It certainly bodes well for an NFL team to get a 3-0 start, especially in 2020 with a wildcard added to the playoff spot in the mix
How has this worked for the Packers in recent years? It’s a mixed bag, from a few Super Bowl triumphs to a few notable disappointments and a shortened season One thing is constant: each of these Packers teams made the playoffs
The wins are emblematic of what the 2019 Packers have become known for: tight wins All Green Bay games except six were decided by 10 points or less, and 8 of 13 wins were a score or less This trend continued in a playoff win over Seattle (28-23), but not so much in the NFC title game. San Francisco continued their 37-8 win over the Packers in the regular season with a 37-20 win to reach the Super Bowl
The 3-0 start included two games in which the Packers were outscored and a third in which Green Bay won the yard battle by 2 yards Go figure: Green Bay outscored their Week 4 opponent in total yards, 491-336, but lost to the Eagles to make the perfect start, 34-27, after an interception in the end zone shorted the last breath of Green Bay
Rookie coach Matt LaFleur was able to start strong despite a new offense, supported by healthy training and the emergence of running back Aaron Jones and top 10 defense
Not only did Green Bay win their first three games, they started the year 6-0 with back-to-back wins over the 49ers, Rams and Chargers But that was followed by three straight losses to bring the Packers back to earth after the bye, starting with a disheartening loss to Denver on Monday Night Football and a back-to-back loss to undefeated Carolina (the two teams that faced each other in the Super Bowl)
The Packers lost to the Lions at Lambeau Field for the first time since 1991 a week later, then suffered another Lambeau loss to the Bears on a rainy Thanksgiving two weeks later – the same day, Bart Starr and Brett Favre returned for half the ceremony
The eventful season continued with the Miracle at Motown in a win over the Lions, the first of three straight wins that saw the Packers claim 10 wins before two straight losses to close the year and a total of 21 points scored in these two matches In the playoffs, Green Bay toppled Washington in the first round, 35-18, before falling to Arizona in a wild overtime loss that included another Hail Mary pitch from Aaron Rodgers to Jeff Janis for force additional session
Starting with a thrilling victory over the Saints on Thursday night football in Game 1 of the NFL season, Green Bay continued their Super Bowl title with 13 straight wins to open The Threat of an Undefeated Season didn’t die until December 18 in a 19-14 loss to a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs team
But the loss everyone remembers is the mind-blowing 37-20 loss to eventual Super Bowl champion the New York Giants at Lambeau Field on Jan. 15, a setback that put the entire dominant 2011 season Sure, the offense was spectacular, but the defense struggled, scoring over 30 points on four occasions and over 21 points on eight The Giants, who went 9-7 in the regular season, then knocked out the Patriots in the Super Bowl for the second time
The Packers’ regular season was capped with a 45-41 victory over Detroit in which Rodgers did not play, but Matt Flynn threw for a franchise record six touchdowns Rodgers threw 45 touchdowns and just six interceptions to his 15 games, racking up 4,643 yards, a 683 percent hit percentage and a 1225 passer rating Each of these marks is the best in a career for a full season, except the interception tally
Quick start cost money In win over Panthers, three-time Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins was kicked off the field with a neck injury He would never play another NFL game
The Packers opened the year 4-0, then rebounded from a loss to the Bears with six more wins to start the season 10-1 Green Bay took advantage of Philadelphia’s smothered kicks to win Game 1, then beat the Giants with a 21-point fourth quarter on the road; unfortunately the Giants would have the last word
Although it was a season of rebirth for Favre (4,155 yards, 28 touchdowns) and the Packers dismantled Seattle in the Lambeau Field snow globe in the divisional round, 42-20, the Packers suffered a landslide overtime loss to the Giants in the NFC title game, 23-20, in one of the coldest games at Lambeau Field
Lawrence Tynes kicked the 47-yard overtime winner to cap a practice set up by Favre’s infamous interception at the hands of Corey Webster on the Packers 34-yard line
The offseason turned out to be a roller coaster, with the organization moving to Rodgers and Favre traded to the Jets
The Packers haven’t just won their first three games; they dominated, allowing just 13 points while racking up 93 of their own
However, the Lions and Panthers ended up winning three games combined that year, and Washington went 8-8, so the competition was far from great A 14-10 loss to Tampa Bay shattered charm in Week 4, but the Packers ended the year with six wins in seven games
After a 25-15 win over San Francisco in the wildcard round, in which the Packers pulled out after the 49ers tied the game early in the fourth quarter, Green Bay ran into the biggest turf show and was beaten
The Rams, who finished 14-2 in the regular season en route to a mind-blowing Super Bowl loss to New England, outscored Green Bay, 45-17, forcing eight mind-blowing turnovers Six of them were interceptions, a career-high for Favre, and the Rams fired three for touchdowns, including two by Aeneas Williams
Green Bay moved up to 4-0 with a win over Carolina then suffered their first losses on both sides of the week off in divisional games, at home to Minnesota (37-24) and on the road in Detroit (27-20)
The Packers suffered from a Super Bowl loss the year before, but still had the weapons to run a deep run; they had the reigning triple MVP, after all, in Favre And he was good again, leading the league in completion percentage (63%) and yards (4,212), with 31 touchdowns But he also threw 23 picks
The Packers ended the year on a revival with three straight wins, although two were against the 4-12 Bears, and both were by a single score In the playoffs, the Packers looked like they were set to beat host San Francisco, but Terrell Owens’ touchdown with 8 seconds left gave the 49ers a 30-27 victory that kept Green Bay from the division round of the playoffs for the first time in six years and marked the end of an era
The dominant start to the season predicted what many were expecting, that this Packers team was a serious Super Bowl contender. A 30-21 loss to Minnesota in Week 4 may have dampened the excitement a bit, but wins in the next five games, including an overtime win over San Francisco, made the Packers younger
Of course, the story has been told time and time again The Packers have won their last five games of the regular season, rebounded San Francisco convincingly in the first round of the playoffs, managed the Panthers at Lambeau Field , then won the Super Bowl in New Orleans in January 26, 1997 Desmond Howard’s return kick-off prevented New England from returning to the game
Favre took home MVP honors, totaling 3,899 yards and 39 touchdowns this season, with 13 picks The defense was full of veteran stars like superstar lineman Reggie White and All-Pro safety LeRoy Butler, plus Eugene Robinson, Doug Evans, Gilbert Brown, Santana Dotson, George Koonce and Sean Jones
The third victory came two months after the first two; the 1982 season, shortened by the strike, was marked by a 57-day work stoppage, and it was an impressive victory for coach Bart Starr over Vikings coach Bud Grant and his powerful football franchise Eddie Lee Ivery caught a deflected touchdown pass at the end of the first half, and Maurice Harvey stripped the second half kickoff and sent it back for a touchdown to turn the tide in favor of Green Bay
The Packers rebounded from a narrow loss to the Jets, 15-13, to beat the Bills and move up to 4-1 But the Packers closed the year 1-2-1 from there before heading to the 16-team NFL playoff tournament for the nine-game season
The Packers sent the St Louis Cardinals in the first round, the Packers’ only playoff win in 25 years, Lynn Dickey threw four touchdowns in that game – two against John Jefferson – and Green Bay forced four turnovers to win easily despite passing nearly 60 yards
Despite a rally in the second half, the Packers were beaten by the Cowboys in the next game, 37-26.The screening gave Packers fans a renewed sense of confidence around an organization that didn’t even have been in the playoffs since 1972, but another decade would pass before the Packers return
Jim Taylor’s touchdown in a fourth game with 2:34 left gave the Packers the deciding points in the second of those three games, and Lionel Aldridge recovered a fumble from Frank Ryan of Cleveland to put the side match This allowed the Packers to start the year 4-0 before being overtaken by the 49ers in Week 5, 21-20 Green Bay’s only other loss that year also came from a narrow margin, a 20-17 loss to Minnesota. A 26-yard field goal missed by Don Chandler took a toll in the first loss, and Fran Tarkenton orchestrated a Minnesota rally in the latter
The Packers won the rest, including the first-ever Super Bowl between the AFL and NFL champions The Kansas City Chiefs’ 35-10 treatment kicked off a new era of professional football and helped give Green Bay the nickname Titletown
Another note, the 1967 Packers didn’t start 3-0 but opened the year with a draw against the Raiders, in a 3-0-1 start This team, of course , won Super Bowl II The defense didn’t give up more than 23 points in any of the season’s opening 11 games, then allowed just 38 playoff wins (including the 21-17 win in the Ice Bowl )
JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe @ gannettcom Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe
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World News – USA – These are the other nine times the Packers started the season 3-0 in the Super Bowl era
