The Green Bay Packers were coming into Sunday with a boatload of confidence and why not? They’re 12-3, fresh off dismantling the Tennessee Titans last Sunday night. A chance to lock up the #1 seed in the NFC is on the table against a Chicago Bears team they’ve owned the past two years. Now all of those good feelings screeched to a halt.
The news came out a few hours ago that All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari popped up on the Packers injury report with a knee issue. Nobody thought much of it. Probably just a minor tweak. Not long after the bombshell dropped. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the All-Pro left tackle apparently tore his ACL in practice. He is officially out for the Bears game and done for the year. The loss of perhaps one of the best players at his position in the entire league right before a pivotal game and Super Bowl push.
The timing of this is beyond fascinating.
Coming into the week, Bakhtiari wasn’t shy about sharing his feelings in regards to the upcoming game. He stated his absolute love for beating Chicago and expects his team to “beat the piss” out of the Bears. While it’s easy to understand his confidence, that sort of trash talk can sometimes boomerang on you if you’re not careful. Sure enough, just days later he suffers this catastrophic injury.
Karma? Maybe. Either way, it’s an unfortunate break for arguably the best left tackle in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers suddenly has to worry about his blindside more often. Something that was never an issue with Bakhtiari on the field. Can the Bears take advantage? That’s a good question. Their pass rush has been hot and cold all season. They only touched Rodgers once in the first meeting back in November. So it’s hard to say if they can make this matter as much as it should.
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Source: #Packers standout LT David Bakhtiari suffered a season-ending knee injury today in practice. The belief is that he tore his ACL. Just crushing.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 31, 2020
David Bakhtiari is the best left tackle in football and the highest-paid offensive lineman ever. Now, with @RapSheet's report that he's believed to have torn his ACL in practice today, the NFL's No. 1 offense will try and win a Super Bowl without one of its best players.
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) January 1, 2021
Green Bay Packers may mask his loss for now but over time?
The Packers actually lost Bakhtiari earlier in the year to injuries. He ended up missing three games. They went 2-1 in those games and the offense seemed to function fine without him. Then again they didn’t exactly play a tough schedule during that time. The Texans? The Vikings? An undermanned San Francisco? Handling those opponents wasn’t a huge deal.
That is almost certain to change in the coming weeks, if not this Sunday. The playoffs always tend to feature the best, most well-coached defenses in the league. Not having an elite player like Bakhtiari is going to tell at some point. Rodgers is a great quarterback but even he can be at the mercy of his protection at times.
Maybe Chicago can throw him a few wrinkles based on this new advantage.
If nothing else the Bears should help the rest of the NFC get a good look at how the Green Bay Packers will try to mask the absence of their star tackle. It’s worth noting the Bears did take advantage somewhat when they last didn’t face him in 2017, sacking Rodgers twice. That was with Leonard Floyd and Pernell McPhee. Maybe Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn can do a bit better.
