Things sure felt different on Saturday night at around 11:30 than they did when the final whistle reverberated through Lambeau Field on Dec. 7. The Packers had just beaten the division rival Chicago Bears 28-21 and sat at 9-3-1 on the season.

They had dispatched the rival Detroit Lions, who’d been consistently beating up on Green Bay in recent years, not once but twice, and looked like a potential NFC North champion and a sure bet for another double-digit wins season.

And then these same Packers bumbled and stumbled their way to four straight losses as injuries to key players piled up, the offensive line at times looked lost, special teams woes continued, and the defense laid an egg in an overtime loss in Chicago, adding insult to injury.

Less than six weeks since that 9-3-1 record hinted at a team turning the corner and eyeing a playoff run, and now we’re discussion which unrestricted free agents will walk in free agency, and we’re even facing the (however remote) possibility that suddenly-maligned head coach Matt LaFleur might actually be traded rather than extended. It's a lot to swallow after hopes were so high following a trade for EDGE rusher Micah Parsons just ahead of the season. That feeling seems far in the rear-view mirror this week.

Even as I began writing this, I took note that Packers beat writer Tom Silverstein had quoted a pair of unnamed NFL agents as taking some shots at Green Bay’s front office, with one calling the Packers “a little bit of a mom-and-pop organization,” and another essentially saying that the Packers should, to phrase it mildly, go or get off the pot when it comes to LaFleur. In other words, if they’re all in with the coach going forward, show it – don’t try to play hardball over money or contract length. The feeling out there is that LaFleur is the one with leverage in this negotiation, frequent early playoff exits notwithstanding.

And let’s face it, there are plenty of issues this Green Bay team has to face up to. First of all, how on planet Earth does special teams coordinator Rich Bissacia still have a job? LaFleur is still technically under contract, so is he waiting until the extension negotiations are over to address that situation (or let a new head coach deal with it)? Or does he somehow believe no change is needed in a unit that has been costing the Packers games for the better part of a decade?

Meanwhile, will either of the Packers’ starting cornerbacks ever be bothered to tackle? We saw Carrington Valentine whiff on more than one occasion this past season, looking at moments simply too timid (or lazy) to wrap up a ball carrier. And when Keisean Nixon isn’t busy missing an assignment, we then get to watch him hop out of the way of a Bears running back who is driving into the end zone. In a playoff game, no less. And didn’t the Packers pay big money to some guy named Hobbs in free agency? Or did we dream that?

The offensive line is yet another mess, in no small part due to the lingering injury to Zach Tom. There’s talk, and real reason to think that Elgton Jenkins will be jettisoned this off-season. It seems like only yesterday that he was anointed the Packers’ center of the future. Rasheed Wallace seemed hellbent on getting quarterback Jordan Love killed at times, and it might have been at its worst during that playoff meltdown against the Bears last Saturday. And as long as Packers running backs keep getting hit before they even get to the line of scrimmage, the run game isn’t going to get back to its effectiveness from 2024.

The good news might be that Jordan Morgan was beginning to look like he belonged in the starting lineup as the season progressed. If Tom can come back healthy and Anthony Belton can take a step next year, that will help the situation as well. Nevertheless, that position group, much like special teams and the cornerback room, will need to be addressed. It needs continuity, continuity that is impossible when the injury bug keeps nibbling away.

And with that, I’m going to officially close the book on the highly disappointing 2025 Green Bay Packers season. Maybe I'll read a book. Or watch a movie. Collectively, let’s let the front office do its thing and let those Packers players, injured and otherwise, clear their minds and rest their bodies. Hey, the NFL Draft is just four months away – not that the Packers have a first-round pick.

OK, now I’m really finished. I promise. Starting … now.