Day 37 · 13-3 · Lost the NFC Championship at home to the Buccaneers, 31-26
Five starters took the field for this offense: quarterback, running back, two receivers, and a tight end. How many can you name before the hints kick in?
You remember when everything finally lined up for Aaron Rodgers to get back to the Super Bowl. Green Bay had gone 13-3 and reached the NFC Championship Game in Matt LaFleur's first season, only to get run over in San Francisco. Then the Packers traded up in the first round for Jordan Love instead of giving Rodgers another weapon. Rodgers was 36. The succession plan suddenly existed in public. He responded by playing some of the best football of his life.
Everything started with Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers and Davante Adams reached the point where defenses seemed to know exactly what was coming and still couldn't stop it. Adams became automatic near the goal line, Aaron Jones gave the offense explosiveness out of the backfield, and Robert Tonyan seemingly turned every red-zone target into a touchdown. David Bakhtiari and Corey Linsley anchored the line, while Jaire Alexander became one of football's best corners and Za'Darius Smith remained the defense's most dangerous pass rusher. In Year 2 with LaFleur, Rodgers finally looked completely at home in the offense.
Green Bay finished 13-3, earned the NFC's No. 1 seed, and led the NFL with 509 points. Rodgers threw 48 touchdowns with only five interceptions, posted a 121.5 passer rating, and won his third MVP. Adams caught 115 passes and tied the franchise record with 18 receiving touchdowns despite missing two games. The Packers won their final six games, and Rodgers threw four touchdowns in Chicago to secure home-field advantage. For the first time in his career, an NFC Championship Game would be played at Lambeau Field with Rodgers starting.
First, Green Bay made the NFL's best defense look ordinary. The Rams arrived allowing fewer yards and points than anyone in football. The Packers piled up 484 yards and won 32-18. Rodgers threw two touchdowns and ran for another, Jones broke loose to open the second half, and Green Bay never punted until the fourth quarter. One win remained between Rodgers and his first Super Bowl appearance in a decade. And it was finally at Lambeau.
Then almost everything that could hurt Green Bay happened at once. Rodgers threw an interception late in the first half, and with one second remaining Brady found Scotty Miller behind Kevin King for a 39-yard touchdown. Aaron Jones fumbled on the opening possession of the second half. Tampa Bay scored again. Twenty-eight to ten. The game Green Bay had spent the entire season earning was disappearing at home.
And somehow, the Packers still had every chance to take it back. Rodgers brought Green Bay within five. Jaire Alexander intercepted Brady on back-to-back possessions, and the Packers went three-and-out after both of them. Then, trailing 31-23 late, Rodgers drove to the Tampa Bay 8. Three passes. No touchdown. On fourth-and-goal, Matt LaFleur sent out Mason Crosby instead of leaving the ball in the MVP's hands.
Green Bay never got it back. Thirty-one to twenty-six. Brady had thrown three interceptions. The Packers had the league MVP, the highest-scoring offense in football, home-field advantage, and the NFC Championship Game exactly where they wanted it. None of it was enough.
That's how people remember the 2020 Packers. They remember Rodgers answering the Jordan Love pick with 48 touchdowns and an MVP, Adams becoming uncoverable, and an offense that made another championship feel completely realistic. They remember Scotty Miller before halftime, two Brady interceptions that became nothing, and the field goal on fourth-and-goal. Most of all, they remember the year everything finally lined up for Aaron Rodgers to get back to the Super Bowl—and the afternoon Green Bay let it slip away at Lambeau.