The Green Bay Packers defense squandered a stellar Jordan Love performance, failing to secure a postseason victory despite the quarterback eclipsing Micah Parsons’ defensive threshold for a guaranteed win.
Micah Parsons clearly doesn't want to throw his team under the bus for their loss in the playoffs last season.
The Green Bay Packers lost to the Chicago Bears, 31-27, in the Wild Card round of the NFC Playoffs. Parsons was lost for the season a few weeks before with a torn ACL. He didn't play in Green Bay's last five games, and perhaps not coincidentally, each one of those games resulted in a loss.
Would things have been different in the playoffs had Parsons been able to play?
He was asked that question recently by DJ Siddiqi, and his answer was clear, albeit a bit political.
"I like to believe so," said Parsons. "It's easy to say that, and kind of have controversy over if so and so played, I think my team could have won, regardless if I was out there or not. But I definitely feel like we could have won. I won when I was in Green Bay, so I don't see why I can't pull out another one out of two of those games."
With Parsons playing on December 7 against the Bears at Lambeau Field, the Packers beat their arch-rival, 28-21. Parsons finished that game with two quarterback hits and a tackle, but he impacts every snap for a defense, whether he records a stat or not.
Two weeks later, in the first full game after Parsons' devastating injury, the Packers lost to the Bears in Chicago, 22-16. They then, of course, lost a few weeks later to the Bears back at Soldier Field in the playoffs.
Not only was it a game that Parsons believe the Packers could have won with him, but he was clear that the Packers should have won the game no matter what.
The reason for that believe was the play of quarterback Jordan Love, who threw for 323 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions but still found himself on the losing sideline.
"Besides I always have a rule that if my quarterback puts up 21 points, you're probably gonna win the football game," explained Parsons.
One of the biggest problems for the Packers in 2025 was a general sense of "disjointedness".
Sometimes the offensive would play well but the defense wouldn't. At other times, it would be reversed. Often times, the special teams let down both units.
That's something the Packers will have to change in 2026 to be a true Super Bowl contender. Getting Parsons back and healthy will absolutely help in that regard, and the good news is, he seems to be handling rehab well.
"Yeah, I'm feeling good, man," Parsons said. "Each day has its own strides and strengths to improve and get better. But for anyone that's about three months out of ACL, I'm about exactly where I should be, and I'm just happy I'm getting stronger and better."
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