The 2021 Packers Have No Excuses in the Playoffs

For most of the 2021 season, the Packers have been playing shorthanded. Week in and week out, they’ve lined up with one hand tied behind their backs, if not both hands and potentially a foot.

And with their deck less than full, they’ve had some built-in excuses. Slow start? Well, they’ve got no healthy receivers! Aaron Rodgers has a poor weekend? Hey, just look at the offensive line. Nobody could perform behind that. Defense acting a bit sluggish? Man, just check out that secondary. Your team would be suboptimal, too.

Now, though, those excuses count for nothing. The Packers are the healthiest they’ve ever been, they’re playing warm weather team in the frigid Lambeau Field climate, and their quarterback is playing at an MVP level. The Packers are obligated to perform — and perform well.

Falling short of a Super Bowl would be nothing short of a catastrophe, even more than in the past two seasons. In 2019, the Packers skated along with with a rookie head coach, eking out close wins at a rate far above what you could reasonably expect. When the 49ers torched the Packers on the doorstep of the Super Bowl it stung, but it wasn’t actually all that surprising.

In 2020, the Packers should have beaten the Buccaneers, but there were plenty of excusable reasons why Tampa could justifiably have gotten the win. As bad as Kevin King’s moment in the spotlight was, we can’t forget that he was playing with a bad back (he was questionable for the game) because the Packers were shorthanded at cornerback — even with Tramon Williams on the sideline.

On offense, the Packers were in dire straits on the offensive line. David Bakhtiari had just torn his ACL a few weeks prior, leaving the Packers no choice but to start Billy Turner on the left side, far from his ideal position. On the right side, the Packers could only roll out a hobbled Rick Wagner and hope for the best, because Jared Veldheer had tested positive for COVID just as he was signed by the Packers. Yes, they should still have won, but there are at least excusable reasons for why things didn’t go their way.

But not in 2021. Unless someone gets hit by a bus crossing Oneida Street, there’s no excuse that can justify an exit short of the Super Bowl. There is no reason the Packers shouldn’t be playing for another title this year. Failing to make it would be an indictment of the entire organization, proof positive that the Packers’ greatest enemy is themselves.