The Chicago Bears know beating the Green Bay Packers is difficult. They don’t need reminding of that. Aaron Rodgers has only lost to them five times in his entire career. That “I still own you” comment wasn’t unwarranted. He has every reason to feel confident his team will take care of business on Sunday night at Lambeau Field. Maybe that is why he didn’t seem to mind openly discussing the Packers’ likely offensive plans for the game.
Everybody saw what happened last week. The Minnesota Vikings decisively dismissed Green Bay in a humbling 23-7 defeat. Rodgers was visibly upset on the sideline during most of the game. He finished with 197 yards passing and an interception. Those aren’t numbers he’s used to putting up. The quarterback came right out when asked what went wrong and said what the problem was.
“We maybe reacted to the score a little bit,” Rodgers said. “And we were running the ball well — I think we ran it about 6 (yards) a clip — so we’ve just got to stick with the run, make sure we get our attempts where we want them to be because that means one of those guys is touching the ball probably.”
That is a clear enough indication of what’s coming tonight.
Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon are a top five running back combination in the league. With the departure of Davante Adams to Las Vegas, they became the unquestioned source of star power on offense outside of Rodgers. Because Green Bay’s offensive line is banged up, it makes sense to run the football rather than put the QB at risk by passing too much. Minnesota sacked Rodgers four times last week.
This revelation should concern the Bears. Their defense allowed 176 yards on the ground last week against San Francisco. Now 106 of those yards came from Trey Lance scrambles and creative Deebo Samuel runs. However, one must not forget Elijah Mitchell averaged 6.83 yards per carry against them before going down with his knee injury. The Bears might be vulnerable on the ground.
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Aaron Rodgers has every reason to feed his backs.
He knows the Packers have had consistent success running the ball against Chicago. Last year they ran for 119 and 154 yards in their two meetings last year. The Bears never really found an answer to Jones and Dillon. Head coach Matt Eberflus and defensive coordinator Alan Williams must change that. Otherwise, it could be a long night for their defense. Part of the problem is the defensive line.
Chicago demonstrated last week that their front four has solid pass rush capability. They hounded Lance all day and sacked him twice. Run defense is another story. Their interior of Justin Jones, Angelo Blackson, and Armon Watts didn’t always control their gaps too well. It was a sobering reminder of how shallow the talent pool is at defensive tackle. The good news is the Packers’ offensive line may have to go without multiple starters.
David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins, and Jon Runyan are all questionable.
Aaron Rodgers has had it easy during his last three years against the Bears. While many think it’s because of his brilliance alone, the Packers’ running game has done much of the heavy lifting. That won’t change on Sunday night. Jones and Dillon will get fed early and often. Chicago has two choices. Either stop them or hope the offense can score enough points to force Rodgers into throwing. It’s safe to say which prospect holds a greater likelihood.
Of course this was their game plan, a blind man from Mars could see that. You’re insight is stating the oblivious!