The Green Bay Packers will finish their regular season in Ford Field against the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon. The game is pretty meaningless in terms of who wins and who loses. The Packers have wrapped up the 1-seed in the NFC while the Lions have only two victories. Still, there will be plenty to keep tabs on.
Here are two Packers dreams and one Lions nightmare for Sunday.
Bakhtiari and Myers return
Flexibility is coming back to the Green Bay offensive line! Head coach Matt LaFleur said that he anticipates rookie center Josh Myers to play against the Lions on Friday. Myers has been out since Oct. 17. There was plenty of doubt as to whether or not he would return at all this year. Now Myers is in line to be back just in time for the finale and then the big stage in the postseason. He may not be the only one returning.
David Bakhtiari hasn’t played since last season after tearing his ACL in December 2020. After starting the week with a limited practice, the All-Pro left tackle finished the week as a full practice participant. He will be more of a game-time decision for the Packers on Sunday.
Getting Myers and potentially Bakhtiari back now would be massive for Green Bay. Both could use the live game reps to get back into the swing of things before the playoffs arrive. The Packers’ offensive line has more than held up with a makeshift group that has started four backups for multiple weeks now. Getting two starters back — one being the All-Pro Bakhtiari — can’t be understated. If there’s a chance for Bakhtiari to shake off some rust against Detroit, LaFleur should put him out on the field.
Green Bay is not only playing some of their best ball of the season at the right time, but they’re also getting healthy, which is dangerous for anyone who will meet them in the playoffs.
Jordan Love replaces Rodgers early and shines
Aaron Rodgers is in line to start and play an unknown amount of time against the Lions. Green Bay has every reason to rest Rodgers, outside of not wanting him to have so much time off between games. The soon-to-be back-to-back MVP made clear his intentions to play in Detroit. For how long is anyone’s guess.
The dream scenario is that Rodgers plays a few series, finds a rhythm, and gets the hell out of the game without so much a scratch on him. Then comes Jordan Love.
All Green Bay has to go off of so far with Love is one start against the Kansas City Chiefs. It was less than stellar, but Love should get plenty of opportunities against a leaky Lions defense.
In this dream scenario, Love balls out against the Packers, giving them a better idea of what they have going into the offseason. Even if Rodgers does return, this will raise his trade value.
All eyes will be on Rodgers staying healthy while he’s on the field and then watching to see if Love can be a starting-caliber quarterback. While it won’t be fair to judge Love off this performance alone, it will give the Packers a better sense of his potential.
Detroit brings a ton of pressure and an injury occurs
The lone nightmare scenario for the Packers on Sunday is all about injuries. With the starters playing instead of resting, it will be a disaster if a Green Bay player suffers a significant injury. If Detroit brings pressure early and often on defense, many Packers fans will be holding their collective breath.
If the Lions win, the Packers and the fans won’t care. It’s all about getting out of this game as healthy as possible. It’s a great spot to be in, but there’s still plenty of angst to go around.
In Dan Campbell’s first year as head coach, the Lions have taken an aggressive approach in their play calling when it comes to big swing plays on fourth downs. The defense has tried to follow suit, but there’s limited talent to go around on a defense looking for parts. Still, it’s expected that they will dial up some looks early on to make Rodgers and the offense uncomfortable and try to prevent them from finding a rhythm.
It will be a success as long as the Packers escape Detroit without any injuries.
