The No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers will look to take down the No. 2 seed Chicago Bears on Saturday night in the wildcard round of the 2025 NFL playoffs.
For the Packers, it's been a rough season, as they’ve gone from potential Super Bowl contender to a wildcard team in a matter of weeks. That said, Green Bay can instantly change its fortunes with a win over the Bears, who swept the two-game season series.
It won’t be an easy matchup for either team. They studied each other’s tendencies and know how to expose their weaknesses on both sides of the ball. There aren’t many new wrinkles that either team can throw at each other. However, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur will try to do that, or at least give off the illusion that it could happen.
On Thursday, Aaron Nagler of CheeseheadTV reported that the Packers closed today’s practice to the media.
When Packers fans saw this news from Nagler, they began to come up with different ideas and theories on what Green Bay could be doing. Some of the theories were funny, as there were a couple of mentions of Matthew Golden and the “jet sweep of doom.”
Packers Going to New Lengths to Hide Playoff Secrets Before Bears Game
However, on a serious note, it is telling that LaFleur is taking this route as they know the season could be over this weekend.
We know for a fact that Stenavich was seen at practice on Wednesday, so maybe he’s adding something new to the playbook even though LaFleur calls the shots on offense. The hope is for more opportunities for Golden, but Packers fans shouldn’t hold their breath.
We also know that Green Bay’s kick return unit is in a bit of flux with Bo Melton being placed on injured reserve. They could be trying out different players in practice or testing out various ways to re-ignite the return game.
Then, there’s the cornerback room, which added former Dallas Cowboy Trevon Diggs last week, who shockingly made his debut vs. the Minnesota Vikings, and played well.
With Diggs getting a full week of practice under his belt, the Packers could decide to shake up the CB room, possibly giving him more snaps on the outside than Carrington Valentine, which would make things rather interesting for the Bears.
That said, regardless of whatever changes the Packers make during practice, fans hope that it leads to a win. The second half of the season has been terrible for various reasons, and a loss to the Bears in the playoffs would be the proverbial icing on the cake heading into the offseason.