Today the Green Bay Packers renew their historic rivalry with the Chicago Bears for the 207th time. I feel like we're always talking about the history of the two teams whenever they face each other, but despite it happening twice a year, those who have been in it a long time understand the significance anytime these two teams play each other. The Packers hold a commanding 106-94-6 record in the regular season against Chicago, including a 10-game winning streak for the green and gold. If the Packers are victorious today, they will make history by setting an NFL record for most consecutive wins by an NFL team against a single opponent. If it happens, that will be a nice bragging feather in the cap for any Packer fan in the weeks to follow. 

The Packers are coming off their Bye week at a record of 6-3 and are the healthiest they've been since week 1. They'll be hoping the week off helps propel them to a winning streak as they'll be taking on a Bears team that's been doing the exact opposite. The Bears got off to a semi-exciting 4-2 start but have since floundered to 4-5 after a three-game losing streak with the latest being a 19-3 loss to the New England Patriots. With the Patriots not exactly being a good team this year, and the Bears being unable to score more than three points on them, it's definitely sent Chicago into turmoil and the Packers will be looking to take advantage. 

The last time these two teams met was in Green Bay for the final game of the 2023 season where the winner essentially would earn a playoff birth and the loser's season would be over. The Packers were victorious pulling off a low-scoring 17-9 win over the Bears where Jordan Love went 27/32 for 316 yards and two touchdowns. Dontayvion Wicks caught both of those touchdowns. Jayden Reed and Aaron Jones also stood out on offense with Reed earning 112 yards receiving and Jones collecting 111 yards on the ground. The Packers' defense also managed to sack Justin Fields five times in this game as the Packers made their way to victory. Hopefully, we end up seeing more of that today, replacing Aaron Jones with Josh Jacobs, and Justin Fields with Caleb Williams of course. 

Normally this is the point where I briefly mention the previous game. But since that was two weeks ago and the Packers are coming off the Bye, I'm going to pass on it. Instead, I'm going to mention the health of this team heading into the second half of the season. Every single player on the roster has been practicing this week. Jordan Love is a full participant for the first time in a while, and Evan Williams and Jaire Alexander are practicing in a limited fashion. Unfortunately, Marshawn Lloyd was designated to return from IR, but on Friday had to undergo an emergency appendectomy. So, his future this season is in question. The Packers also lost first-round pick Jordan Morgan to a shoulder injury that was re-aggravated in practice and he was placed on IR. Hopefully, he will still be able to return this season. It seems like every game this year we've had a "yeah but" comment when it comes to the health of the roster. Alexander and Williams are listed as questionable. Robert Rochell was elevated from the practice squad yesterday leading many to believe that meant Jaire Alexander would not play today. However, I've been seeing otherwise, we will have to find out.

Hopefully, a clean bill of health will follow us through this game as we look to earn another W.

What to see on Offense

The Bears' offense has been dismal so far this season, but in true Bears fashion, their defense is still their strength. When it comes to total defensive rankings, they sit 13th in the league at this point in the season in total defense, one spot behind the Packers at 12. They average only 18.6 points allowed per game. They've only given up 20+ points twice and that was 29 to the Cardinals and 21 to the Colts. Both teams the Packers held under 15 points. The Bears' defense may be a challenge, but I think it's one the Packers' offense is up for. 

They rank 7th in the league in passing yards against, averaging only 190 yards per game. Jaylon Johnson leads the way for the Bears' defensive backs, leading the team with two interceptions, and his teammates with one aren't far behind totaling six more as a team. Tyrique Stevenson holds the other corner opposite Jaylon Johnson and holds a team-high eight passes defended. On the back end, Kevin Byard III holds down the fort with Elijah Hicks on the opposite side in the absence of Jaquan Brisker who was put on IR earlier this past week. The Bears' secondary thrives on takeaways, so with Jordan Love struggling in that fashion this season, they're definitely licking their chops at the opportunity to pick off number 10. Love stated that limiting his INTs would be a focus of his over the Bye week, hopefully, that holds today. 

Checking on Chicago's pass rush, DT Gervon Dexter leads the team with four sacks followed closely by DE Montez Sweat with 3.5. The Bears total 24 sacks this season which is only two more than a Packers' pass rush that has been considered to be underwhelming so far this season. Considering the Packers' ability to keep their QB clean most of this season with only two teams keeping their QB's cleaner so far, I'm not concerned with the Bears pass rush. They might rush Love a small amount, but I don't think it'll be as disruptive as years past. 

When it comes to defending the run, that's where Chicago has struggled. They rank 24th in the league, giving up an average of 133 rushing yards per game. The Bears had to place DT Andrew Billings on IR before last week's game and they followed it up by giving up 144 yards rushing to the Patriots on 35 attempts. Billings' absence was surely noticeable, and it might be up to the Chicago linebackers to try to stop Green Bay's rushing attack this week. T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds lead the way for those linebackers but they will have their hands full with the Packers this week. 

The Packers are ranked third in the NFL in rushing offense to this point. Josh Jacobs has averaged 4.8 yards per carry to this point and will be looking to gash a Bears defense that may have little to stand in his way.

If I'm Matt LaFleur game planning this week, I'm leaning heavily on my running game against Chicago. This isn't exactly one of those games like Indianapolis or Tennessee when you just run the ball constantly because they can't stop you, but Chicago is just lacking enough against the run where their inability to stop it may open up the pass. Earlier this week I talked on this site about how the Packers need to use play-action more with Jordan Love this season. Well, this could be the perfect game to do so. Get Josh Jacobs and the running backs rolling and then take advantage of Chicago's desperation to stop the run to catch that ball-hawking secondary off-guard with a great play-action. 

I'm anticipating a good game for Josh Jacobs, but the Packers receivers could also have a big one today if the play-action pass gets rolling again.

What to See on Defense

Starting on the injury front, both Jaire Alexander and Evan Williams are listed as questionable heading into this game as I mentioned before. I don't know if their presence makes it a different game, but they were both surely missed against Detroit two weeks ago. My guess is they both go today. I saw mentions that they may have faced Detroit, but with the Bye week after, they decided to hold them out to ensure they healed up for the season's final stretch. 

Chicago's offense hasn't been very encouraging so far this season for Bear fans. That's likely the reason their offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired earlier this week. Passing game coordinator, Thomas Brown will be taking his place and will have the task of reeling in an offense that's ranked 30th in total offense. They're also 30th in passing, but hey, at least they move up five spots to be 25th in rushing. Brown was the Panthers offensive coordinator in 2023 where the Panthers had their best offensive game of the year against the Packers. The difference between last year and this year though, is this year, Joe Barry doesn't run the defense. It's run by Jeff Hafley. And the defense has seen a lot of improvement.

So far this season, the apparent heir to the Chicago Bears' throne, Caleb Williams, has struggled. Despite having a pretty decent supporting cast of receivers around him, Williams has only completed 60% of passes, throwing for 1,785 yards, nine touchdowns, and five interceptions. Chicago loaded Caleb Williams with a great supporting cast on paper with DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze at WR, Cole Kmet at TE, and D'Andre Swift at HB, but neither player has run away on offense. The issue? The offensive line. I have to give a little bit of a jab here at Bears GM Ryan Pace in that regard. He's an offensive lineman himself, yet he seems to fail to recognize the importance of a stout offensive line. You can throw weapons all over the field but if your QB is running for his life, it doesn't matter. 

That lack of a stout offensive line is the reason the Bears are ranked 31st in sacks against. They have allowed 38 sacks so far this season. Nine of those came against New England last week. After trading away Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Packers are down a pass rusher. It hurt a little bit less when I realized Smith requested the trade as he just didn't feel like he fit the defense. I can respect that decision. Hopefully, the Packers pass rushers with Enagbare, Van Ness, Mosby, and Cox getting more snaps can use this game to break out. It's without question I'll be hoping for a big game from Rashan Gary, but in the long run, those behind him need to step up as well in Smith's absence. 

Bears guard Teven Jenkins will not play today and the rest of their offensive line is pretty banged up which may help the Packers in the running game as well. 

When the Packers signed Josh Jacobs and the Bears signed D'Andre Swift, all I could hear was how "the Bears got the better back." I'm not sure if people just thought that because Swift had the more inflated contract, but that definitely has not been the case with Josh Jacobs rushing for 762 yards so far this season on 158 carries, and Swift only hitting 564 on just 17 fewer carries. As a result, the Bears are 24th in the league averaging 108.1 rushing yards per game. Unfortunately for Chicago, the act of bringing in a big-time running back to take the pressure off their rookie Quarterback hasn't worked out for them so far. 

The Packers have been beaten up by a few running games here and there this season, but they still rank 10th in the league for rushing yards allowed per game. With Chicago's offensive line banged up and D'Andre Swift struggling, I think the Packers should be able to stop the run pretty well today. 

Extra Notes

The Packers may be wise to have the Bears start from their own 30-off kickoffs today. He's no Devin Hester, but DeAndre Carter averages 32 yards per return and another 10.2 on punt returns. He's had returns of 67 and 38, and if the Packers want to take advantage of a struggling Bears offense, it would be wise to kick away from Carter so that you're not handing an offense that's already on the ropes, an easy route to the endzone. 

I've mentioned kickers every game to this point and this isn't going to be different. Brandon McManus has only missed one kick so far in a Packers uniform. We'll take it. McManus should have another good game today hopefully only having to nail 4-5 extra points after touchdowns. It seems like so far the Packers have found their 2024 kicker to move forward with, hopefully, nothing happens to change that. 

In the End

I'm always skeptical of the Packers coming off their Bye. In the previous five years of Matt LaFleur's tenure, they are 2-3 in the game after the Bye week. They have every reason to make it 3-3 but they have to keep their eyes on this game and this game only. The majority of players on the Packers roster have never lost to the Bears. Matt LaFleur has never lost to the Bears. Now's not the time to get caught up in chances though, as any team can beat any team on any given day. 

If the Packers stay focused today, eliminate the stupid drive-killing penalties, and stick to their game, I believe we come out with our 11th straight win over the Chicago Bears and write in the 2024 Packers' place in NFL history. Go Pack Go.