Green Bay has big questions to answer after all-in season ends with its largest blown lead in playoff history

The Green Bay Packers experienced about as violent of a whiplash as a team can on a football field in their 31-27 wild card meltdown at the Chicago Bears on Saturday night. 

Quarterback Jordan Love played near-perfect football on Green Bay's first three drives, tossing a trio of touchdowns. All the while, Bears coach Ben Johnson appeared to be over his skis with the Bears turning the ball over on downs on their own 32.

This was going to be a rout. And if not a rout, it was going to be a decisive win and a statement that the Packers, who were getting Super Bowl love to begin the regular season and ended it losing four straight, would be major players, after all, in these NFL playoffs. 

And then the Bears outscored the Packers 28-6 in the second half. Green Bay did all they could to help Chicago claw their way back, with four consecutive punts to begin the final half after a combined 14 plays went for a net of nine yards. The Packers also left seven points on the field with kicker Brandon McManus brutally missing two field goals and an extra point in the eventual four-point defeat. 

"The biggest disappointment of my career," McManus told reporters after the game. "It was an embarrassment of a performance."

The gut-wrenching defeat that now stands as the biggest playoff comeback in the Bears' 106-season history -- and the biggest playoff blown lead in the Packers' 105-season history. It leaves Green Bay with plenty of things to ponder entering a long offseason -- and with no first-round pick in 2026, after going all-in with the preseason trade for Micah Parsons. 

Let's dig into some of those topics with the NFL's youngest team's season now in the books.

What should Packers do with coach Matt LaFleur?

LaFleur and the Packers were primed to meet soon to discuss a contract extension, per NFL Media, with the 2026 season set to be the final year of his current deal. Leading Green Bay into the worst playoff collapse in the team's 105-season existence -- against the hated Chicago Bears -- could complicate LaFleur's future with the Packers. 

LaFleur's 76 regular-season wins in seven years are tied for the second-most by a head coach in his first seven seasons in NFL history, along with Hall of Famer Paul Brown. That stands in stark contrast to his  3–6 postseason record. The Packers reached the NFC Championship Game in his first two seasons in 2019 and 2020, but they have gone 1–4 in their last five playoff games over the past four seasons.

Addressing LaFleur's contract situation ASAP will be key. If they decide to retain him, that removes a huge cloud from the franchise's orbit. If they decide to move on, doing so quickly will be key with all of the 2026 cycle's top candidates still up for grabs. 

* Rest of list outside of LaFleur won title in span 

If the LaFleur decision was left to Love, he will be back for his eighth season in 2026. 

"Yeah, I definitely think Matt should be the head coach," the Packers quarterback said postgame Saturday night, via ESPN. "I got a lot of love for Matt. I think he does a great job, and that's it." 

Is there something beyond bad luck ailing the team? 

Green Bay was without numerous key contributors by the time the playoffs came around. 

Not just depth pieces, but some of the top players on their roster on both sides of the ball: right tackle Zach Tom (knee/back injury in Week 15), tight end Tucker Kraft (torn ACL in Week 9), center Elgton Jenkins (broken ankle in Week 10), defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt (fractured ankle in Week 13), edge rusher Micah Parsons (torn ACL in Week 15) and cornerback Nate Hobbs (injured knee in Week 17). 

Plus, running back Josh Jacobs wasn't the same after banging up his knee on the MetLife Stadium turf in mid-November. 

So much of postseason success comes down to health, and the Packers simply didn't have it. Injury luck will certainly vary season to season, but Green Bay had an uncommon amount of injuries to the top end of their roster. Perhaps some tweaks to the team's strength and conditioning program could make a difference. Injuries like the bone fractures are pure bad luck and Green Bay will be hopeful to avoid most of that next year. This is a different team if guys like Tom, Kraft and Parsons are active. 

How will the Packers address the defensive line? 

Speaking of ... the Packers totaled an NFL-worst three sacks across the final four games of the regular season after Parsons tore his ACL in Week 15. 

Saturday night in Chicago, Green Bay registered just a single sack, from edge rusher Lukas Van Ness, despite leading by three scores at halftime -- a game script that put Caleb Williams in passing situations for the majority of the second half.

Pro Bowl edge rusher Rashan Gary totaled 7.5 sacks in 2025, but none came after the Packers' 35–25 Week 8 win over the Steelers. It was not a good end to the season for Gary, who showed he could not win on his own down the stretch. Green Bay can clear just under $11 million in cap space in 2026 by releasing him. That seems like a logical move to make. 

Will pending free agent edge rusher Kingsley Enagbare be retained? He produced what seemed to be at least one splash play per game despite starting just three games in the regular season. 

How will the Packers address the offensive line? 

Jenkins was a two-time Pro Bowler at left guard for Green Bay, but his play wasn't as steady after being shifted over to center in 2025 after the Packers signed Aaron Banks to a four-year, $77 million contract in free agency last offseason. Between the uneven play and suffering a broken ankle at the age of 30 in 2025, Jenkins is a likely cut candidate because the Packers can save $20 million in cap space while eating just $4.8 million in dead money by releasing him. 

Left tackle Rasheed Walker was inconsistent in 2025 and is set to become a free agent, so there's a good chance they could let him walk, thus paving the way for 2024 first-round pick offensive lineman Jordan Morgan to have his first real shot at playing his collegiate position full-time in the NFL. Then, Green Bay will have to figure out what to do at center. There's a good chance that answer could be in the draft even with the Packers lacking a first-round pick because of their trade with the Dallas Cowboys that netted them Parsons. 

How will the Packers address the cornerback position? 

Green Bay opted to go into 2025 with former All-Pro return man Keisean Nixon as their top outside cornerback, and that decision yielded mixed results. He allowed just three receiving touchdowns in the first 13 weeks of the season before surrendering four touchdowns in the last four games of the season in which Green Bay played the starters, Weeks 14-17. Nixon sealed the Week 14 win over the Bears with an interception of Caleb Williams with 22 seconds left to play, but he also gave up the Bears' last two touchdowns in Chicago's 22-16 overtime win in Week 16. 

Third-year cornerback Carrington Valentine as the No. 2 outside cornerback had even wider variance, and free agent acquisition Nate Hobbs battled multiple injuries throughout the year and finished the season on injured reserve. The late season acquisition of Trevon Diggs didn't move the needle after his Week 18 arrival; Diggs played just one defensive snap in the postseason loss against the Bears, and he was run over on a wide receiver screen. 

It wouldn't be surprising if the Packers used some of the eventual cap space they free up to pursue a veteran upgrade in free agency. 

There are myriad personnel questions to answer in Green Bay, but first up this long winter will be that top-down audit of the staff -- beginning with LaFleur and his team and trickling even to the training staff -- after an all-in season went up in smoke.