GREEN BAY – Nine years ago, the "run the table" Packers saw their memorable playoff push come to an end with a blowout loss at Atlanta's raucous Georgia Dome in the NFC title game.
Immediately afterward, quarterback Aaron Rodgers used his postgame news conference to emphasize how important it can be to get playoff games at home.
"We went through adversity and lost some games we should have won, which probably would have changed some playoff seedings," Rodgers said then. "You have to win more games to give yourself an opportunity to host this game. That needs to be the focus moving forward next year."
If there's a better quote to apply to the Packers' recently concluded 2025 season, good luck finding it.
Green Bay made the playoffs for a third straight year, but due to some games that got away also landed the seventh and last seed in the NFC each time, which means only one thing in the playoffs – road games.
Rodgers' successor, Jordan Love, has now played four playoff games as starting QB – all on the road – and he's 1-3.
Following the frustrating 31-27 loss to the Bears in the wild-card round at Soldier Field, Love was asked about having yet to play a postseason game at home, and his answer revealed how much he'd like to change that.
"If you go out and win the division, you won't be in that situation, and have some home games," he said. "We've got to be better throughout the season. We've got to find ways to win the close games and just not drop any games on the season. It all comes down to beating everybody in the NFC North."
That reflection was particularly poignant, as it came three weeks after the Packers blew a late lead to the Bears in that same stadium with first place in the division on the line. Chicago's 22-16 overtime win in Week 16 was the biggest reason the Bears won the NFC North for the first time in seven years and were the No. 2 seed and hosting the No. 7 seed Packers in the first round.
Playing at Soldier Field again mattered, too. As the Packers began the second half with a 21-3 lead, the Bears changed up their defensive approach and started blitzing defensive backs regularly.
Green Bay's pass protection had a number of breakdowns, failing to pick up the extra rushers, and the struggles resulted in four fruitless offensive possessions that helped Chicago get back in the game.
"There were multiple protection busts," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said the day after the game. "Give them credit. They amped up their level of pressure, and we didn't adjust to it.
"I think it speaks to the importance, too, of having home playoff games. When you go on the road, sometimes communication can be a problem."
That issue impacted the Packers in other ways, too. On their second-to-last drive, while trying to add to a three-point lead, the offense came out of a timeout but the communication at the line of scrimmage wasn't clean, leading to a delay of game. Moments later, trying to make a field goal from five yards farther than it should've been, kicker Brandon McManus missed.
It cropped up on defense, too, as a substitution error in the fourth quarter forced the Packers to burn a timeout so they didn't get caught with only 10 defenders on the field.
That timeout would've come in awfully handy on Green Bay's final drive, needing to score a touchdown to win. Love got the offense to the edge of the red zone in the final half minute, but the Packers were out of timeouts.
"That's not acceptable, especially in the magnitude of that game – in any game, let alone a playoff game," LaFleur said of the defensive mix-up that cost the valuable timeout. "This isn't Week 1. This is the playoffs. You've got to be at your best. The margins are so slim and you make mistakes like that – to have a timeout at the end of the game was critical, and we didn't have one."
Is playing at home in the playoffs the cure-all? Of course not. Under LaFleur, the Packers lost both the 2020 NFC Championship Game (in front of a sparse Covid crowd) and the '21 divisional round at Lambeau.
But it sure would reduce the chances of communication issues either in pass protection or with substitutions from producing costly errors, which ended the Packers' season in Chicago.
"We've got to find a way to not be in this situation," LaFleur said. "Bottom line."
The Packers haven't hosted a playoff game in four years. Ending that drought would qualify as a new situation.
"We could've done a lot better," Love said. "We had a chance to win the division and we let it go. There's obviously some other games that were disappointing, but just highs and lows, you know, not consistent enough.
"We've just got to find ways to get back after it and improve, and I think it starts with trying to win the NFC North. We've got to do that."
