GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) 鈥� The Green Bay Packers couldn鈥檛 finish games, so now their season is finished.
Green Bay鈥檚 inability to protect second-half leads all season proved costly when the Packers to the Chicago Bears in an NFC wild-card playoff game that they鈥檇 led 21-3 at halftime and 21-6 through three quarters.
This marked the fourth time they lost a game they had led by at least nine points in the second half. That doesn鈥檛 even include a in which they led 13-0 in the first half.
Two days after that playoff collapse, the Packers (9-8-1) packed up their things Monday saying they must develop more of a finishing instinct to avoid continuing this habit of early playoff exits.
This pattern started when Green Bay followed up two impressive wins to start the season by giving up 13 straight points in the last four minutes of a at Cleveland. The Packers blew three more late leads during their five-game skid that ended the season.
They led 23-14 in the third quarter of a in which defensive end Micah Parsons tore his They allowed 10 straight points in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter of a at Chicago last month. They blew an even bigger lead at Chicago in the playoffs.
Chicago won its past two meetings with the Packers despite never running an offensive play while ahead in either game.
鈥淚 think everybody鈥檚 got to look in the mirror, and we got to find ways to be able to dig deeper when (stuff) gets harder, because it鈥檚 always going to get harder,鈥� safety Xavier McKinney said. 鈥淚f you go deep into the playoffs, the deeper you go, the harder the games are going to be. You鈥檙e going to have to play 60 minutes and find ways to scratch and claw and win these games.鈥�
LaFleur鈥檚 future
Green Bay鈥檚 second straight first-round playoff exit led to speculation regarding the future of coach
Both LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst have one year remaining on their contracts now that the season is over. New Packers president/CEO said last summer he would prefer not having someone enter the final year of a contract without an extension.
Packers players spoke out in LaFleur鈥檚 support Monday. Wide receiver Christian Watson said LaFleur 鈥�100%鈥� has built a championship culture.
鈥淗e鈥檚 definitely pushed me to be a lot better of a player,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 definitely a coach that I want to go out there and play for 100%.”
Special teams breakdowns
The Packers鈥� longstanding struggles on special teams began long before LaFleur鈥檚 arrival in 2019. Those issues proved particularly costly during Green Bay鈥檚 late slide.
With the NFC North lead at stake, Chicago beat the Packers in overtime last month only after Romeo Doubs鈥� inability to recover an onside kick set the Bears up for their tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
In Green Bay鈥檚 playoff loss to Chicago, Brandon McManus missed an extra-point attempt as well as field goals from 44 and 55 yards. McManus had gone 13 of 13 on field goals over his last seven regular-season games.
Running in place
The Packers gained just 4.14 yards per carry in the regular season, down from 4.75 last season and their lowest average since 2012. That issue was magnified in their playoff loss.
After rushing for 93 yards on 16 carries in the first half, the Packers ran for 6 yards on seven attempts in the second half. Only one of Josh Jacobs鈥� seven second-half carries exceeded a single yard.
One encouraging sign from Green Bay’s playoff loss was the emergence of quarterback Jordan Love. After throwing three interceptions without a touchdown pass in a at Philadelphia last season, Love threw for 323 yards and four touchdowns without an interception against the Bears.
Injury updates
he hopes to be back from his torn ACL by the start of next season but noted that a return in Week 3 or Week 4 is more realistic. Tight end Tucker Kraft, who over a month earlier, hopes to be back for the season opener.
Right tackle Zach Tom said Monday that a partially torn patellar tendon caused him to miss Green Bay鈥檚 last four games. Tom said he鈥檚 leaning toward undergoing surgery, which would result in a recovery period of about six months.
Offensive lineman Sean Rhyan injured his knee near the end of Saturday鈥檚 game. Rhyan said Monday that the knee was structurally sound and that he just had a bone bruise with some swelling.
New-look Packers?
The Packers enter an interesting offseason because they have so many players with expiring contracts. The list of Packers set to become unrestricted free agents includes Doubs, Rhyan, defensive lineman Kingsley Enagbare, linebacker Quay Walker, left tackle Rasheed Walker and backup quarterback Malik Willis among others.
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