The Green Bay Packers enter its Week 17 game against the Baltimore Ravens with a goal of responding to one of the worst six day periods in its recent history. The Packers lost back-to-back games in the final five games of the season for the third straight season, but these two felt much worse.

The Packers had two-score leads in the second half, on the road against two playoff teams, the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears.

The Week 15 loss to Denver brought the catastrophic injury to star defensive end Micah Parsons as well as the short-term injuries to two other important players: right tackle Zach Tom and strong safety Evan Williams.

However, the loss that followed against the Bears this past Saturday night evoked memories of the darkest day in the franchise’s history this century. The Packers held a 10-point lead with under 3 minutes to play, but couldn’t finish the game. Botching an onside kick, giving up a touchdown on 4th and 4, fumbling its chance to score on the first drive of overtime, and then allowing a 40-yard walkoff touchdown pass.

Even before watching replays of D.J. Moore’s catch against Keisan Nixon, it looked eerily similar live to Tramon Williams giving up a touchdown catch to Jermaine Kearse in the infamous “Seattle Game.”

So how do the Packers respond? Since 1995, this is the 9th time the Packers have had a regular-season losing streak in games played in December and January. This includes 2023 and 2024, where the team was still a playoff team.

The only other times the team had a losing streak this late in the season and still were a playoff team were in 2010 and 2015. We all remember how the 2010 team responded to tough losses in Detroit and New England before reeling off 6 straight wins to finish the season. In 2015, the Packers finished the season with a blowout loss to Arizona and a division-losing loss to the Vikings. They did win a playoff game, but the season ended in Arizona a week later.

Losing Streaks in December/January since 1995

The only other time in recent memory where six days felt this challenging was the end of the 2002 season. The Packers entered their Week 17 game against the New York Jets with a chance of clinching home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs. Remember, this was a time when the Packers did not lose home playoff games.

Rather than clinching the #1 seed, the Jets steamrolled the Packers 42-17. The Jets got motivated midway through the first quarter when the entire stadium saw the New England Patriots knock off the Miami Dolphins, ensuring the Jets of controlling their own destiny in the games against Green Bay.

Six days later, playing a second-straight game without safety Darren Sharper, the shell-shocked Packers fell to the Atlanta Falcons 27-7, in a game that was never close.

Thankfully for the 2025 Packers there is still time to recover. As bad as the last two weekends were, they weren’t demoralizing, heartbreaking playoff defeats.

If this team can overcome some poor injury luck and get back Jordan Love, Evan Williams and Zach Tom, they could be a team like 2010, that was a threat to the entire conference, even if they were the last seed.

If they are to be that team, the one area where they have to start creating their own luck is in turnovers. The 2010 team had a superior secondary to this year’s team, as they racked up 14 interceptions in that six-game winning streak which ended in Dallas with a Super Bowl trophy.

* Returned for a touchdown

This team has just eight interceptions all season and only one is from the corner back position. If the team is to generate the turnovers needed to make a late-season surge it will likely be coming from the difference makers this unit has: Edgerrin Cooper, Xavier McKinney, Javon Bullard and Williams.