Packers’ Record Coming Out of Bye Week Is Excellent

The Green Bay Packers are 6-3 at their bye. Coach Matt LaFleur has a strong track record after the bye (though not immediately after it).

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur celebrates after beating the Jacksonville Jaguars. / Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Even with their loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, the Green Bay Packers are off to a strong start with their 6-3 record.

Are the Packers poised to take flight when they kick off the second half of the season at the Chicago Bears following this week’s bye?

Perhaps, if history is any indication.

Coach Matt LaFleur has won more than two-thirds of his games during his tenure, but the team has raised its play to another level after the bye.

Here’s the tale of the tape since LaFleur took command in 2019.

Overall

62-30 (.674).

Before the bye

34-19 (.642).

After the bye

28-11 (.718).

Broken down, Green Bay went 7-5 after their early bye last year, 3-1 after their late bye in 2022, 4-1 in 2021, 9-3 in 2020 and 5-1 in 2019.

(What’s striking is the Packers haven’t had many well-timed byes. Under LaFleur, they’ve come early and late but not smack dab in the middle, like this year.)

Immediately after the bye, the story isn’t nearly as rosy. The Packers under LaFleur are 2-3.

This year, the Packers will come out of the bye to play at Chicago on Nov. 17. After its bye in 2021, Green Bay smashed the Bears 45-30 at Lambeau Field. They edged the Rams 24-12 at Lambeau following the bye in 2022 but lost 19-17 at the Broncos last year.

You would think a week of rest and relaxation, which means fresh legs and healthy bodies for the players and extra prep time for the coaches, would be helpful. And it generally has been, especially in recent years.

Teams immediately after the bye went:

5-5 in 2024

20-12 in 2023

20-12 in 2022

19-13 in 2021

18-14 in 2020

11-21 in 2019

16-16 in 2018

17-15 in 2017

21-11 in 2016

16-16 in 2015

12-20 in 2014

This will be the fourth time in his six seasons that Green Bay came out of the bye with a road game. The Packers lost all three – 19-17 at Denver last year, 38-10 at Tampa Bay in 2020 and 37-8 at San Francisco in 2019.

While Green Bay has struggled in those road games, it will play a team it has dominated overall, the Bears. Green Bay has won five in a row at Soldier Field and 13 of the last 14. Aaron Rodgers was responsible for most of that domination, though Jordan Love led the Packers to a 38-20 win in last year’s opener.

The Packers have won 10 straight in the rivalry. If they win again, it will be the longest winning streak by either team in series history.

The team’s loss to Detroit might have doomed its NFC North championship hopes. But the Packers are in a good spot at 6-3 with room to improve if they can improve on third down, where they rank 20th, and in the red zone, where they are 29th.

“I think just more consistency and maybe a little bit better in situational football,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Tuesday. “I think to be the team that can go deep in the playoffs and to contend for championships, you have to be that kind of team.

“We’re working towards that and I think these guys have had really good moments, but you’ve got to be consistent with that, you’ve got to be able to call upon that whenever you need it.”

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Nine weeks down, nine weeks to go. With the #Packers at 6-3, @JacobWestendorf hands out some midseason awards. ⬇️https://t.co/CxA6uA3xyg

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 7, 2024

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