Saturday night’s post-season game may just be the first round, but it also marks the final broadcast of the 2025 season for veteran play-by-play voice Al Michaels. The No. 2 seed Chicago Bears will host the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers this weekend at Soldier Field. While the matchup itself carries plenty of weight, Michaels, who turned 81 last November, also finds his future under the spotlight, even as he has continued to make clear that his own feelings about staying in the booth.

“First of all, I feel great,” he said.  “Everyone at Amazon has been fantastic and I love working with this group. I’ve been looking at this year one year at a time and as long as I feel I’m at the top of my game, I’d like to continue.”

Michaels has been a constant presence on the NFL’s biggest stages since joining Monday Night Football in 1986, later becoming the defining voice of NBC’s Sunday Night Football. His transition to Amazon Prime Video in 2022, when the streaming platform acquired exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football, marked the first time his role became contract-dependent on shorter renewal windows.

His initial three-year agreement with Amazon concluded after the 2024 season, after which the network elected to retain him on a year-by-year basis. It was one of the things that fueled recurring retirement speculation, that, too, without any indication from Michaels that he was preparing to step away.

But the recent speculation around Michaels’ future did not originate from any indication that he was preparing to step away. Instead, it intensified over the last two seasons as Amazon’s Thursday Night Football broadcasts placed him under a different kind of spotlight, with viewers and media dissecting his performance, highlighting slip-ups, more closely than at any previous point in his career.

This weekend, he’ll once again be paired with Kirk Herbstreit, continuing a booth partnership that has remained intact since Amazon’s inaugural TNF season. Herbstreit, who signed a five-year deal with Amazon in 2022, has repeatedly pushed back on criticism of Michaels, pointing out that much of the discourse has been driven externally rather than by feedback from the network itself.

Moreover, Michaels has maintained his stance throughout. Back in November, Al Michaels told Jimmy Traina of SI.com that stepping away wasn’t on his mind.

“I feel really good right now,” Michaels told Traina in November 2025. “It’s been a good year, a lot of fun. I love the people I’m working with. So if I had to make a decision today, I would want to come back.”

With Al clear on his stance, the question now is whether the streaming service brings back the 81-year-old veteran. After all, a return in 2026 isn’t solely Michaels’ decision.

“It’s a two-way street here,” Michaels said back then. “They can tell me, ‘Hey, we got to move on. It’s time to make a transition,’ all that. I don’t know, that could happen. But as of the moment, as we sit here on this mid-November afternoon, I feel really good, still love what I do.”

Looking at the situation, one thing is clear: Al Michaels has no intention of stepping aside voluntarily. His message hasn’t changed from November to January. He wants to keep going. Given how synonymous his voice has become with big NFL moments, it’s easy to see why. For now, his focus is simple: Calling one more postseason game before closing out the 2025 season.

The Bears and the Packers meet for the third time in six weeks

On paper and on the official NFL Schedule list, the Bears and the Packers are meeting for the third time in six weeks. Historically, though, this matchup is rare in the post-season. The NFC North rivals have faced each other in the playoffs just twice, with one of those meetings dating back to 1941. Given that context and the fact that both teams are playing meaningful football again, slotting this game into a Saturday night prime-time window makes complete sense.

In December, their first meeting came in Week 14, and it delivered immediate drama. Green Bay led 28–21 with under a minute left when Chicago had one last chance. On fourth down, Caleb Williams fired a pass into the end zone, only for Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon to intercept it with 22 seconds remaining. The Packers escaped with a 28–21 win.

Two weeks later, the rivalry flipped again. In Week 16, Green Bay held a 16–6 lead late, even after Jordan Love exited with a concussion. But Chicago stormed back. Field goal, onside kick, then a fourth-down touchdown to tie the game. In overtime, a Packers fumble opened the door, and Williams found DJ Moore for a 46-yard walk-off score. Bears win 22-16.

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Now, much like their post-season record, the season series sits at 1–1. The stakes couldn’t be clearer: Win the Wild Card and move on. Green Bay enters fresh after resting starters in the finale, while Chicago rides momentum in Ben Johnson’s first year as head coach. All of it sets the stage for Al Michaels’ final broadcast of the season.