Despite their current three-game losing streak, the Green Bay Packers have clinched a playoff spot. The Packers have officially locked up the seventh seed in the NFC for the third consecutive season.
This means that when the Packers visit the Minnesota Vikings in Week 18, the final game of the season will have no stakes. In such cases, teams often sit some of their stars to get rest and avoid injury heading into the postseason. The Packers will likely be resting a few starters themselves, but Jordan Love should not be one of them.
Packers Must Start Jordan Love in Week 18
Now, this all depends on the Packers’ quarterback clearing concussion protocol in time for Sunday’s game, but the expectation is that Love will be ready to go.
The Packers are limping into the postseason, having lost three straight games while dealing with significant injuries across the roster. This team badly needs stability and direction, and getting its starting quarterback back on the field provides both. While Malik Willis has filled in admirably, Love represents the identity of the offense heading into January. Willis is also dealing with an injury, although he looked great last week, nonetheless. There is no sense in playing a backup through injury if the starter is back to full health.
Starting Love in Week 18 sends a clear message: the Packers are not satisfied with simply reaching the playoffs. This game offers a valuable opportunity to regain confidence, reset offensively, and head into a road playoff matchup feeling sharper than they do now.
Beyond morale and confidence, the most compelling reason to start Love is simple: quarterbacks cannot afford to go into the playoffs cold.
Love Can’t Go Into the Playoffs Cold
Love missed last week’s game against the Ravens after being removed from the loss to the Bears in the first half. If Love misses Week 18, it would be nearly three weeks without game-speed football for Love. Rust in the following Wild Card game would be expected for the Packers’ quarterback, but that is something ill-affordable for a Packers team seemingly fighting for their lives to survive right now.
Getting Love back into game action will sharpen his timing, rhythm, and instincts, all things that can dull over an extended period of time on the sidelines. If Love can get his rhythm and edge back before the postseason, it should provide a seamless transition into the postseason, avoiding as much of a feeling-out process as possible. Let that process happen in a meaningless game.
This doesn’t mean Love has to play the full game, and the Packers need to treat it as an elimination game. Guys should still be rested, but coach Matt LaFleur needs to have his team prepared for every game going forward. If the Packers come out hot and get a lead, then it would be time to get Willis involved at quarterback and maybe even get some run for QB3 Clayton Tune.
Love continues to progress, and the Packers’ franchise quarterback, but the one thing he does not have is proven playoff success. As good as he is, has Love earned the status to rest games prior to the playoffs? The counterargument is clear: keep him safe as he returns from a concussion. It is entirely fair, but given how poorly the Packers have played, nobody really deserves to be sitting out games. Yes, you can prepare in practice, but real-time game action serves as a much better tool for preparation.
Playing Love for even just the first half serves as much-needed live game preparation without overexposure. This approach prevents the Packers from asking Love to find his rhythm for the first time in weeks, in the most unforgiving environment possible: the playoffs. Starting him in Week 18, even briefly, ensures that when January football arrives, Love is already in game mode.
Ultimately, this would be a decision rooted in preparation, rather than avoiding risk. The Packers are already locked into their postseason fate, but how they arrive there is still within their control. Starting Love in Week 18, even in a limited role, allows LaFleur and the Packers to address sharpness, confidence, and offensive identity one last time before the postseason kicks off.
For a team riding a three-game skid and preparing for a road playoff game, limping into the postseason with their heads down and covered in rust cannot be an option. The Packers need to do everything in their power to be ready and avoid another one-and-done postseason run, regardless of which players will and will not be available for the postseason.
The Packers don’t need Love to win Week 18; they need him ready for January. Getting him back on the field, even briefly, ensures this team enters the postseason with its quarterback sharp and in rhythm, rather than hoping to find it when the margin for error is gone.