With the Kansas City Chiefs being crowned Super Bowl Champions this past Sunday, the NFL’s 100th season has officially come to an end. Before we take a deep dive into the Combine, free agency, and the Draft, I thought I’d break down some key stats from the dope sheet and highlight elements that made this 2019 season so special in Green Bay. 

For starters, the Packers’ 101st season kicked off under new leadership, with Matt LaFleur becoming the franchise’s 15th head coach. In his first season, he swept the NFC North for the first time since 2011, brought his team to a 13-3 record, and secured the No. 2 seed in the playoffs after Green Bay had missed the postseason the last two seasons. 

Adding context here, per the Packers dope sheet, since 2002 when the NFC North was formed, the Green Bay Packers are the only team to go undefeated in the division in a single regular season, which they’ve now done twice (2011 and 2019). 

LaFleur also became the first head coach in Packers history to make it to the playoffs in his first postseason. Another impressive stat from the dope sheet? LaFleur’s plus-seven in wins became the largest one-year win improvement in franchise history, going from six wins in 2018 to 13 wins in 2019. What’s more, LaFleur had a home record during the regular season of 7-1, the most by a Packers head coach in his first season in franchise history. 

While the first-year head coach had an impressive start to his tenure in Green Bay, so did the team’s star running back during a breakout campaign in his third season. Aaron Jones set a new franchise record for touchdowns this season between the regular season and postseason by scoring 23 all-purpose touchdowns. Despite the franchise-record setting performance, Jones was snubbed for both the All-Pro and Pro Bowl lists, which, according to Jones, is only more fuel for 2020. 

Wide receiver Davante Adams is also making a reputation for himself in the postseason, becoming the first player in franchise history to have four games with 100-plus receiving yards in the playoffs. He also accomplished the feat in only eight games. For context, Greg Jennings, Robert Brooks, and Antonio Freeman were all tied for first with three games, and no one did it in less than 10 games. In eight games, Adams has also accumulated 687 yards, good for second in franchise history behind only Antonio Freeman (14 games, 748 yards). One more strong showing from Adams in the postseason should be more than enough to break another record. 

Keeping with the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Aaron Rodgers has still got it, despite a statistical season that doesn’t leap off the charts. Back in the postseason for the first time since 2016, Rodgers now has seven career playoff starts with a 110-plus passer rating, good for second in league history behind only Tom Brady, who has eight. 

Rodgers is also up there with some elite company when it comes to playoff passer rating. In 19 games, the quarterback has a passer rating of 100.0 exactly, minimum 150 attempts. First in the category? The legendary Bart Starr, with a rating of 104.8 in 10 games. 

In the regular season, Rodgers ranks No. 1 in NFL history in passer rating, with a career rating of 102.4. He’s also the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000-plus yards and 25-plus touchdowns with four or fewer interceptions in a single season, something he did both in 2018 and 2019. This is Rodgers’ seventh season with over 4,000 passing yards and 10 or fewer interceptions. The second name on the list Tom Brady with five such seasons. 

Switching to the defensive side of the ball, free agents Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith immediately made an impact for the defense. The duo is the first pair in Packers history to have 12-plus sacks in the same season. 

Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Za’Darius led the NFL in disruptions during the regular season with 84. Aaron Donald came in second with 80, and explosive rookie Nick Bosa was in fourth with 71. 

As a team, the Packers were tied for fifth in the NFL in third-down sacks with 19, and Preston Smith got seven of those himself. Za’Darius Smith also tied for first in the NFL in QB hits in 2019 with 37, with Preston earning seventh on the list with 23 hits. 

Per the dope sheet, the Packers led the NFL with 18.0 sacks against the NFC North in 2019. Additionally, Green Bay only allowed 42 points between the Vikings and the Bears in 2019, the fewest in a season from the Packers since 1994 (when the team allowed 32). 

Beating up on the rest of the NFC North was a theme in 2019, and Green Bay’s Week 17 victory over the Detroit Lions made the Packers the third NFL team with 100 regular-season wins against one opponent.

Even with free agent standouts, the rookie class of 2019 also shined. First-round safety Darnell Savage and second-round guard Elgton Jenkins were both selected to the PFWA All-Rookie team. 

Additional Quick Stats: 

• Green Bay scored 20-plus points in 13 games during the regular season, good for fifth in the NFL. 

• The Packers tied for first in the NFL with Kansas City in red-zone interceptions with four.

• Green Bay ended the season +12 in turnover differential, good for third in the NFL. 

• The Packers set a franchise record with eight wins during the regular season that came by eight points or less, which tied Houston for second in the NFL. (Seattle was first with 10 wins.)

• Green Bay had 28 players appear in all 16 games during the regular season, which was the most in the NFL in 2019. (Talk about a healthy team!)

If you’d like to check out the full 2019 Dope Sheet (which I highly encourage because it’s fascinating stuff), you can download a copy here. With that, let’s look ahead to the 2020 season. Go Pack Go.