Jordan Love didn’t play for the Packers on Sunday. Neither did Malik Willis.
Third-string quarterback Clayton Tune started what was a glorified preseason game for the Packers as they did not start 16 key contributors in a 16-3 loss to the Vikings.
With the Packers already locked in as the seventh seed, coach Matt LaFleur decided to call it a regular season after Week 17. He learned his lesson in Week 18 last season when wide receiver Christian Watson tore an anterior cruciate ligament.
“I think we did the right thing today,” LaFleur said Sunday, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “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.”
Love, who was cleared from concussion protocol, served as the backup with Willis inactive with right shoulder and hamstring injuries. If Love had to play, though, LaFleur said Love would not have attempted a pass.
The Packers finished with minus-7 passing yards, their fewest in a game since 1976. They ended the regular season with a four-game losing streak, becoming only the fourth playoff team in NFL history to end the regular season with a losing streak that long or longer.
The 1986 Jets (five losses), 2024 Steelers (four) and 1999 Lions (four) entered the postseason on a losing streak of four games or longer, according to ESPN Research, and of that group, only the 1986 Jets won a playoff game.
