There are many cliche things I could say about Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears rivalry. People hear them all the time and it always ranked as one of the best rivalries in all of sports. And the most cliche thing to say 'In a rivalry game, throw out the records.' While that's true, we will need to face some facts. Both teams feature an above .500 record, but both teams are going in a different direction currently as Green Bay starts getting healthier, Chicago is trying to bridge the gap before all their star players come back from injury.
The first thing that jumps off the page with Chicago is their lack of defense. For the last several years, the Bears always had a strong defense, and it led their team when the offense might not look the greatest. Yet this year, Chicago needs to score on almost every drive to compete on a weekly basis. Lance Briggs is out for awhile and the Bears are completely lost at defensive tackle making their front-seven the shakiest it has been in awhile. They do get Charles Tillman back from injury which is a big thing for this defense, but Tim Jennings and him only make two out of the four parts of the defensive backfield. All of these defensive questions could spell big problems against a surging Packer offense.
I am trying to be fair here as a Packer fan, but it does feel like little is made about the Packers rushing attack. They have a legitimate two-headed monster with Eddie Lacy and James Starks. Both are physical runners and can wear down a team in the fourth quarter. New York Giants had Brandon Jacobs and Da'Rel Scott carrying the ball against Chicago for 123 yards on 26 carries for a 4.7 rushing average. Washington rushed for a combined 209 yards on 43 carries for a 4.9 rushing average. Both of those teams are a combined 5-11 but they are nearly gaining half a first down against the Bears defense. Starks and Lacy could both have huge games tonight exploiting the Bears inefficient front-seven.
It is not like the Bears pass defense is any better. Despite the potentially bad weather tonight, Aaron Rodgers has a chance to have a big game tonight as well. Currently, Chicago's pass defense is the worst team in yards per attempt giving up 8.7 yards per pass completion. The Bears have allowed 274 yards per game which is sixth-worst in the league and they have only nine sacks as a team. They are the only team to be in single-digits when it comes to sacks and for whatever it is worth, Green Bay ranks 10th in giving up sacks with only 17. This defense might be worse off than we are talking about right now. Chicago needs to find some pressure tonight or else Rodgers will pick them completely apart. This is another big test for the Packers rush defense. Matt Forte has not had one game over 100 yards this season, but he is having a pretty solid year thus far for Chicago. Even though the Bears have all sorts of passing weapons, Chicago must rely on Forte to win this football game. One instance in the past where Forte gave Green Bay all sorts of problems was him in the passing game. He always seemed to be able to get out in the flats or with screens. Forte could be the game-changer in this one.
Another major factor in this game will be Devin Hester. Green Bay has been awful against Cleveland and Minnesota with the Packers giving up a touchdown against the Vikings last Sunday. Hester gave Green Bay headaches in the past and I would be surprised if they decide to kick to him tonight. Currently, Hester has 615 yards on kick returns with about a 29.2 average when he gets his chance. Hester does not have any touchdowns yet he broke one for 80 yards earlier this season. Green Bay's special teams needs to be better than what they have been for the last couple of weeks.
When it comes down to it, I look at the stars of this team. The Bears are missing most of them including the biggest one, their quarterback Jay Cutler. Chicago is second in giving up sacks this season, a massive improvement and Josh McCown did adequately against Washington which is not saying much. There are way too many holes on Chicago's defense for me to think they can win this game. I will say this I think the Packers cover but only because they get a very late touchdown. Green Bay 34 Chicago 21
Charlie.
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