WIN AND KEEP PLAYING.

When the professional football season kicked off I was willing to let the young players on the Green Bay Packers develop, and treat the season as a learning experience.

It's almost time for professional football, and we'll see if the Packers' quarterback drama is over for now.  "Best case scenario, the new quarterback continues to develop, the young receivers gain experience, and the transition to another quality quarterback occurs."  Milwaukee radio producer Brandon Sneide, doing his sports thing before probably being drafted in to cover the candidates' debate, suggests that the transition is promising.

There is no doubt – Jordan Love has won over the Packers fan base. #10 jerseys filled Lambeau under the bright lights over the past weekend, and his performance in his first home game as the starter shined even brighter.

Love & Co. began the game shaky – a botched snap led to a Patriots early score, but unlike years past, when the hits came, this time, the Packers responded.

It’s an early sign of the times ahead. Love isn’t backing down, nor has he ever. He is poised under scrutiny. He is in command of the huddle and a leader both on and off the field.

Without question, he looks to be built for this moment – a moment he has been waiting three years in the making for.

I'm reserving judgement until I see a few snaps played for real stakes.  "Is the current high draft pick in Green Bay another Aaron Rodgers, or Don Horn?"

Recall also how last season ended.  "The Green Bay Packers had a chance of making the playoffs, but two loss-of-composure penalties on defensive players in scoring situations helped the Lions put up points, and two ill-timed turnovers, the final an interception airmailed by Aaron Rodgers at the end of the game, put an end to those hopes."  That was the way the season went, much of the year, with the defense failing to stop anybody.

The sickness is now in Chicago. "Packers beat Bears 17-9 to clinch a playoff berth."

In the Insider Inbox before the final game, a correspondent was of the same mind I was.  Inbox moderator Wes Hodkiewicz's response is in bold.

I wasn't sure, then I believed; I was disappointed; I believed again; I was disappointed. Do I dare believe again?

That's up to you. I can't dictate your feelings. But the fact the Packers are in this position with one of the league's youngest rosters suggests you probably should've never stopped believing in the first place.

A twisting road might take you to an eighteenth game, but you won't get bored.  "I surely didn't have "Packers in the playoff mix" in my thinking earlier this fall, and yet here we are."  A few other teams, by taking care of their business, could have ended the Packer season after those losses to the Giants and Buccaneers, and that could have included the Bears, who rose up and smote the Lions and the Vikings, raising hopes in Bear Nation that they could earn a split of their divisional games.  All they did was open the door for the Packers to ruin the Vikings' chances.  And so it came to pass.

Good morning II and welcome to what is essentially a pre-playoff playoff game. The rest of this season the Packers control their own destiny. Is the game plan this week to do whatever it takes to win, or do they keep some things under lock and key for their next opponent in the "real" playoffs? Your thoughts?

You gotta leave it all out on Lambeau Field this Sunday. I'm reminded of what offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said on Thursday about how the coaches threw everything on the table when the Packers were 4-6 entering Thanksgiving. For all intents and purposes, the Packers' season was on the line in Detroit, and they opened their full bag of offensive tricks. I think you have to do the same against the Bears. You can't hold back anything because the playoffs won't matter if the season ends on Sunday.

The game plan itself? The team that blocks better and tackles better prevails.

What do the Packers have to do on offense, defense, and special teams to come out victorious on Sunday afternoon vs. the Bears?

Protect the ball, generate takeaways, and keep Chicago out of the end zone – and all three phases have a part to play in achieving those goals for Green Bay.

In Chicago, the WGN Radio grouse-fest aired late, after live coverage of the Northwestern men's basketball game, and the elderly Bears who had been hoping, after those wins over the Lions, Vikings, and Falcons that the current Bears would make a case for keeping their jobs, and the Bears would be able to swap the first draft choice they acquired from North Carolina to load up on a supporting cast for Justin Fields.  The reality dawned on those veterans: the best coach in the Black and Blue Division is Matt LaFleur, and it's time to buckle in for another ten years of being owned.  "Fields vs. Jordan Love for the next 10 years – happy with the idea of that, Bears fans?"

That vaunted Bear defense?  Also missing in action.

With 10:54 left in the fourth quarter, Fields and the Bears' offense took the field down eight with a chance to tie the game.

A 16-yard pass to Herbert got the Bears into Packers territory. On the next play, Fields took off to run and was hit as he slid by Packers safety Jesse Owens. Fields didn't get a flag, but his head hit the turf, and he was briefly removed for a concussion evaluation.

Fields re-entered after a trip to the blue medical tent, but the drive was once again stopped by the Bears' offensive line. On second-and-6 from the Green Bay 34, Feeney was called for a hold. On second-and-16, Karl Brooks blew past Jenkins to sack Fields for a loss of seven. Fields' screen pass on third-and-23 fell incomplete, and the Bears were forced to punt.

The Bears did not get the ball back.

The Festive Season might be over, the Cold Spring Shops decorations are packed away, the spring semester is beginning, with the mixing and mingling of the latest sniffles and colds picked up over the break, but there are certain irrefutable truths.

The Packers will next play at Dallas on Sunday.  There's more than a little history between those teams.  The Lions will host the Rams.  A few years ago the Lions traded quarterback Matt Stafford to the Rams, and the Rams promptly won a Super Bowl, in part because the Packers couldn't close out the 'Niners in Green Bay,

It's always more fun to have a rooting interest in the playoffs, even if only for a week.