the Packers Won’t Make the Playoffs and Lose to the Bears the Green Bay Packers secure a postseason berth in Week 18 of the NFL.
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers were dead and buried in 2022 with their 4-8 record. Same in 2023 after starts of 2-5 and 3-6, followed by embarrassing back-to-back losses against the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2022, the Packers won four in a row to host a win-and-in Week 18 showdown against the rapidly improving Detroit Lions.
They lost. In 2023, the Packers have won two in a row to host a win-and-in Week 18 game against the Chicago Bears, who have won four of their last five. Will history repeat itself? Here are three reasons why the Bears could crash Green Bay’s playoff party.
Explosive Bears running back Khalil Herbert didn’t practice on Friday and is questionable with a back injury. However, the expectation is Herbert will play. This hasn’t been the season anyone expected when the Bears let David Montgomery sign with the rival Lions and handed the keys to the running game to Herbert, who averaged a robust 5.7 yards per carry in 2022.
Through Week 15, he had 350 rushing yards and zero touchdowns. However, in back-to-back wins, Herbert carried 20 times for 112 yards and one touchdown vs. the Cardinals and 18 times for 124 yards and one touchdown vs. the Falcons. He had seven of his 15 runs of 10-plus yards in those games.
Defense coordinator Joe Barry remarked, “I’ve always thought that kid’s a heck of a back, even when Montgomery’s been there in years past.” “I have a great deal of respect for him as a runner.” Of course, there’s really not much to say about Green Bay’s issues in stopping the run. The Packers rank 26th in terms of yards allowed per carry (4.50) and 28th in terms of rushing yards allowed per game (131.6). But for the past three weeks, it has played fairly well.
Barry’s defense has held the Buccaneers to 99 yards on 27 attempts (3.7 average), the Panthers to 96 yards on 25 tries (3.8 average), and the Vikings to 67 yards on 16 carries (4.2 average) since giving up 209 rushing yards and a 6.1 average against the Giants.
There won’t be just Herbert to worry about for the Packers. With a team-high 630 rushing yards, quarterback Justin Fields is ranked second at the position despite missing four games. (More about him in the “Big Matchup” story on Sunday.) Physical runners Roschon Johnson (6-foot, 225 pounds) and veteran D’Onta Foreman (6-foot, 235 pounds) are Herbert’s backfield running partners. Additionally, their tight end Cole Kmet and receivers have combined for 26 receptions of the ball. Barry remarked, “They do a great job running the ball, whether it’s quarterback-design runs or conventional runs.
” The way they’ve been able to get their receivers in fly sweeps and other situations is excellent, in my opinion. They put you through a perimeter challenge. They can perform all of those actions in addition to lining up in smashball. They are secondary.
This week, Eberflus stated, “He creates a pressure player from the front and, when you have that, then you can play coverage.” You can then change the coverages you have. You can disguise them and give them a different appearance. That must be very difficult for the quarterback. Therefore, it helps any defense when you have that pressure player up front and you’re not bringing it from the second level. Tez has undoubtedly been a great asset. He has benefited the entire organization.
