Packers' inability to protect leads down the stretch proves costly

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers couldn't finish games, so now their season is finished. Green Bay's inability to protect second-half leads all season proved costly when the Packers lost 31-27 to the Chicago Bears in an NFC wild-card playoff game that they'd 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't even include a 40-all tie at Dallas 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 13-10 loss 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 34-26 loss at Denver in which All-Pro defensive end Micah Parsons tore his anterior cruciate ligament. They allowed 10 straight points in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter of a 22-16 overtime loss 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. "I think everybody's got to look in the mirror, and we got to find ways to be able to dig deeper when (stuff) gets harder, because it's always going to get harder," safety Xavier McKinney said. "If you go deep into the playoffs, the deeper you go, the harder the games are going to be. You're going to have to play 60 minutes and find ways to scratch and claw and win these games." LaFleur's future Green Bay's second straight first-round playoff exit led to speculation regarding the future of coach Matt LaFleur. Both LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst have one year remaining on their contracts now that the season is over. New Packers president/CEO Ed Policy 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's support Monday. Wide receiver Christian Watson said LaFleur "100%" has built a championship culture. "He's definitely pushed me to be a lot better of a player," Watson said. "He's definitely a coach that I want to go out there and play for 100%." Special teams breakdowns The Packers' longstanding struggles on special teams began long before LaFleur's arrival in 2019. Those issues proved particularly costly during Green Bay's late slide. With the NFC North lead at stake, Chicago beat the Packers in overtime last month only after Romeo Doubs' inability to recover an onside kick set the Bears up for their tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter. In Green Bay's 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' 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 22-10 wild-card defeat at Philadelphia last season, Love threw for 323 yards and four touchdowns without an interception against the Bears. Injury updates Parsons said 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 tore his ACL 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's last four games. Tom said he's 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's 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. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL