Three straight 13-win seasons under head coach Matt LaFleur set lofty expectations for the 2022 Green Bay Packers. With Super Bowl aspirations, the 4-8 Packers looked nothing like a contender midway through the regular season. By Week 18? Much closer to what was advertised in August.
Let's recap this roller coaster, anything BUT regular season.
Week 1
The Packers opened the season line up against a familiar face: Za'Darius Smith. And, despite the Vikings' addition of Z, most thought the Packers would roll, as they did in the 2020 opener. Instead, they slept-walked into an embarrassing, 23-7 loss.
Week 3
Weeks later, it was Rodgers vs. Brady - for maybe the last time ever. The game was a defensive battle, but Aaron's defense did more. A goal line stand by the Packers' D made everything right again in Packerland.
Week 5
However, during their trip abroad, the offense went from streaky to downright broken. Up 10 at half, Rodgers and the Pack blew their lead - and then failed to score in crunch time. Worse of all: a late thumb injury to Rodgers would soon ground the passing game entirely.
They proceeded to drop four straight.
Week 10
BUT, in early November, rookie receiver Christian Watson finally arrived, hauling in three touchdown passes - just in time to hand the Cowboys a loss during Mike McCarthy's first game back at Lambeau.
December
Down several key players on defense, the unit adopted a “next-man-up” attitude. Suddenly, the turnovers that had been missing all season started winning them games. They even started getting help from the special teams.
With a massacre of the Vikings in Week 17, it's now "Win and In" for the Packers.
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