History of The Green Bay Packers - 2006-present: Titletown Reborn

2006-present: Titletown Reborn

It was widely expected that Brett Favre would retire in the 2006 off-season, but he eventually decided to continue playing. In addition, the team hired a new coach, Mike McCarthy. The regular season started badly, with the Packers being shut out at home by the Bears. An uneven stretch followed, and again Green Bay would not reach the playoffs, going 8-8.

2007 witnessed a remarkable resurgence of the Packers. Getting off to a four-game winning streak, he would see a loss to the Bears in Week 5, six straight wins afterwards, a loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and a heavy 35-7 defeat in Chicago. With a 13-3 record, Green Bay emerged at the top of the NFC North and gained a first-round bye in the playoffs. In the divisional round, they rolled over the Seattle Seahawks 42-20 in a snowy home game, then advanced to the NFC Championship. Also played at Lambeau, this game pitted Green Bay against the New York Giants. With below zero temperatures, it was one of the coldest in NFL history, and undoubtedly affected the 38-year old Favre's performance. The game was tied 20-20 at the end of the fourth quarter and went into overtime. After two failed attempts, combined with an interception by Favre, the Giants managed a field goal, bringing the final score to 23-20 and going on to win the Super Bowl.

In March 2008, Brett Favre announced his retirement, and as planned, Aaron Rodgers stepped up as starting quarterback. Before the team publicly declared Aaron Rodgers their quarterback of the future, however, the team asked Favre if he was certain about retirement. If not, he would be welcome to play another year as the face of their franchise. At the time he said he was comfortable with his decision and that he would not be returning to football. But as the summer approached, Favre suddenly decided that he wasn't ready to retire after all, and petitioned NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for a comeback. Goodell granted his request, but the Packers were ready to begin anew with Aaron Rodgers and had no interest in taking Favre back. They went so far as to offer him $25 million to stay in retirement, but he rejected it. There followed a three-week war of words between Favre and the Packers management until he threatened to sign with the Minnesota Vikings. The thought of that caused Green Bay's front office to panic, and they decided that he could join the New York Jets in exchange for a conditional draft pick. Favre complied, signaling the end of his reign in Green Bay and the beginning of the Aaron Rodgers era. The new quarterback got off to a slow start, winning his first two games as starter over Minnesota and Detroit, then losing the next three. Then Green Bay won two against the Seahawks and Colts, afterwards losing to the Titans and Vikings. Aside from a 37-3 victory over Chicago, the rest of the season was one of losses, with a final 6-10 record. Green Bay closed the year on an upbeat note, winning a 31-21 victory over the Lions on a clear, freezing day at Lambeau and giving Detroit a 0-16 winless season.

In August 2009, Brett Favre, after his stint with the Jets, signed with Minnesota, provoking outrage among Packers fans. The regular season got off to a poor start, as the Packers were unable to defeat any opponents with a winning record. In Week 4, the team travelled to the Metrodome to face their former quarterback, losing 30-23. Following easy wins over Detroit and Cleveland, they hosted the Vikings in Week 8. Packers fans burned effigies of Favre, who was greeted by a chorus of boos and obscenities as he stepped onto Lambeau Field in the uniform of Green Bay's hated rival. Minnesota won the game handsomely, the final score being 38-26. The lowest point came a week later, when the Packers lost to the then winless Buccaneers 38-28. After that however, they recovered and swept through the next five games. Following a one-point loss to Pittsburgh, they defeated the Seahawks and Cardinals to secure a wild card in the playoffs. This was the 16th time in the last 17 years that they had won their regular season finale. Having to face Arizona again in the wild card round, the Packers waged a monumental struggle and managed to tie 45-45 at the end of the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime. Two minutes in, the Cardinals scored a touchdown and ended Green Bay's playoff run. With a final score of 51-45, the game set a record for the highest-scoring playoff game in NFL history. Throughout the season, the Packers struggled with their O-line, which was rated the worst in the league. Aaron Rodgers was sacked 50 times in the regular season (Matt Flynn was sacked once in relief of Rodgers) and hit 93 times. In the playoff match with Arizona, he took another five sacks and ten hits.

Green Bay's 2010 off-season was mainly concentrated on improving their faulty O-line. On the season opener, the Packers faced an Eagles team that was playing without QB Donovan McNabb for the first time in a decade. However, the O-line failed to deliver again as Aaron Rodgers took three sacks in the first half and also threw an interception. Meanwhile, Philadelphia's new QB Kevin Kolb was pulled with a concussion and replaced by Michael Vick. After a while, the Packers' defense adjusted to him and Green Bay pulled off a 27-20 win, their first in Philadelphia since 1962. Second-year LB Clay Matthews (who knocked Kolb down) delivered an impressive performance in the game. After an easy win over Buffalo in Week 2, the Packers traveled to Chicago for a Monday Night match with their oldest rival. However, Green Bay exhibited very poor discipline and was plagued by numerous penalties, which had been a persistent problem ever since Mike McCarthy became head coach in 2006. The Packers lost the game 20-17. After this loss, the team returned home to face the 0-3 Lions in Week 4. They escaped with a 28-26 win, but it was an embarrassment to have given up that many points to a team that had not won in Green Bay since 1991 and which had won just two games over the last two seasons. The Packers' woes continued in Washington the next week. Clay Matthews ran Donovan McNabb down repeatedly in the first half of the game, but was then pulled with a hamstring sprain. This took most of the pressure off the Redskins' offense and the game tied at 13-13. Two minutes into overtime, Aaron Rodgers threw an interception and was knocked to the ground by Redskins DE Jeremy Jarmon with a concussion. Redskins kicker Graham Gano then booted a 33-yard FG to win the game 16-13. Clay Matthews and other key defensive players were missing from the Week 6 game at home versus Miami, leading to another overtime loss (score of 23-20).

In Week 7, the injury-thinned team hosted Minnesota on Sunday Night. Once again, Brett Favre was booed by the crowd at Lambeau, but the outcome would be different this time as Green Bay took advantage of their opponent's miscues (including three Favre interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown) to win 28-24. Following this emotional game, the Packers gained a surprise 9-0 win over the 6-1 New York Jets by kicking three field goals and shutting an opponent out on the road for the first time since 1991.

In Week 9, the Packers returned home for another Sunday Night match, this time with the struggling 1-7 Cowboys. Green Bay quickly marched out to two touchdowns in the first quarter, en route to a 45-7 crushing of their opponent. Following their bye week, the Packers headed to Minnesota for a rematch with the Vikings, who virtually laid down in much the same manner as Dallas. Green Bay quickly buried them 31-3, causing their coach Brad Childress to be fired. It was the second consecutive game in which the team that lost to the Packers fired their head coach afterwards, as Wade Phillips had been fired by the Cowboys after their loss to the Packers.

Next came a difficult road battle with the 8-2 Falcons, in which the Packers lost a close one 20-17. After routing San Francisco, the Packers headed to Detroit. What looked like an easy win proved anything but when Aaron Rodgers was knocked out with a concussion during a QB sneak and replaced by Matt Flynn. The latter was unable to get anything going as Green Bay lost a defensive struggle 7-3, falling to the Lions for the first time since 2005. Rodgers was then ruled out for the Week 15 game at New England.

Despite dire predictions, the Packers marched out to an early lead and the game remained close throughout. Matt Flynn threw three touchdown passes, but in the end, Tom Brady's greater experience prevailed as the Patriots won 31-27. This game was nonetheless a turning point for the Packers, having been inspired by nearly beating the best team in the NFL when no one gave them a remote chance.

With an 8-6 record, the Packers needed to win their last 2 games to gain the #6 seed, the last seed, in the NFL playoffs. The Packers easily beat the New York Giants at home 45-17 and then hosted the rival Bears for the final game of the season. The Packers won the defensive struggle 10-3, sealing the Packers playoff berth.

In the wild card round, the Packers had to travel to Philadelphia to play the hot Eagles, led by Michael Vick. Aaron Rodgers threw for 3 touchdowns and rookie half back James Starks had a 100+ yard running game. Tramon Williams had an interception in the closing minutes sealing a Packer victory, 21-16.

The next game was against the Falcons in Atlanta. Atlanta was the #1 seed and was favored to beat Green Bay, but the Packers shocked the Atlanta fans by having a 28-14 lead at halftime, with Tramon Williams returning an interception for a touchdown in the final seconds of the first half. The Packers scored on the opening drive of the second half and the Falcons never recovered, as Green Bay rolled to a 48-21 win, sending the Packers to the NFC Championship game.

The NFC Championship game would be against the Bears in Chicago, in what was considered by almost everyone the biggest game ever in the Packers-Bears 90-year old rivalry. The Packers scored on the opening drive on a touchdown run by Aaron Rodgers, and scored again in the second quarter on a run by James Starks, giving the Packers a 14-0 lead at halftime. The defense was able to knock starting quarterback Jay Cutler out of the game with a knee injury and soon after also knocked out back-up Todd Collins. In the 4th quarter, the Bears rallied with 3rd-string quarterback Caleb Hanie. However, two key interceptions, one by B.J. Raji returned for a touchdown, and another by Sam Shields with less than a minute left, sealed the NFC championship for the Packers, who won 21-14.