An old-fashioned, hard-nosed matchup awaits the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday, January 3rd. Having been flexed out of the noon CT slot and into the later 3:25 pm CT slot, these two teams are both fighting for postseason implications–but each for very different things.
For the visitors, it is quite simple: all Green Bay needs to do is win the game and they guarantee themselves the top seed in the NFC playoff picture, earning the lone bye and getting to rest up a week. Having just lost stalwart left tackle David Bakhtiari to a season-ending ACL tear was a big-time development from their Thursday practice, so the Packers have something to fight for besides their playoff seeding.
The Bears, similarly, have a very straight-forward path into their postseason berth: win and they are in. They are fighting with the Arizona Cardinals and others to get into the postseason as one of the bottom teams, which would be a nice ending to their rollercoaster of a 2020 campaign.
With the game brewing to be an epic showdown, here are four bold predictions we see happening:
Aaron Rodgers has an absolute field day, goes pass happy
Kyle Fuller–who is Chicago’s best cornerback on the roster–may end up having to play a lot of 1-on-1 coverage with the amazing athlete that is Davante Adams on Sunday, seeing as how the Bears will be missing a lot of their secondary and will most likely have a few members returning but not at full health.
For corners, both Jaylon Johnson and Buster Skrine have been ruled out for the game, as Johnson’s shoulder injury and Skrine’s concussion have both been enough to hold each out of the game.
Currently listed as questionable, safeties Deon Bush and Tashaun Gipson Jr. look to be in line to help for Chuck Pagano’s defense, and they may be tasked with more coverage duties than they are normally used to.
Safety Eddie Jackson will most likely be forced into helping out the others on the field in coverage, meaning that Rodgers and Adams could absolutely abuse Fuller on Sunday in one-on-one matchups. But the likes of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard, and Robert Tonyan could all have big days as well, helping Rodgers put a lock on his MVP case for this season.
Could we see a 400-yard day?
Rushing attack is efficient but not frequently used
Last week against the Tennessee Titans in the snowy confines of Lambeau Field, Packers fans were all exposed to what kind of brutal, downhill runner that rookie RB AJ Dillon is–having run for his first two career NFL touchdowns and over many defenders on his way to paydirt.
With both Jamaal Williams and Aaron Jones a bit banged up, the Boston College rookie took over and shined in his first big-time playing time. While he will certainly see time against the Bears, look for more of a balanced attack to return.
With none of the three backs listed on the team’s injury report, it looks like Jones will be first out of the shoot for Green Bay, earning the majority of the carries, while Williams and Dillon both coming in to spell him. But with the obvious mismatches that the Packers' passing weapons should pose for the Bears' secondary, the running attack may not get its needed focus from head coach Matt LaFleur in his play calls.
If the game script ends up being more 1/3 running and 2/3 passing, then these three backs will combine for 20 carries, but could very easily produce 3.0-plus yards per carry.
Khalil Mack goes silent
Even with Bakhtiari’s season-ending injury, the Green Bay offensive line boasts one of the best overall units in the league, and they should be able to pick up the slack better than most teams when losing their best OL member.
Led by center Corey Linsley and guard/center/tackle/OL extraordinaire Elgton Jenkins, they have a ton of positional flexibility that can help mend the hole vacated by Bakhtiari. Rookie guard Jon Runyan figures into this equation as well as veteran tackle Rick Wagner, giving LaFleur a ton of options to move forward with.
Earlier this year, Bakhtiari missed a few games, yet Rodgers was only sacked once. With that in mind, they have proven that they can make do without the league’s best and highest-paid LT, and they can put that on display yet again on Sunday.
Khalil Mack, the disruptor of opposing backfield and the devil that lives in QB’s nightmares, certainly figures to be a big-time factor now with Bakhtiari out. But not so fast, as he actually has a chance to be a non-factor in the game–just built purely on how Green Bay decides to handle the pass rush.
Most likely scheming up protection details to help keep an RB or TE in to help block or building in chip situations before heading out for routes, this offense will do whatever it can to make sure that Mack does not become a big factor for the Bears in the game’s final outcome.
Packers defense helps bring Mitchell Trubisky and David Montgomery back down to earth
The two big factors for Chicago’s resurgence over the back-half of this season have been due to Mitchell Trubisky being reinstalled as the team’s starting QB and David Montgomery finally earning his fair share of touches as the team’s lead running back.
The Bears offense has seen a resurgence across the board once Foles was injured and Trubisky became the starter again, and it almost seems like the offense has more energy and that they enjoy what they are doing more than when Foles was in under center. But Sunday could very well be the end to that run for both of these players, especially with how strong the Green Bay defense has looked over the past few weeks.
Spearheaded by the pass rush and CB Jaire Alexander, the Pakcers defense has looked renewed for defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, which would be a great facet for the team to bring into the postseason.
Safety Darnell Savage has been a big-time factor in this unit’s resurgence, as he has been flying all over the field and producing career bests in coverage metrics. Last week against the Titans, Savage picked off Ryan Tannehill once and dropped a second pick, and he teamed up with fellow safety Adrian Amos to help shut down the Titans' passing attack.
Opposing RBs has been the biggest issue for the Packers this year, but helping box up Trubisky would go a long way to making Montgomery inefficient. By controlling one of those areas, the other earns higher importance and then can also be made less efficient, overall impacting the Bears offense and helping keep them down.
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