Green Bay will host Chicago on Sunday afternoon, with the NFC North title on the line.
Here’s how the teams match up:
Packers’ offense vs. Bears’ defense
Chicago’s defense has struggled this season on a play-to-play basis, but they did get some reinforcements back last week. Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon both returned from injuries, and that could make their defense better as a whole.
Up front, their leader in sacks is Montez Sweat, and they’ve received contributions from a plethora of other guys — including second-year player Austin Booker, who has seen his role increase in recent weeks.
Their linebacker situation is messy at the moment. All three of their preferred starters missed Friday’s game in Philadelphia, and it’s unclear if they’ll be able to return for this week’s game in Green Bay.
Where the Bears make their living is on taking the ball away. Safety Kevin Byard and cornerback Nahshon Wright are both on the leaderboard for most interceptions in football, which includes Byard leading the league with six.
The Bears lead the league in takeaways as well. They added three more to their tally against the Eagles. That’s more impressive considering the Eagles came into the game with the least amount of giveaways in the NFL. Ball security is going to be paramount for this Packers’ offense.
Green Bay’s offense was dynamic last week against Detroit and could be seeing some reinforcements return this week.
Jayden Reed has been out since September with a collarbone and foot injury but was close to playing last week in Detroit.
If he was close to playing in Detroit, he could be ready this week for the month of December to give Green Bay’s offense a boost.
Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks both had big games against the Lions with Wicks scoring twice and catching a game-sealing fourth down conversion.
Watson has been the team’s best receiver since his return from injured reserve and had a big game against Chicago at Soldier Field last year. The Packers appear to be willing to give him more opportunities to keep him involved in the offense.
Green Bay’s offensive line has made a big change with Anthony Belton taking over at right guard. He had some nice moments but did struggle in pass protection, giving up six of the team’s 11 pressures against Detroit. Perhaps another week will allow him to settle in to what is a new position for him.
The story of last week’s game, however, was Jordan Love.
Matt LaFleur handed the keys to his franchise quarterback, and Love delivered what is likely his best game of the season. Love threw four scoring strikes, two on fourth downs. His passer rating was over 120.
Perhaps more importantly, on the final series of the game, LaFleur told him that he had two downs to go win the game. That’s a level of trust we have not seen in Green Bay’s offense from its head coach throughout the season.
Perhaps the Packers have stumbled into their identity as the coach found his team’s best path to victory.
Packers’ defense vs. Bears’ offense
To state the obvious, what a player Micah Parsons is. Parsons was compared to former New York Yankee Mariano Rivera last week by defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, stating he was the team’s closer.
Parsons knows its his job to end the game once the Packers have built a lead. Last week, he did his part again, sacking Jared Goff 2.5 times, bringing his season total to 12.5. Parsons also became the first player to ever record 12 or more sacks in his first five seasons. He’s been everything the Packers could have hoped for and more since his acquisition.
Outside of Parsons, Green Bay’s defense is facing some attrition on the defensive line. They are hoping to get Lukas Van Ness and Karl Brooks back on their defensive line, and they are going to need all hands on deck.
Not only does Chicago have an ascending run game, but the Packers just lost Devonte Wyatt for the rest of the season with an injury he suffered last week.
Their secondary struggled against Detroit, especially against Jameson Williams. They could get Nate Hobbs back this week, but he has struggled during the year and likely will be relegated to reserve duty behind Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine. Valentine had some rough moments against the Lions but has mostly been a bright spot in the secondary.
Across from Green Bay will be an ascending offense, specifically on the line and run game. For all the discussion surrounding Ben Johnson’s creativity in the passing game, he has built a physical ground game, which is led by the right side of their offensive line.
Drew Dallman, Jonah Jackson and specifically Darnell Wright have grown into a group of bullies. They just beat up on the Philadelphia Eagles, which included them getting two individual 100-yard rushers.
Both D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai are hard runners who make some hay after contact is made.
In the passing game, Caleb Williams is still and up-and-down player. He struggled against the Eagles, completing less than 50% of his passes and throwing an interception. He did, however, throw a nifty touchdown pass to Cole Kmet to seal a big win on the road. He has two good tight ends in Kmet and first-round pick Colston Loveland, who has become a bigger part of the offense in recent weeks.
His receiver trio of DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and Luther Burden gives him options to try and find some opportunities in Green Bay’s secondary.
One of the keys for Green Bay’s pass rush this week will be keeping Williams in the pocket and also getting him to the ground when they get their hands on them. Williams has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league at escaping sacks and making plays with his legs. He hurt the Packers with his legs a season ago as well. Perhaps the return of Quay Walker next to Edgerrin Cooper can help free things up to keep an extra set of eyes on Williams once he escapes the pocket.
Special Teams
Green Bay has put together what is probably their best two-game stretch of the season after another solid performance in Detroit against the Lions.
Brandon McManus made all of his kicks, and outside of some questionable decision making on kickoffs from Bo Melton, Green Bay’s special teams won the day against Detroit and Minnesota. Both of those teams had better special teams than Green Bay’s coming into the game as well.
Chicago’s special teams is another challenge, and they bludgeoned the Packers a season ago at Lambeau Field, including a trick play that resulted in a punt return for a touchdown.
Chicago’s return game has gotten better this season with Devin Duvernay handling return duties, but their situation at kicker has been shaky for most of the year. Cairo Santos has been injured and struggled with being in and out of the lineup. He will kick Sunday for Chicago.
