Bears

There was a moment in the Bears’ Wild Card win over the Packers where TE Colston Loveland converted a two-point conversion after lining up against LB Nick Niemann, who hadn’t appeared in a single defensive snap throughout the regular season. Chicago passing game coordinator Press Taylor points out that they had a great matchup in that situation.  

“You’re getting a guy who doesn’t major in coverage out in space,” Taylor said, via Dan Weiderer of The Athletic. “He’s expecting what he thinks he sees. Then Colston, with his route, shows him what he thinks he’s going to see but then snaps out of it. Plus, Colston had been hot all game. Now they have a guy cold off the bench, who has to go cover our guy, thinking he’s getting one thing, and then it turns out to be a complement. The whole thing is built to get that favorable one-on-one.”

Taylor praised Loveland for the progress he showed throughout the year and for developing trust with QB Caleb Williams. 

“Our quarterbacks have so much trust in him,” Taylor said. “And Colston has grown so much. That allowed us to expand his route tree, which increases his reliability, increases the trust. When you get into those big moments in big games late in the year, it’s always about guys you trust.”

Bears’ backup QB Case Keenum said that Loveland makes them really comfortable as quarterbacks. 

“There are certain guys, as a quarterback, where you just look over there and you get that little tingly feeling. It’s just comfortable. He talks to you with his body language. Colston is that cat,” Keenum said. 

Lions

Lions GM Brad Holmes said new OC Drew Petzing will have full autonomy of his offense and said he was a great fit for what the team wanted to do on that side of the ball.

“Just very sharp, very just open-minded, was able to fit in with the staff,” Holmes said, via Detroit Free Press. “Knew some people on the staff already, but look, it’s his offense. It’s not something where he’s got to do something else or be like – this is his show, man. So we just felt like it was the best fit for us.”

Petzing and HC Dan Campbell aligned philosophically on offensive which led to him becoming the team’s next offensive coordinator.

“It was just a ton of impressive candidates, but we got to the end of the week, we kind of went back to like, who’s the guy that we all collectively felt like he checked all the boxes for us?” Holmes said “And we just kind of went with that, went with the gut, and that’s why we made the move.”

Packers

• The Packers concluded their season with a Wild Card loss to the Bears. When asked what would be considered a successful season for Green Bay in 2026, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic writes that an NFC Championship berth should be the minimum goal if their roster can remain healthy. 
• Green Bay finished the year No. 22 in average kickoff return yards and dead last on punt returns. Schneidman believes the Packers’ special teams issues go beyond the coaching staff and reflect a lack of commitment across the entire organization.
• Should the Packers look to replace OC Adam Stenavich, Schneidman thinks it would be wise to go in-house on the next hire to maintain familiarity with Jordan Love, naming passing game coordinator Jason Vrable or QBs coach Sean Mannion as possible successors. 
• Schneidman thinks Green Bay bringing in former Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon was a “safe, solid move,” and that his playcalling experience likely played a role in their decision.
• As for players who are candidates to be cut, Schneidman names DL Rashan Gary and OL Elgton Jenkins. Cutting Gary would free up $11 million as a post-June 1 cut, while releasing Jenkins would create $19.5 million.
• Matt Zenitz reports the Packers are expected to hire Virginia Tech DC Sam Siefkes as a linebackers coach.