Jordan Love aiming to not repeat Aaron Rodgers' failures in Week 18

Win and in. Pretty simple, right? Well, nothing is as it seems over in Titletown. Although they moved on from Aaron Rodgers this past offseason, this is familiar territory for the Green Bay Packers. A win over the Chicago Bears punches The Pack's ticket into the NFC Playoffs. A loss to a Chicago team that has nothing but pride to play for would feel eerily similar to last year's loss to the Detroit Lions.

He may have been in the league for a few years now, but this is Jordan Love's first year as the starter in Green Bay. Selected in the first-round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Love has had a large draft number to live up to. It wasn't looking like he was going to do that, until he found his footing mid-season this year. All he needs to do is to beat the team that Rodgers used to own in Chicago to clinch a birth.

From the Packers' team website, it is abundantly clear that everyone in the build knows what is at stake. Love spoke on this win-and-in scenario, one that the Packers are not going to take lightly.

"The mindset is to go win. We know exactly what we have to do, go win next week at home. Everyone remembers last year. We know exactly how it went down, how sick that taste was, losing that game, not making the playoffs. It's a new year. We've had the mentality so far that every game has been a playoff game."

The Packers would be one of three wild card teams in the NFC this year, as Detroit won the division.

Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers remember last year's Week 18 meltdown

For over 30 years now, the Packers have been synonymous with high-end consistency and success in the NFC. Although they have only won two Super Bowls and been to three of them during this stretch, the Packers have been the greatest achieving team in its division since 2002's realignment by far. Unfortunately, they are not going to be favored in any of the postseason games they may play.

For this year's Packers team, getting to the playoffs was the ultimate goal. Anything Love and the rest of the team does this year should be seen as icing on the cake. A playoff win on the road would serve as a huge boost to the insurmountable hype one of the league's biggest and loudest fanbases will surely pump up. Of course, missing out on the postseason again in Week 18 would be disappointing.

Ultimately, I think it could go either way between the Bears and Packers next week. Chicago has played considerably better in the second half. The Bears appear to have the right quarterback for them in Justin Fields, but Chicago will have the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft because of last spring's trade with the Carolina Panthers. Either way, Chicago is not going to go down that easily.

If Love plays like he can, the Packers will be one of seven teams from the NFC making the playoffs.