Opinion: A stunning collapse, but not the end for the Packers

This past Saturday, the Green Bay Packers imploded in the second half and were defeated by the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round of the NFL Playoffs.

Green Bay was up 21-3 heading into halftime and looked to be in serious control, similar to their wild-card win in 2023 over the Dallas Cowboys.

What wasn’t similar to that 2023 win was what happened in the second half.

The Packers came out of the locker room and looked like a completely different team, for all the wrong reasons.

In their first four drives to start the second half, the Packers went punt, punt, punt, and yes, you guessed it, punt, totaling just 29 total yards in those four drives.

The Bears took advantage, hitting two field goals and scoring a touchdown to bring them within one score in the fourth quarter.

The Packers answered the Bears' touchdown with their only touchdown of the second half which gave them a 27-16 lead with just under seven minutes to play.

Chicago then scored two touchdowns in under four minutes, keeping the Packers off the scoreboard to steal a win, 31-27.

A disaster for Green Bay, there’s no other way to slice it. The Packers had this game in their hands, and they let it go.

Special teams killed Green Bay in this one, more specifically, Brandon McManus.

The longtime veteran missed two field goals and an extra point, leaving seven total points on the board, which would’ve given Green Bay the win. It’s hard to put all the blame on McManus, however.

The Packers' offensive line imploded, allowing Jordan Love to be pressured eight different times throughout Saturday’s contest.

The defense didn’t hold up in the second half either, allowing the Bears to score three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, with each drive individually taking under three minutes.

Love, however, was instrumental in the loss, throwing for 323 yards and four touchdowns.

His counterpart, Caleb Williams, was solid as well, throwing for 361 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing two interceptions.

So what’s next for Green Bay?

Well, Matt LaFleur’s future is, in my opinion, wrongly in jeopardy. He took an injured team to the playoffs and lost to the two-seed.

No Micah Parsons, no Tucker Kraft, no Zach Tom, and no Devonte Wyatt. Four superstars.

Sure, LaFleur’s playcalling in the second half was concerning, calling many plays out of the shotgun formation when Love had found success under center for all of the first half, but if teams fired their head coach for one half of bad playcalling, all 32 NFL teams would rotate coaches every year.

It’s not fair to criticize LaFleur after seeing how much he’s done for this Packer team.

The Packers head into the off-season without a first-round pick as they gave that up to the Dallas Cowboys when they traded for Parsons back in August.

They also head into the off-season with coordinator decisions to be made; not all decisions will be up to them.

Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will draw interest from many teams needing a head coach, Micah Parsons took to Instagram this week, declaring that “he ain’t going nowhere”.

Retaining Hafley is of the utmost importance for Green Bay. Another important decision to be made is the future of Romeo Doubs.

Doubs is a free agent but Green Bay will likely move on with the breakout of first round pick Matthew Golden seemingly looming.

Even though many Packer fans are panicking after this loss, there is no real reason to worry as once they get their stars back, they will once again, find success.

Sawyer Bogaty is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email him at sgb5468@psu.edu.