Five Absolutely Critical Questions for Packers Entering Playoffs

The Green Bay Packers are back in the playoffs. Can they make a run or will their losing streak continue on Saturday night against the Bears? Here are five crucial questions.

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur reacts to a play against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

MINNEAPOLIS – The Green Bay Packers are back in the playoffs, with a Saturday night wild-card game looming at the Chicago Bears.

For the third consecutive year under Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love, they have qualified for the seventh seed in the NFC’s postseason. In 2023, the Packers blew away the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round before bowing out in the divisional round against the San Francisco 49ers. Last year, they lost their opening game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

This year, the Packers will enter postseason play in the midst of a four-game losing streak. They have not won since Keisean Nixon’s game-saving interception against the Bears on Dec. 7.

If that streak were to swell to five games with another one-and-done postseason, there would be a lot of questions to answer at 1265 Lombardi Ave.

We tackle those questions and others in our top five questions heading into the playoffs.

1. What is Love?

When the Packers led the Broncos 23-14 in the third quarter at Denver on Dec. 14, Jordan Love looked like he was making a statement. Not only was he going to have his best season as the Packers’ quarterback, he was going to gun for NFL MVP honors.

He loaded up to throw deep to Christian Watson on a play that could have been on a highlight reel in any discussion regarding who would win MVP. Instead, the pass was intercepted by Denver cornerback Patrick Surtain Jr. and the game snowballed from there.

Love may win the award one day, but it will not be this year. He did, however, have an excellent season, finishing fifth in the NFL with a 101.2 passer rating. It’s his first 100-rating season.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) watches from the sideline during the first quarter against the Vikings. | Mark Hoffman-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Any question regarding whether Love is the long-term answer at quarterback should be firmly discarded, but there are some clouds surrounding Love as the Packers enter the playoffs.

First of all, he has not played since the first half of the team’s 22-16 loss at the Bears on Dec 20, when he exited with a concussion. He was inactive the following week against Baltimore and the Packers opted to rest him on Sunday at the Minnesota Vikings.

Secondly, Love has really struggled in his last two postseason games. Love was nearly perfect in his postseason debut, leading the charge in a 48-point outburst against the Cowboys. However, he turned over the ball five times in playoff losses to the 49ers and Eagles, including an ugly three-interception game last year in Philadelphia.

The Packers have tried to build an infrastructure around Love so that he does not have to play the role of Superman the way Aaron Rodgers had to so many times in his career. With the defense faltering down the stretch and the run game unable to crank out consistent production, Green Bay’s only path to a deep postseason run is if Love can carry them.

Can he?  

2. Swan Song?

One month ago, it felt like this conversation seemed ridiculous. Matt LaFleur had guided the Packers out of their midseason slump to a 9-3-1 record following a huge win over the Bears at Lambeau Field.

Since then, the wheels have fallen off. The meaningful games in Green Bay’s four-game losing streak featured three different types of losses.

The first came in Denver, where they were hit by an avalanche of injuries and could not recover.

The second was a collapse on special teams and defense at Chicago, which allowed the Bears to score the game-tying and game-winning touchdowns on their final possessions.

The following game was a beatdown of epic proportions given by Derrick Henry and a powerful Baltimore run game. The Ravens rushed for more than 300 yards, which has happened twice under LaFleur’s stewardship.

LaFleur has piled up wins during his tenure as coach, including a 39-10 record in his first three years with two NFC Championship Game appearances.

With Sunday’s loss to the Vikings, the Packers are 37-30-1 the last four years. They’ve won one playoff game since losing to the Buccaneers at Lambeau Field in the NFC Championship Game in January 2021.

If that losing streak swells to five games, and looks ugly in the process, would new team President Ed Policy determine the Packers have simply plateaued under LaFleur and a change is necessary?

Who knows, but that situation is worth monitoring if the Packers flame out on Saturday night.

3. Is the Defense Ready?

Green Bay’s defense looked like it was going to be the strong suit of the team after the first three games. Green Bay was 2-1, and their defense was largely dominant in those games. The defense was more good than bad for most of the season, thanks to the brilliance of defensive end Micah Parsons.

Everything changed after Parsons’ ACL was torn in their Dec. 14 loss to the Broncos.

Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai is brought down by Rashan Gary (52) and Carrington Valentine. | Mark Hoffman-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Green Bay’s defense was great until it wasn’t against the Bears at Soldier Field, with a late collapse causing the team to continue its late-season tailspin.

The most recent performance by the starting defense left a lot to be desired as Derrick Henry bullied the Packers.

They’re not going to be as good as they were when Parsons was on the field. Replacing him was an impossible task.

Can they get more from the defenders who are still in the lineup? There are enough players who were drafted highly or were priority signings as free agents. Green Bay’s defense needs to make enough plays to give its offense a chance to guide them to victory.

4. What About Special Teams?

Green Bay and special teams seem to go together like lamb and tuna.

Green Bay’s special teams have been responsible for two historic collapses in the last 11 years.

First, at Seattle, the Packers allowed a touchdown on a fake field goal and Brandon Bostick botched an onside kick that helped cost the Packers a trip to the Super Bowl.

Seven years later, Green Bay as the No. 1 seed lost to San Francisco at Lambeau when the punting unit allowed a blocked kick that resulted in a touchdown and its field-goal block team had only 10 players on the field for the season-ending kick.

Green Bay’s coaching staff has insisted that the special teams have not been a problem this season outside of a play here or there. The problem has been those plays have been catastrophic and taken points off the board, or added points for the opponent.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs (87) mishandles an onside kick against the Bears. | Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Whether it was blocked field goals, botched onside kicks or poor personnel usage, those catastrophes can be the difference in living to fight another day or having a season end prematurely.

Green Bay’s margin for error is razor thin with their defense struggling, so it cannot afford any game-changing mistakes on special teams.

One easy fix in terms of personnel, especially with rookie Savion Williams landing on injured reserve last week, would be at kickoff returner. Keisean Nixon has been the team’s best option all season. Now that the games matter more, he needs to be the one back there.

5. Who Is Healthy?

This seems like a bit of a copout, but injuries are a reality that every team faces in the NFL.

With the Packers choosing to rest their key players on Sunday, they are hoping they’ll be healthier for the wild-card round than they have been for most of December.

Jordan Love will be back under center after sitting out the last two-and-a-half games following a concussion at Chicago. Zach Tom, who returned to practice last week, could be back at right tackle after missing the last three-and-a-half games following a knee injury at Denver. Josh Jacobs got limited snaps against Chicago and Baltimore and the week off against Minnesota, so should have fresh legs.

Defensively, outside of Micah Parsons and Devonte Wyatt, the Packers have their starters ready to take the field. Those two, however, are clearly massive contributors, and the defense has not been the same since they were lost for the season.

“Time will tell” if resting players against Minnesota will pay off, coach Matt LaFleur said, “but I feel better about this certainly than I did a year ago after the game. It was a double whammy when we lose the game and you lose a key player [Christian Watson] for us to go into that run. I thought this was the best decision.”

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