The Green Bay Packers have one game left in the regular season. Matt LaFleur’s team will travel to the Twin Cities to face the Minnesota Vikings. The outcome will have no impact whatsoever on the Packers playoff seeding. Win, lose, or draw, the Packers will be the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs, and the Vikings will be going home. But it’s not quite that simple for this team right now as there are competing factors involved in determining how the team should approach this game. How important is it for the Green Bay Packers to win their 2025 season finale?

How Important Is It For the Packers to Win their Season Finale? The Situation

The Packers clinched a playoff spot before they even took the field in Week 17 when the Vikings upset the Lions on Thursday. The Packers embarrassing loss to the Ravens on Saturday locked Green Bay into the seventh seed for the playoffs.

The modern NFL keeps teams fairly even and the standings are always tight. The league promotes parity. With the salary cap, free agency, the draft, and the way the schedules are constructed, the league favors the improvement of struggling teams and the decline of better teams. There are few truly deep and elite teams these days. So, the goal for franchises in the playoff hunt has become getting on a hot streak late in the season so they can enter the playoffs playing their best football. That allows them to win playoff games and advance to the Super Bowl.

Well, the Packers are not playing their best football right now. They have now lost three straight games. That includes blowing two score leads in the second half against both Denver and Chicago and then being dominated by the Ravens at Lambeau on national TV this past Saturday. The Packers have played their worst football of the season down the stretch.

The Track Record

The Packers recent track record shows the importance of finishing the season playing well. In 2023, Jordan Love and the Packers caught fire late in the season. The Packers won their last three games and went 6-2 in their last eight contests.

In the playoffs, the Packers went on the road and soundly defeated the Dallas Cowboys. Then they came close to pulling off another upset in San Francisco against the 49ers.

Last year, however, was the opposite situation. The Packers jumped out to an 11-4 start before losing their last two games of the season. Both loses were to division opponents. The Packers also suffered a key injury in the season finale when Christian Watson tore his ACL. He did not return until midway through this season.

In the postseason, the Packers were unable to accomplish much on offense. Injuries added up and the team lost to the Eagles in the first round.

How Important Is It For the Packers to Win their Season Finale? The Decision

Now, LaFleur faces a difficult choice. The Packers have a lot of injured players who could use the rest. Love remains in concussion protocol, and we still don’t’ know if he’ll clear in time for this Sunday’s game. Backup Malik Willis has a shoulder injury.

The team’s best offensive lineman, Zach Tom, has shoulder and back issues that have kept him sidelined for the last two games. Running back Josh Jacobs played through a knee injury in recent weeks but was ineffective against the Ravens. Other players like Watson and Evan Williams could benefit from a week off to get healthier for the playoffs.

But the Packers also don’t want to enter the postseason on a four-game losing streak. The negativity around the locker room after Baltimore just dominated the line of scrimmage and controlled the game was high. Ending the season on a more positive note would be helpful going into the playoffs for confidence reasons alone. This team has not won a game since Micah Parsons was lost for the season and just knowing they can win without their best defensive player could be critical.

So, does LaFleur rest a lot of his players to give them time to heal even if it increases the chances of ending the season on a four-game losing streak, or does he go all out to win and risk additional injuries? Tough decisions lie ahead for LaFleur and the Packers.

 

 

 

 

Follow Gil Martin on Twitter @GilPackers

Click here for more great Packers coverage

Check out our YouTube channel here