The No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers will start their playoff journey on Saturday night against the No. 2 seed Chicago Bears. The Bears swept the two-game season series, which included the incredible comeback win in Week 16 at Lambeau Field.
That said, it's hard to beat the same team twice in a season, let alone three times, so Green Bay will hope to get its revenge when it matters most. When these two teams played each other in the regular season, the Packers did not have to see Rome Odunze, who was out with a lingering foot injury.
Despite Odunze's absence, it didn’t stop Caleb Williams from testing the Packers' cornerbacks, which has quickly become a worrisome issue down the stretch. Green Bay’s defense won’t get lucky for a third time, as it appears that Odunze will be on the field for the wildcard matchup.
On Tuesday, Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Williams believes Odunze will be back for the playoff game and added, It’s going to be great.”
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If you’re a Packers fan, you aren’t excited to hear this news about Odunze being back, as we saw Williams throw for 250 yards and two touchdowns a few weeks ago. D.J. Moore had one of those TDs as he had his best game of the season with five receptions (seven targets) for 97 yards.
Packers CB Keisean Nixon didn’t have his best game on the outside in Week 16, allowing three completions (five targets) for 66 yards, two touchdowns, and a 143.7 passer rating. On the other side of the field, Carrington Valentine was somewhat better in coverage.
Valentine only allowed three completions (six targets) for 41 yards and a 72.2 passer rating. But when you throw Odunze back into the mix, he can be a matchup issue on the outside as well as in the slot.
Nixon has had his fair share of struggles, and Valentine’s play has slipped down the stretch to where he’s giving up yards and missing tackles. Therefore, the Packers’ best plan of action may be to give more snaps to Trevon Diggs and put him on Odunze sometimes on Saturday.
In his Packers’ debut in Week 18, Diggs had the best coverage grade on the team at 76.3 and a 56.3 pass rating when targeted, per Pro Football Focus, via Wendell Ferreira of AtoZ Sports.
The former Cowboy also played 33 defensive snaps, which isn’t a small sample size. With this being a win-or-go-home situation, the Packers might have to consider mixing in Diggs to give them a chance, especially if the defensive line isn’t getting home, forcing them to cover longer than they have to.
That said, if the Packers’ cornerbacks can keep Odunze under wraps, they’ll give themselves a shot to pull the upset this weekend.