Packers become 4th team in NFL history to enter playoffs on 4-game losing streak

The Green Bay Packers became just the fourth team in the Super Bowl era to enter the NFL playoffs on a 4-game losing streak, and if playing for a Super Bowl is the goal, Matt LaFleur's team will have to do something that has never been done.

The 2025 Packers, who lost to the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings over the season's final four games, joined the 1986 New York Jets, the 1999 Detroit Lions and 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers as the four teams to lose at least four straight games before entering the postseason.

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How did those teams fare in the playoffs? The previous three all lost before the conference championship round. The 1986 Jets won in the wild-card round but lost the next week. The 1999 Lions trailed 27-0 at halftime and lost their wild-card game by two touchdowns. The 2024 Steelers trailed 21-0 at halftime and lost their wild-card game by two touchdowns.

Generally speaking, teams need to be playing their best football in December and January to go on a run in the postseason. There is nothing more opposite of "momentum" than stumbling into the playoffs on a losing streak spanning a month's worth of games.

The Packers punted on Week 18, resting key starters in Minneapolis in an attempt to get healthy before the start of the postseason. So, let's throw out the regular season finale defeat. If you lower the bar to entering the postseason on a losing streak of at least three games, the Packers join a group of 12 teams. Of the previous 11 teams, six won at least one postseason game, and the 2009 New Orleans Saints went on to win the Super Bowl.

However, the 2009 Saints had the No. 1 ranked scoring offense and were 13-0 when the three-game losing streak began to end the season.

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The downfall of the 2025 Packers began in the third quarter in Denver. LaFleur's team lost Micah Parsons to a season-ending injury, gave up a nine-point lead and were defeated, and the losses have snowballed from there. A week later in Chicago, the Packers gave up a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter after botching an onside kick and giving up a touchdown pass on fourth down before losing in overtime. Given a chance to revive the team's chances of winning the division in Week 17, the Packers were steamrolled by Derrick Henry and the Ravens in a primetime game at Lambeau Field.

Can the Packers do what hasn't been done before? Overcoming a four-game losing streak to end the regular season by winning three straight road games as the conference's lowest-seeded playoff team would make the 2025 Packers one of the most unique and improbable Super Bowl teams of all-time. However, history says this Packers season will end on Saturday night in Chicago or next week in Seattle.

This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers become 4th team in NFL history to enter playoffs on 4-game losing streak