As the Packers enter the final quarter of the regular season (well, technically they did that sometime in the second half of the Bears game), they once again are a team on the rise, with expectations back to where they were in the earliest portions of the season.

The mid-season lilt that the team experienced is certainly in the backs of fans’ minds everywhere, but this team has grown a lot since October and early November, especially along the offensive front. Jordan Love is playing some of the best football of his career, the receivers are making plays, Josh Jacobs is in playoff form, the team is getting healthy, and most importantly, the defense is closing up victories against good teams.

There was little that was easy about the game against the Bears. In rivalry games you can almost always throw records out the window, but when the records are what they were in this particular contest, you enter a playoff atmosphere. And it was truly an intense environment; players were going full speed, and the hits came hard and often. This was a true rivalry clash between a couple teams hoping to go deep into the postseason bracket. 

While it wasn’t perfect for the Packers, the team has to be thrilled with the result. The Packers improved their NFC North record to 4-0, including victories over divisional foes in three straight weeks, a far cry from their putrid 1-5 record of a season ago. The defense came up big in a final drive in which Chicago threatened to score and tie the game. The offense made the plays it needed, and got a boost from the returning Jayden Reed. After an early interception, Jordan Love was nearly perfect. 

There are few teams who are as talented and well-balanced as the Packers. That has been true for the entire season, even at a point when the Packers were in the midst of their swoon. But as always, the season is defined by how you end, not by the beginning or the middle. The Packers have gone through some challenges and have positioned themselves where they are playing some of their best football in the month of December. 

This will be critical in the weeks ahead. Right now the Packers are the second seed in the NFC, and would face the Bears in the opening round of the playoffs if the season ended now. But the team does have a path to the number one seed currently held by the Rams–they’ll need the Rams and Seahawks to lose a game, but it is not unreasonable to think the Packers could earn the all-important first round bye.

To do that, they’ll need to start by defeating Denver on the road this weekend. This could be the toughest matchup the Packers have left; that Broncos defense is no joke, and Denver is one of the most difficult places to play when the team is good. These Broncos are tough and have shown a lot of fight over the course of the year so far, plus they’re well-coached. 

The Packers will then need a second victory over the Bears on the road in Chicago, a win at home against Baltimore, and a victory in Minneapolis over the Vikings. 

Not an easy schedule by any means, but not exactly impossible, either. They’ve already beaten Chicago and Minnesota, and Baltimore is nowhere near the team it was expected to be coming into this season. None of these teams are going to be an easy victory (those rarely exist in the NFL), but the Packers should be expected to win each of those games.

It hurts that the Packers lost or tied several games they should have won. But there’s nothing that can be done about that at this point; all they can do is control what lies in front of them. This team has recovered from its midseason struggles and once again has realistic championship expectations. And they have all the right ingredients:

-A quarterback playing like one of the five best at the position this season

-A defense with a tenacious pass rush and an ability to close out games

-A running game capable of controlling the clock when needed

-Multiple big play threats in the passing game

-An offensive line playing sound football

How many teams can say they check all of those boxes?

The rest of this season should (hopefully) be a fun ride. It will also reveal a lot about Matt LaFleur, who deservedly took a lot of heat during the team’s midseason swoon. Will the season end with the arrow pointing up (2023), with significant disappointment (2024), or perhaps even with a championship?  Let’s see where it takes us.

Wisconsin Beer of the Week

I don’t often feature domestics in this space because I prefer to shine the light on local craft beers, but I did have an interesting beer over the weekend that I had not even known existed.

It’s the Miller 1855 Celebration Lager, which was originally a limited-edition golden lager released by Miller to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2005. This is a fuller-bodied lager that features more malt and more depth of flavor than the standard Miller beers. It’s still on the lighter side at 4.85% ABV, but at 85 IBU it’s a little more bitter and weightier than a lot of their products tend to be.

I hadn’t previously encountered this beer, likely because it’s a limited release. I can only assume it was released again this year for the 170th anniversary, because the last time I can find trace of it being released was in 2015. 

The idea behind the beer is that it is a tribute to the original 1855 recipe that had more malt. Ultimately it doesn’t taste a whole lot different than most domestics, but it’s at least a fun novelty and one that isn’t going to be sticking around for very long.

If you do find it, grab it up, because it’s going to be pulled from shelves before long–probably until 2035. 

The Packers will have a wide receiver puzzle on their hands

With Jayden Reed’s return, the Packers have almost run into a situation where they have too many mouths to feed on offense. A good problem to have, for sure, especially when compared to the opposite scenario, but it’ll make things difficult this offseason.

Christian Watson received a one-year prove it extension, so he’s under contract for next season. However, one has to think he’s earned a larger and longer deal with his play since returning from his ACL tear; this has been the best, most consistent football of his career so far, and he’s elevated the Packers’ offense.

Reed was much more active than expected in his return, and his dynamic playmaking ability was sorely missed. The offense is clearly better when he’s on the field.

Then there are a lot of other players in the picture. Romeo Doubs has frequently been Love’s go-to target in possession situations and in the red zone. However, he’s not under contract next year, and his skill set is probably much more replaceable than that of guys like Watson or Reed. Unfortunately, I’d expect him to be the odd man out heading into next season, especially given his injury history.

Dontayvion Wicks has shown flashes of brilliance this season, especially on Thanksgiving Day, but goes through long stretches where he simply isn’t a key part of the team’s on-field plans. He’d be a natural slide-in for Doubs next year, the final year of his rookie deal with the Packers.

But then you figure that the team is also going to want to get Matthew Golden more involved sooner or later. Golden has had some struggles getting on the field, presumably because he’s having difficulty with the playbook. It’s tough to expect a rookie to come in and make an immediate impact, but fans were probably hoping to see a little more from their first first-round receiver in over two decades this season. Golden will figure to become a potential replacement for Doubs’s snaps as well.

Savion Williams has shown some versatility and is the kind of player who’d be more likely to rotate with Jayden Reed than with any of the receivers who tend to live on the outside.

Then there’s Bo Melton, who’s remained pretty involved despite technically being listed as a cornerback (he’s not played a single snap of corner in the regular season). Melton primarily makes his dough on special teams, but has come up big on offense for the team a couple times this season.

Again, lots of mouths to feed. Already Malik Heath has gone back to the practice squad. Doubs probably doesn’t get a second contract from the team. We’ll see who manages to step up the rest of the season and into the next year.

Around the NFC North

As always, it’s time to go around the NFC North. 

• The CHICAGO BEARS deserve some credit; they hung with the Packers at Lambeau and looked like a team that is going to hang around. But they’re not quite ready yet. The Bears’ game plan was clearly trying to take as much pressure off Caleb Williams as possible, and his final abysmal throw directly to Keisean Nixon was a pretty good indicator of why that plan was put into place to begin with. Meanwhile, the Bears’ defense isn’t quite to the championship caliber point. Give this team another year or two and they could well be a serious contender; right now, though, their ceiling is to be a tough out, and credit to their coaches – tough they are. {But also, the Bears Still Suck!)

• The DETROIT LIONS are still on the outside looking in within the NFC playoff picture, and will need a little bit of help if they’re going to end up back in the playoffs. Their schedule ahead isn’t exactly easy, either; they play one of the league’s best teams on the road this weekend in Los Angeles, and a loss there would be an especially large setback if the Bears take care of business at home against Cleveland. The Lions have had a hard time stringing together successive wins all season, so they’re going to have to reverse that trend now if they have any hope of sneaking into the tournament.

• The MINNESOTA VIKINGS had a sudden showing of life on Sunday, but file it under the “too little too late” category. For at least one week, J.J. McCarthy was able to shut down some of the noise surrounding his disastrous 2025 campaign. Was it enough to convince Vikings brass that he deserves more time at the helm of the ship? Unlikely – the team still has to be thinking quarterback is a need this offseason. But if he has in fact suddenly turned a corner, that could make for some interesting decision making this offseason. But the Vikings don’t have the luxury of taking more time to figure out their quarterback position; this team was in win-now mode with a lot of veterans on big deals, and every moment wasted represents lost opportunity. That window is closing fast.

Mr. Backes’s “This or That”

Every day I put a different “this or that” poll up on my whiteboard and have students leave tallies throughout the day. I then compile this information and post it here for laughs.

Here’s what we’ve seen over the last week:

• Doritos defeated Cheetos
• “Let It Snow” defeated “Jingle Bells” 
• Orchestra defeated band
• Tests defeated group projects
• Hot chocolate defeated tea

We gotta talk about Philip Rivers

I know it’s not about the Packers, but this has got to be one of the craziest sports stories in some time. Philip Rivers, after nearly five years of retirement, is coming back to play quarterback for the injury-ridden Indianapolis Colts, who are desperate to save their season after losing Daniel Jones and sliding to 8-5. 

The Colts still have an opportunity to win their division, or at least sneak into the wild card, but it’ll be tough. I’m sure nobody really expects Rivers to come in and carry the team the way he could have 10 years ago, but still – there’s an understandable fascination with this bizarre story. I can’t recall ever seeing anything quite like it. The man is 44 years old, and, oh yeah, a GRANDFATHER, and is going to be lining up under center for a professional football team after FIVE YEARS away from the game!

I’m rooting for the Colts just because of how crazy this story is. Can you imagine if they manage to get into the playoffs and make a little run after signing Rivers? It would be one of the wildest stories in NFL history.

Anyway, I’ll be watching what happens to the Colts with great interest. Here’s to the old guys.

Week 15 NFL Picks

We’re getting down to the wire, and every game now is critical to playoff seeding. A game on the road against Denver is a chance to stack the Packers up against one of the AFC’s very best. 

And the Packers are the better team. The fact that they are road favorites in a tough environment is indicative of that. But this is still a tough matchup. The Broncos have a very good defense, and while Bo Nix hasn’t exactly been lighting it up on offense, that offense is going to do everything it can to play mistake-free football and take what the defense allows.

Still, I like what the Packers are doing. They’re once again a team on the rise, and I think they take a close one.

Packers 23, Broncos 20

Other games:

BUCS over Falcons

BENGALS over Ravens

EAGLES over Raiders

TEXANS over Cardinals

CHARGERS over Chiefs

BILLS over Patriots

JAGUARS over Jets

GIANTS over Commanders

BEARS over Browns

PANTHERS over Saints

RAMS over Lions

SEAHAWKS over Colts

PACKERS over Broncos

49ERS over Titans

COWBOYS over Vikings

STEELERS over Dolphins