Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley expressed confidence in the club's starting cornerback, Keisean Nixon, heading into Wild Card Weekend. Alas, it's safe to say that faith blew up in their faces spectacularly.
Nixon did catch Packers fans' eyes in the Packers' crushing playoff loss to the Chicago Bears, albeit in the worst of ways. He was on the wrong end of multiple glaring lowlights -- in the most critical moments of the contest, too.
From special teams woes to a lack of second-half adjustments, there's plenty of fault to find in the Green Bay locker room. Several members of the group contributed to the Packers' colossal collapse in Chicago (again). However, to Hafley's dismay, two key blunders may give Nixon the largest slice of the blame pie.
Keisan Nixon burns Jeff Hafley, Packers at the worst possible time
Hafley went on the record to say that Nixon would fare well in their win-or-go-home showdown with the Bears. The former even voiced a willingness to bet on the latter having a "pretty good" performance (if allowed, of course), which couldn't have aged worse.
There were opportunities to stop the bleeding as Chicago mounted its vicious 18-point comeback, specifically for Nixon in the fourth quarter. First, he evaded Bears running back D'Andre Swift on the touchdown that made it a one-score game in what looked like a clear "business decision." Then, the Packers' corner got burned in coverage on a crucial fourth down.
Swift ran right at Nixon, who was caught on camera dodging the contact. Chicago was probably breaking the plane on the play either way, though the lack of effort with everything on the line is tough to see. Nevertheless, as retired Super Bowl champion defensive back Will Blackmon stated, this was a "prime [opportunity] for a game changing punch out."
With a shot at redemption in crunch time, Nixon failed to deliver. He poorly read Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze's route on an improbable 27-yard reception that kept Chicago's drive and hopes alive. Green Bay ultimately paid for this and was sent packing in backbreaking fashion.
Chicago deserves a ton of credit for staying the course and overcoming adversity. Yet, Nixon's timely (or ill-timed) shortcomings were a recurring theme of the Packers' disappointing 2025 campaign. He was a liability in the secondary, which reared its ugly head against the Bears.