The Green Bay Packers clinched a playoff berth with arguably their best performance of the season six days ago, but their bubble burst against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 17.
Like the meeting at Lambeau Field in Week 4, the Packers fought back late in the fourth quarter to make a game of it, but they left it far too long. The game was gone. Green Bay lost two games to the Vikings by a combined score of 58-54 this season, but in reality, the contests were far more lopsided than that.
Matt LaFleur's team has won the games it should win. When the Packers play teams with losing records, they win and often win well. The moment they play a legitimate Super Bowl contender, the wheels fall off and they get outplayed on both sides of the ball.
It happened in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles. It happened twice against the Detroit Lions and now twice against the Vikings. If the Packers are to get out of the NFC in January, they will likely need to go through a combination of those three teams, all on the road. They've provided precious little evidence that they are up to the task.
Green Bay has 11 wins this season, outscoring its opponents 300-164 in those games. The combined record of its opponents is just 71-103. Translation: The Packers can beat bad teams.
They have now lost five times against teams with a combined 67-11 record. They have been outscored 128-150 in those games. Translation: They can't beat the great teams.
Packers prove they aren't ready to compete in the NFC playoffs (yet)
Unfair or not, the story is this: The Packers can't beat the NFC's best teams. They've had five attempts — two at home, two on the road, and one at a neutral site — and lost each time.
LaFleur deserves his share of the blame. His team drew seven penalties versus Minnesota, including a controversial offsides call on Edgerrin Cooper after a missed Vikings field goal. They converted a 50-yarder after the penalty. That one may have been unlucky, but the Packers had too many unforced errors, like an illegal formation that wiped out a 3rd-and-1 conversion near the end of the second quarter and resulted in a punt.
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It's the same issues we've seen all season, and it's on LaFleur.
Jordan Love also needs to play far more consistently. His performance mirrored the Week 4 game, where he came to life in the fourth quarter with the Packers down multiple scores. It was too little, too late.
In Green Bay's four losses, Love has completed just 58.2 percent of his passes for 1,313 yards, eight touchdowns, and four interceptions, with an 87.1 rating. The Packers need more from their $220 million quarterback when they meet one of the NFC's top three seeds in the postseason.
Five games against Super Bowl contenders. Five losses. Until the Packers dispel this narrative, they are pretenders in a competitive NFC.