It started with a literal pop. When Jordy Nelson crumpled to the turf in a meaningless preseason game against the Steelers, the 2015 Green Bay Packers changed forever. We didn't know it yet. Honestly, most of us thought Aaron Rodgers was so talented he could turn a practice squad player into a Pro Bowler just by looking at them.
He couldn't.
That season was a slog. It was a weird, disjointed, and often painful stretch of football that saw the reigning MVP look human for the first time in a half-decade. If you look at the 10-6 record, you might think it was a "good" year. It wasn't. It was a year of "Hail Mary" prayers masking a systemic collapse of the offense. It was the year Mike McCarthy’s play-calling became a national punchline.
The Jordy-Sized Hole in the Offense
You can’t talk about the 2015 Green Bay Packers without talking about the vertical threat that wasn't there. Jordy Nelson wasn't just a receiver; he was the gravity that pulled safeties away from the line of scrimmage. Without him, the field shrunk. Suddenly, Randall Cobb was forced into a WR1 role he wasn't built for. Teams played "man" coverage and dared the Packers' receivers to beat them.
They couldn't get open. It was embarrassing at times.
Davante Adams, who we now know as a future Hall of Famer, was struggling through a "sophomore slump" fueled by a nagging ankle injury. He caught just one touchdown the entire regular season. Think about that. James Jones came back off the street—literally, he was cut by the Giants—and somehow became the team's leading receiver while wearing a hoodie under his jersey. It was a fun aesthetic, sure, but it was a desperate move for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
The numbers don't lie. Rodgers’ completion percentage dipped to 60.7%, his lowest as a full-time starter to that point. His yards per attempt fell to 6.7. For a guy who usually carves up defenses like a Thanksgiving turkey, he looked like he was playing in quicksand. He spent half the season scrambling for his life because nobody was open and the offensive line was a revolving door of injuries.
The "Fat Eddie" Era and the Run Game
Then there was Eddie Lacy. Oh, Eddie.
✨ Don't miss: Liechtenstein National Football Team: Why Their Struggles are Different Than You Think
In 2013 and 2014, Lacy was a wrecking ball. By 2015, the wrecking ball had slowed down. Weight issues became the primary talking point in Green Bay. Mike McCarthy eventually got blunt about it in the offseason, but during the year, you could just see it. He lacked that violent burst. He finished the year with 758 yards. For a lead back in a high-powered offense, that's borderline catastrophic.
James Starks actually out-gained him in total yards from scrimmage. When your backup running back is your most reliable offensive weapon not named Rodgers, you're in trouble. The offense lacked balance. It lacked speed. It basically relied on Rodgers to pull a rabbit out of a hat every third down.
A Defense That Actually Showed Up
Interestingly, the defense wasn't the problem. Usually, in the Rodgers era, the defense is the scapegoat. Not in 2015. Dom Capers actually had a decent unit. They ranked 6th in the league in scoring defense.
Clay Matthews moved to inside linebacker because the team was desperate for playmakers in the middle. He hated it. He did it anyway. He and Julius Peppers combined for 17.5 sacks. B.J. Raji was having a bit of a resurgence in the middle. The secondary featured a young Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Sam Shields, who were actually playing high-level ball.
But the defense got tired. When your offense is going three-and-out constantly, even a top-tier defense is going to crack. They spent too much time on the field. You'd see these 13-play drives by opponents where the Packers' defense would hold them to a field goal, only for the offense to punt 40 seconds later. It was exhausting to watch.
That Three-Game Slide and the "Miracle in Motown"
The turning point for the 2015 Green Bay Packers was the Week 8 trip to Denver. Both teams were 6-0. It was supposed to be a preview of the Super Bowl.
Instead, it was a massacre.
🔗 Read more: Cómo entender la tabla de Copa Oro y por qué los puntos no siempre cuentan la historia completa
The Broncos' "No Fly Zone" defense held Aaron Rodgers to 77 passing yards. 77! I’ve seen high schoolers throw for more on a windy Friday night. That game provided the blueprint for the rest of the league: press the receivers, blitz the middle, and trust that Green Bay has no one fast enough to go deep.
The Packers lost three in a row. They lost to the Lions at home for the first time since 1991. Fans were calling for McCarthy to be fired. The season felt like it was spiraling into the abyss.
Then, Detroit happened. Again.
The "Miracle in Motown" is the one thing everyone remembers from this season. A face-mask penalty that shouldn't have been called (probably), a 61-yard heave into the rafters of Ford Field, and Richard Rodgers catching the ball with no time left. It saved the season. It was a dopamine hit that blinded everyone to the fact that the team still couldn't move the ball consistently.
The Arizona Playoff Heartbreak
If the Detroit game was the high point, the Divisional Round in Arizona was the soul-crushing reality check.
Again, Rodgers did the impossible. Down by seven, back in his own end, he hit Jeff Janis (the legendary "People’s Champ") for a massive gain, then hit him again on a falling-down-to-his-left Hail Mary as time expired. It was arguably the greatest throw in NFL history.
But the Packers never touched the ball in overtime. Larry Fitzgerald took a screen pass 75 yards on the first play, then flipped into the end zone a few plays later. Game over. Season over.
💡 You might also like: Ohio State Football All White Uniforms: Why the Icy Look Always Sparks a Debate
It was the perfect end to a bizarre year. The Packers were good enough to stay in any game because of #12, but they weren't good enough to actually win the big ones because the roster was fundamentally flawed.
Why 2015 Still Matters Today
Looking back, 2015 was the beginning of the end for the McCarthy era, even if it took three more years to actually happen. It exposed the "Draft and Develop" philosophy's biggest weakness: what happens when you don't develop?
The 2015 draft class was a disaster. Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins were supposed to fix the secondary; they were both gone shortly after. Ty Montgomery was a wide receiver turned running back who eventually fell out of favor. Without hitting on those picks, the roster aged out quickly.
If you’re analyzing the 2015 Green Bay Packers, you have to look at it as a lesson in depth. You can't rely on one superstar to mask every deficiency. Eventually, the bill comes due.
Lessons Learned from the 2015 Season
- Speed is Non-Negotiable: The Packers lacked a "burner." Without someone to take the top off the defense, the intermediate passing game dies.
- The Inside Linebacker Value: Clay Matthews moving inside helped the team but hurt his individual career. It showed that having a natural "green dot" linebacker is worth the investment.
- Conditioning Matters: Eddie Lacy’s decline was a wake-up call for the front office regarding player accountability and fitness standards.
- The Rodgers Tax: Being too good can actually hurt a team’s long-term roster construction. The Packers felt they didn't need to overpay for veteran free agents because Rodgers would "fix it." He couldn't fix 2015.
To truly understand this team, go back and watch the Thanksgiving game against the Bears where they retired Brett Favre's jersey. The Packers lost. At home. To Jay Cutler. On a night meant to celebrate greatness, the current team looked hollow. That was 2015 in a nutshell: Great expectations met with a very cold, very mediocre reality.
If you want to dive deeper into the stats of that era, check out the Pro Football Reference pages for the mid-2010s Packers. You’ll see the sharp decline in yards per play that started exactly when Jordy’s ACL gave out. It’s a stark reminder that in the NFL, you are always one snap away from a "frustrating" 10-win season.
Focus on the film of the Week 13 Lions game and the Divisional Round in Arizona. Those two games represent the absolute ceiling and the crushing floor of this specific roster. Moving forward, the team finally learned they couldn't just "expect" greatness—they had to build for the worst-case scenario. That started with diversifying the talent at wideout and finally moving on from the stale offensive schemes of the mid-2010s.