With No. 1 Seed at Stake, There’s No Overstating Sunday’s Importance
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aside from must-win Week 17 games against Chicago in 2010 and at Chicago in 2013, Sunday’s game at the Chicago Bears might be the biggest regular-season game in Aaron Rodgers’ long and lofty career as the Green Bay Packers’ star quarterback.
The No. 1 seed and first-round bye that would come with a victory at Soldier Field are major prizes. Over the past seven postseasons, no team without a first-round bye has advanced to the Super Bowl. Since 1990, when the NFL went to a 12-team playoff format, 48 of the 60 Super Bowl participants got what essentially was a first-round victory from the comfort of their couches.
With the playoffs expanded to 14 teams this year and only the No. 1 team getting that coveted bye, there is a lot on the line.
While the Packers have been fixtures in the playoffs for most of Rodgers’ tenure at quarterback, they’ve only had the No. 1 seed once. That was in 2011, when they went 15-1 but sputtered a bit down the stretch and were sent reeling by the death of offensive coordinator Joe Philbin’s son before a playoff loss to the Giants.
With Rodgers, the Packers have gotten to four conference championship games. In 2010, that 10-3 victory over the Bears got them in the playoffs as the No. 6 seed, and they took the long road to victory in the Super Bowl. In 2014 as the No. 2 seed, they frittered away a big lead in a devastating loss at Seattle. The 2016 team, which got in as the No. 4 seed, was gutted by injuries and blown out at Atlanta. The 2019 team got in as the No. 2 seed but was overmatched and crushed at San Francisco.
The 2020 Packers, despite this week’s loss of premier left tackle David Bakhtiari, feel like a more legitimate challenger than the 2016 and 2019 teams, Rodgers agreed. The offense is superb, ranking No. 1 in the NFL in scoring. The defense is not superb but has held five of its last eight opponents to 20 points or less.
“And there’s been some pretty ones this year, where we’ve really been efficient and put up the numbers that we expect to put up and been really efficient at third down and red zone and playing the kind of ball we want to play. Now, it doesn’t happen every single week, and there’s been lulls at certain times throughout the season, but last week was a good marker for us, a good benchmark. A lot of you guys were talking about a measuring-stick game, so it was good to go out and have a dominating performance like we did against a really good football team who’s going to be in the playoffs. This is another important game for us.”
It’s a hugely important game. There is little separation between the top teams in the NFC. Los Angeles (third), Washington (fifth), Tampa Bay (seventh), New Orleans (eighth) and Chicago (ninth) are in the top 10 in points allowed. Seattle has soared to No. 12 with five consecutive games of 17 or fewer points allowed.
In other words, Green Bay might have the worst defense in the seven-team playoff field. Staying home could be the equalizer.
While there might not be fans at Lambeau Field, the January weather could be a huge advantage against the likes of Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Rams quarterback Jared Goff. Including last year’s playoff game, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is 0-4 at Lambeau Field with a total of 59 points scored in those games. While Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is used to the cold, how would his teammates – especially his fast-flowing linebackers – adapt?
That cold-field advantage showed up in a romp of Tennessee in which the Packers threw and ran the ball at peak efficiency.
“What feels different is our efficiency offensively,” Rodgers said. “It’s fun in the situational football that I talk about so much, that we talk about especially on these Wednesdays and after games, to be second in the league on third down and first in red zone. I mean, that’s pretty special right there. That means you’re playing really good football. And that’s one of the main markers that we talk about that allows us to have such great time of possession, allows us to continue drives, allows us to be efficient and to put up the yardage that we’ve been putting up in the pass game and in the run game. So, that’s been really special.”
Countdown to Kickoff
Five Days: Five Keys to the Game
Four Days: Four Views from Inside Bears
Three Days: Three Reasons to Worry
Final Countdown: Davante Adams' Hands
How Will Packers Adapt Without Bakhtiari?
Can Damon Harrison Make Howard Green-Style Impact?
Rodgers-LaFleur Partnership Flourishes
Adams’ Legendary Season Continues with Woodson-Like Dominance
