Five Questions Packers Must Answer After Epic Wild-Card Loss to Bears

If the Green Bay Packers are going to take the next step after their season ended with a five-game losing streak, they must find answers for these five questions.

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst walks on the field prior to the playoff game against the Chicago Bears. | Mark Hoffman/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

CHICAGO – The Green Bay Packers’ season is over, and it’s safe to say it was disappointing.

A season that in September looked like it was destined to end in Super Bowl glory fizzled out with a four-game losing streak to end the regular season and the Packers sneaking into the playoffs as the seventh seed for the third year in a row.

The Packers have a talented roster with building blocks on both sides of the ball with Jordan Love and Micah Parsons being among the best at their positions. They have solid players in other places, but the team underachieved in 2025 and capped a five-game losing streak with a monumental collapse to the Chicago Bears in Sunday’s wild-card playoffs.

Green Bay’s 31-27 loss to the Bears opens up an entirely new can of worms for this team going into 2026.

For next season, here are the biggest questions the Packers have to answer.

Starts Up Top?

Who is making this decision? Is new team president Ed Policy going to want to start fresh with a new general manager and coach?

GM Brian Gutekunst has put together a talented roster with some star power thanks to the selection of Love and acquisition of Parsons. He has some solid players in other spots like Javon Bullard, Christian Watson and Tucker Kraft.

Gutekunst has helped the team make its way out of the Aaron Rodgers era and into the Jordan Love era without much of a drop-off. He deserves credit for the Packers never having to go through a full rebuild during his tenure, despite some of the situations that he’s been in.

The bigger question is likely about coach Matt LaFleur.

LaFleur is a good coach. He went 39-10 in his first three seasons with two appearances in the NFC Championship Game.

He revitalized Aaron Rodgers, helping him win two of his four MVP awards. He developed Jordan Love and helped develop Malik Willis. His offense is usually one of the best in football, and he’s regarded as a top play-caller.

The question remains if he’s a good coach, why have the results not been better during the last four years? He’s 37-30-1 in the last four seasons. The Packers have only won more than 10 games in the regular season once in that span.

Prior to the avalanche of injuries this season, the Packers had inexcusable losses to Cleveland and Carolina, with another debacle in Dallas that resulted in a tie.

Seven games above .500 is still good in the regular season. The postseason is a different story, and that has been where LaFleur and his team have failed to meet the moment.

The Packers have won one playoff game since 2020. They looked like they were in control of Saturday night’s game against the Bears, but collapsed in the second half, which looked to be their calling card by the time the 2025 season ended.

There are too many games the Packers have fumbled as a result of too many mistakes in the last four years under LaFleur.

The good does outweigh the bad. LaFleur may not have been coaching for his job going into Saturday night’s game, but that was reported before we all knew Saturday’s result.

Does a collapse like this change the calculus? That’s a question only those in charge can answer.

Micah’s Running-Mate?

When the Packers added Micah Parsons, the expectation was that the pass rush could become a truly dominant unit to control games in the postseason.

That did not come to fruition as the pass rush largely became centered on whether or not Parsons was able to get the quarterback to the ground.

Rashan Gary led the NFL in sacks at one point during the year and was sitting at 7.5 sacks when the calendar turned to November. Getting his first 10-sack season seemed like a formality. Gary would not get another sack for the rest of the season, which put his future in Green Bay into question.

Lukas Van Ness had a disappointing season largely as a byproduct of an injury that had him miss the better part of October and November.

Rookie fourth-round pick Barryn Sorrell had a few nice moments, including a big game in Minnesota to close out the regular season. Collin Oliver was drafted to give the Packers a speed rusher but was only able to play one game this year due to a hamstring injury.

Brenton Cox missed most of the season with a groin injury and his return to the team is questionable since he’s a restricted free agent.

On the interior, the pass rush largely came from Devonte Wyatt. Once he was lost for the season, the pass rush on the interior dried up.

Green Bay could use another interior rusher to either supplement Wyatt or replace him in the event he has to miss time.

Asking Parsons to be Superman is a difficult proposition when it’s still up in the air when will be at full strength.

Anyone to Re-Sign?

Coming into the season, it seemed like a slam dunk that Quay Walker was going to get a contract extension from the Packers, despite them not picking up his fifth-year option in the offseason.

To a man, the Packers have spoken highly of Walker, but a deal has yet to be struck. Now, Walker is going into the offseason and the Packers, up against the salary cap, may have to make some difficult decisions.

Of the pending free agents, Walker is the most likely one the Packers would look to re-sign.

Romeo Doubs has likely played his last game in Green Bay with the Packers extending Christian Watson and using first- and third-round picks on receivers last year.

Defensive end Kingsley Enagbare is an interesting case as he played well during the year and occasionally out-snapped starter Rashan Gary. He’s a good run defender with limited pass rush upside. With some of the young guys like Van Ness, Oliver and potentially Cox, it’s likely the Packers would like the compensatory pick that allowing Enagbare to walk would provide.

On the offensive line, Rasheed Walker is likely to play elsewhere in 2026 with Jordan Morgan set to take over as the full-time left tackle.

One situation on the offensive line that could be interesting is the status of Sean Rhyan. Rhyan played center at the end of the season and performed well considering he was playing a position that was foreign to him. Would the Packers want to put a new man at the pivot position in a season where the Packers are expected to compete for a Super Bowl?

Do they think enough of Jacob Monk based on practice and one regular season performance? That remains to be seen.

One player the Packers would likely love to re-sign is backup quarterback Malik Willis.

Any chance of that went out the window when he lit up the Baltimore Ravens in his final start of the season, scoring two touchdowns on the ground and throwing another. Willis will likely head elsewhere to be a team’s starting quarterback, which is something he would not get the opportunity to do in Green Bay.

Who Will Run the Defense?

Is defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley coming back? His name has been flying around the coaching carousel as a potential candidate for one of the eight openings across the league.

If he’s back, the answer to this question is easy. Hafley is back, and the Packers would be happy to have him for another year.

If he’s not back, then what?

The Packers likely have at least two internal candidates on their coaching staff. DeMarcus Covington, who served as the defensive line coach this season has experience as a coordinator, running the defense in New England in 2024 before coming to Green Bay after Jerod Mayo was fired.

If not him, passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley is another potential candidate to take the big job.

Raheem Morris, who was fired last week as coach of the Falcon, is a name that could surface as a potential candidate, as well. He and LaFleur have history, working together in Washington and Atlanta before LaFleur became the head coach in Green Bay.

If it’s not Hafley, the Packers will be on their fourth defensive coordinator in eight years. If LaFleur is running the offense, the defensive coordinator hire becomes even more critical.

How Do They Get Better?

The answer to this question is complicated, yet simple. Part of the formula for the Packer getting better is simply being healthy at the right time.

For example, in Green Bay’s postseason game against Chicago, it was missing Micah Parsons, Tucker Kraft, Devonte Wyatt and Zach Tom.

Those are four of their 10 most important players. It’s also true that the NFL has a 100 percent injury rate. Guys are going to get hurt and miss time. The hope is that enough key guys are healthy during the most important games of the year.

The team also has less free agency and draft capital than they’ve had in recent years. The likelihood of GM Brian Gutekunst being able to spend in free agency like he did in past years for Xavier McKinney or Josh Jacobs is unlikely.

Furthermore, he does not have a first-round pick, which means the draft picks they do have become even more paramount.

Some of the answers to this question are also young players simply stepping into roles or elevating their level of play. Jordan Morgan is likely going to be the left tackle, and he has to be better there than what Rasheed Walker was in 2025. Lukas Van Ness is going to step into a bigger role, he has to be better than he was if the Packers release Rashan Gary.

As far as additions go, the Packers are likely to look more for street free agents to not mess with the compensatory pick formula, where they should receive a hefty ransom in the form of compensatory draft picks to help supplement the top end of this roster. 

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