Wild Card Recap: Bears 31; Packers 27

After sitting on it for a few days, it’s a bit easier to digest, or at least digest at all. After a perfect start to the game the finish was inevitable. Green Bay jumped out to a 21-3 lead after their first 3 possessions of the game, and were driving to add additional points on the board before halftime. Kicker, Brandon McManus, missed a 55-yarder (would’ve been nice, and did make the first attempt before Chicago called a timeout to “ice” him), that ultimately played a huge part in the game. The Packers could’ve had a 24-3 lead coming out of half, with all of the momentum and getting the ball to start the 3^rd quarter. From that point on, the offensive line, the one area which I said would eventually cost this team their season, reared its ugly head. After giving Jordan Love ample time to throw and the Green Bay ground game running lanes to be efficient, nothing worked. Love was pressured on essentially every drop back in the 2^nd half and the timing and rhythm was in disarray for the remainder of the game.

Just like 2014 NFC title game in Seattle, there were a bevy of things that had to go wrong in order for Green Bay to lose this game. Before we go blaming Matt LaFleur, Jordan Love, or the defense, keep in mind NONE of those people were here when that occurred. I’m not deflecting blame, or placing it elsewhere, just pointing out that there was a different President, General Manager, Head Coach, and Quarterback in that game vs. this game. Special Teams, mainly McManus, cost Green Bay 7 points, directly. There’s no side-stepping that. However, the major issue is the offense couldn’t do anything for all but 2 drives in the 2^nd half. The o-line got used and abused and it disrupted the entire operation, as it usually does. The defense was then on the field a ton, without getting much break in between, against an inaccurate, but dangerous passer.  Couple that with lesser and lesser pass rush and a secondary that consists of cornerbacks that can’t hold up in long coverage, it spells disaster. This was as much a team loss that we’ve had since that 2014 NFC Championship Game, and it was deserved. Even in the “gotta have it” moments, on the last drive, Love was on his game, but it didn’t matter. He hit rookie Matthew Golden on an out route on 4^th & 7 to gain a first down AND get out of bounds. Then hit Jayden Reed, perfectly, in stride for a big gain to Chicago’s 18-yard line, that bounced off his hands. Had he caught it, he may actually score, but at least gets inside the 20, out of bounds, and the Packers are set up with a 1^st & 10 from the 15 with 0:40 left and a timeout. If you’re Chicago, you can see the ending already. Then a few plays later there’s maybe Jordan Love’s best throw of his career, hitting a back foot toss, over the middle, above the linebackers and below the safeties to a streaking Christian Watson that hits him in stride in his hands at the Chi 3-yard line. If he catches it, he gets knocked into the end zone and the Packers win the game. In years past, it’s been Rodgers keying in on 1 WR or not seeing wide open guys (kind of like Brett too in the 2007 NFC Championship Game) and either that WR letting the team down or the QB missing the throw or read. In this situation, it wasn’t just 1 guy, it was multiple and it kept happening throughout the 2^nd half. Also, Love missed some guys earlier in the 2^nd half which stalled drives. He also didn’t take off and run on a 3^rd & 2 when he easily would’ve gained the 1^st down, but couple that with everyone else’s errors, and you get a game that should’ve been over after Golden’s first career TD, turned into what it was, an epic disaster.

Season Review: Another Epic Failure; Waste of a Season

This team, all season, has found ways to lose games with substantial leads, and I don’t think there’s a clear-cut answer as to why…or at least not a singular “who’s to blame?” Against Chicago alone this season, the Packers have held leads of 14-3, 16-6, and 21-3, finding a way to lose 2 of those games, and all of them either eventually being tied or in the case of last Saturday, the lead evaporating. There are other games throughout this season that resembled this, not just the Bear games. Week 3 in Cleveland, the Packers were up 10-0. The following week in Dallas, they were up 13-0 with an ensuing extra point to make it 14-0, but was blocked and a 3-point swing in an eventual tie game. The Packers were up 23-14 in Denver with a kill shot play on the way and it all went south from there. While injuries are an excuse, the Packers lost their closer, Micah Parsons. Once he went down in that Denver game, the defense evolved into a bottom ½ defense in the NFL. Their scheme opening games has been great, just evidenced by the Chicago games without Micah, but when in crunch time, they didn’t have that difference-maker or play-maker to make the 1 play to close the game out. There’s a reason Green Bay finished 0-5 in games without Micah (lost him during the 3^rd quarter of the Denver game and couldn’t close it out). Now, had he been healthy does Green Bay win all of their remaining games? Not likely vs. Baltimore, but even then, had they won in Denver, then Chicago the following week, they have a lot to play for in Minnesota and likely get the 2-seed and finish the regular season 12-4-1. That would’ve set up a tough playoff matchup against Los Angeles and the OL issues still would’ve remained…likely resulting in a home playoff loss, but the overall sentiment of the team is a bit different, maybe.

To state it again, prior to the Micah Parsons trade, the goal of this team was to win the Super Bowl, which was only amplified, and believed by more national pundits, once Green Bay acquired him. While injuries are real and a reasonable excuse, it doesn’t exclude these collapses because those “reserves” played well enough to build you those leads – it’s more complicated than 1 phrase, but it’s not: Mental Toughness. This team hasn’t had mental toughness for years, maybe since the 2010 season, and we can’t pinpoint as to why. While it’s nice to say the words, “Our expectations are Super Bowl titles,” the actions dictate otherwise. Something to the effect of “Let’s get to the playoffs and see what happens.” Which is a fan observation, “Get in and get hot.” Yes, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to build the strongest team in the league, and have that be the case annually, it should still be the standard and to build a team that could/should be the favorite in a 3-4 year window, but the leadership must match that sentiment, or exceed it for it to be actuality.

Moving Forward – Now What?

It’ll be on the 3 men pictured above to find the right solution. First, with team President, Ed Policy. It’s believed he’ll remove the siloed structure of the Head Coach and General Manager reporting directly to the President and have a more traditional org chart of the Head Coach reporting to the General Manager, and then the GM reporting to the President…keep the football people streamlined reporting into the business persons. With 1 year left on Matt LaFleur’s contract, and Ed Policy voicing his opinion about “not having a lame-duck” situation, meaning Green Bay will either extend or fire LaFleur. There are epic pros and cons to each scenario, and no right (or wrong) decision. Having covered the collapses of decades past, LaFleur is the head man and ultimately responsible for the product on the field. His postseason record with Love at the helm is 1-3, and while jumping ahead of expectations in year 1, it’s been lack-luster (regardless of reasoning) since. Wild Card exits are Wild Card exits. Not having won the division since the 2021 season and seeing everyone else in the division win it since is a problem, especially given that this team’s talent doesn’t seem to be the issue. Notwithstanding of the direction Green Bay decides to go, major changes MUST occur.

Assuming Defensive Coordinator, Jeff Hafley, leaves for a Head Coaching job, hiring another DC must be a home run. Hafley has been good, but ultimately very similar to Joe Barry and Mike Pettine in their final years (his predecessors), and without Micah, it was VERY similar.

This leads us to two questions, even if Green Bay decide on Matt LaFleur;

1. What WILL the Packers do?
2. What SHOULD the Packers do?

While opinion-based questions, no one will know what’s right or wrong until the following season. There’s a statement that’s been tossed around of “How can you believe in a coach after a loss like that?” Former Packers full back, and fan favorite, John Kuhn, had a solid response… “Players don’t lose faith in a Head Coach after a game like that. They lose faith in other players.” That makes a ton of sense, but it’s the same result, whether it’s the player or coaches, there’s failure. Maybe it’s the General Manager assembling the wrong group of individuals with the proper make-up to close these games out. Maybe it’s the overall culture of the organization, from the President on down… Hell, look at the Bears, from ownership to their Head Coach, down to the players, they all “hate” Green Bay. We don’t have that mindset at 1265 Lombardi Ave., we’re “above that.” While that’s all well and good, the Bears won and it seemed like their will to win that game was far higher than Green Bay’s. Going back to what I covered earlier, saying your goal is to win Super Bowls is great and all, but the actions dictate otherwise.

Prediction?

Not that anyone cares my opinion on what the Packers do, I think they’ll keep LaFleur, replace their offensive coordinator, and replace their special teams coordinator. As for personnel decisions, there are quite a few options across the team that they could go, but I trust Russ Ball and Brian Gutekunst to make that all work out as the talent on the field hasn’t been the driving issue for years now. If Hafley leaves, of course they’ll hire another defensive coordinator, and they must nail ALL of these new hires if there’s going to be actual change.

Season Prediction Accuracy: 10-8
Overall Prediction Accuracy: 117-77