The Green Bay Packers (11-5) and Chicago Bears (4-12) will close out the 2024 regular season with a Week 18 showdown at Lambeau Field. The Bears, who have lost 10 straight games, are eliminated. The Packers, who lost last week in Minnesota, have a playoff spot clinched and are only playing for seeding — Matt LaFleur’s team will be either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed.
Can the Packers extend the record winning streak over the Bears to 12 games while also becoming the 15th team in team history to get to 12 wins in the regular season?
Here are five things to watch and a prediction for Week 18:
Scoreboard watching?
The Packers need to win and have the Commanders lose in Dallas to secure the No. 6 seed and avoid a trip to Philadelphia in the first round of the NFC playoffs. Will Matt LaFleur and the Packers do any scoreboard watching on Sunday? LaFleur is planning to play his healthy players, but it’s unclear how he plans to handle playing time across four quarters. He might not care about seeding at all entering the finale. But if the Packers and Commanders are both in competitive games throughout the day on Sunday, LaFleur might be incentivized to go for the win. We’ll see.
Second shot at Caleb
Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams completed 23 of 31 passes, took only three sacks and rushed nine times for a season-high 70 yards in the first meeting. Will the Packers have a better plan for defending the quick passing game and Williams’ ability to make plays with his legs? This could be a big chance for the pass rush to bounce back against a quarterback who has been sacked 67 times — just nine away from the NFL record (76, David Carr). But the Packers need to keep Williams in the pocket and finish pressures, especially when he starts to improvise. Getting a test run on a pass-rush plan against a mobile quarterback like Williams could provide a good test before possibly facing Jalen Hurts in the first round.
Bird needs to fly
The Packers need a more explosive version of Jayden Reed to reemerge in the postseason. The man they call “Bird” caught only one pass on four targets last week, and he’s been held under 40 receiving yards in six of the last seven games. Christian Watson (knee) might not play again this week, so the Packers could use a few explosive plays from Reed. He needs to catch the ball more consistently, and the Packers need to find more ways to get him the ball in space. Jordan Love hit him for a free-play touchdown in the first meeting. In last year’s finale, Reed caught four passes for 112 yards.
Interception incentive
Caleb Williams has thrown only six interceptions this season, but there’s one Packers defender who will want one Sunday. Keisean Nixon’s contract has a $50,000 incentive if he gets to two interceptions during the 2024 season. He’s sitting at only one pick entering Week 18. Elsewhere on the interception front, Pro Bowler Xavier McKinney has just one pick since the start of November. Will Williams give the Packers safety any chances to get No. 8 in Week 18?
Cleansing the palate
Coach Matt LaFleur made it clear he wants to play his starters to help erase the taste of last week’s disappointing defeat in Minnesota. The Packers were sloppy, especially in the passing game on offense and defending the pass on defense, and they fell behind by 17 points twice in the second half before mounting a late rally. LaFleur and the Packers must be better to start the postseason, and LaFleur is willing to risk an injury to a key player to build momentum in the season finale. It’s a risk-reward scenario that coaches have been struggling with for years.
Prediction: Packers 23, Bears 12 (9-7)
This is a tough prediction to make considering the unknowns when it comes to playing time for the Packers starters. How hard will Matt LaFleur push it in a game that might not mean anything on seeding? Then again, the Bears have nothing to play for and have lost 10 straight games, including four ugly games since interim coach Thomas Brown took over. If the Packers play starters for four quarters, it’s hard to imagine them losing at home. If the Packers end up resting players at some point, it’s not hard to imagine the Bears stealing the game late. The guess here is the Packers come out fast, build a lead and eventually salt the game away late with key players watching from the sideline. Any scenario where the Packers can build some momentum — especially offensively — while avoiding an injury to an important player is probably a best case scenario.
