Dawgs By Nature
Saturday’s Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs continues tonight at 8:15 PM ET as the Green Bay Packers take on the Chicago Bears in an NFC North battle. The game will air on Amazon Prime, with the action being called by Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit.
This was the first time since the 2018 season that the Bears finished with an above .500 record, and they were really rocking for a good stretch of the season. After an 0-2 start, they won 9 of their next 10 games to have a 9-3 record. They, things looked to hit a possible hurdle in Week 14, when they lost their first match-up to the Packers 28-21 in a game that came down to the final play.
Chicago took care of business against Cleveland the following week, and then took on the Packers for a re-match in Week 16, which they won 22-16 in overtime. That was a crazy game in itself because Jordan Love got hurt, but the Packers were still leading 16-6 heading into the two-minute warning. The Bears got a field goal, an onside kick, and a touchdown, though, and then won it in overtime. Now, they get a home playoff game.
The Packers have had a weird season in several manners. Take, for instance, when they were up 10-0 on the Browns back in Week 3, and then allowed the Browns to get a field goal, touchdown, and game-winning field goal all in the final four minutes of regulation. The following week, they were involved in a 40-40 tie against the Cowboys. Their offense got hot, then sputtered in two losses to the Panthers and Eagles, before re-igniting including in three straight divisional games. After a hard loss to the Broncos, the Packers lost Love in that Week 16 game, lost the game, and then lost their final two games too (although they did not care about the Week 18 game). Finishing the season with four straight losses may seem weird, but it served as a bit of a reboot.
Love will be back this week, and with how the first two games went, how else can you predict this game be anything other than going down-to-the-wire? I’ve been impressed with the big time throws that Caleb Williams has made, and Green Bay has lost some of their defensive punch with Micah Parsons on IR. However, I feel like Love started to really catch fire before his injury, and I think he’s ready to deliver a clutch performance to start the postseason. Packers 28, Bears 24.
What do you think, Browns fans? Use this as your open thread to discuss the game.
