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5 standouts from the Packers’ season-ending loss to Bears

January 11, 2026
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Another year, another Green Bay Packers season that felt like it ended too soon.

The Packers entered the 2025 season with Super Bowl aspirations. Instead, their season ended in the wild card round at the hands of the Chicago Bears.

Saturday’s postseason loss was brutal even by Green Bay’s standards. The Packers were in complete control of their bitter rival heading into halftime, leading 21-3. However, the offense shriveled in the second half, scoring only six points, while the defense suffered breakdown after breakdown, allowing Chicago to get back in the game. Oh, and Brandon McManus missed three crucial kicks, costing Green Bay seven points.

It was a collapse of epic proportions across all three phases.

So, rather than preparing to face the top-seeded Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay heads into the offseason facing questions that could alter the course of the franchise.

Is it time to move on from Rich Bisaccia as the special teams coordinator? What happens at defensive coordinator if Jeff Hafley is plucked by another team to lead their franchise? These are questions that Matt LaFleur would have to answer if he were to stay on as head coach.

That leads us to the question new team president Ed Policy must answer, which is: Is LaFleur capable of bringing a Lombardi Trophy to Green Bay?

Early on Saturday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that LaFleur was not coaching for his job. That was before one of the biggest meltdowns in Packers history. Now, the ball is in Policy’s court on whether to hand LaFleur an extension or part ways.

Those questions will eventually be answered, but for now, it’s time for one last list of standouts to close out another season for Green Bay.

QB Jordan Love

Jordan Love

As much as it was a tale of two halves for the Packers, the same can be said for Love. Green Bay’s starting quarterback was brilliant throughout the first two quarters, tossing three touchdowns. Unfortunately, breakdowns in pass protection made it virtually impossible for Love keep it up in the second half. Still, Love finished with 323 passing yards and four passing touchdowns without throwing an interception for a 103.8 passer rating. His final touchdown should have been the dagger when it gave the team a 27-16 lead with 6:36 left in the fourth quarter. All in all, there were a myriad reasons why the Packers lost this game, but Love wasn’t one of them.  

WR Romeo Doubs

If this was Doubs’ last game in a Packers uniform, he went out with a bang. The fourth-year receiver made big catch after big catch en route to an incredible night of eight receptions for 124 receiving yards and a touchdown. Clutch is a fitting way to describe Doubs’ performance. He recovered Christian Watson’s fumble in the end zone, which would have wiped away seven points. On 4th-and-goal from the one, the touchdown-scoring play was drawn up for Doubs to put Green Bay ahead 21-3. Doubs would also make a number of critical catches on third and fourth down, as well as an incredible one-handed 34-yard grab on the Packers’ second-to-last drive to help get them into field goal range. Doubs was brilliant, but given Green Bay’s cap situation and crowded receiver room, he’s probably not going to be back next season.

WR Matthew Golden

Golden didn’t have the 2025 season many expected, but he sure balled out in his first playoff game. The rookie receiver hauled in four passes for 84 yards and a touchdown. He also came up big down the stretch, starting with the 23-yard catch-and-run that required him to shake off multiple Bears defenders to find the end zone in the fourth. Golden also kept the Packers alive with his 13-yard catch to convert on fourth-and-7 during the final drive. After not scoring in the regular season and finishing just one game with at least 60 receiving yards, Golden’s showing in Chicago should have Green Bay excited about what he can do in Year 2.

LB Ty’ron Hopper

Someone needed to step up after Edgerrin Cooper exited the game during the third quarter with an ankle injury. Five plays later, Hopper, who had played only 11 percent of the defensive snaps during the regular season, answered the call by intercepting Bears quarterback Caleb Williams on fourth-and-1 from Green Bay’s 6. It was a massive moment for a young player who had gotten minimal opportunities through his first two seasons. Hopper’s takeaway kept it a two-possession game late in the third quarter.

DL Lukas Van Ness

The Packers made one more big defensive play, though it wasn’t enough to keep Chicago from scoring. During the fourth quarter, the Bears faced a third-and-10 from Green Bay’s 24 when Van Ness beat rookie tackle Ozzy Trapilo for a strip sack. Chicago jumped on the loose football, and kicker Cairo Santos was good on his 51-yard attempt to cut the Packers’ lead to 21-9. Van Ness also recorded two quarterback hits to cap off what was a strong finish to his third season.

This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: 5 standouts from the Packers’ season-ending loss to Bears

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