The Green Bay Packers had made the playoffs every season from 2009 through 2016. That streak included a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV at the end of the 2010 season. It was the franchise's fourth Super Bowl victory, and it cemented Aaron Rodgers as one of the up-and-coming great quarterbacks in the league.
Primary among the rogue factors that led to the playoff streak ending last year, season, is a defense that has regressed mightily in the last few years. Rodgers missed nine games in 2017 with a collarbone injury and his replacement, Brett Hundley, certainly didn't measure up.