The Packers Have Reached Full Panic Mode
Just before the start of the 2025 regular season, the Green Bay Packers swung one of the splashiest trades in NFL history, acquiring Micah Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys and setting a path to Super Bowl contendership this season and beyond. On Sunday, that plan detonated, not in a good way for the meat and cheese team.
Green Bay paid a superstar price to land Micah Parsons from Dallas, but his torn ACL in Denver throws the entire 2025 blueprint into chaos and forces the Packers to rethink everything.
Parsons tore his ACL during a loss to the Denver Broncos, sending Green Bay into full and unadulterated panic.
The Micah Parsons Injury Pushes the Packers into Panic Mode
For those who thought the Packers could win the chip, that theory is in jeopardy.
Torn ACL for Parsons
Green Bay got the worst kind of official news on Parsons’ ACL early this week. Late Sunday, NFL.com’s Bobby Kownack wrote, “The Packers potentially lost far more than their four-game winning streak Sunday in Denver. Green Bay pass rusher Micah Parsons is believed to have suffered a torn ACL during Sunday’s 34-26 loss to the Broncos, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.”
“Parsons suffered the non-contact knee injury at the tail end of the third quarter, streaking in on a blitz and then trying to contain quarterback Bo Nix. Parsons then took an awkward step, immediately grabbed at his knee and went down. He was helped to the locker room with his arm around a trainer.”
It was a segue into an announcement of a season-ending ACL tear on Monday morning.
Ruthless Timing
The Packers owned the NFL’s top-ranked offense entering Week 15, and that offense doesn’t necessarily have to nosedive with Parsons gone. Although, wide receiver Christian Watson and offensive lineman Zach Tom were also injured against the Broncos.
Green Bay has the offense to make a push for the Super Bowl, while Parsons represented the cake-topper on defense. He’s the kind of guy who takes over a postseason and guides a team to the Promised Land. Think fragments of Ray Lewis in Parsons’ peak form.
The NFC also doesn’t have a clear-cut favorite to reach the Super Bowl, unless one believes the Los Angeles Rams are insurmountable.
This year was shaping up as “the Packers year” per NFC competition, and no Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow in the AFC.
Parsons’ injury changes everything. Green Bay is back to a threat in the NFC, not a frontrunner.
Packers a Good Team, not a Great Team, without Parsons
Remember last year’s Packers? The team that got beaten in the Wildcard Round by the Philadelphia Eagles 22-10? That’s basically the “new Packers” after Parsons’ injury.
The Packers’ defense ranks 13th per DVOA, which is, of course, decent. But that was with Parsons wreaking havoc on Sundays. Green Bay will go back to the drawing board on the EDGEs of its defensive line, hoping Rashan Gary, Kingsley Enagbare, and Lukas Van Ness will be enough. They probably won’t be.
Green Bay had an elite ceiling this year with Parsons; that’s toast.
Packers Fans Just Hope for the Best
What now? Thoughts and prayers.
There’s a chance that the Packers rally behind Parsons’ season-ending injury, “winning it for Micah,” but that doesn’t sound realistic. They don’t have game-changing defenders anymore, and their cornerbacks were always a bit suspect, even entering the regular season.
The last best hope for Green Bay is a Jordan Love heater, not unlike Joe Flacco in 2012, which is everybody’s favorite comparison when adversity hits. The problem is that nobody besides 2012 Flacco has ever done that, except for Patrick Mahomes‘ general playoff performance in years not named 2025.
Return Timetable
Lombardi Ave.‘s Freddie Boston wrote in the aftermath of Parsons’ injury, “The tough reality is that there is no exact timetable for an injury like this. Every player’s recovery is different, and much depends on whether it’s a simple ACL tear or if there’s further damage.”
“The Packers will learn more information when Parsons gets the necessary scans. We can, though, look to other players’ recoveries to form a range of potential return dates. Parsons will likely require at least nine months, but of course, some players get back sooner than that, while others need longer. Christian Watson is the most recent Packers example.”
Green Bay’s Super Bowl odds fell to +1100 on Sunday night, probability bedfellows with the Eagles and Patriots.
“He beat expectations in his recovery, returning to action only 294 days after suffering the injury. That’s a little under 10 months. If Parsons matched that exact timeline, his return date would be Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, which would fall around Week 5 next season. Rashan Gary might be a better comparison as he plays the same position,” Boston continued.
“He suffered a torn ACL in Week 9 of the 2022 season and resumed 11-on-11 work at training camp on August 22, 2023, 289 days after his injury, or about nine-and-a-half months. Gary played in Week 1 and performed well, although the Packers kept him on a snap count until Week 5.”
The Packers next play the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field and are expected to win by a point or two.
You must be logged in to post a comment.