Sunday Six-Pack: Jordan Love Beats Bears, Leads Packers to Playoffs
For Dad. 1/7/67 - 1/24/22
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The stakes for Sunday's game between the NFL's two oldest rivals were simple. If the Green Bay Packers won, they were in the playoffs.
If the Chicago Bears won, the Packers' season was over.
Jordan Love was 15-of-18 passing for 158 yards and a touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks in the first half. The Packers moved the ball up and down the field against a Chicago defense that had been playing well over the last month.
Unfortunately for Green Bay, too many self-inflicted wounds had the Packers leave at least 6 and as many as 10 points on the board.
A game that could have been 17-6 was just 7-6 at halftime.
The second half resembled the first half in a lot of ways.
Love found Wicks for a touchdown, earning him the game ball.
The defense stuffed an anemic Chicago Bears offense, which was unable to muster 200 yards.
Love, Wicks and Jayden Reed get the high marks for the game.
Game Ball: Dontayvion Wicks
Like a Kwik Trip in Green Bay, Dontayvion Wicks is always open.
That's the last time we'll make that joke, but it's true.
Wicks was Green Bay's best receiver in the red zone on Sunday against the Bears.
His silky-smooth route running was a weapon and helped him score touchdowns of 10 and 12 yards.
He finished the day with six catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns, which were the only two of the game by either team.
Wicks is a big part of what the Packers are going to build moving forward.
Lame Ball: Anders Carlson
This seems harsh because it feels like punching down, but that's the situation we're in at this point.
Anders Carlson missed another kick when he pushed a 41-yard field goal after the team's opening possession.
That kick seemed to affect the way Matt LaFleur did things for the rest of the first half.
Love's out route to Wicks late in the first half was designed to get the team 5 more yards to make the field goal shorter.
That play in itself was a litany of mistakes that culminated in that big blunder.
With Carlson's shaky leg, they felt they had to get closer to get a field goal.
Carlson has to be better in these spots. The difference on Sunday was inconsequential. Starting next week, it could mean the end of the season.
Play of the Game: Love Finds Reed Down the Sideline
We're running out of superlatives for Jayden Reed.
He's the most productive rookie receiver that Green Bay has had. He's rewriting a record book that was occupied by Sterling Sharpe, who should be in the Hall of Fame.
After the pivot point on the game - more on that in a bit - Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur dialed up one more big play down the sideline.
Reed was wide-open and raced for 59 yards to put the Packers in scoring range.
With one more move, he might have had a chance to score, but there's no question that Reed is a big play waiting to happen.
Pivot Point: Love Fumble/Valentine PBU
The Green Bay offense was chugging up and down the field, and started to smell blood.
They led 14-6 late in the third quarter. A touchdown would have made the score 21-6 and put Chicago in the type of game it doesn't want to play.
On third-and-2, Love had a run-pass option called, but nobody ran the pass portion.
Love tucked and ran to his right with green grass in front of him.
Love had the first down but got loose with the ball and fumbled.
Chicago, which could have been thinking about the nearest beach, had new life.
Justin Fields broke the pocket in the red zone and had a chance to make the game even more interesting, but Carrington Valentine had other ideas.
Valentine got both arms on a Justin Fields pass intended for Cole Kmet. Instead of a potential game-tying touchdown, the Bears settled for another field goal.
The Packers added another field goal, and the Bears would not score again.
Redemption
The Packers were in the same position a season ago.
They would have made the playoffs if they beat an NFC North team at home.
They didn't. They lost to the Lions 20-16 and set up an offseason of uncertainty.
What a difference a year makes.
This year the stakes were the same. The Packers downplayed the similarities from a year ago, but it would be natural to think of this as a chance at redemption.
Redeem themselves, they did. The Packers' 17-9 win puts them in the postseason, and the arrow for them is pointing skyward regardless of what happens in the postseason.
Looking Ahead
The Packers will play at a time to be determined next week against the Dallas Cowboys.
Mike McCarthy and the NFC East Champion Cowboys earned the 2-seed with a win over the Washington Commanders.
The Cowboys have been a well-oiled machine at home, but the Packers have played well in Dallas, notably in the playoffs where they've won two games, including Super Bowl XLV
