It began on a Friday in Brazil, and ended on a Sunday at Philadelphia. The Green Bay Packers owned an 11-6 record in 2024. That was a two-game improvement from the previous season.
In ’23, Matt LaFleur’s club gathered itself after a shaky start, finished 9-8, and stunned the Cowboys in the wild card playoffs. The Pack played tough in a divisional round at San Francisco.
Unfortunately for LaFleur and company, 11 wins was only good enough for third place in the NFC North. Green Bay faced the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs. The Pack fell to the Birds in Brazil in Week 1, 34-29. Their 2024 campaign ended with a 22-10 loss to the eventual Super Bowl LIX champions.
The Packers doth protest too much, methinks
Over the last two seasons or so, there’s been plenty of discussion regarding the Eagles’ utilization of the “tush push.” Recently, even CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz has had his say about the play.
Then things got somewhat interesting on Monday.
There is a proposal from an unnamed team to ban the Tush Push, Troy Vincent said. We’ll see where it goes.
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) February 24, 2025
"There is a proposal from an unnamed team to ban the Tush Push, Troy Vincent said. We’ll see where it goes," Judy Battista of NFL.com posted on social media.
Dianna Russini outed the Packers soon after. So much for that unnamed team.
The Green Bay Packers are the team that submitted a proposal to the NFL’s competition committee to ban the tush push, per sources.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) February 24, 2025
Again, there’s a lot of opinions regarding the “play.” As far as the Packers being the team to submit a proposal to have it banned, that comes off as a bit like sour grapes (or is it Limburger Cheese?) The bottom line is that LaFleur’s team dropped its last three overall outings to the Vikings, Bears (at home), and Eagles. Green Bay finished 1-5 vs. their divisional rivals, swept by both Detroit and Minnesota.
More significantly here is the fact that coordinator Jeff Hafley had zero answers for Saquon Barkley and Philadelphia’s ground attack. In the loss at Brazil, the 2024 NFL Offensive Player of the Year ran 24 times for 109 yards and two touchdowns, plus also scored on an 18-yard pass play via Jalen Hurts.
In the playoffs, Barkley rushed for 119 yards on 25 carries. In two games vs. the Eagles, Green Bay defenders surrendered 144 and 169 yards rushing, respectively.
Perhaps the Packers may want to take a closer look at their defensive personnel this offseason.