It should have been a banner game for the Green Bay Packers. They took a 21-3 lead into halftime against their greatest rival, the Chicago Bears, in the Wild Card round of the NFC Playoffs.

They played a stinker of a third quarter, but even then, they led 21-6 heading into the fourth quarter and then 27-16 with 6:36 to go in the game.

This should have been a Packers win and right now we'd be talking about how they could beat the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round, but all of head coach Matt LaFleur's chickens came to roost in the second half of this one.

He completely switched from a gameplan that was working in the first half; he lost all agression and every time the Packers got punched in the mouth, he and his team wilted.

The end result was a 31-27 comeback win that will go down in Chicago history forever and it should get LaFleur fired.

LaFleur's mealy-mouthed incompetency did overshadow at least three tremendous playoff performances from the Packers, though. Let's give those players their due. 

If the Packers knew going into the game that they'd get a 323 yard, four touchdown and no int4erception performance from quarterback Jordan Love, they would have expected to win.

Again, they should have won, because Love played more than well enough to win this game for the Packers.

Does he bear some of the blame for the offense stalling out in the second half? Sure. Even then, he threw three touchdowns in the first half and then threw a fourth-quarter touchdown that could have been a game-icer if Brandon McManus didn't miss the extra point, and the defense did its job.

Even after that, he got the Packers in position to make a field goal with 2:56 to go in the game, already up three, and McManus again let him down. 

Lastly, on that final drive, Love got the Packers in position to at least take a shot at the end zone to win it.

Was he perfect? No. Perfect is not the expectation, though. Playing winning football is, and Love certainly did that against the Bears.

It's incredible what happens when you let a first-round pick actually touch the ball more than once or twice a game. 

Matthew Golden hovered in "bust" territory for all of his rookie season, but he got a chance to shine in his very first playoff game and he took it.

Golden caught four passes for 84 yards and a touchdown, averaging 21 yards per catch.

When the Packers needed a score to stop the bleeding in the fourth quarter, he was the one who willed the football into the end zone.

Golden's usage this season was abysmal. He consistently got overshadowed on the depth chart, but whenever he got chances, he took them and looked great.

That's another indictment on LaFleur, frankly.

Quay Walker has become one of the best inside linebackers in the NFL this season, and the Packers would be wise to get him signed this offseason.

They didn't pick up his fifth-year team option and put the pressure on him to perform, and he did. He finished the season (including the playoff game) with 133 tackles (61 solo), 2.5 sacks, 10.5 stuffs and seven passes defended.

He, alongside Edgerrin Cooper, was strong in the middle against the Bears, and they did everything they could to shut down a very explosive Chicago offense.

Walker was far from the problem against the Bears. In fact, he should be a part of the solution for the Packers moving forward.