A Meaningless Game that May Influence Everything

With Green Bay locked in as the 7^th seed in the NFC Playoff Picture there’s nothing to gain by winning – other than heading into the postseason with a win instead of a 4-game losing streak. Having good vibes could work wonders for this Packers team as it’s been nothing but disaster after disaster since Patrick Surtain intercepted Jordan Love early in the 3^rd quarter of Week 15. It will have been 4 weeks to the day since Green Bay last walked off the field victorious; a 28-21 win over Chicago on December 7^th. That was their 4^th win in a row and things seemed to be on track with Green Bay looking like one of, if not, the top teams in the NFL – how cruel and quickly things change in the NFL.

Green Bay will be starting Clayton Tune at QB this Sunday against Minnesota to give Love & Willis as much time as possible to be 100% healthy and not risk further injury heading into their wild card matchup, but I fear the rhythm and timing will suffer (along with the confidence and vibes of the team) won’t be where they need to be to perform at a high-level, considering Love will not have taken meaningful snaps in a 3-week timespan. It’s a Catch-22 scenario for the Packers; either risk injury to their starting QB and other star players in a meaningless game or have them rusty as can be likely coming into a playoff game either at Chicago or Philadelphia riding a 4-game losing streak.

Big Opportunity For Everyone

Green Bay claimed ex-Cowboys cornerback, Trevon Diggs, off waivers on New Year’s Eve to help add depth to their defensive backfield. The Packers have had nothing but issues in their secondary since Micah Parsons went down with his ACL injury and the pass rush has been non-existent, thus leaving their corners to cover receivers longer, resulting in: Denver and Bo Nix torching them in the 2^nd half of Week 15; Caleb Williams lighting them up in the last 2 minutes and overtime of Week 16; Tyler Huntley having no issue carving GB’s D up all game last week. Diggs is having an awful year, allowing 16 completions on 20 targets for 286 yards, 3 touchdowns, and a perfect passer rating of 158.3 against him in 2025. There was a time when Diggs was one of the best corners in the NFL, back in 2021 he played in 16 games having 11 interceptions with 2 pick-6’s in just that season. That’s a good career for most cornerbacks. Since then, his production has dropped off and he’s been a liability for Dallas these past four seasons ultimately getting cut this week allowing him to join a playoff team. He’s only played in 8 games this season and I listed the stats against him above…however, he’s still in prime age (27 years old) and has plenty of ability to help the Packers especially given that he’s an able-bodied corner to give this team depth in one of the areas that’s a weakness of this roster. This is a great opportunity for him to right his career direction and earn a long-term contract should he and the Packers make a great showing in January.

This is also an opening for quite a few other players on this roster as it’s a “prove-it” game in some manner. Whether that’s McKinney (who’s played well all year) showing he can catch an interception, Rashan Gary actually pressuring the QB and not being owned in the run game by a 198-pound wide receiver, anyone on the defensive line holding their own against the run, or the offensive line gaining confidence and continuity by showing who wants a starting job next year…there’s plenty to keep an eye on, for us fans and the coaches. This is also a great opportunity for Matt LaFleur to showcase his 1^st round rookie WR, Matthew Golden, by getting him his first career touchdown and putting new “looks” on tape for the Bears or Eagles to gameplan around for next week. It’s worth noting that Matthew Golden began his college career at the University of Houston and his QB at Houston, his freshman year (2022) was Clayton Tune. Golden put up 38 receptions for 584 yards and 7 touchdowns with Tune at QB, so at least there’s some familiarity. As for Tune, his college career was actually pretty good, having thrown for 40 touchdowns his Senior season at Houston (Golden’s freshman year) in 2022 along with 4,074 yards and only 10 interceptions. He’s physically able to throw the football, which is not what we saw when he entered the Baltimore game last week when Malik Willis exited with a shoulder injury.

Matchup Matrix

The Packers can reverse their divisional record from a season ago by beating Minnesota on Sunday, which would put their division record at 5-1, with their lone loss coming in the Chicago-debacle. This is a completely different Vikings team than a year ago, where they were playing this week for the #1 overall seed in the NFC, but they’ve been eliminated for a month now and it’s all due to their QB situation. The Vikings decided to let QB Sam Darnold walk – eventually signing with Seattle where he’s again playing for the #1 overall seed in the NFC playoffs…mmm makes ya think. Minnesota decided to showcase their 1^st round pick from 2024, JJ McCarthy, who’s been absolutely terrible this season and it’s shown in every statistical category. The Vikings, with offensive mastermind Head Coach, Kevin O’Connell, dropped from 12^th in yards and 9^th in scoring in 2024 to 29^th and 26^th, respectively. Yet another great example for the Packers beat up defense to regain confidence and play with attitude by stifling the Purple team.

The Packers offense will have their challenges as well, facing a Brian Flores-led defense that ranks in the top-10 against the pass (3^rd), total defense (6^th), and scoring (T-9^th). Points were already hard to come by, given that a desperate Lions team (playing for their playoff lives on Christmas Day) scored only 10 points against the already eliminated Vikings, the Packers will have their 3^rd string QB starting and they showed nothing in the short amount of time he was on the field last week. This could easily be a low-scoring, tight ball game, which is what Jeff Hafley’s crew needs to have and find a way to come through – there should be ample occasions for them to generate turnovers and get right for a playoff push.

Prediction Time

Season: 9-7
Overall: 116-76