I really hope Matt's statement isn't one we've heard too many times in critical games.

"It's on me. I didn't have them ready for the game."

We absolutely MUST start out hot on offense and get a lead. On defense do NOT rush the passer wide on the edge. Load the box and funnel everything inside... Its been said thousands of times, but it really is that basic. Fields QB rating is in the mid 70's. Coaches have to keep reminding the players this is not the game to chase sacks, its about bullying the O-Lineman in front of you while collapsing the pocket IN YOUR ASSIGNED LANE and harass the QB . Now we get to sit back and see whats called and hope we out execute Da Bears.

Can't p!ay 2 D lineman and your safties deep , if we see this early on this will be a loss .

Good morning Cory, and all,
Where statements are concerned "We all know that the Packers cannot stop running water" is a good place to start. The fact that it's true is painful.
As for LaFleur making a statement based on the outcome of this game, I think that'll be subjective whichever way the game ends. When they win, he can be like a giddy teenager, and I've heard enough of his post loss 'statements' to know that they're mostly filled with cliches and whining. My fear is that by winning he'll somehow make some stupid case out of it to keep Barry, and that is the statement many of us are waiting for. But that won't come until the Pack is done for the season and unfortunately, if the 90% of the many co-hosts on every national football show on television are correct that'll happen this weekend. They all mention that "the Packers' defense is coached by Joe Barry" and then they all laugh.
I don't think anyone here thinks the Packers are SuperBowl material this year, I certainly don't, but I think they're on track, and I don't believe one game is the ultimate indicator either.
In the bigger picture, the 'Statement' I'm looking for will come from either Murphy and/or the Executive Committee at season's end. With the Packers the "Profits" are a guarantee, let's see if "Performance" matters!

MLF needs to win one of these elimination games at home. This is his 5th season as the Packers HC .

In 2020 his team lost to Tampa, 2021 his team lost to SF and in 2022 his team lost to the Lions. All winnable games and all lost at Lambeau.

Time to get past it. Beat the Bears and move on. GPG! Thanks, Since '61

These Bears aren’t toothless. Especially with Barry.
There is No House Edge In this game.
And we’ve lost the only QB that owned them.
Love is not Elite. He’s got to get the packers In. Period!
And he still has a long way to go, too equal those that were.

Truthfully: Everyone has been scrutinized this year.
And thats the scary, on a number of Levels.
We know the negatives.
We know these guys must practice.
We know we have a better coach.
What we don’t know is; Did Gutey build a winner?

Stockholder,
I see things differently.
Over the years I think I've shown on this site that I am not a Gutey fan, but I've softened a bit this season.
I have not seen Gutey really 'reach' on many picks by drafting a guy Waaaay too early by taking a guy several rounds ahead of where he was predicted, most of his picks have been close to where other teams and the dozens of 'draft gurus' have had them rated. Gary took a few years to develop, so there is that.
What that all means to me is that IF Gutey was wrong, so were all those other 'experts' so where's the problem, is it poor drafting, or poor coaching?
Eight 1st round picks on defense and they suck, I've got to believe its the latter.

"Which is why this game is scary. The last portion of the season has been a fight or flight scenario for Fields."

You might be corect Cory, but as much as this is scary, I still take that it is more burden on the back of Justin Fields than Packers team (and/or MLF)!

"This is a statement game for the Packers and more importantly, LaFleur. He is still searching for his statement win with this franchise. It was supposed to be in 2020. The Packers hosted Tom Brady and the Bucs in the NFC title game. LaFleur could’ve closed the book on Brady but opted to kick a field goal with 2:09 left."

I can see only one scenario MLF to be fired. If mr. predsident WANI wants Joe Barry out and MLF refuse to fulfill that request. Also, what if MLF decided to let FPQB on 4th down decide to throw the ball to triple covered Davante Adams instead to some other available and wide open WR or TE and failed as for 3 previous attempt? Than he would be guilty for not opted to kick the field goal and try to bring ball back in that 02:00 minutes that was left of the game! For me, D played well all that game and harrass Tom Brady all game, but especially in the 2nd half. They just needed to push 3 and out and would have enough time for another try to score (btw, if I remember correctly they had all 3 TO and 2 minute warning to stop the clock!).

Another bright spot about the Viking game was the emergence of Bo Melton. This came as no surprise to those who had advocated for him the entire preseason. Thanks to injuries he got his chance. He delivered! I thought he should have made the team at the start of the season. He has everything you could possibly want in a WR. But, better late than never. With Melton on the WR squad the Packers may just have the fastest group of WRs in the league. What a gift for Love. This team is progressing nicely. Now lets have roasted Bear for Sunday dinner. Then on to the Superbowl? Ya never know.

Intellectually, I know that this should be a close, knock-down and drag-em-out type of game that could come down to the wire. The Bears run defense could make GB one dimensional and allow them to pin their ears back and get after Love.

However, the Packers have about two games each season where they inexplicably do exactly whatever it is that everyone agrees they shouldn't be able to do, and I have this weird feeling this is going to be one of those weeks... and the Packers OL humbles the Bears defensive front, allowing Aaron Jones and Patrick Taylor to have a big day on the ground, which in turn stays the Bears' pass rush and allows Love to feast off of the resultant play action opportunities.

I told a friend while my mind knows it could be anything from a close game to a blow out loss, I just -feel- like it might be a Packers route of the Bears of the highest order...

The Packers whoop the Bears so badly that a green bay water boy gets flagged for taunting.

"...and how well Tucker Kraft has played as being the best player the Packers drafted last spring."

Tucker Kraft has been great since taking over the TE1 spot a few weeks back. But Jayden Reed is without question "the best player the Packers drafted last spring" with his 60 receptions and 10 overall TDs.

I hope they both go on to have long productive careers in the green and gold, but as of right now, Reed is clearly this years ROY for the Pack.

" the Bears just want to beat the Packers, especially now that Jordan Love is the next elite Packers quarterback in a long line of elite Packers quarterbacks."

Henceforth.....he is crowned!!

I know, i know...Carry The G 🍻
**********************
Actually, there is nothing to fear on Sunday, not as far as i'm concerned.
I'm not sure why anyone would be "scared" like the writer explains.
The Bears are a losing sub .500 team, this is the Bears at Lambeau.
So tell me, why would anyone be scared?
Losing to the Bears is the only reason i can think of for ya'll to be scared.
If you are scared, that is only born from insecurities regarding your Packer team.
Are you scared that you'll be disappointed in a Packer loss?
If they win or lose, it will most likely be because they deserved it, either way
Frankly, i see a win coming, because they should beat the bears, if they don't...it's on them.

I look at the bigger picture, building a strong team.
That doesn't happen in one season.

My initial questions concerning our Packer team have been answered as far as i'm concerned.
Not making the playoffs isn't a failure in my mind.
Love exceeded my expectations. This game won't change that, win or lose.
We have some raw talent skill players on offense to build for the future, again, this game won't change that.

Am i afraid we won't get into the playoffs?
Not in the least.
If we do....i'll watch it as i watch any other Packer game.
If we don't, you won't find me crying on the couch.
Again, this season wasn't about the playoffs.
It's building a foundation to a strong team.

I also don't believe it's much of a statement game for a lot of the reasons above.
If we win this game, what is the statement?
We beat a team with a losing record?
We beat a team we almost always beat?

If we reached the playoffs....then what?
Are we the cinderella team winning the Super Bowl?
Are we getting our asses handed to us by Dallas, in Dallas?
This team doesn't need the playoffs. It's not ready
For what, so Murphy and Gute can brag that we're back in the playoffs?
I know..i know...thumbs down for me...lol.
Go ahead...make your day!! 🥱🙄🙂

When this game is over, I'm looking forward to next season.
I want to see what pieces we add.
I want to see how we do against a tougher schedule.
I want to see if they make a move on defense.
I want to see how they handle the cap.
I want to see what they do with certain personnel, coaches and players.
I want to see progress in building another Championship roster.

So, you'll forgive me, if i'm not scared of, or that i give no F about the perennial losers we call the Chicago Bears.

Watching the replay of 2023 Opening Day against Da Bears on NFL channel, I wish you could all see it.
To me it appears the that the defense has actually regressed over the course of the season, even though their patented "let's let the other team back into the game' was a part of this game too.

On offense all the announcers talking about "Aaron Jones had 55 yds on the first series of this half and we haven't seen him since, what's up with that"? LaFleur at halftime saying "yeah, we need to get him more involved". Well Duh! Really? As in some of the more recent games the "O" looked good, and played well enough to win.

Not much has changed.

We have way too much fear being pushed on us in general, who needs to bring fear into the game.

It's a gift they have, which comes from the team maturing just enough and just in time to make these last games meaningful. The Vikings game was their first "play-off" game, and they rose to the occasion. They have a chance to play probably two more at best, Bears and then whomever.

I like to look at the opportunity those games with meaning presents: the players have to dig down deep in themselves, they get a taste of that next level of competition. The further they go, the more of that experience they get. Ultimately they will lose, but until then they can play with house money in the sense that they are exceeding expectations: do your best, grow together, and build a foundation for next year.

Every single player, coach, groundskeeper, equipment manager, etc. knows how important this game is. It's the Bears, it's for the playoffs. I'm expecting the Packers to put on their best performance of the season.

As far as I am concerned, we are playing on house money. Many of us, including myself, did not expect us to be this good this first season of Love. I really did not know what to expect. Yes we had a somewhat easy schedule but we are so young and we still have that same DC.

What was most important to me this season was to see if Love was the answer for us. I think we all know that he is. Now we do not need to try to move up in the draft to draft a QB.

The other thing is that we needed to play enough different players during the year to know if we need to draft for that position. I think we did pretty good with that as well although I am not sure that we have seen enough of Wilson at RB to know that he is a future gamer for us. Maybe we need to draft an rb within the first 3 rounds of the draft.

Many have wanted us to draft an OT in the next draft. Well that has quieted down a little bit. We are getting pretty good OT play and there are still what 3 guys backing up that position that we don't know a lot about. I am perplexed on the status of Nijman and he seems to be the odd man out. I don't expect to see him next season in GB but I don't know why. They put a lot of time and salary on improving him and now they are basically saying he is not for us and I don't really know why.

Anyway, as I mentioned earlier in this post, we are playing on house money in my opinion. So what ever happens on Sunday happens. I want them to win of course but if they don't that is not the end of the world either and normally it seems to be. I am pretty satisfied what we learned we have this year except for a few positions.

De bears are only dangerous from the standpoint of being a "spoiler" and that is bad.
Basically, Cory you are right they are toothless.
The spoiler roll would suit them just fine. From that standpoint they'll do anything to win. Dangerous.
CURE: A big time ass kicking right from the first play to 00. GPG!!!!!

By now it should be pretty clear (as it has been to most of us for years) where the problems are. We will see just what the DC and special teams coordinators bring to the table on Sunday. Here's hoping they play aggressive and find a way to deal with a running QB. Sure the defense looked great last week, but against a couple of 3rd stringers?
If its true that offense is execution, and defense is emotion, then I think the team is at least halfway there, What is concerning to me is whether the defense believes and has the emotion to go out and leave it all out there on the field. I certainly hope so. If they do, then maybe we won't have to listen to another post game press conference full of weak ass excuses. Go Pack Go! Since '67

Defense needs to get a couple of turnovers.

Yes, this is yet another statement game for LaFleur. To date, he has guided his teams very poorly in statement games. But remember, in those games, he had to coach around Rodgers. He doesn't have to do that for this one. So, will we see the true LaFleur factor for this one?

As per the D, Barry's defense actually plays pretty well in statement games - hard to believe, but yes. Detroit last year, only 20 points. The NFC championship game where the offense and STs were pitiful in that defeat. But given what Barry has brought to the table this year, I don't know if he'll bring his A game to this dance? As I've said in the past, Barry's consistently inconsistent. The D could be tough or they could play like they did against the Giants, Panthers, Detroit (first game), Vegas or Broncos? Will the competent Joe Barry please show up?! Please...

I agree with the gist of your article Corey. Sadly this game reminds me of the last playoff game at Lambeau as it relates to MLF. Prior to that game he held on to a ST coach that should have been fired weeks before and it ultimately cost them the game. I hop it doesn't repeat with Barry.

I have no problem discerning homerism from logic. I'll be rooting Pack, but given our shortcomings in important games, particularly at home versus a running QB playing for his job, significantly improved Bears D, and yes, we still have a nagging dingleBarry...I'll go with that trend over the current 9 game win streak over the Bears. We have to be honest with ourselves--we didn't learn much from squashing a clueless rookie QB led MIN squad last week: boost in confidence perhaps...more likely--inflated egos begging to have some air let out of their heads. Last week was a RARE example where no post-game accountability was needed between the likes of MLF & Barry. Fight or flight in Fields should be like a cornered dog...expect him to bite...HARD...and if his teammates are truly behind him, you'll see them overachieve as well...doesn't bode well for our (soft) coach.

Key to this game Is Jordan Love! If he can keep the Packers Defense off the field while moving the Offense up and down the field
then the Packers will win this! Don't give Joe Dingle Barry a chance to screw this up!

Running QBs always get hurt or dinged up. Thats why a good Oline is so important. GB need to rough up Fields as much as possible. That will lead to turnovers of which we haven't had many. A couple TOs swings this game to us strongly.

We also seem to be getting healthier at the right time. For this game for sure and a big chance for playoff experience for this young team. I am not predicting some big playoff run, but just getting there would be huge for next year and the future.

Big days from Aaron Jones and Alexander today are a must. I expect JL to have a good game today. Being at home and with our Oline playing better are 2 big pluses for us. Walker and Rhyan's improved play are covering up our weakness at center, and I expect the line will shine today. Maybe we won't need to spend our 1st pick on OT after all. We can fill that hole at Safety instead, after trading back for more high picks. We can still get a really good OT like Morgan or Guyton in the second.

The strengths of the draft are at positions of need for us this year. Safety, RB, Edge, LB, OLine, can all be had in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds. I am looking forward to the draft again, but I would love to stretch this season out a little longer if possible.