For much of the 2025 NFL season, the Green Bay Packers looked like a solid pick to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 60.
With Micah Parsons leading a defense that ranked in the top 10 in most major categories and Jordan Love having an MVP-caliber campaign on the other side of the ball, the Packers were 9-3-1 heading into the final month of the regular season after a Week 14 win over the Chicago Bears, a victory that put them atop the NFC North and moved them into the No. 2 slot in the NFC playoff picture.
But it was all downhill from there. In Week 15, of course, Parsons went down with a season-ending ACL tear in a 34-26 loss to the Denver Broncos. A week later, in the rematch with Chicago, Love went down with a concussion in a 22-16 overtime defeat. Despite two more losses to close out the regular season, the seventh-seeded Packers looked like they were on their way to a wild-card win in the rubber match with the second-seeded Bears, only to blow a 15-point lead over the final 15 minutes en route to a 31-27 loss.
Green Bay now faces an important offseason in which nearly 25 of its players are set to enter some form of free agency, a list that includes several starters (and backup QB Malik Willis). The Packers are also without a first-round pick in April's draft, which they sent to the Dallas Cowboys in the Parsons deal. And Parsons, of course, could miss a decent chunk of next season depending on how his rehab process plays out.
But at least a couple of analysts seem to believe Green Bay will navigate this offseason nicely, so much so that they're calling for the Packers to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 61.
Two ESPN analysts are predicting the Packers to make it to Super Bowl 61
While it's only been a little over a week since the 2025 season came to a close with the Seattle Seahawks' Super Bowl 60 victory over the New England Patriots, it's obviously never too early to start opining on how the 2026 campaign will play out.
To that end, ESPN recently got 11 of its top experts together to offer up their predictions on which two teams will battle it out in Super Bowl 61 next February at SoFi Stadium. And of those 11, two, Dan Graziano and Seth Walder, are projecting Green Bay to be the NFC representative.
Here's what Graziano had to say:
"Chiefs over Packers. One down season and a torn ACL isn't enough to scare me off quarterback Patrick Mahomes and coach Andy Reid. Mahomes recovers, along with the Kansas City offense, and the Chiefs claim their third Super Bowl title in five seasons."
And here were Walder's thoughts:
"Chargers over Packers. Am I falling for the Chargers in the offseason, just like we all do every year? Sure. But this time will be different! The 2025 Chargers' biggest weakness -- the offensive line -- already has a built-in solution with their two excellent tackles (Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater) returning to health. Add McDaniel as offensive coordinator and I find myself truly believing."
It's a little strange that neither put any detailed focus on Green Bay in their respective assessments outside of just listing the team name, but the reasoning there seems to be because neither picked the Packers to win. But hey, at least they were chosen to get to the Big Game, right?
NFL oddsmakers seem to believe Green Bay will put a competitive team on the field in 2026 as well, as the Packers were given the seventh-best odds (tied with the Detroit Lions) to win Super Bowl 61 on the Monday morning following the Seahawks' Super Bowl victory. Interestingly enough, the two teams directly below them on the list in a tie for ninth were the Chiefs and Chargers. Cheeseheads might also be interested to know that the Bears barely cracked the top half, tying for 15th, but we won't get into any of that.
There's a lot of time between now and the start of the 2026 season, but the Packers should feel good about the confidence they're getting from a lot of people in the early weeks of this offseason. Now, it's on them to build a roster that can help some of these predictions come to fruition.