Packers’ comeback vs Cardinals checks another box in showing their Super Bowl credentials

Upon stepping to the podium after a rollercoaster win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, which came on the back of a five-plus hour travel delay, Matt LaFleur started his postgame media session by heaping praise on his players:

“I can’t say enough about our guys, from the moment we got on the trip, nothing seemed to go right, in game, there were a lot of things that didn’t go right, but the guys kept battling and that’s what it takes in this league.

“They’re a resilient group, I’m just really proud of them and really happy for our guys."

It was at times an extremely frustrating game in every aspect for the Packers, and was far from their best performance of the early season, but the comeback victory serves as another feather in the cap of their Super Bowl bona fides.

At one point or another in the first six games, Green Bay has shown almost every ingredient that makes them one of the NFL's premier teams, and the characteristics they will need to mount a lengthy postseason run.

Their offense is eighth in the NFL in points per game and fifth in expected points added (EPA), while their defense ranks 10th and 11th in the same categories. The Packers have the requisite talent and coaching on both sides of the ball to compete with the NFL’s best.

Two emphatic wins over the Lions and Commanders – both playoff teams from a year ago – may have set the bar unrealistically high for their week-to-week performance, and even in their recent victories, the Packers have not looked as complete as they did in Weeks 1 and 2.

But those two games did still happen, and showed Green Bay is capable of dominating their opponent from start to finish, and not just the dregs of the league, but against quality opponents.

Their win over the Bengals was not quite as comfortable as they would have liked, but was another game which the Packers were in control of from start to finish, with their opponents never possessing the ball with an opportunity to take the lead in the second half.

Those three games, half of the six they have played so far, are plenty of evidence Green Bay can impose their will and take care of business.

The two blemishes on the season so far; a 13-10 loss to the Browns and a 40-40 tie with the Cowboys, were different, but equally the type of sloppy performances the Packers would have hoped they were beyond in Year 3 of this group being together.

Even still, one side of the ball did what was expected of them in each of those games, with the defense nullifying a meek Cleveland offense and Jordan Love and company marching up and down the field in Dallas.

A strong argument can be made that they should have won both of those matchups, and would have if not for a few blunders, mostly by the offense and special teams, at the most inopportune moments.

Those games were confounding, but did not expose a fatal flaw the Packers may have, other than perhaps their per-usual problematic special teams. To their credit, Rich Bisaccia’s unit has been much cleaner in the last two weeks even while dealing with an injury to their primary kicker.

Sunday’s performance versus Arizona was certainly uneven, and Green Bay shot itself in the foot repeatedly, particularly on defense, with multiple drives being extended by penalties or long conversions on third down. But it gave the Packers the opportunity to show they have the toughness to overcome adversity, a crucial trait for a championship contender, and to do something they had not needed to so far in 2025: mount a comeback.

The most the Packers had trailed by in any game entering Sunday was three points, and the longest they had been behind consecutively was eight minutes of game time. That in itself is a testament to how well the team had played up until their matchup with the Cardinals.

At different times on Sunday, they trailed for over 10 and 12 minutes of gametime. Green Bay was at one point down two scores, and trailed by a touchdown on two different occasions. They did not lead at all until one minute and 50 seconds remained in the game.

It was fair in previous games to accuse the Packers of not having the killer instinct to truly put teams away in the fourth quarter when holding a lead, but when they really needed to finish, staring a loss in the face, on the road against a desperate team, LaFleur’s team got the job done.

Green Bay's win, paired with Detroit's Monday night victory over Tampa Bay, means the Packers are currently the No. 1 seed in the NFC. As expected though, LaFleur and his players were less forgiving of their own performance versus the Cardinals.

The head coach admitted after the game that his offense feels “choppy” at present, and in regards to the team as a whole, he said Monday: “There’s a lot of things we’re going to have to do a hell of a lot better in order for us to have success."

Xavier McKinney said postgame: “It shouldn’t even come down to the fourth quarter. I think we have a better team, and I don’t think we played up to our standard. We for damn sure can’t do this against good teams, because it’s not going to work."

Tucker Kraft echoed those sentiments, saying: “We still have to play a more cohesive unit across the board. We’re still leaving some plays out there on offense. It’s not about playing perfect but just eliminating the bad."

The Packers must continue to improve to be the team they want to be and reach the ultimate goal, but through six games they have shown the ingredients needed to be a true contender, and Sunday’s comeback win checks another box.

This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers’ comeback vs Cardinals checks another box for Super Bowl hopes