For the vast majority of their Week 3 matchup with the Cleveland Browns, it seemed as if the Green Bay Packers were well on their way to their first 3-0 start since 2020.
Despite the Green Bay offense not putting forth its best effort, getting only a Brandon McManus field goal early in the second quarter and a Jordan Love touchdown pass to tight end John FitzPatrick near the end of the third, the defense pitched a shutout for more than 56 minutes. But as the saying goes, that's why they play all 60.
After Cleveland kicker John Szmyt hit a field goal to cut the Green Bay lead to 10-3 with 3:38 to play, Love was intercepted by Grant Delpit on the ensuing possession, a turnover that led to a Quinshon Judkins touchdown with 3:01 remaining, thus tying the score at 10-10.
Nevertheless, the Packers put themselves in position to win, only for McManus to have his game-winning field goal attempt blocked. The Browns then stole the victory, as Szmyt hit a 55-yard field goal as time expired to give the Browns a 13-10 win.
Not only was the loss embarrassing, it was also quite historic. You see, before Sunday, Green Bay had won 300 consecutive regular-season games when leading by 10 or more points. Yes, you read that correctly. 300. That's how rare a loss like this is for Green Bay.
To find the last time such a loss occurred, one has to go all the way back to Week 8 of the 1967 season, when Vince Lombardi took the Packers on the road for a high-profile matchup with Don Shula and the Baltimore Colts. Yeah, that's how far back we're talking.
On that day at Memorial Stadium, Green Bay actually held a 10-0 lead on Baltimore with less than a minute to play before Johnny Unitas connected with Alex Hawkins for a 10-yard TD pass, thus cutting the Packers' lead to 10-6, as Colts kicker Lou Michaels missed the extra-point attempt.
Baltimore naturally attempted an onside kick and recovered it. Unitas then quickly took the Colts down the field and connected with Willie Richardson for a 23-yard touchdown pass. Michaels then tacked on the extra point to give Baltimore an improbable 13-10 victory.
Pretty wild how even the score was the exact same, don't you think?
The Packers, of course, weren't ultimately affected by the defeat, as they went on to win their third consecutive NFL Championship before winning the second edition of what we now call the Super Bowl. And oddly enough, in the game immediately following that loss to the Colts, they walloped none other than the Cleveland Browns, taking a decisive 55-7 victory.
Perhaps this year's Packers team can find the same fortune come the end of the season. First, however, they'll look to get back on track this Sunday night when they take on the Dallas Cowboys.