After a roller-coaster regular season, the Green Bay Packers are heading into Week 18 in control of their postseason destiny. They will face a Chicago Bears squad that looks much different than the team the Packers played against in Week 1, especially defensively.
If Green Bay wins this game and stamps a ticket to the postseason, it will be a huge accomplishment for Jordan Love and the team, considering the adversity that they went through throughout the season. Also, remember that the Packers were in this situation a year ago when they hosted the Detroit Lions, but they lost. The significance of a win at Lambeau Field this Sunday shouldn’t be lost on us.
Aaron Rodgers experienced a lot of adversity in 2008, his first year as Green Bay’s starting quarterback. Rodgers threw for just over 4,000 yards, 28 touchdown passes, and 11 interceptions that season. Through 16 games this year, Love has thrown for almost 4,000 yards, 30 touchdown passes, and 11 interceptions.
Rodgers’ 2008 squad and this year’s team share some similarities. The 2008 Packers were young, with a good offense, a declining defense, and a special teams unit that could not get out of their own way. The Packers are the youngest team in the NFL this year, have a good offense, a defense under heavy turmoil, and a special teams unit that has committed the most penalties in the league.
The only difference between these two teams is that Love has won some games that have helped Green Bay’s playoff chances. In 2008, the Packers went 6-10 and lost games they had chances to win. The Packers will enter Week 18 at 8-8 because they climbed out of a 17-0 hole against the New Orleans Saints in Week 3 and won, 18-17.
They also won big games against the Lions on Thanksgiving (29-22), the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs (27-19) when Love outplayed Patrick Mahomes, and the Minnesota Vikings last week (33-10). The Packers are better equipped to win than they were during Rodgers’ first year as a starter.
But Chicago’s defense has improved significantly since they added defensive end Montez Sweat from the Washington Commanders. A pass rush makes or breaks a defense, and the Bears were 2-6 and giving up over 27 points per game before adding Sweat. Chicago had surrendered 41 points in a loss to the Chiefs, whose offense has declined this season, and 31 points in a loss to the Russell Wilson-led Denver Broncos.
Chicago has gone 5-3 since adding Sweat, and they are giving up only 18 points per game during this span. They only surrendered 20 points to the Cleveland Browns’ hot offense a few weeks ago, and they beat the Lions 28-13 in their rematch after losing the previous game against Detroit, 31-26. That’s an 18-point difference that their defense surrendered between those two games.
Justin Fields has continued to turn the ball over for the offense, but Chicago’s defense has bailed them out by preventing their opponents from capitalizing on them. Also, Green Bay’s defense played surprisingly well against Minnesota, given that the Packers had Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, and De’Vondre Campbell inactive for that game.
Green Bay’s defense shouldn’t be an issue in Week 18. They are playing Chicago’s anemic offense while coming off a great performance against the Vikings, and they get Jaire Alexander back from suspension.
Therefore, this matchup will come down to whether or not Love can keep his electric play going. In Week 1, he threw for 245 yards and three touchdowns, and the Packers won 38-20 in Chicago. But a lot has changed in 17 weeks, and the Bears will likely get some defensive stops early.
Winning this game would be a milestone for Love. He can sweep the Bears in his first season as the starter, something that Aaron Rodgers didn’t do. And after all of the losing during the first half of the season, Love can separate himself from Rodgers by making the postseason in his first year. Either way, there is a lot of potential and excitement in the frozen tundra for the NFL’s oldest rivalry in a game with a lot at stake for Love and the Packers.
