One year ago, the Green Bay Packers faced an eliminated, but ascending divisional rival in week 18. A win was enough to put the team in the playoffs, and the game was at Lambeau Field. It's unequivocally a similar scenario to this year, except that there are huge differences, and the Packers locker room tone has a clear intention to distance themselves from what happened against the Detroit Lions in 2022, which ended up being Aaron Rodgers' last game as a Packer.

"It's a totally different situation, a totally different team," Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said on Wednesday. "I know the circumstances around the game are the same, but we've been in this mode the last couple of weeks."

The first two obvious differences are the teams involved. Now it's the Chicago Bears, and not the Detroit Lions, and the Packers themselves have a very different roster. Look at the players who scored points for Green Bay in that game: quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Allen Lazard are both with the New York Jets, and kicker Mason Crosby is now with the New York Giants. From the players who recorded receptions, Randall Cobb is with the Jets as well, and tight end Robert Tonyan will be on the other side for the Bears.

The offensive line was closer to what it is, but David Bakhtiari played 100% of the snaps at left tackle, while Yosh Nijman and Zach Tom split snaps at right tackle. Rasheed Walker was an afterthought. The tight end group is totally different, and the top two Packers players at the position in 2022 in snap counts are now in Chicago (Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis).

Fair enough, the circumstances around the game could have been used as motivation. But it seems like the Packers view it more like unnecessary pressure. So they try to extricate motivation from better places.

"I don't even think we need to use that," quarterback Jordan Love, a backup last year, said. "I think this team is motivated enough, just the situation we have to get in the playoffs and how bad we want that."

Differences

The Lions were playing at a really high level by the end of last season. Before facing the Packers, they had won seven of their previous nine games. The Bears have played well this year, too, winning five of their last seven. But that Lions team was per se a bad matchup for the Packers.

When they faced in week 9 of last year, the Lions had a 1-6 record, with the worst defense in football, and yet they managed to find a way to beat Green Bay. This year, the Packers beat the Bears in week 1, 38-20, and Green Bay has won the last nine head-to-head matchups against Chicago.

Another difference is the pre-game motivation on the other side.

In 2022, the Lions entered gameday with a chance to qualify for the playoffs. It wasn't until the afternoon slate of games, with a Seattle Seahawks win over the Los Angeles Rams, that the Lions got eliminated. So during the week, their preparation was for a de facto playoff game.

This year, the Bears are already eliminated from playoff contention. That happened with the results of week 17, in spite of Chicago beating the Atlanta Falcons. So their only motivation for the game is knocking their rivals out of the playoffs as well.

Quarterback

You might not have that perception because of everything Aaron Rodgers had done as the Packers franchise quarterback. But in comparison to his performance from last year, it's undeniable that Green Bay upgraded at the most important position.

Between weeks 9 and 17 of 2022, Rodgers was 14th in EPA+CPOE composite, a combination of data to measure offensive efficiency and the passer's accuracy. He was also 21st in success rate, which measures down to down consistency. In 2023, between weeks 9 and 17, Jordan Love was third in EPA+CPOE composite and sixth in success rate. He's flat out a better quarterback than the 2022 version of Rodgers.

According to PFF, Rodgers finished last season with a 77.5 PFF grade — 75.9 passing grade — for the entire year. So far in 2023, Jordan Love has an 81.3 PFF grade, including an 80.1 passing grade.

All that doesn't mean the Packers will certainly beat the Bears to change the narrative around what happened last year. They have to show it on the field, and Chicago is truly an ascending team, especially on defense. But it's a different set of circumstances, and the Packers can't let the unsuccessful finish of 2022 add pressure to what this young team is trying to accomplish.

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