Sunday’s game will determine the winningest franchise in the history of the National Football League. Ironically, both teams are having losing seasons, so it’s probably hard for either fan base to get too excited. At least Bears fans will get to see dynamic second-year quarterback Justin Fields, who’s expected to start after missing last week with a shoulder injury.
Meanwhile, banged-up Aaron Rodgers, who famously screamed “I own you” at Soldier Field a year ago, is also expected to start. Unfortunately, the only things the back-to-back MVP and future Hall of Famer owns now are a broken thumb, sore ribs, and a QB passer rating that puts him below the likes of Jimmy Garoppolo, Geno Smith, Jared Goff, and Andy Dalton.
PREDICTION: Rodgers has dominated the Bears in Chicago for the past decade and a half, but this is probably the worst team he’s led into Soldier Field. The Packers are losers of seven of their last eight games and have nothing left to play for but pride, and that virtue was in very short supply six days ago when Philadelphia scored 40 points and rushed for over 350 yards. Beleaguered coordinator Joe Barry’s defense put up about as much resistance as a picket fence during a Category 5 hurricane. Quarterback Jalen Hurts ran for over 157 yards, and Fields might be even more dangerous with the football tucked under his right arm.
What gives the Packers’ defense a chance to at least slow Fields down is his suspect supporting cast. Unlike Hurts, he doesn’t have a dominant offensive line in front of him or a pair of Pro Bowl-caliber wide receivers around him. Fields has already been sacked 40 times, and his best wide receiver (Chase Claypool) just joined the team a few weeks ago. Even a coordinator as incompetent as Barry should be able to figure out a way to keep the Bears from scoring over 20 points.
Can the Packers eclipse 20 points – something they’ve done only six times all season? That should be very doable with talented running backs Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon and emerging wide receiver Christian Watson. Not to mention the Bears traded away their two best defensive players (inside linebacker Roquan Smith and edge rusher Robert Quinn) last month.
The Packers are favored on the road by 3 points and should win by at least double that number. Then again, it would not surprise me if they lost this game outright. GREEN BAY 28-20 (Season record: 6-6-0 straight up; 6-5-1 vs. the spread)
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GPG. Seems possible that this is 12s last game this season for GB, and potentially his last game in GB ever.
On the other hand, the front office knows what they have in Love at this point. Why would you sit 12 to play 10?
We’ve been spoiled for the past 30 years because the Packers have almost never played meaningless games in December. I don’t know how to react. It would be a lot easier getting excited for the game if Love were playing.