CHICAGO – The big picture features the NFL’s oldest rivals, but the smaller one focuses on individual players.
As the Packers and Bears square off in an NFC Wild Card playoff Saturday night at Soldier Field, the history of the rivalry gets a whole new chapter while a handful of Green Bay players will attempt to write their own redemption stories of sorts.
They’re players who most certainly will have an outsized influence on the outcome, and whether the Packers’ season continues or not. Here’s a brief look at them and their new, potentially redeeming and loudly knocking, opportunity:
QB Jordan Love – The Packers quarterback made it look easy in his first playoff game two years ago in Dallas, but the one that followed and his return to the postseason last year were anything but.
In the losses at San Francisco in the 2023 divisional round and at Philadelphia in the 2024 wild-card game, Love completed barely 60% of his passes and thrown five interceptions. While the 157.2 passer rating from Dallas is obviously an unrealistic standard, re-approaching that level of performance is required for the Packers to be taken seriously as contenders, and Love knows it.
An ill-advised throw on first down in the two-minute drill that was picked off ended the Niners game, and against the Eagles, two of the three INTs thwarted promising drives.
“Those are the plays that are going to haunt you all offseason if you go in there, make mistakes, have turnovers, and things that’ll end up losing you the game,” Love said this week about playoff football. “So you gotta find ways to go out there and play your best ball.
“Execute and not have any plays that are like, ‘Man, I wish I could have got that back.’ Ain’t no wish you could have got it back. You gotta go find ways to make them.”
His coaches are confident he will.
“He’s got a good look in his eye,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “He’s ready to go.”
WR Christian Watson – The fourth-year receiver missed the playoffs last year when he tore his ACL in the regular-season finale against the Bears, which also kept him sidelined until late October.
He was at home watching the playoff game in Philly last January, unable to travel with the team.
“To see your team go out and that’s the end of the season there, it’s hard watching that,” Watson said.
He’s expressed nothing but gratitude for his return to the field this season, and he’s made it count, catching 35 passes for 611 yards and six TDs in 10 games.
He had just two catches for 20 yards in the two playoff games in ’23, and he’s not taking this return to the postseason lightly.
“No doubt,” he said about being hungrier now. “I think honestly every opportunity I’ve gotten this year up to this point has meant a little bit more to me, for sure. Just the opportunity to be out there and make an impact. Now that we’re in the thick of it for sure, it definitely means a lot to me.”
