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By PACKERSWIRE The 2023 season of the Green Bay Packers ended in heartbreak after advancing further than even the most optimistic prognosticators could have imagined, creating an incredible but familiar intersection of disappointment over a missed opportunity and legitimate excitement about what’s in store for a young, talented team on the rise. At various points midseason, the Packers were 2-5 and 3-6. On Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium, they were minutes away from advancing to the NFC Championship Game. Along the way, the Packers revived their season, beat Super Bowl contenders and saw their young quarterback and skill position players develop rapidly, to the point where first-year starter Jordan Love was putting up elite, MVP-level numbers for a stretch of play lasting more than two months. The missed opportunity of the present is real. The Packers led 21-14 to start the fourth quarter and had the ball in scoring range with a 21-17 lead midway through the quarter. To lose a game with so many opportunities to seal away a historic win places Saturday night’s 24-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers up near the top of recent playoff heartbreakers that so easily could have gone the other way. What could have been? The seventh-seeded Packers needed one more play to beat the top-seeded 49ers on the road in a game where they ended up being double-digit underdog. It never arrived. With a win on Saturday night, the Packers would have been flying into the NFC Championship Game on the heels of upset road wins over the 12-win Cowboys and 12-win 49ers and would have been just one more victory away from making a historic run to the Super Bowl. But it wasn’t meant to be, and it all ended in a familiar, gut-wrenching fashion. The Packers went three-and-out, missed a field goal and turned the ball over during their final three possessions of the fourth quarter. After Anders Carlson pushed his 41-yard field goal attempt wide left, the 49ers marched the length of the field for the go-ahead touchdown and then turned over Jordan Love with under a minute to go. It was an incredible escape act from the 49ers, who will host either the Detroit Lions or Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game next Sunday. The Packers will be watching from home. By then, the disappointment of the missed opportunity will have had a chance to fade and the excitement of what’s ahead could fuel the start of a new Super Bowl window opening in Green Bay. There is no denying what the Packers accomplished. Matt LaFleur’s team won six of the final eight games to make the postseason and then became the first No. 7 seed to win a playoff game. The Packers beat the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs in back-to-back weeks, got a three-game win streak to end the season and clinch a playoff spot, and then stunned the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium — where Mike McCarthy’s team had won 16-straight games — with a dominant performance that will live on in the team’s playoff lore. There’s also no denying what the Packers built. A young, talented team endured expected growing pains, learned how to win together and got a real taste of both winning and losing big games. This is a potent mixture capable of creating champions, and the Packers will almost certainly go into 2024 with expectations of being one of the season’s top teams in the NFC. The quarterback not only proved he could play, but proved he could play at an elite level for over half a season. It is tantalizing to think what Love, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft, Dontayvion Wicks, Bo Melton and the rest of the young Packers offense could accomplish next season without having to limp through two months of learning how to play together. They will be experienced, and hungry. And if Love continues ascending, there is no football mountain this team can’t climb Guiding future climbs will be LaFleur, who proved his clout as a playcaller and designer of offense in the first year post-Aaron Rodgers. Once LaFleur and Love got in lock step, the Packers offense was as good or better as all but a few offenses. The two could be the premier coach-quarterback combo for years to come. LaFleur needs to make a big decision at defensive coordinator, where the Packers probably need a change to maximize what’s been built talent-wise on the defensive side. But having LaFleur as the coach and playcaller should ensure Love and the offense has every opportunity to emerge as a juggernaut as soon as next season. And more help is on the way. The last two draft classes from Brian Gutekunst powered the late-season surge, and the Packers general manager will go into this offseason with the draft capital necessary for filling in long-term holes and providing more firepower on both sides of the ball for 2024. As a talent evaluator, Gutekunst deserves his flowers. At this point, I’m not sure many teams would pass on swapping rosters with the Packers. And five picks in the top 100 in April could help turn this into a special group. This all feels so familiar. The Packers, with what looks like another great quarterback in place, have everything in front of them. This opening chapter was the ultimate rollercoaster ride, but it also set the stage for what could be another book of dominance for the Packers. It just wouldn’t be the playoffs in Green Bay without a heartbreak mixed with the promise of the future. So many times, whether it was with Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers as the quarterback, the disappointment of a missed playoff opportunity or failed postseason run was buffeted by the promise of what’s next and the potential laced into the next opportunity. For Jordan Love’s Packers, the playoff heartbreak arrived earlier than expected. A “rebuilding” year turned into a postseason run. In so many ways, Love’s Packers were able to fit all the lessons and triumphs of Rodgers’ 2008 and 2009 seasons into just one year. And everyone in Green Bay knows what happened in 2010. Having a great quarterback and football team means consistently going to the postseason, and consistently going to the postseason means — for franchises not based in New England — a steady stream of heartbreaking losses. Only one team is happy at the end of it all. And the gauntlet of the elimination style postseason all but guarantees the worst and most painful ends to long, often magical seasons. Favre and Rodgers both eventually broke through. The trajectory of Love’s Packers suggests this franchise will get many more chances to do so again. Once again, the Packers found a new and unique way to create the intersection of disappointment in the present and excitement of the future. Once again, it is time to mourn the loss of a golden opportunity to do something historic and celebrate what could be the start of another splendid run in Green Bay.
Your Weekly Packers News Update
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"Kudos to Amy for making sure that the tickets to the tailgate party were waiting for me at the reception desk! Your personal phone call and text messages went above and beyond customer satisfaction! I can't wait for the 2024 season, rest assured that my go-to Packer's game supplier will be Event USA for a long time.
-Jean-Pierre Mallette, Montréal, Canada
"Thank you so much Cathy, greatly appreciate your help.
As always, EventUSA has been awesome to deal with in booking the Lodge Kohler package for the Tampa Bay Game,
particularly for me traveling from Sydney, Australia, it takes the stress out of the booking process. "
-Kayle
"Good Morning, Nicole - Everything you did turned out great. The seats were great. Access to the air conditioned club lounge was great. Lots of Packers fans in the club lounge and overall at the stadium. The tailgate party at the fancy restaurant in the hotel was fabulous. The servers just kept on bringing out different sliders and desserts. Good thing that I got in a 30-minute run along the river in the morning. So, thank you! You may be speaking with me in November if I can work out getting up to Green Bay for a game. It's been too long since my last time.
One of the best aspects of this weekend was interacting with so many people from Wisconsin and learning their personal stories of things Packers. And we even met a couple from St. Petersburg, Florida (my home county) and were able to tell them about the Varsity Club tavern and Packers bar in Clearwater where Mark Murphy's mother is in attendance -- very nice lady whose retirement home is in Clearwater, which borders my little city of Dunedin. Pre-COVID, I always went to the Varsity when the Packers games weren't televised locally -- lots of Wisconsin natives there, too + they serve brats and sauerkraut during Packers games. I'm glad that you are working for Event USA.
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-- Martin Lawyer, Dunedin, Florida
"Dennis - I was blessed to join Amy and some of your customers at the Morton's tailgate as well as after the game. She does an amazing job for you. Every single customer I met praised Event USA for being able to arrange the hotel and tickets and fabulous tailgate party in such a quick time. Having been to some great tour tailgate parties in Jacksonville and Kansas City and old San Francisco, a lot can be said of the long-term benefit of having really great tailgate parties. Morton's was probably one of the best - amazing food, patio sitting on the riverfront, walk to stadium, open bar!!! It was first class fun!!!"
-Matt
"Hi Amy-
Just wanted to say thank you for making Jacksonville happen! We had a wonderful time and looking forward to more Packers games with Event USA in the future!
Even though the game was not what we expected- we are packers fans for life-lol!
Go pack go!!"
-Julie Mastrianni
"I want to thank Event USA and in particular Amy Flores for the Jacksonville trip. We have used you before and always were very pleased with the packages you have set up and your service.
My son who lives in Charleston, SC and myself who lives in Minnesota, decided we needed to do a guys trip and decided to go through your company to see the opener in New Orleans. I initially called and talked with Amy about some questions I had and booked our trip. After itinerary and info was emailed to us, it soon became apparent that the trip to New Orleans wouldn’t happen. In steps Amy, wondering if we would be interested in Dallas if the game was moved there and a package was set up. Then finally the move to Jacksonville and continued communication from Amy on our interest. It was getting late at that point and I was wondering if she would be able to pull off setting up a package in Jacksonville. She did it.
We went to Jacksonville and had a great time. The accommodations and the tail gate were fabulous. If only the Packer team we were hoping for had made the trip.
Thank you Event USA and in particular Amy Flores."
-Tom Sohrweide, White Bear Lake, MN
"Thank you for all your help. I had a great time at the Packer-Raider game opening day. I have already begun telling interested Packer fans in Sacramento about your service. The next time I come to Green Bay for a game, I’ll be sure to ask for your help. God bless you and God bless the Green Bay Packers."
-Frank Chavez, Sacramento
"I just wanted to say that I had such a great time. The whole weekend was so much fun. I enjoyed the Player Autograph Party and the tailgate party was just the best. After coming from a country that loves soccer, it was nice to mix with people who have the same interests as me. Thank you once again, Green Bay is one very special place."
-Beverley Moore, Lancaster
"My accommodations at the Best Western Midway were excellent. I was picked up at the airport and returned promptly. No problems at all. Your representative at the hotel on game day was very pleasant and helpful. The tailgate party was super, great food, great drinks and lots of fun. Obviously, Lambeau Field and the game itself was great. I will continue to use Event USA in the future, and I will definitely tell anyone who I come across to give you a call. One last thing, the hospitality I experienced in Green Bay was incredible. I have traveled to many places, and I don’t think there are more friendly people than the people of Green Bay. Thank you again and see you next year!"
-David Anastas, Worchester
"My wife and I booked the tour to Tampa. The trip was so well organized from start to finish. It started with the people in the office with their friendly help over the phone, to receiving the tickets in the mail, and meeting the tour guides with their upbeat personalities. Signs guided us in the airport and information was posted in our motel lobbies to keep us posted. Your people had everything in order. Talk about organization, you had it. Event USA made this a most memorable trip. Thanks for all involved."
-Dick Koerner, Neenah
"I wish to convey my sincere thanks and gratitude for providing my husband and I with, what he refers to as the greatest experience of my life, apart from my wedding day."
-Lara and Matt Appleton, Thornhill, Ontario
"Thanks for all your help, the great tickets and service, and the chance to help me make one of my son’s dreams come true, seeing the Packers playing at home in Lambeau Field."
-Sam Jones, Sedalia
"I just want to thank you for the wonderful job your staff did last weekend for the Packers vs. Lions game. This was our first time utilizing your program and we were not disappointed at all. In fact, we can’t wait to schedule and event for next season’s games. From my first experience with your staff placing my order until the very end at checkout of the hotel, everything was perfect. You truly out-do yourselves to please everyone. Thanks again for making our stay in Green Bay one of the best."
-Kim Ewing and Bruce DeMaine, Ann Arbor
"Thanks so much for the best weekend ever! You not only got us in all the Magazines, TV, WWW pages and even the big screen at Lambeau Field, but Disney World on the side? Nice job – You and your family are top notch – we were on the best tour for the Super Bowl! Seeing the Green Bay Packers win back the Lombardi Trophy was a life long dream of this Packer fan, and you all were so dedicated to the job of taking care of us that, like the Packers, we were a winning team! Keep me on your list."
-William D Lorge, Representative to the Wisconsin State Assembly