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The Green Bay Packers have something of a problem. They are going into hostile territory Saturday to play the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Packers have not won a game since they defeated the Bears by a 28-21 margin in Week 14.
The Packers have lost 4 straight games since then and they are going into the playoffs with multiple issues. However, the health of their quarterbacks is not one of those problems. Jordan Love was healthy enough to play in Week 18 but head coach Matt LaFleur was not about to risk his health in a game that had no impact on the team’s status as the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs.
The biggest issue is how their defense is likely to perform against Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. Micah Parsons is one of the three most impactful defensive players in the league but his season came to an end when he was injured in Week 15 in a loss to the Denver Broncos. It is up to defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to come up with a strategy that keeps Williams from working one of the 4th quarter miracles that have become his signature.
The Packers may have a 4-game losing streak, but they still have massive confidence when playing the Bears. The quarterback triumvirate of Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love have dominated the Bears since the 1990s. Going into Soldier Field and coming away with the victory is an ingrained habit for the Packers. They have won 15 of their last 17 games in Chicago and there is no lack of belief on the Green Bay sidelines.
While it will ultimately come down to how well Love performs, he is not a one-man offense. He gets plenty of help from Josh Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson in the running game. Jacobs ran for 929 yards and averaged 4.0 yards per carry during the regular season, and that’s a big drop-off from the 1,329 yards he ran for a year ago. However, he has pounded the ball into the end zone 13 times and that makes him a major threat.
Wilson is an outstanding backup running back. He ran for 496 yards and 3 TDs in support of Jacobs and Love.
The quarterback completed 291 of 439 passes for 3,381 yards with an outstanding 23-6 touchdown to interception ratio. Love runs well enough to get away from the pass rush and buy time for his receivers. Willis completed 30 of 35 passes — a shocking 85.7 completion percentage — for 422 yards with 3 TDs. He may be the best backup quarterback in the league.
Jacobs is a huge Love supporter. “He’s a big reason why I even decided to come (to Green Bay). I believed in him before I even seen him on a day-to-day basis,” Jacobs said, per The Athletic. “Seeing him on a day-to-day basis, just the way he works and the...
