The 1996 Green Bay Packers were 8-3 after 11 games and then won eight straight games on the way to a Super Bowl XXXI title. The 2010 Packers were 7-4 after 11 games, stumbled to 8-6 after an injury to Aaron Rodgers and then ripped off six straight wins on the way to a Super Bowl XLV title.
The 2025 Packers survived the first 11 games at 7-3-1. Now, the real gauntlet begins for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
While it would be unreasonable to expect the Packers to win out, the next six games should tell us everything we need to know about the Packers’ ability to compete for a championship this season.
The Bears, Broncos and Ravens are entering Week 13 as division leaders. The combined record of the teams (including the Bears twice) on the Packers’ remaining regular season schedule is 42-24.
The Packers will play four of the final six on the road, including outdoor games against the Broncos and Bears.
The first task is going to Detroit to play the Lions on short rest. Can the Packers — who already had 19 players on the injury report at various points last week — recover in time to play a winning brand of football in a nationally televised holiday game at Ford Field? Sweeping the Lions would be a huge achievement. But nothing will come easy against one of the NFL’s most talented teams in a hostile environment.
Every week will present a big challenge of one kind or another.
The Broncos are third in scoring defense and first in yards allowed per play, and second-year quarterback Bo Nix has made clutch plays in big spots late in games. The Bears are fortunate to be 8-3 (six one-score wins, -3 point differential), but Ben Johnson has the Chicago offense creating explosive plays and scoring points.
While the Ravens are just a game over .500 and the Vikings will almost certainly be out of the playoff picture come the season finale, Lamar Jackson’s return from an injury has sparked a five-game win streak for John Harbaugh’s team, and playing at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis is always a difficult task.
The NFC is a loaded conference right now — the Lions, at 7-4, are currently the No. 8 seed, and the Panthers (6-5) and Cowboys (5-5-1) are lurking. It’s probably going to take 10 wins to make the playoffs. And like last year, it’s possible 11 wins will only clinch a wildcard spot.
The 2025 Packers have proven capable of great things but also capable of falling woefully short. There’s no better time to put your best foot forward than late November and early December, when the best teams get hot and start playing their best football into the postseason.
Champions of past years in Green Bay showed the way. Can the Packers run the gauntlet of a brutally difficult finally six games and come out the other end looking like a true Super Bowl contender. Buckle up. The 2025 season is just beginning for the Packers.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: The gauntlet begins now for the 2025 Packers
Reporting by Zach Kruse, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
