PACKERS RETURN TO PLAYOFFS IN 2023
The Green Bay Packers returned to the postseason after finishing 9-8 in the 2023 regular season.
- Green Bay (37) is tied with New England for the second-most postseason wins in league history (San Francisco, 38).
- The Packers are tied with the Dallas Cowboys for the most all-time postseason appearances with 36 each.
- The Cowboys have played the most playoff games in NFL history (67), Pittsburgh is No. 2 (64) and the Packers rank No. 3 (63).
- Dating back to realignment (2002), Green Bay leads the NFC with 16 playoff appearances.
- It was the franchise's 23rd playoff appearance in the last 31 seasons (1993-2023).
- It was the first time in team history that the Packers made the playoffs after winning three or fewer games in their first nine contests, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
- Green Bay (four) was one of five NFL teams to make it to the postseason four-plus times from 2019-23 (Buffalo and Kansas City, five times / Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, four times).
- The Packers are one of five NFL teams to score 1,100-plus points in the postseason.
- The Packers have 13 wins in playoff road games, No. 1 in the NFL (Baltimore and Tennessee rank No. 2 with 11).
- Green Bay (one) and Kansas City (two) were the only teams to win on the road in the 2023 playoffs. It was the first time since 2017 that only one NFC team won a road playoff game.
- Green Bay has played 31 road playoff games, the most in the NFL (Dallas and L.A. Rams are tied for No. 2 with 27).
- Green Bay opened up the 2023 playoffs with a 48-32 victory at Dallas, ending the Cowboys' 16-game home winning streak.
- The Wild Card win at Dallas was the first time in franchise history (regular season or playoffs) that the Packers posted 48-plus points, 400-plus total yards, zero giveaways and zero sacks allowed in a game.Green Bay also became the first NFL team in postseason history to hit those marks in a game.
- The Packers (four) were one of four teams to play in the Divisional Playoffs four-plus times from 2019-23 (Kansas Cirty, five times / Buffalo and San Francisco, four times).
- For the first time in team history, Green Bay did not allow a sack in back-to-back playoff games in a single postseason. If you include the regular season, the Packers gave up two sacks over their final five games, the fewest allowed over a five-game span by Green Bay since giving up two sacks in five games in 2004 (Oct. 24 - Nov. 29), per Elias.
- RB Aaron Jones posted 100-plus rushing yards and an average of 5.6-plus yards per carry in back-to-back playoff games, tied for the second-longest streak in NFL postseason history behind only RB Marcus Allen's three-game streak in the 1983 postseason.
- Jones totaled 226 yards in the 2023 postseason (two games), No. 4 in a single postseason in franchise history behind Dorsey Levens (1997, 316 in three games), James Starks (2010, 315 in four games) and Ryan Grant (2007, 230 in two games).
A LOOK BACK AT THE 2023 SCHEDULE
The Green Bay Packers' 2023 NFL schedule featured 17 regular-season games and three preseason games. It was highlighted by five prime-time contests on the original schedule for the 10th straight year (2014-23).
- Green Bay ended up playing six games against teams that made the playoffs this season and were 3-3 in those contests (Detroit Lions - twice, Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers). Three of the five 2023 playoff teams won their division.
- With the three-game preseason schedule implemented for the 2021 season, the Packers will alternate between hosting one and two preseason games each year. This year, Green Bay opened at the Cincinnati Bengals before returning home to face the New England Patriots and then the Seattle Seahawks. Both home games had a charitable aspect to them, with the first contest designated as the Play Football Game and the second game as the Packers Give Back Game.
- The Packers opened the regular season at the Chicago Bears, marking the fifth straight year and the ninth time in the last 11 seasons that Green Bay has started the season on the road. Green Bay is the only team in the NFL to open the season on the road each of the last five years (2019-23). It was also the fourth time in the last five years that the Packers have opened the season on the road against a division opponent.
- Week 2 saw Green Bay travel to take on the Atlanta Falcons, marking the first time since 2016 that the Packers opened the season with back-to-back road contests.
- Green Bay had its home opener at Lambeau Field in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints.
- The Packers stayed at home for a short week to host the Detroit Lions on a Thursday for the first time.
- Week 5 had the Packers visiting Las Vegas for the first time to play the Raiders on Monday Night Football. It marked the 31st straight season (1993-2023) that Green Bay will play on MNF.
- The Packers were on the bye in Week 6, marking the first Week 6 bye for Green Bay since 2006.
- After the bye week, the Packers traveled back out west to face the Denver Broncos. It was the first time since 2011 that Green Bay played road games on each side of the bye week.
- In Week 8, the Packers hosted Minnesota in the first of four scheduled noon (CT) games in a row, with three of them at home.
- In Week 9, Lambeau Field welcomed the Los Angeles Rams, marking the first time the Rams have played in Green Bay in three consecutive seasons.
- After a trip to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 10, the Packers return home to take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 11. Including Super Bowl XLV, seven of the last nine games between the Packers and Steelers have been decided by seven points or less. Green Bay improved to 11-2 (.846) record against the Chargers, including 5-1 at home.
- Week 12 was another short week for the Packers as they played at the Lions on Thanksgiving. It was the first time Green Bay played on the holiday since they hosted the Bears in 2015 and the first time at Detroit since 2013. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the two Thursday games against Detroit marked just the second time that two teams have squared off multiple times on a Thursday in the same season (1926 Chicago Bears/Chicago Cardinals).
- The month of December started with the first of three prime-time matchups for Green Bay, which would be the most played by the Packers in a single season in the month of December. The Packer beat the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night in Week 13, marking the first time that the Packers have defeated the defending Super Bowl champions at home in back-to-back seasons (24-12 win over the Rams on Dec. 19, 2023).
- The Packers traveled to take on the New York Giants on MNF in Week 14. It was just the second time (2019) that Green Bay has multiple Thursday games and multiple Monday games.
- In Week 15, the Packers returned to Lambeau to play Tampa Bay in what was the second-latest visit by the Buccaneers (Week 17 in 2000).
- After two straight seasons of playing on Christmas, Green Bay visited the Carolina Panthers in Week 16 on Christmas Eve. Each of the last five games and seven of the last eight games between the two have been decided by eight points or less.
- For the third straight season and the fourth time in the last five, the Packers finished the regular season with back-to-back NFC North contests. They traveled a state over to take on the Vikings in a prime-time matchup on New Year's Eve in Week 17 and then returned home to face the Bears in the season finale on Jan. 7.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
- QB Jordan Love led the Packers to the playoffs in his first year as a starter and posted a passer rating of 108.6 in the playoffs, the fourth-highest single-postseason mark in franchise history, (min. 30 pass att.), trailing Bart Starr (135.6, 1966) and Aaron Rodgers (121.4 in 2009 and 109.8 in 2010).
- Green Bay became the youngest team to win a playoff game since the merger (1970).
- Per Elias, the Packers were the fourth-youngest team to make the playoffs since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. With a weighted age of 25.58, Green Bay was the youngest playoff team since the 1974 Buffalo Bills (25.56). The other two younger teams were the 1970 Bengals (25.22) and the 1970 Dolphins (25.44).
- Green Bay entered the postseason with a combined 74 games of playoff experience, the fewest for the Packers since the 1993 team that had 67 games of postseason experience entering the playoffs (Elias).
- WR Romeo Doubs posted 234 receiving yards, No. 7 in franchise history in a single postseason and the second most by a player with only one or two playoff games behind only WR Davante Adams (298 yards in two games in 2019).
- WR Jayden Reed led the Packers in receptions (64) and receiving yards (793) in the 2023 regular season. Dating back to 1932, Reed joined Sterling Sharpe in 1988, James Lofton in 1978, Billy Howton in 1952, Don Hutson in 1935 and Joe Laws in 1934 as the only rookies to lead the Packers in receiving yards.
HONORS
- CB Keisean Nixon was named first-team All-Pro by The Associated Press at kick returner. He became the fourth kick returner to receive AP honors in back-to-back years, joining Cordarrelle Patterson (2019-20), Devin Hester (2006-07) and Mel Gray (1990-91).
- Nixon was also named to the All-NFL team as a kick returner by the Pro Football Writers of America and to the NFLPA Players' All-Pro team as a kick returner.
- DL Kenny Clark was named to the Pro Bowl Games, replacing San Francisco 49ers DL Javon Hargrave, who was unable to participate due to the Super Bowl.
- It was Clark's third trip to the Pro Bowl after being an original selection in 2021 and an injury replacement in 2019. He was also named an alternate in 2018.
- Clark joins Henry Jordan (1960-61, 1963, 1966) as the only Packers defensive tackles to make three-plus Pro Bowls.
- QB Jordan Love earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the final two weeks of the regular season after leading the Packers to wins over the Vikings and Bears. It was the first player of the week honors of his career.
- Love was the second Packers player to win any of the league's weekly awards (offense, defense, special teams) in back-to-back weeks since their inception in 1984, joining WR Don Beebe, who in 1996 won the special teams award in Week 6 and the offensive award in Week 7.
- Love became the fourth Packer QB to earn the honor at least two times (Don Majkowski, twice / Brett Favre, 12 times / Aaron Rodgers, 19 times)
- Love was one of two players this season to win any of the league's weekly awards in consecutive weeks, joining Browns P Dustin Hopkins (AFC special teams, Weeks 6-7).
- The last quarterbacks to win either conference's offensive award in back-to-back weeks were Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts (Weeks 12-13, 2022) and Buffalo's Josh Allen (Weeks 5-6, 2022).
- Love is the first Utah State quarterback to win OPOW twice.
- Love was also voted FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week for Week 18.
