The 2013 season was the Green Bay Packers' 95th season overall, 93rd in the National Football League (NFL) and eighth under head coach Mike McCarthy. For the first time since 1998, Donald Driver was not on the opening day roster; and for the first time since 2005, Greg Jennings and Charles Woodson were not on the opening day roster either. The Packers came into the 2013 season looking to win the NFC North for the third year in a row, after a 45–31 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Playoffs the previous season. The Packers started the 2013 season in a rematch with the San Francisco 49ers, to whom they lost 34-28. After winning their home opener against the Redskins, Green Bay lost 34–30 in Cincinnati to the Bengals after holding a 30–14 lead in the 3rd quarter. Following the loss in Cincinnati, the Packers won 4 games in a row to sit at 5–2 before losing a Monday Night game at home to the Chicago Bears, 27–20. In that game, the Packers lost star quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a broken collarbone in the 1st quarter. He would be replaced by backups Scott Tolzien and Matt Flynn during recovery. In Week 12, the Packers tied the Minnesota Vikings 26–26; it was Green Bay's first tie since 1987.
The Packers would lose their next game 40–10 to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving to sit at 5–6–1, threatening to miss the postseason for the first time since 2008. The Packers then rallied to beat the Atlanta Falcons 22–21 to even their record at 6–6–1. The following week, the Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 37–36 in Dallas after they had trailed 26–3 at halftime, the largest comeback in franchise history. The Packers would then lose a shootout with the Pittsburgh Steelers 31–38 at home to sit at 7–7–1, the first meeting between the teams since Super Bowl XLV. The following week, the Packers defeated the Chicago Bears 33–28 at Soldier Field to clinch the NFC North in a game in which the winner would clinch the division. The game is well known for a touchdown catch made by Randall Cobb from Aaron Rodgers with less than a minute remaining to seal the win. The play came on a 4th and 8 situation in which Cobb was wide open near the endzone. Finishing the regular season with an 8–7–1 record, the Packers entered the playoffs as the 4th seed in the NFC. In the wild card game, they lost 23–20 in a rematch with the 49ers on a Phil Dawson field goal as time expired. The game was one of the coldest in NFL playoff history, with a temperature of .
Offseason
2013 NFL draft
Notes
The Packers traded pick No. 55 to receive No. 61 and No. 173 from the San Francisco 49ers. The Packers traded pick No. 88 to receive No. 93 and No. 216 from the San Francisco 49ers. The Packers traded pick No. 93 to receive No. 109, No. 146 and No. 224 from the Miami Dolphins. The Packers traded picks No. 146 and No. 173 to receive No. 125 from the Denver Broncos. J. C. Tretter began the season on the physically unable to perform list. Kevin Dorsey began the season on the injured reserve list.
Free agents Position Player Free agencytag Date signed 2013 team RB Cedric Benson UFA Free agent RB Ryan Grant UFA Free agent WR Donald Driver UFA January 30 Retired WR Greg Jennings UFA March 15 Minnesota Vikings TE Tom Crabtree RFA March 15 Tampa Bay Buccaneers C Evan Dietrich-Smith RFA April 12 Green Bay Packers LB Robert Francois RFA March 15 Green Bay Packers LB Brad Jones UFA March 21 Green Bay Packers LB Erik Walden UFA March 12 Indianapolis Colts LB Frank Zombo RFA April 3 Kansas City Chiefs CB Sam Shields RFA June 3 Green Bay Packers RFA: Restricted free agent, UFA: Unrestricted free agent, ERFA: Exclusive rights free agent, FT: Franchise Tag
Staff
Final roster
Schedule
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap 1 August 9 Arizona Cardinals L 0–17 0–1 Lambeau Field Recap 2 August 17 at St. Louis Rams W 19–7 1–1 Edward Jones Dome Recap 3 August 23 Seattle Seahawks L 10–17 1–2 Lambeau Field Recap 4 August 29 at Kansas City Chiefs L 8–30 1–3 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap 1 September 8 at San Francisco 49ers L 28–34 0–1 Candlestick Park Recap 2 September 15 Washington Redskins W 38–20 1–1 Lambeau Field Recap 3 September 22 at Cincinnati Bengals L 30–34 1–2 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 4 Bye 5 October 6 Detroit Lions W 22–9 2–2 Lambeau Field Recap 6 October 13 at Baltimore Ravens W 19–17 3–2 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 7 October 20 Cleveland Browns W 31–13 4–2 Lambeau Field Recap 8 October 27 at Minnesota Vikings W 44–31 5–2 Mall of America Field Recap 9 Chicago Bears L 20–27 5–3 Lambeau Field Recap 10 November 10 Philadelphia Eagles L 13–27 5–4 Lambeau Field Recap 11 November 17 at New York Giants L 13–27 5–5 MetLife Stadium Recap 12 November 24 Minnesota Vikings T 26–26 5–5–1 Lambeau Field Recap 13 November 28 at Detroit Lions L 10–40 5–6–1 Ford Field Recap 14 December 8 Atlanta Falcons W 22–21 6–6–1 Lambeau Field Recap 15 December 15 at Dallas Cowboys W 37–36 7–6–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 16 December 22 Pittsburgh Steelers L 31–38 7–7–1 Lambeau Field Recap 17 December 29 at Chicago Bears W 33–28 8–7–1 Soldier Field Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Postseason Playoff round Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap Wild Card January 5 San Francisco 49ers (5) L 20–23 0–1 Lambeau Field Recap
Game summaries
Regular season
Week 1: at San Francisco 49ers
Week 2: vs. Washington Redskins
Following their loss to the 49ers 28–34 at Candlestick Park in Week 1, the Packers went back home to Lambeau to take on the 0–1 Washington Redskins. On the opening drive, Eddie Lacy suffered a concussion after a helmet-to helmet hit with Brandon Meriweather. He exited the game and James Starks replaced him. The Packers drew first blood with a 28-yard field goal. They then followed it up with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb on 4th and 3 to take a 10–0 lead. The Packers took advantage of Robert Griffin III's limited mobility and shut out the Redskins' offense in the 1st half. The Packers continued to pile up yards and points, first with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson and then with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jermichael Finley. By halftime, the Packers had a commanding 24–0 lead. Early in the 3rd quarter, Aaron Rodgers once again connected with Jordy Nelson for a 15-yard touchdown to take a 31–0 lead. The Redskins finally manage to sustain a drive and capped it off with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garçon. However, the Packers responded with a 32-yard touchdown run by James Starks to make it 38–7. The Redskins managed to score two more touchdowns in the 4th quarter, first a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Reed, then a 9-yard touchdown pass to Santana Moss (failed 2-point conversion). Up 38–20 with 7:36 remaining in the 4th, the Packers managed to sustain a drive to run out the clock and win their first game of the 2013 season. Aaron Rodgers was 34–42 for 480 yards and 4 touchdown passes, while James Starks rushed 20 times for 132 yards and a touchdown. Rodgers managed to tie Matt Flynn against Detroit in 2011 for the franchise record of passing yards in a single game (480). With the win, the Packers were 1–1.
Week 3: at Cincinnati Bengals
In a turnover-infested game, both teams each committed four with Aaron Rodgers throwing two interceptions and Andy Dalton throwing one pick to Sam Shields. Two other Packer turnovers were fumbles, the last of which came from Johnathan Franklin with Terence Newman returning it for a touchdown to give the Bengals the lead after trailing 30-14 in the 3rd quarter. With the loss, the Packers fell to 1–2 entering their bye week.
Week 5: vs. Detroit Lions
After the heart-breaking 30–34 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Paul Brown Stadium, the Packers return to action after their Week 4 bye to take on the 3–1 Detroit Lions at Lambeau. Eddie Lacy returned to action after recovering from a concussion in the past two weeks. He had a very productive game, rushing 23 times for 99 yards. After forcing the Lions to punt on their first possession, the Packers struck first with a 26-yard field goal. They followed it up with a 52-yard field goal to take a 6–0 lead. The Lions managed to answer with a 53-yard field goal to go into halftime down 3–6. Early in the 3rd quarter, Randall Cobb rushed to the Lions 22-yard line for a 67-yard gain. From there, the Packers kicked a 31-yard field goal to take a 9–3 lead. Following a Lions 3-and-out, the Packers struck again with an 83-yard touchdown pass to James Jones to take a 16–3 lead. In the 4th quarter, the Packers added two more field goals, one 42 yards and the other 45 yards, to take a 22–3 lead. The Lions finally find the endzone with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Kris Durham (failed 2-point conversion) to make it 22–9 with 2:04 remaining. However, the Packers ran out the remaining clock and won. The Packers reach .500 again with a 2–2 record.
Week 6: at Baltimore Ravens
After defeating the Detroit Lions 22–9 at Lambeau Field, the Packers travelled to M&T Bank Stadium to take on the defending Super Bowl champions Baltimore Ravens. Eddie Lacy had a breakout game, rushing for 120 yards on 23 carries. On the first drive, Lacy rushed for 10- and 37-yard gains before settling for a 45-yard field goal to take a 3–0 lead. Both defenses played exceptionally well in the 1st half, highlighted by Green Bay's 4th down goal-line stand against Bernard Pierce. The Packers suffered severe injuries to the offense, however, as both James Jones and Randall Cobb would exit the game in the 1st half with leg injuries. 4th-string receiver Jarrett Boykin saw extended playing time in the wake of their absences. With less than 20 seconds remaining in the half, Nick Perry forced a Joe Flacco fumble that was returned by Datone Jones to the 13-yard line. From there, the Packers settled for a 31-yard field goal and a 6–0 lead at halftime. After trading punts to begin the 2nd half, Aaron Rodgers' pass intended for Jordy Nelson was intercepted by Jimmy Smith in the endzone. After Baltimore punted, Jarrett Boykin, who struggled in the 1st half, took a screen pass 43 yards to the Baltimore 25. From there, the Packers extended their lead to 9–0 after a 50-yard field goal. Following a 53-yard pass to Marlon Brown, the Ravens settled for a 23-yard field goal. Late in the 3rd quarter, Aaron Rodgers lofted a 64-yard pass to Jordy Nelson to extend their lead 16–3. However, the Ravens stayed in the ballgame with an 11-yard pass to Jacoby Jones. The Packers tried to ice the game with a 31-yard field goal to make it 19–10 with 4:17 remaining in the 4th quarter. However, on 4th and 21, Joe Flacco found a wide open Tandon Doss for 63 yards. It appeared that Jerron McMillian slipped while covering Doss. On the very next play, Flacco found Desmond Clark for an 18-yard touchdown to make it 19–17 with 2:04 remaining. The Packers preserved the 2-point lead with a 52-yard pass to Jermichael Finley on 3rd and 3 and with a 4-yard run by Eddie Lacy on 3rd and 2. With the 19–17 win, the Packers went above .500 for the first time in the 2013 season with a 3–2 record. After the game, Randall Cobb would be put on IR with designation to return, and James Jones would be out for the next 2 games.
Week 7: vs. Cleveland Browns