The Green Bay Packers take on the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field in a great NFC North clash filled with the great tradition of the NFL’s oldest rivalry.
The Bears and Packers are coming off good wins in week 3. The Packers mounted an impressive comeback at home to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 27-24 after trailing 21-7 at halftime. Meanwhile, the Bears have a different look and aura after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-17 in overtime at Soldier Field.
Thursday’s night match will be the 195th time these two teams meet including playoffs and the series record is 94-94-6. Scoring wise the Packers hold a slight edge as they have scored 3,335 points and the Bears 3,331 points.
If the Bears want to win this game they should do three basic things: find a way to take away possessions from the hands of explosive offenses as they did against the Steelers, they also must own the clock by running the ball and they must start fast as they can’t afford to fall behind by a big margin against Aaron Rodgers and his receivers.
Starting fast won’t be easy, however, as in their last 51 games the Bears have only held the lead at the end of the first quarter a paltry 11 times.
The Bears are improving in their running game as the dynamic Howard and Cohen proved they can run on anyone when the offensive line opens holes in the backfield and creates running lanes they can hit with their speed and versatility.
Jordan Howard rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns against a Steelers defense that had no answer for him and fellow running back Tarik Cohen.
While Howard has proven he can be relied upon as a number one back, Cohen proved his worth getting quality reps and lining all up and down the line of scrimmage as a receiver. In fact, Cohen is 6th among NFL running backs with 20 catches in three games.
A good performance by the Bears offensive line will be vital because if the Packers find a way to get a big lead the Bears will have to abandon the run and lose their most effective weapon to win the time of possession battle and keep Rodgers off the field.
During the Aaron Rodgers era, as it was the norm during the Brett Favre years, it’s usually Green Bay who jumps ahead in the score and grabs the lead, forcing the Bears to play catch-up the rest of the way.
To avoid that in this game they must effectively use their defense to cover Green Bay’s receivers to make Rodgers hold on to the ball a little bit longer and at the same time be able to put pressure on him.
The Bears must rush him constantly to try to hit him, knock him down and even sack him as he’s proved prone to pressure because the Pack’s offensive line has already allowed him to be sacked 13 times in the first three games.
Despite their improved running game, the Bears need contributions from their wide receivers and quarterback Mike Glennon if they want to win this game, just in case they need to keep pace with the Packers explosive air attack.
It’s true that Green Bay’s o-line is banged up as it’s missing some key tackles, but as long as Rodgers is at the helm the Packers passing game will be lethal enough to help them win tight games or mount improbable comebacks when trailing at the half.
