The Green Bay Packers are on the verge of doing something they haven’t done yet this century. If you’re under 40, you have no first-hand recollection of the last time this happened to this proud franchise. The Pack has lost six straight games (including playoffs) dating back to last season. To find the last time the Pack lost seven straight you have to go back to the end of the 1990 season and the first two games of 1991.
The Packers won their Week 12 game in 1990 over the Bucs 20-10. That put the Packers at 6-5 on the season and kept them in the playoff hunt. The first game of the losing streak was a 23-7 loss to the Vikings. Packers starter Don Majkowski was out for the season, so the Packers turned to backup Anthony Dilweg. He threw three interceptions in the game and was sacked five times. The offense gained only 190 yards total offense in the game. The only points came on a blocked punt which was returned for a touchdown by George “Tiger” Greene.
The Packers lost the following week to the Seahawks 20-14. Blair Kiel replaced Dilweg after the Packers fell behind 20-0 and nearly pulled off a big comeback, but it fell short in the final minutes.
That was followed by losses to the Eagles, Lions and Broncos. The season ended with a 6-10 mark.
In 1991, the Packers opened the season with a 20-3 home loss to the Eagles and a 23-14 road loss to the Lions. Majkowski was back as the starter, but it didn’t make much difference.
In Week 3, the Packers finally ended their losing streak with an ugly 15-13 win over the Bucs at home in a game ESPN’s Chris Berman described as “The Bay of Pigs.”
The Packers finished that season 4-12. Head coach Lindy Infante was fired and the Packers brought in new GM Ron Wolf who hired coach Mike Holmgren.
It’s been 35 years since then and the Packers have never lost seven in a row since then. Matt LaFleur’s club needs to end this losing streak before it starts to become a dark shadow over the team and does real damage to their confidence and identity as a winning football club.
Any Packers fan old enough to remember the time between the retirement of Vince Lombardi in 1968 and the arrival of Brett Favre in 1992 doesn’t want to go back to that era, that mindset.
On paper, this Packers team has too much talent to go back to being a 4-12. But too often lately, they have found ways to lose football games they should be winning. This Week 2 game against the Jets is not really a must win, but it’s close. It’s up to Matt LaFleur and his coaching staff to find a way to win a game and get back on track. It’s been a long time since the Packers had a seven-game winning streak. Jordan Love and company hope to keep it that way on Sunday.
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