While playoff seeding was ultimately not at stake for the Green Bay Packers, dropping their Week 18 matchup against the Chicago Bears is a poor way to go into the postseason. Plus, losing Jordan Love and Christian Watson to injuries cloudies the offensive outlook for this team as they gear up for next weekend.
Dropping a 24-22 home game to the Bears leaves a sour taste in the mouth of the Packers, a loss that ends a winning streak dating back to 2018. This also marks the first time Chicago has won in Lambeau Field since 2015.
Offense
Love left Sunday’s game with some sort of injury to his right hand, although it seems like he is alright moving forward. Before leaving, Love completed seven passes for 69 yards, as the offense struggled to put points on the board.
Malik Willis came into the game in relief of Love, throwing for 136 yards. Not much was asked of Willis, but he looked comfortable in the cold confines of Lambeau, orchestrating the offense the best he could.
When the offense shifts more towards a run-focused approach, Willis looks to have a really solid approach to leading this unit, and he showed just enough to help keep this team in it until the end.
A non-contact injury suffered by Watson leaves his status very much up in the air for the Wild Card round, throwing a wrench into the game plan. Malik Heath (3/53) and Dontayvion Wicks (5/49) led the way for pass catchers, in a game that did not see a ton of movement through the air.
It was almost a 50/50 attack on offense, as Green Bay threw for 184 yards and ran for 183 yards in the loss.
A 55-yard field goal from Brandon McManus with under a minute left pushed the Packers to a one-point lead, but a 51-yard field goal from Cairo Santos with time expiring pushed Green Bay to their sixth loss.
Defense
As a unit, Jeff Hafley’s defense kept the Chicago offense in check. Only allowing 224 total yards of offense, including 141 through the air, shows that this unit did alright, but situationally, they were subpar.
Hafley’s coverage was too far off for Chicago’s final drive, allowing the Bears to work their way down the field and into field goal range. Playing too many players too far back was not a good look for Hafley in the moment, playing a big part in the eventual Bears win.
While mixing coverages and rushing schemes, the Green Bay defense only sacked Caleb Williams once, allowing the rookie QB to do enough to run the offense. Edgerrin Cooper led the way with seven tackles while racking up a QB hit and a tackle for loss.
Playoffs
It was quite the disappointing end to the regular season for Green Bay, as they limp into the postseason with an 11-6 record. Heading east to face the Philadelphia Eagles, the Packers and their seven seed will face Philly, who earned the two seed and sat most starters in Week 18.
Jalen Hurts has not played since suffering a concussion in Week 16 against the Washington Commanders. The hope is that the Philly offense has a few cobwebs that they need to iron out when they host Green Bay, giving this matchup a chance for an upset.
The health of Love and Watson will be big-time headlines to follow as the week goes on, as will how Matt LaFleur helps this team prepare. Playing on the road in the playoffs is nothing new for Green Bay, but their struggles on the road against the Eagles are well documented, not instilling a ton of hope for this Wild Card matchup.
The underdog role for the Packers is the route they will need to take again this season, one year after their upset win over the Dallas Cowboys on the road. A similar effort will need to happen again if they want any chance to spring the upset.
뿓뿓뿓
Mike Johrendt has been an avid fan of the Packers ever since he can remember. He is now a writer at PackersTalk and you can follow him on Twitter at @MJohrendt23
뿓뿓뿓
