If you’re a Packers fan, you might want to keep one eye on your own team and the other on an old friend this weekend. In a season full of twists, Week 16 and 17 offer up a storyline that feels like it was pulled straight from a Hollywood script. Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love - two quarterbacks forever linked by the Packers' quarterback lineage - could end up helping each other out in a big way, even while wearing different uniforms and playing in different conferences.
Here’s the scenario: Green Bay travels to Chicago this Saturday night. A win at Soldier Field would be big in its own right - division rival, playoff implications, all that.
But if the Steelers, led by none other than Rodgers, can also pull off a win in Detroit against the NFC North-leading Lions, the Packers would clinch a playoff spot. That’s right - a win from the current guy, and a win from the former guy, could punch Green Bay’s postseason ticket.
And it doesn’t stop there.
Fast-forward to Week 17. The Packers will host the Ravens at Lambeau Field, while the Steelers face the Browns.
If Pittsburgh wins either of its next two games - against Detroit or Cleveland - and Green Bay can knock off Baltimore, the Packers would be doing more than just helping themselves. They’d be giving Rodgers a real shot at his 12th career postseason appearance by helping the Steelers lock up the AFC North.
Wild? Sure. But not impossible.
Let’s break down why this isn’t just wishful thinking - there’s real reason to believe this could play out.
Start with Rodgers. His track record against the Lions is the stuff of legend.
He’s 18-8 all-time versus Detroit, with a sparkling .720 win percentage, 54 touchdowns, and just 12 interceptions. And while this version of the Lions is more formidable than many he faced during his Packers tenure, they’re banged up and vulnerable.
If there’s anyone built to walk into Ford Field in late December and come out with a win, it’s Rodgers - even in Steelers black and gold.
Meanwhile, Jordan Love has been doing his part to keep the Packers’ playoff hopes alive. He’s 4-1 against the Bears in his young career, and Green Bay as a whole has flat-out owned Chicago in recent years.
The Packers are 8-1 at Soldier Field over the last decade, and since 1992, they’re 52-16 against the Bears. That’s not just dominance - that’s generational ownership.
Love has quietly taken the reins and continued that tradition. And with Green Bay fighting for its playoff life, don’t expect them to take their foot off the gas against a Bears team that would love nothing more than to play spoiler.
Then there’s Week 17, when the Packers host the Ravens. That game could end up being the biggest test of the season.
But Green Bay has been solid at home since Love took over, going 16-8 at Lambeau in the regular season. If they can replicate the kind of energy and execution they’ve shown there before, they’ll give themselves a real shot against a Baltimore team that may still be jockeying for playoff positioning.
There’s a poetic symmetry to all of this. Rodgers, now in Pittsburgh, could be helping the Packers secure a playoff spot - while the Packers, led by his successor, could be helping him extend his own postseason legacy. It’s the kind of full-circle moment that only the NFL can deliver.
And sure, the league has long been accused of feeling like it’s following a script. But sometimes, the storylines just write themselves.
Think back to Matthew Stafford returning to Detroit for a playoff game, or Peyton Manning facing the Colts in the postseason wearing Broncos orange. This one - Rodgers possibly helping Green Bay from afar - fits right in that same category.
For Rodgers, this might be the last time he faces an NFC North opponent. And while he’s no longer in Green Bay, his legacy there is cemented. If he can help the Packers one last time - even indirectly - it would be a fitting chapter in a career that’s already destined for Canton.
As for Jordan Love, he’s in the middle of writing his own story. And part of that might just involve giving Rodgers one more shot at the big stage. The two quarterbacks, once sharing the same meeting room, now share a common goal - even if it’s unspoken.
Call it fate. Call it football symmetry. Call it whatever you want.
But in the next two weeks, the Packers and Steelers - and Rodgers and Love - might just find themselves on the same side again.
And if they both deliver, the postseason will have a little extra drama, a little extra nostalgia, and a whole lot of Green Bay flavor.