Packers Show Resiliency in Surviving Second-Half Lull

Unlike the loss at Indianapolis, the Packers were able to regroup and finish the job on Sunday at Chicago.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ grasp on the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs was slipping through their hands like a deep pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

With a 21-13 lead, the Packers could have put a stranglehold on Sunday’s game at the Chicago Bears had Valdes-Scantling caught what should have been a 55-yard touchdown pass to start the third quarter. Instead, the dropped pass gave Chicago new life.

After the punt, Chicago drove 87 yards in 11 plays but managed only a field goal to pull within 21-16. Green Bay punted again, and Chicago took off on another methodical drive. Fifteen plays and 49 yards later, defensive back Chandon Sullivan made one of the plays of the game by breaking up a fourth-and-1 pass to Allen Robinson to keep it a five-point game.

While the Packers still led 21-16 with 11:22 remaining, the game had a bit of an Indy feeling to it.

Green Bay’s last loss came at Indianapolis in Week 11. In that game, the Packers led 28-14 at halftime, lost momentum and couldn’t regain it. The Colts ran 35 plays to the Packers’ six in the first 21 minutes of the second half to turn the two-touchdown deficit into a three-point lead.

Here was the tale of the tape when Green Bay took possession at its 24 following Sullivan’s breakup.

Plays after the drop and ensuing punt: Chicago, 26; Green Bay, 3.

Plays for the game: Chicago, 61; Green Bay, 29.

Time of possession: Chicago, 29:59; Green Bay, 16:39.

“Obviously, everybody’s going to point to the drop by Marquez that was going to be a touchdown, but we just didn’t have a whole lot of possessions,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “Does it test your patience? No doubt about it. But just like we preach to our players, you can’t panic. You’ve got to trust your plan and all the prep you put in. But it’s really a credit to those guys to be able to go out there and execute when it gets a little tight, and that’s exactly what our guys did at the end of the game in the fourth quarter in order to give us a little bit of cushion there.”

Against Indianapolis, the Packers never turned the tide until their do-or-die final drive that resulted in a field goal that forced the game to overtime. Against Chicago, the Packers got back to what works best. They threw in-rhythm passes to Davante Adams, resulting in three catches for 22 yards and a pair of first downs. They got the ball to running back Aaron Jones five times (three rushes and two receptions) for 36 yards and the critical touchdown that made it 28-16 with 3:47 remaining.

Ultimately, the Packers won 35-16. At the end of the day, it was another performance of 30-plus points from a team that scored the 20th-most points in NFL history. And it was another strong showing from the bend-but-don’t-break defense.

More than that, it was the Packers showing the type of toughness that will be required in the playoffs against an NFC field that features four teams that finished in the top eight in points allowed.

“It says a lot about our team, man. Just shows the resiliency that we have,” Adams said. “It’s not easy. That’s a good team. It doesn’t matter how many games they lost in a row or whatever it was when they hit a tough spot in the season. But you look around, they got really good personnel. They’ve got a quarterback who doesn’t get a whole lot of respect but he can create and he can do a lot of different things that make it tough to go against. My hat’s off to our defense for being able to step up in some of those situations. In their mind, they’re thinking, ‘If we lose, we’re out.’ For them to have that mind-set and still be able to dominate says a lot about this team.”