The Green Bay Packers currently sit third in National Football Conference (NFC) North Division rankings behind the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. It’ll be tough sledding for the green and gold to finish in first place, as Detroit and Minnesota show no signs of slowing down. However, Green Bay is still projected to make it to the playoff bracket, and they currently hold the number six seed in the NFC.
The Lions are on an 11-game win streak and came out victorious in the heavyweight matchup against Green Bay from a game winning field goal by kicker Jake Bates on Dec. 5, 2024. The Vikings,however, are currently on a six game win streak and have multiple divisional games left in the season.
What remains of the Packers schedule includes a game against the Vikings at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and a home game at Lambeau stadium against their old rival, the Chicago Bears. The Bears are out of contention for the NFC North title, so it’s up to the Packers to slow down Detroit and Minnesota, and bring the NFC North ownership back to Titletown.
Free agent signings making their presence known.
The Packers made bold moves this offseason by adding two big name stars, Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney. Jacobs, a running back traded from the Las Vegas Raiders, was entering the 2024-2025 season with vengeance. He was coming off his worst statistical season last year after a breakout season in 2022. Despite his slump, Green Bay took a chance on the 26 year old running back. The Packers won the lottery with this signing. Jacobs currently sits at third in the league in rushing yards, at 1053, according to ESPN He also had three rushing touchdowns against the Detroit Lions on Dec. 5.
This signing was a shocking move by the Packers as they released their star running back Aaron Jones, just a few hours later. Packer fans thought they were getting one of the best running back tandems in the league, but General Manager Brian Gutekunst went for a younger and healthier player in the backfield. Jones was very injury prone the last few years. Additionally, Jones is four years older than Jacobs, so one could see why Gutekunst made that decision. Nonetheless, it was sad to see Jones go, especially to Minnesota, a division rival
Green Bay’s next big signing happened just hours later, cheering up almost every Packer fan with the addition of Xavier McKinney. The newest addition to the coaching staff in the off-season was defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. McKinney has ties with Hafley going back to their college years at the University of Alabama. In addition to his relationship to Hafley, McKinney was also teammates with Josh Jacobs in 2017 and 2018 in an Alabama uniform. To nobody’s surprise, McKinney is tied at number one in the league for interceptions with seven under his belt so far, , according to ESPN. He started off the 2024 season picking off the quarterback in each of the first five games. After that, quarterbacks were scared to throw the ball anywhere near him.
The Packers will look to finish out the regular season strong, with a few divisional match-ups remaining against the Vikings and Bears. Green Bay must keep their foot on the gas, so they can make a deep playoff run.
