‘Urgency’ crucial element for Packers to maximize championship opportunity

Paul Bretl | 1/16/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — With a Wildcard round loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the 2024 season for the Packers–who had Super Bowl aspirations coming into it–didn’t end as they had hoped. There will be plenty to improve upon over the offseason into 2025, but there is plenty to build upon as well, as the time to compete for Championships has arrived.

During the Packers’ bye week, the last time Brian Gutekunst spoke with the media, he mentioned the importance of teams peaking at the right time at the end of the season. Gutekunst again reiterated the importance of that element on Thursday. We saw the value this can have for the 2023 Packers, who found themselves on the cusp of the NFC Championship Game. However, the 2024 version of the Packers were not able to bottle up that mojo, or at least not in all aspects of the game.

“Same way now,” said Brian Gutekunst when asked how he feels now compared to the San Francisco loss last season. “I think obviously, you try not to live too much right in the moment. But whenever you lose the last game, no different than last season, you’re pretty disappointed, because there’s an opportunity in front of you that you lose.

“But at the same time, I think this team had a lot of growth during the year, particularly individual players. I thought we added some new players into this group and a new defensive coordinator. And I thought there were some really, really good things. As we take more steps together, I’m excited about it.”

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The offense, in particular struggled over the final three weeks of the season behind a disjointed passing game. To end the regular season, Jordan Love in that three game stretch against New Orleans, Minnesota, and Chicago was completing just 60% of his throws, which ranked 28th out of 36 eligible quarterbacks. His 6.2 yards per attempt during that span also ranks 28th, and Love is 22nd in passer rating. Those woes, unfortunately, carried over into the playoffs against a very stingy Eagles’ defense.

As Matt LaFleur pointed out on Tuesday, while the quarterback is quick to get the praise when all goes well and get the blame when things go wrong, the Packers’ struggles over the last month went beyond any one player. It was one everyone. In the Philadelphia game specifically, LaFleur would note the steady pressure that the Eagles’ front generated against the offensive line, and that lack of attention to detail by the receivers that played a role in two of Love’s interceptions.

“I think it’s, and this is really more for our football team and an offense as a whole, but just consistency, being able to control the game whenever we need to control the game. I think there was times we were exceptionally explosive this year, but I want to see us be able to control the game however we need to, whether that’s through the run game, the pass game, you always wanna be explosive because, as Matt says, that leads to points. But at the same time, situational football and being more consistent as an offense I think is something we can be better at and I think we will.”

However, despite the disappointing end to the season, there is still plenty of optimism within the organization that the Packers are on the right track.

The defense under first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley took a major step forward in 2024, ranking in the top 10 in scoring, yards per rush, yards per pass, and takeaways. Not to mention that while the offense faltered down the stretch, the Green Bay defense was playing some its best ball of the season in the playoffs.

The continuity of being in the same system for a second year and the added comfort that comes with that, along with Hafley having a full year of experience under his belt as an NFL defensive coordinator and the experience gained by several rookies who were key contributors are all reasons that the arrow is still pointing upward for this unit.

“I thought Jeff Hafley did an amazing job coming in here in year one,” Gutekunst said. “Those guys really grew together, and they were a unit, and I thought we were playing our best football on defense at the end of the year. So I’m big believer that every year is a different year, but I do think some of the things we went through this year, we had a number of rookies play a lot of snaps for us, and so along with ‘X’ coming in from another team. So I think as those guys grow together, that communication will consistently get better and better. And so really excited about where the defense is right now.”

The offense, meanwhile, even with those late-season ups-and-downs, still finished the year top 10 in scoring and top-10 in yards per play–showcasing their efficiency and big play abilities. There’s a lot of talent on that side of the ball, and as Gutekunst said, many of those players grew individually during the season, including Love.

“I think we’re very, very excited about his growth, not only as a player, but what he’s doing in our locker room as a leader,” Gutekunst said. “I’ve talked many times about how even keel he is, and I think his growth and the way he manages our football team has been pretty impressive.”

Obviously, improvements have to be made, but the Packers, internally, believe that the majority of the pieces are already in place to be a true contender. However, while that’s clearly a big part of the championship equation, it’s also about capitalizing on these opportunities when they’re available because success one year isn’t guaranteed the next in the NFL, and with the group of players that make up this Packers team, the time to compete is now.

“You always have some disappointments in the year,” Gutekunst added. “I think for me, the thing that’s been on my mind as we concluded this season is we need to continue to ramp up our sense of urgency. These opportunities don’t come, the life of a player in the National Football League is not very long. We’ve got a bunch of good guys in that locker room, we’ve got a bunch of talented guys in that locker room, and I think it’s time we started competing for championships.”

A young roster in the NFL is great for a number of reasons–speed, athleticism, inexpensive contracts, hungry players with something to prove–but there’s a learning curve that comes with that as well. While, at the end of the day, youth isn’t an excuse and the Packers won’t use it as one, it has been a part of their reality the last two seasons.

But there’s a difference between being young in age and young in experience. The Packers may be the former, but they are no longer the latter. The early success this team had unexpectedly in 2023 is gone. What they’re left with is the pain of a disappointing end to a 2024 season. That failure needs to create a heightened sense of urgency.

Potential is great–and the Packers absolutely have it–but now it’s time to maximize it.

“I think they’re ready. Like I said, I think they are wired right,” Gutekunst said. “I think that group is the kind of guys that can do that. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to go do it. We fell short in some areas this year, like they always are every year, a little frustrating. But at the same time, I didn’t think the blinked.

“So I’m excited about the group, but the sense of urgency, not getting complacent, some of these guys have now proven themselves to be NFL football players and have attained that, but what’s out there for us as a team that we’re willing to commit to and sacrifice for. If I’m looking at one thing, that would be it.”

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