MINNEAPOLIS -- Health over momentum. That's what Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur went with in Sunday's regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings.
Locked into the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs, the Packers started third-string quarterback Clayton Tune and did not start 16 key contributors (a few played only on special teams). The result was predictable: a 16-3 loss that featured minus-7 total passing yards as a team, their fewest in a game since 1976.
It meant the Packers (9-7-1) enter the playoffs with zero momentum. They lost four straight games to end the regular season. Their last win came Dec. 7 against the Chicago Bears.
It also meant the Packers came away without any new major injury concerns to starters. Safety Javon Bullard was the closest thing to a scare. He played 21 defensive snaps before someone landed on his knee, ending his day, but Bullard said afterward that he would be fine. Backup receiver/kick returner Bo Melton (knee) was the only other announced injury.
It was a different approach than last year's regular-season finale against the Bears, when LaFleur played his starters even though they could only improve from the seventh to the sixth seed at best. And it burned him when receiver Christian Watson tore his ACL and was lost for the playoffs.
"I think we did the right thing today." LaFleur said Sunday. "And we'll see. Time will tell. But I feel better about this certainly than I did a year ago after the game. It was a double whammy when we lose the game and you lose a key player for us to go into that run. I thought this was the best decision."
That meant on offense the Packers not only held out Jordan Love but also Watson, Romeo Doubs and Josh Jacobs, plus four of their five starting offensive linemen (Aaron Banks, Sean Rhyan, Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom). Backup quarterback Malik Willis was inactive because of injury (right shoulder, hamstring).
If Love had to go in the game, LaFleur said: "There was not going to be a pass attempted."
On defense, LaFleur held out Xavier McKinney, Edgerrin Cooper, Quay Walker, Rashan Gary, Kingsley Enagbare, Lukas Van Ness, Karl Brooks and Carrington Valentine. Trevon Diggs, who was claimed off waivers from the Dallas Cowboys last week, started at cornerback and played half of the defensive plays.
LaFleur could have secured his fifth double-digit win season in his seven years as Green Bay's coach. Instead, the Packers became just the fourth playoff team in NFL history to end the regular season with a losing streak of four or more games, joining the 1986 New York Jets (five losses), the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers (four) and the 1999 Detroit Lions (four), according to ESPN Research. Of that trio, only the Jets won a playoff game that year.
What happens in the playoffs could be more important for LaFleur.
His contract expires after the 2026 season, and he might need a playoff win or two to receive an extension this offseason. Considering that last summer new team president Ed Policy said he did not want a lame-duck coach, how this season turns out could decide LaFleur's future in Green Bay.
Love, who was cleared from concussion protocol this past week after missing the previous game, did not speak to reporters after the game because he did not play. But according to several players, Love spoke to the team after the game. His message?
"Just move past this one and get our minds ready for the playoffs," Tune said. "We have an opportunity to do something special and so he was just kind of refocusing everyone's mind and getting everyone prepared mentally for what we have ahead of us."
The Packers will not find out until later Sunday whether they would open the playoffs at the Bears or Eagles.
"It don't matter; we want both of them," Bullard said. "Both of them gave us an L."
