The Green Bay Packers head to Lambeau Field for their home opener against another division rival, the Chicago Bears. The Green and Gold started the season less than optimally with their convincing loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1. However, rebounding from a shoddy season debut is getting to be old hat for Green Bay.
However, the Packers do find themselves in a somewhat unfamiliar position. For the first time in what feels like forever, the Bears come to Lambeau with a superior record. In the slip-and-slide Soldier Field conditions, Chicago won their Week 1 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.
Losing this early-season matchup to the Bears on Sunday night wouldn’t put the Packers out of the playoffs by any stretch of the imagination. However, falling behind with two divisional losses in the first two weeks would be challenging to overcome, even for the reigning MVP.
For the Packers to avoid falling into an early rut, they’ll need to watch out for three things the Bears do well.
Sack the Quarterback
Last season, the Bears ranked amongst the league leaders in sacks, finishing third in the NFL with 45. You would assume this number would go down, considering the Bears traded away star edge rusher Khalil Mack. However, it is essential to remember that Mack played only seven games in 2021. Last season, the Bears managed to take down Aaron Rodgers three times with Mack and three times without him.
Robert Quinn is the man to watch out for in Chicago’s pass rush. Quinn had a resurgence last year, recording 18.5 sacks after a career-low of two in 2020. Packers fans will remember Quinn from his mocking of Rodgers’ patented Discount Double-check after he took down the Packers QB. The Bears proceeded to get torched after this fun little joke.
With Elgton Jenkins and David Bakhtiari potentially missing another week, the focus will be on keeping Rodgers as clean as possible with their makeshift offensive line.
Pass Defense
Coupled with their pass-rushing, Chicago’s pass defense has also been excellent in the last year. Week 1 might not be the best measuring stick, considering the monsoon-like conditions at Soldier Field. However, the Bears were one of the best secondaries in the NFL last season. Chicago’s defense allowed an average of just 191.6 passing yards in 2021. Even Rodgers was only able to muster up 195 passing yards in the first matchup of last season.
Jaylon Johnson is one of the league’s more promising young cornerbacks, and he will look to disrupt Rodgers’ already shaky timing with his new wideouts. Opposite Johnson is Kyler Gordon, who was a second-round pick in 2022. He will try to rebound from his Week 1 display, where he allowed a passer rating of 118.8.
With the Packers’ wideouts not being on the same page as Rodgers just yet, and the offensive line also being a bit of a question mark, expect the Packers’ offense to rely on the run game early.
Adapt To Their Environment
I realize this strength might be a bit unorthodox, but when I looked at the tape of the Bears game last week, the biggest thing that stood out to me was how they were able to adapt to the horrible conditions at Soldier Field.
It could be their offense finding ways to move the ball through some plays that looked like they were taken right out of the backyard football playbook. Or it was their defense jumping on the short passes that the Niners tried to dial up. Either way, they were always able to find a solution.
Under the Matt Nagy coaching staff, it looked like the team was uninterested in playing the game at all. In the new Matt Eberflus regime, the players appear willing and able to step up to the task, regardless of what San Francisco and Mother Nature dished out last week. That could make them awfully frisky when they make their annual sojourn to Wisconsin.
