Somehow, it always felt like this was inevitable.
When the Philadelphia Eagles failed on a late 4th down on Sunday afternoon, that locked in the NFC Wild Card playoff matchups and guaranteed the Green Bay
Packers a third chance to play the Chicago Bears this season. After the two teams split a pair of intense, thrilling matchups just a few weeks ago, it always seemed that they were destined to meet again in the postseason, and here we are.
The rubber match between these two teams will come on Saturday night of the Wild Card round, which might be a slight advantage for the Packers. Green Bay rested almost all of their key players in the regular season finale against the Minnesota Vikings — a game about which the less is said the better — while the Bears played everyone in a loss to the Lions a few hours later. Now facing a short week, that additional rest could be extra important for Green Bay.
Of course, the team did actually play a game on Sunday, losing to the Vikings in a slopfest. There were a few useful takeaways, however, as a handful of young Packers got some significant game action and showed out well, giving some signs of encouragement for their future roles. But now it’s all about Chicago and perhaps the best matchup of Wild Card Weekend on Saturday.
Resting players could help Packers on two fronts heading into playoffs | Packersnews.com ($)
Obviously, the health aspect is key here, but the Packers also spent much of their energy in practice allowing their starters to prepare for their potential playoff opponents.
Game notes: Trevon Diggs feels at home in Packers’ secondary | Packers.com
Diggs looked solid in coverage on Sunday, even against the likes of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. It was a nice debut, and don’t be surprised if he plays meaningful snaps on Saturday night.
8 standouts from Packers’ loss to Vikings in regular season finale | Packers Wire
A few of the team’s young pass-rushers stood out, particularly rookie Barryn Sorrell.
Three Keys for Packers Beating Bears in Wildcard Game | SI.com
Now all the attention moves to Chicago. None of these keys are earth-shattering revelations, but perhaps the biggest one is to find a way to get an early lead and to keep the foot on the gas.LI
LISTEN: The Repack, Week 18 – Packers-Vikings Didn’t Actually Happen
If nobody important plays in a game that doesn’t matter, did that game actually even happen at all?
Steelers win AFC North title, will host Texans in wild card on Monday | NFL.com
Aaron Rodgers’ last playoff game won’t have come in a Packers uniform after all.
Seahawks enter playoffs as Super Bowl favorites, Rams right behind | ESPN
The Packers are currently listed with 22:1 odds, just a shade better than the 24:1 they were at coming into the regular season.
