The Green Bay Packers are in the playoffs, and the big reason for that is because their main players performed at a high level against the Chicago Bears in week 18. Outside of a fumble, Jordan Love had a special performance, and he is the biggest factor for this Packers successful season — both thinking about short- and long-term.

This franchise is in good hands, and it became even more evident with the season on the line. Instead of a bad performance at the biggest stage like they had in week 18 last year, this new version of the Packers made it happen.

Jordan Love

It's impossible not to be excited about the Packers future with Jordan Love as their franchise quarterback. He's talented and makes throws that only a few other passers can in the NFL. He's creative and efficient. He made a costly mistake with a fumble, but for the most part it was a clean game.

Love finished his first year as a full-time NFL starting quarterback as second in passing touchdowns. And that happened with David Bakhtiari, Christian Watson, Aaron Jones, Luke Musgrave missing significant time. And that's because Love makes everything around him better.

Love's ability to execute when pressured is amazing — and that works for multiple senses. He is good when hurried by opposing defenses, yes, but there's also a mental aspect of it. Love performs well when the stakes are the highest. He has an impressive attitude, and that is obvious in positive and challenging moments watching his first season back.

They have a special quarterback. Again.

Zach Tom

If you think about what makes Zach Tom a good player, his pass-blocking ability certainly comes ahead of his run-blocking skills. But the latter was the most notable part of his game on Sunday, as he was extremely effective to gain leverage and angles to make blocks. With Aaron Jones, Green Bay has more options to run outside, and the tackles' jobs are more relevant.

He’s the future at one of the tackle spots, it’s just a matter of deciding which side it will be. Maybe they are ok with him at right tackle even if David Bakhtiari can’t return, but Tom has shown how good and complete he can be anywhere they want him to play.

Christian Watson

Well, the expectation was that Watson was going to play, but his hamstring injury is still a problem. He was inactive again, and missed his 11th game out of 34 possible throughout his NFL career.

It's obviously not Watson's fault, but it's also hard for the Packers to count on a player who has handled so many injury issues.

He is talented, and the Packers' offensive ceiling is much higher when he's on the field. However, Green Bay might be forced to find a new primary target for Jordan Love for the future.

Maybe they are comfortable with the combination of rookies Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, who both had amazing performances on Sunday, but they have the capital to make more swings if they feel like surrounding Love with even more talent is the way to go.

Rashan Gary

The Packers were getting more pressure from the interior. They opted to play with a five-man front, and Gary was clearly more concerned about setting the edge than he usually is.

In fairness, he did a good job on that, limiting the Bears offense. But Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt, and Karl Brooks were more effective generating pressure on Justin Fields.

In the fourth quarter, Gary had a big deflection on third down, but then jumped offsides on 4th and 5 to allow a first down — in fairness, though, it looked like there was early movement by the offensive line. But that's a big reflection of what Gary has been as a player. Extremely talented, but the situation awareness is still lacking.

Jaire Alexander

With the defensive line dominating upfront, it was an easier game for the secondary. But Alexander came back with a strong performance, and had a pretty important play contesting a target intended for former Packers tight end Robert Tonyan in the end zone. The Bears ended up with a field goal in that drive.

Jaire is a major piece for this Packers defense, and the team’s hope is that he can keep his mind at the right place to be a force this team needs moving forward. So far, it looks like their approach with Alexander has worked.

Packers are on a great path with the young offense’s success

They are in the playoffs