegotiables for playoff teams.”
“The Packers will miss the playoffs,” writes ESPN's Ben Solak. “I think two of the biggest nonnegotiables for playoff teams are having a pass rush and a dominant receiver. The Packers definitely don't have the first and still might not have the second, even after drafting Matthew Golden in Round 1. They were plus-12 in turnover differential last season, which ranked third in the NFL, but that tends not to be a sticky number.”
Packers predicted to miss playoffs because of lack of pass rush and elite receiver
A consistent pass rush and elite receiver are definitely conducive to success in today’s NFL, but this prediction is especially wild because Green Bay has made the playoffs in both of the last two seasons without either of those things. If the franchise was able to win a combined 18 regular-season games and one playoff game in the last two years without a pass rush and elite receiver, why will things suddenly change now?
The Packers recorded 45 sacks in each of the last two seasons. Additionally, Jayden Reed led the team in receiving yards in 2024 with 857, and in 2023 with 793. Still, Green Bay was able to be one of the better teams in the league and make the postseason. Now, the team has added more talent to both groups, and guys are developing at the position.
All in all, the Packers should still be considered contenders entering the season. If anyone else is bold enough to predict Green Bay will miss the playoffs, they’ll have to present some better reasons.