The Green Bay Packers vs. the Chicago Bears is one of the NFL's most heated rivalries. Nowadays, the Detroit Lions lay claim to the top of the NFC North, and the Minnesota Vikings always get nasty when they play Green Bay, but there's something both historic and visceral about the Packers vs. Bears.
Back in the day, the NFC North used to be known as the “black and blue” division. Whenever the Packers and Bears get together, as they'll do in Week 11 of the 2024 NFL season, things tend to get a bit black and blue. There's no love lost between these two teams, though things have been a bit more high-flying and one-sided ever since Brett Favre took over in Green Bay.
Ownership of the Bears was passed on to Aaron Rodgers, and now Jordan Love is 2-0 against the Bears in his young career. Those kinds of bragging rights are always on the line, but there's also a ton on the line in this one as it relates to the 2024 season. The Packers are 6-3 and coming off a bye but also coming off a loss to the Lions that they need to bounce back from. The Bears, on the other hand, have lost three in a row, just fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, and their No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Caleb Williams, is taking heat.
If there was ever a Packers vs. Bears game that qualified as a must-win — and there certainly have been many of those — this Week 11 matchup would be amongst them. Here are three X-factors to watch in this game.
Jordan Love vs. the Bears' secondary
Packers quarterback Jordan Love desperately needs to regain his accuracy. He's thrown 15 touchdowns but also 10 interceptions. Those 10 interceptions are tied for the most in the league with Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks and Sam Darnold of the Vikings. The problem? Love has played in only seven games due to injury. Smith and Darnold have both played in nine.
Meanwhile, the Bears have forced 16 turnovers this season, which is the seventh-best mark in the NFL. Their problem? Only five of those turnovers have been interceptions, which is a mark near the bottom of the league.
Love proved in 2023 that he can be accurate (he at one stretch boasted an 18-1 touchdown to interception ratio), and when he's accurate, the Packers simply win games. Something has got to break in this matchup,
Caleb Williams vs. Packers' unproven pass rush
Nobody has been sacked more than Williams this season. Yes, that tends to happen a bunch to rookie quarterbacks because it takes them time to feel out the speed of the game and the way an NFL pocket can collapse. The Bears have been putrid when it comes to protecting their franchise quarterback, though. Williams was sacked a whopping nine times in Week 10 against the New England Patriots. The most sacks a quarterback has ever taken in a game was 12 when Donovan McNabb underwent that cruel and usual punishment in 2007 with the Philadelphia Eagles. Nine is not 12, but it's pretty close.
To his credit, Williams hasn't thrown his offensive line under the bus.
“I'd say it first starts with me,” Williams said after the Patriots game, per Sports Illustrated. “I had about two plays, two or three plays in key moments of situational ball that it didn't click in my head.”
On the other side of ten ball, the Packers just traded away pass rusher Preston Smith, and they're fully counting on young players like Lukas Van Ness and Rashan Gary to step up. They invested a ton into both players — Van Ness was the 13th overall pick in 2023, and Gary was the 12th overall pick in 2019 — but so far in 2024, they have just 3.5 sacks between them.
Yes, the Packers recently switched from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense, so there will be some growing pains, but this pass rush desperately needs to step up for Green Bay to make a legitimate playoff run.
In all of this, Williams needs to watch out for Xavier McKinney, who can and will make him pay if he rushes a throw or is off target.
Packers wideouts need to step up
If the Packers get even above-average production from their wide receivers against the Bears, they'll win this game going away. The Packers have one of the most talented wide receiver rooms in the NFL — and that's not even mentioning second-year star tight end Tucker Kraft — but Green Bay is also the third-worst team in the league in drops. The Packers' 23 drops are right behind 25 from the New York Giants and 27 from the Cleveland Browns. Those two teams are a combined 4-15, so that's not the company the Packers want to keep.
Meanwhile, Jayden Reed has superstar potential (especially after the catch), Christian Watson is one of the best deep threats in the game when healthy, and Romeo Doubs is fearless when it comes to going up and getting the football.
These three players have the potential to torch the Bears, but they have to step up and live up to that potential.
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