Packers’ Horrific Playoff Loss to Bears Was Bad; This Is Worse

CHICAGO – There’s no way around it. The Green Bay Packers are in trouble.

They finished their season 9-8-1, losing each of their last five games, and collapsed in embarrassing fashion during Saturday’s NFC wild-card loss at the Chicago Bears.

Aaron Rodgers once screamed into the crowd at Soldier Field that he, and the Packers, owned the Bears.

He was right. Rodgers was 22-5 against the Bears. Conventional wisdom said the guard was going to change when Jordan Love took over at quarterback. Instead, during Love’s first year as the starter, he won both games against Chicago to bookend a 9-8 season that resulted in a playoff appearance.

Chicago, by virtue of a trade with the Panthers, earned the top pick of the 2024 draft and selected USC quarterback Caleb Williams.

Williams was talented but had some things to clean up coming out of college, and he struggled as a rookie.

In the first meeting of his rookie year, the Packers continued their dominance with a 20-19 win, thanks to a blocked field goal by Karl Brooks. During the final game of the regular season, though, Williams led a game-winning drive, which forced the Packers to go to Philadelphia for the first round of the playoffs.

Chicago’s 24-22 win in the final game of the 2024 season easily could have been brushed off as a one-off since the game did not mean much from the Packers’ perspective.

Those talking points gained traction this season after Green Bay’s 28-21 win against the Bears on Dec. 7 put the Packers in control of the NFC North.

What followed was a four-game losing streak to end the regular season, highlighted by a fourth-quarter collapse against the Bears on Dec. 20. Chicago won the NFC North because of its 22-16 victory over the Packers.

When the Packers were locked into the seventh seed, they had a chance at redemption and, more importantly, to restore order in a rivalry in which the teams had split the last four meetings.

In their playoff showdown on Saturday night, it looked like the Packers were destined to win in blowout fashion with a 21-3 lead at halftime.

Instead, Green Bay paid tribute to its previous collapse, blowing that lead with a 25-point fourth quarter for the Bears.

While Love and the offense sputtered, Williams was sensational in the fourth quarter. He threw two touchdown passes and made plays that few in the NFL can make.

Chicago has a quarterback now with a lot of talent. They’ve had players like that in the past, but none that have approached the level of Williams.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) leaves the field following a game against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

With Saturday’s win, Williams and the Bears have won three of their last four games against the Packers.

In one night, Ben Johnson and Williams equaled the number of playoff wins that LaFleur and Love have in three years together.

Chicago will host a team next week in the divisional round. With the way it is able to create late-game magic, there is a good chance it could wind up playing for the NFC Championship in two weeks.

The Packers?

They’re headed to the offseason after winning nine games.

They do not have a first-round pick. They do not have a ton of money to play with in free agency.

Sure, they will get some key players back from injuries. Micah Parsons will return at some point next season. Tucker Kraft might be ready to start the year, as well.

However, the Packers were able to lose games in disappointing fashion when Kraft and Parsons were healthy.

The reality of the NFL is that it is, as LaFleur often says, a results-based business.

Green Bay’s results were not good enough this season. After starting 2-0, it won seven of its final 16 games. It finished the season on a five-game losing streak.

The Packers blew two games against their heated rival, who now looks like the model of consistency in the division with Johnson as a Coach of the Year candidate and the talent of Williams.

The Packers have LaFleur under contract for one more season, and he’ll reportedly talk to the team about a contract extension.

While Ian Rapoport reported LaFleur was not coaching for his job on Saturday night against Chicago, would losing a game in embarrassing fashion like this be the straw that breaks the camel’s back?

The Packers are 37-30-1 the last four years during the regular season.

They’re 1-3 in the playoffs.

They’ve won more than nine games in the regular season just once in the last four years.

They’ve seen each team in the NFC North win the division since they last did so in 2021.

The most recent division winner was the Bears, who the Packers once owned.

No longer, as Green Bay lost three out of the last four in the series.

Is that good enough in a city named Titletown?

What the Packers need to look at now is that they lost the division and lost their season at the hands of the same team, in the same fashion.

Collapsing at Soldier Field.

For now, the results speak for themselves. For the first time since 2018, the Packers are chasing the Bears.

“We’re here, and we’re going to be here for a while is my plan,” Williams said after Saturday’s game.

Johnson was much more pointed with his comments after Saturday’s game.

“There was probably a little bit more noise coming out of their building up north at the start of the week,” Johnson said. “Which we heard loud and clear. Players and coaches alike, so this one meant something to us.”

Johnson is a good play-designer who coaches with an edge. He takes things personally.

The Packers need to decide if they’re going to punch back or If Saturday’s game was a changing of the guard, establishing a new bully in the NFL’s oldest rivalry.

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