CHICAGO – The big picture features the NFL's oldest rivals, but the smaller one focuses on individual players.
As the Packers and Bears square off in an NFC Wild Card playoff Saturday night at Soldier Field, the history of the rivalry gets a whole new chapter while a handful of Green Bay players will attempt to write their own redemption stories of sorts.
They're players who most certainly will have an outsized influence on the outcome, and whether the Packers' season continues or not. Here's a brief look at them and their new, potentially redeeming and loudly knocking, opportunity:
QB Jordan Love – The Packers quarterback made it look easy in his first playoff game two years ago in Dallas, but the one that followed and his return to the postseason last year were anything but.
In the losses at San Francisco in the 2023 divisional round and at Philadelphia in the 2024 wild-card game, Love completed barely 60% of his passes and thrown five interceptions. While the 157.2 passer rating from Dallas is obviously an unrealistic standard, re-approaching that level of performance is required for the Packers to be taken seriously as contenders, and Love knows it.
An ill-advised throw on first down in the two-minute drill that was picked off ended the Niners game, and against the Eagles, two of the three INTs thwarted promising drives.
"Those are the plays that are going to haunt you all offseason if you go in there, make mistakes, have turnovers, and things that'll end up losing you the game," Love said this week about playoff football. "So you gotta find ways to go out there and play your best ball.
"Execute and not have any plays that are like, 'Man, I wish I could have got that back.' Ain't no wish you could have got it back. You gotta go find ways to make them."
His coaches are confident he will.
"He's got a good look in his eye," offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. "He's ready to go."
WR Christian Watson – The fourth-year receiver missed the playoffs last year when he tore his ACL in the regular-season finale against the Bears, which also kept him sidelined until late October.
He was at home watching the playoff game in Philly last January, unable to travel with the team.
"To see your team go out and that's the end of the season there, it's hard watching that," Watson said.
He's expressed nothing but gratitude for his return to the field this season, and he's made it count, catching 35 passes for 611 yards and six TDs in 10 games.
He had just two catches for 20 yards in the two playoff games in '23, and he's not taking this return to the postseason lightly.
"No doubt," he said about being hungrier now. "I think honestly every opportunity I've gotten this year up to this point has meant a little bit more to me, for sure. Just the opportunity to be out there and make an impact. Now that we're in the thick of it for sure, it definitely means a lot to me."
WR Jayden Reed – The third-year receiver has dealt with his own injuries over the past year, first from the Philly playoff game when he dislocated his shoulder on his fourth reception of the day. It came not long after fellow receiver Romeo Doubs exited the game with a concussion, which left the Packers digging into their depth chart to try to mount a comeback.
Then his 2025 was interrupted by a broken collarbone in Week 2 vs. Washington, leading to multiple surgeries, including one to repair an injured foot that had bothered him throughout training camp.
Reed got back in action for the first matchup with the Bears in early December, and he's caught 16 passes for 162 yards over four games. But the 2023 second-round draft pick hasn't quite returned to the form that made him the team's leading receiver his first two seasons in the league. He hasn't scored a TD since Week 1.
Will this playoff appearance function as a fresh start?
"I wouldn't necessarily call it a clean slate," Reed said. "It's just getting over adversity and everything like that. So I call it a blessing really, more than anything, just grateful to even be able to go out there and do it with my guys."
CB Keisean Nixon – The opening kickoff against the Eagles last January was a nightmare for both player and club. Nixon took a wicked helmet hit, fumbled the ball, wasn't given credit for the recovery even though replays appeared to show he corralled it underneath the pile, and the turnover gave Philly a short field for a touchdown less than two minutes into the game.
On top of that, Nixon was flagged for an unnecessary roughness personal foul in the fourth quarter that helped the Eagles kick a field goal to restore their two-score lead.
So this playoff chance would be a shot at redemption regardless, but it happens to be against the Bears.
Nixon was the hero of the first matchup this season, intercepting Caleb Williams' pass in the end zone on fourth down in the waning seconds. Then he was in coverage on DJ Moore's game-winning 46-yard TD catch in overtime in the rematch.
Like any cornerback, he's had to move on to the next, and the next is Saturday back at Soldier Field.
"I don't look back on it at all," Nixon said. "It is what it is. It happened. Bang, bang. They made a play. I made a play. That's just what it is. It comes with playing corner. It comes with the league. It comes with everything. That's just the NFL.
"I gamed them. They gamed me. Other than that, (shoot), it's still a playoff game. Win or go home. I don't want to go home."
