It felt like a million things had to go wrong for the Green Bay Packers to throw away an 18-point halftime lead at Soldier Field. And they did. Every single one of them.
In reality, though, the Packers' season spiraled into disaster weeks earlier. It wasn't one problem, but 92 million, to be specific. The injury bug hit Green Bay hard. Every team deals with injuries, but it's who the Packers lost that derailed their Super Bowl dreams.
Over The Cap ranked every team by the combined salary of their players on injured lists (based on average per year). Green Bay finished No. 5, with its injured stars combining for $92.15 million. That includes Micah Parsons' $46.5 million annual average and Elgton Jenkins' $17 million.
How injuries to star players derailed the Packers' season and ended any hopes of a championship
Some of the most significant losses didn't even have the biggest financial impact, like Tucker Kraft's $1.38 million average. But they all add up. It also doesn't include Zach Tom, who missed the final four games of the season, including the playoff loss, despite remaining on the active roster.
For contrast, the Seattle Seahawks' injured players account for just $8.85 million in APY, the lowest total in the league. The New England Patriots have the fourth-lowest at $14.99 million. They will meet in Super Bowl 60 next week.
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Several other playoff teams, including the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, Carolina Panthers, and Denver Broncos, were inside the bottom six. Denver, however, lost starting quarterback Bo Nix late in its AFC Championship victory, an injury that ultimately ruined its championship hopes.
Green Bay had the fifth-highest APY on injured lists. Only one other team inside the top 10, the San Francisco 49ers, made the playoffs. The Packers share the top spots with the likes of the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, and Kansas City Chiefs.
Injuries aside, there was no excuse for the two meltdowns in Chicago, neither the Week 16 collapse nor the even bigger embarrassment in the wild-card round.
Even with key players missing, the Packers still opened a monumental halftime lead in the playoff game and should've closed it out. They had to.
But even if the Packers had survived the Bears' fightback, there's close to zero chance they would be preparing for the Super Bowl right now. Matt LaFleur's team had taken too many hits. It was inevitable somebody would deliver the knockout blow in the postseason.
Remember when the Packers held a two-score lead in Denver? It's at that moment when everything came crashing down.
Jordan Love threw a pick, and Christian Watson got hurt on the play. Zach Tom left the game and didn't play another snap all season. Then Micah Parsons suffered a torn ACL that ended his year. Having already lost Tucker Kraft, Devonte Wyatt, and Elgton Jenkins, it proved too much. Green Bay didn't win a single game from that moment.
There's plenty of blame to go around, and truly no excuse for the playoff performance. Green Bay had the chance to sweep Chicago, had it not been for a botched onside kick in the Week 16 game and multiple missed opportunities in the rematch (including three Brandon McManus missed kicks).
But we don't live in the world of what-ifs. The Packers lost their final five games of the season. That's the fact.
In reality, though, they never had a shot at the Super Bowl. Injuries wrecked their season, and the $92 million figure underscores just how significant the impact was.
Talent, roster-building, coaching, and performances all count. You also need luck, especially with injuries. The Packers had precious little of that in 2025, creating a mountain they ultimately couldn't climb.