#689 Packers Unscripted: Bracing for the Bears

wins of any franchise in NFL history. Those teams are deadlocked with seven and eighty six victories if I have the number right. The more internal story is what is going on with the quarterbacks because the Bears are hoping to get Justin Fields back in action after he missed last week with a shoulder injury. Packers at this point counting on Aaron Rodgers being able to play despite the rib injury that is now on top of the broken

thumb that continues to heal. So very interesting quarterback storyline here heading into Chicago on Sunday. First, and foremost incredible that hunt for seven eight seven that both of these teams have kind of been on here for a number of weeks. Now. From the green Bay Packers perspective, again,

I think you tip your cap to Brat Farve. To Aaron Rodgers, the fact that the Packers not only were able to pull out in front of the Bears and the all time series between the two teams, but are now in a position to potentially overtake Chicago for all time wins in NFL history. That's a tremendous achievement for all the Packers teams, the quarterbacks, coaches, everybody that contributed to that surge for green Bay considering where they were

at the eighties. Yeah, for sure, that being said, talking about quarterbacks and two thousand and twenty two, what an interesting decision here for both of these squads. Now for the green Bay Packers. Aaron Rodgers, he he sliced it down kind of like this. He's feeling better. He did his rehab work on Wednesday. His goal is to be

ready to go on Sunday once again. The Chicago Bears, I feel like this is such a tricky decision for them though, because as much as you want justin fields out there, as much as you want him playing against the Green Bay Packers. As much as you want him out in front of your fans to energize that base heading into two thousand twenty three, you also do kind of need to think about two thousand twenty three. You

don't want to make that shoulder injury any worse. And I'm very interested to see what the week takes here. We saw our good friend, former Green Bay Packer Tim Boyle was signed off the practice squad from the Detroit

Lions as a potential backup because of Trevor Simeons injury. Certainly, you know there's a lot of different moving parts right now for the Bears, but I'll be very interested to see what the strategy is here with that, because justin fields Man, one thing we've learned over the last two weeks two months. I should say they're using him the right way, but it is a physical way of using him, and you're going to be putting him out there for contact if he plays the game the way he's been

playing it. Yeah, absolutely, this is This is a very different Um Bears team from the one that the Packers saw in Week two at lambeau Field in a lot of different ways, starting on the offensive side of the ball that game back in Week two the Bears. The Bears were intent on running the football in that game, but it wasn't about justin Fields running the football. It was about Montgomery and Herbert pounding away. Now that backfield tandem,

give those guys some credit. They've combined for one thousand, two d and twenty three rushing yards in twelve games with seven touchdowns. But what we've seen since Week two, I guess I would say, you know, maybe as as the season got into like mid October and beyond, we've seen justin Fields take over this Bears offense in terms of his decision making and not only the improvised running, but then also the um the schemed running plays for

the quarterback. And he leads all NFL quarterbacks in rushing yards with eight hundred and thirty four, also has seven rushing touchdowns. So that whole combination, the two running backs and the quarterback, this is the number one rushing offense in the NFL. And of course it's the way this league works. Right west, the Packers are coming off of allowing three hundred and sixty three rushing yards, where the Philadelphia Eagles running backs and their quarterbacks piled up a

bunch of rushing yards. So who's next down the list, the number one rushing offense in the league if Justin Fields plays. And again, at this point, all we know at the time we're taping this is that Fields was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice for the Bears. We don't really know what the rest of the week holds there. But um, but Justin Fields, the way the way he runs the ball, he is I'm not sure of exactly the right adjectives. He is. He is slippery, he is elusive,

he is dangerous. Um just asked the Miami Dolphins, who have one of the best records in the a f C, and Justin Fields almost single handedly beat the Miami Dolphins down South earlier this season. And he's decisive. That's the other aspect to this too. Yeah, there's no no hesitation what he's doing out Sometimes when you get these young quarterbacks, it's because they can't figure out what they want to do. Are they throwing? Are they running? Do they want to

run and then throw? Justin Fields when he does something, he commits to it, and that's the biggest difference I've seen watching him over the last month. Compared to even where where the he was at in Week two against Green Bay. Now the fascinating part of this thing for the Green Bay Packers, and I do not cover the Chicago Bears. Maybe the statistics are available, maybe someone's already looked into it, but you're right, Bears are the number

one ranked rushing offense of the National Football League. They are dead last in passing offense. Though we're talking about throwbacks and and things like that inside or inbox this week. The Bears are a throwback right now. I think they're out rushing their past game by about fifty or sixty yards right now a game. It's because of this dimension that they've added with fields. But he's comfortable in that setting. He's effective in that setting. And also I think with

Havin Juice, Herbert get more immersed in this offense. He's kind of been this running back that's sort of always been there that it seems like the last few years, but it was really only the break the glass in case of emergency that something happens with David Montgomery. They're using them more in tandem this season or more specifically the second half of the year, and I think that's worked out very well for them. Now this has all come at a cost to you know, Darnel Mooney stats.

After his breakout year, he hasn't had that type of season again, Cole commet probably from a lot of people that were hoping he'd be a big fantasy stud. This year hasn't quite reached that level. But the Chicago Bears were looking to win games, they were looking to be more effective, they were looking for something to hang their hat on in Over these last few weeks, even if the winds haven't always been there, I think they definitely

have found their identity underneath their young quarterback. Yeah, the winds, the winds haven't been there, but you look at their game by game there's I mean, they've you know, they lost by three points to the Falcons, they lost one point to the Lions. They you know, yeah, they they ended up getting blown out by the Cowboys. They had

one comeback and then the Cowboys pulled away. Yeah, but three, you know, three or four of Chicago's recent losses have been one score games and and sometimes even a field goal or less. So excuse me. They've definitely been in a lot of games personnel wise. You mentioned Darnell Mooney, at wide receiver. He's now on injured reserve. UM. Chase Claypool was a wide receiver the Bears picked up via

trade and other personnel changes. More significant ones in a lot of ways have occurred on the defensive side of the ball in terms of what the Packers saw back in Week two. Because Robert Quick in the pass rusher, Roquan Smith the star inside linebacker. Both of those guys have been traded and now star safety Eddie Jackson has landed on injured reserve and he is out for the rest of the year. Chicago's biggest problem during the five game losing streak that has that has dropped them to

three and nine on the year is the defense. The fewest points they have allowed in this five game losing streak is twenty seven. All the other games have been thirty or more. UM. This is a defense that is that is struggling flat out west And when you look, when you look at the Packers, and yes, Aaron Rodgers is going to be managing some pain, managing his injuries. But we've you know, we're seeing this big emergence of

Christian Watson. Romeo Dobbs was back at practice on Wednesday, so potentially, after missing the last three games from his injury and ankle injury in Detroit, Romeo Dobbs might get back on the field for the Packers. You look at Green Bay's offense the last three games, and I know the Packers have only won one of those three. They

lost to both both Tennessee and Philadelphia. But in the last three games, the Packers offensively have really only had like one bad quarter, and it was the fourth quarter against Tennessee, which was crucial and cost them a chance to win that game. But they scored twenty eight points in regulation against the Cowboys, added a field goal in overtime. You had seventeen points in the first three quarters against a pretty good Tennessee Titans defense, but then the fourth

quarter things kind of crumbled on you offensively. Then between Aaron Rodgers and Jordan's Love, you put up thirty three points against Philadelphia against a pretty darn good defense that you know that's uh leading the number one seed in

the NFC right now. So Packers have had one bad quarter in the last three weeks, and now they're heading into facing a defense that that's really trying to find itself and really struggling Packers have to keep doing what they've been doing offensively, and it's weird is this is going to sound that there are still positives on the defensive side that Green Bay is gonna need to hang his hat And I'll get to that in a moment. Offensively, this is a huge opportunity. There are some great stories

with the Bears defense. Certainly Jack Sandborn, the Lake Zurich native, the undrafted free agent, former Wisconsin Badger. He's been one of these guys that's emerged for them. They've had before the liszt Frank injury. Eddie Jackson had sort of a resurgent year for them. Unfortunately now they lost him as well. But they have been highly ineffective at pressuring the quarterback

even before the trade of Robert Quinn. Quinn, as we've seen, has been kind of a streaky pass rushing throughout his career, eighteen sacks. Last year he had one through I think it was whatever it was, six or seven games and to the point in which they traded him, sixteen sacks right now for the Chicago Bears, conversely, they've allowed forty one.

Justin fields has eaten forty of those. When you have a minus in the sack differential, not saying it's like turnovers, not saying it's like time of possession or any other stats you want to use, but that is a jarring figure. That's significant because if you're not getting to the quarterback, you've got to make sure you're protecting yours and the Bears just haven't been able to win that equation this year. I think a lot of that is from the standpoint

that it is a really young defense. Aaron Rodgers was talking about that on Wednesday. There's a lot of new faces there as far as the Packers are concerned, though, thirty three points last week against Philadelphia, being able to have three straight games now with Christian Watson scoring at least one touchdown, the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month for November after a terrific stretch of games. Hats off

to Watson for that. Just as a quick sidebar, first Packers rookie to win that award in nine years, first offensive offensive when that Damerius Randall also got it in fifteen, but the first one since Eddie Lacy, first first offensive, first offensive rookie since Eddie Lacy and then Sam Kangato before that, but all that being said Green Bay, I look at Aaron Jones in this game. I look at A J. Dillon. I look at this as an opportunity. You know, we don't know whether or not Romeo Dobbs

will be back or not. He was able to practice on Wednesday, appears to be making strides with his ankle injury. But the stars are a line there for the Packers pieces offensively and in this on all different sides of it. You don't even have to add in the storyline with Rogers and the Bears at Soldier Field. This is the type of game the Green Bay Packers, no matter how this season has gone, should expect to win. Yeah, you absolutely expect to win this one. And you have to

win this one. I you know, we like to get into our keys to victory. I think I already said it. As far as the Packers offense, I think it's I think it's just continue to do what you're doing. Because you're facing a defensive unit that is struggling. Your offense is starting to find itself. I thought the combination of run and pass last week against Philly, what Aaron Jones and a J. Dillon were doing, what Christian Watson Randall

Cobb and company were doing in the passing game. I really liked the I really like the balance in the back and forth there. Hopefully the Packers can keep that going defensively. To me, this game comes down to one thing, and it's make Justin Fields throw the football now. And I say that not as some sort of a rip on the guy that that he can't throw or that he can't move the ball through the air. But you

said it West. These guys are ranked last in the league offense, their first in the league in rushing offense. And whether they're gonna whether they're gonna run the ball with Fields or with those two those two backs who have been so productive for them during the season, you have to make the Chicago Bears throw the football because if you don't, if you if you don't, they they are going to. They are going to use that rushing offensive their's to wear you down. I mean, trust me,

they they have. They have gone over every inch of videotape of that game in Philadelphia, of the all the tackles that the Packers missed, where the holes were with you know how Jalen Hurts was able to get out so many times and run Miles Sanders and and Kenneth Gainwell, and what those guys are doing running between the tackles.

They have dissected all of that, and they are going to come at the Packers with everything they've got with their running game, and the Packers are going to have to make justin Fields throw the football to to be able to be able to have a good day defensively. And it's an excellent point you raised, because you're right and how you approach Fields and in not trying to disrespect any other aspects of his game. But I've heard

so many times from you. I mean, the things you can do on a grill, right, you we've talked about, you know, your steaks, your chicken, things like that. I've never heard you break about your risotto. Just because you know you're you're a world class chef, doesn't mean you've mastered every single dish here, Right, That's how this goes. You like that? You like that, That's how this goes with Fields. You want to take him out of his comfort zone here, because the blueprint for victory is so clear.

They've seen it two or three times now against this young man. Matt Lafleur still has yet to lose to the Chicago Bears became the head coach. So the other aspect of this for me is one of the early tipping points that sort of signaled some potential turbulent waters for the Packers. Run defense kind of started against Chicago because David Montgomery had one of his best games of

the season in Week two. If I look for a defensive key to victory in this thing, it's going to be making sure you do not let him and Juice Herbert get going in the run game. Because as volatile as Jalen Hurts was, as volatile as fields can be, it was as you mentioned, Miles Sanders having a hundred yard rushing day. It's what Herbert in Montgomery could do in this game to be the number one ranked rushing off it in the league. It's not just because you

have a scrambling quarterback. You have to have some good backs that are helping them out as well. That's what the Bears have. And you have to imagine a guy like Luke Getsy that has as much experience in this system, many different versions of it here in Green Bay. You know he's going to have his pencil going this week trying to come up with some ideas, some thoughts, some theories, because this is still a young coaching staff, It's still a coaching staff that feels like they have the right

pieces in place to guide themselves into the future. Where the Detroit Lions were at at the end of last season in terms of how they felt about their football team, that's kind of the area that the Bears are kind of gravitating towards right now. So from my perspective, I think it really starts with that ground game and making sure that the Packers defensively shore up some of the things that they were lacking last week in Philly. Yeah. Well, and you mentioned the fact that Justin Fields has been

sacked forty times this year. I honestly hope the Packers don't even pay attention to that number because because this game is not going to come down to how many times you can sack Justin Fields. You know, the Packers got off to such a bad start against Philadelphia because they were a little bit too over zealous, over aggressive early on with trying to rush Justin Fields. They thought with with having with having a spy um I'm sorry, with with Jalen Hurts last week, they thought with having

a spy that they could that they could contain his scrambling. Well, what happened in the first quarter. Jalen Hurts rushes for over a hundred yards and the Eagles have two quick touchdowns on the board right or early in the ballgame. Now, the rest of the Packers definitely adjusted from there because the rest of the game, Jalen Hurts only had roughly fifty yards rushing. And if you had said, Okay, Jalen Hurts is only gonna rush for fifty yards from the

second through the fourth quarter, you take that. But it was but it was a bad start in the first quarter, and the and the Packers can't afford to get into that over zealous, over aggressive mode going after Justin Fields because, um, you know, as I said, they will have watched everything with regard to Philadelphia. They're going to try to take advantage of every of every breakdown that the Packers had

in that game and get them into those situations again. Um. So to me, it's like, at the end of this game, I'm not going to be looking at how many times did Justin Fields get sacked. I'm gonna be looking at how many how many pass attempts does justin fields have because if that number is high enough, I think the Packers win the football game. If that number is too low, that means they're running the ball too well and the

Packers are gonna have their hands full. And if he has to throw a lout, what else does that tell you? It tells you the Packers are playing with the lead. And that's been one thing absent that week to game against the Bears, Green Bay has not really had the benefit of at this point in the season. The other name to keep an eye on is going to be

Devondre Campbell too. In this equation, Yes, Screen Bay has not had their full allotment of inside linebackers available really all season, so there's a lot of things he can do there. Chris Barnes I think has made some nice

plays this season. But when you talk about being able to spy her, you know, hurts and those type of quarterbacks, I know that probably isn't the word that Devandre loves to hear, but it is something he's very proficient at and they definitely have missed him in those situations and could really be extremely valuable. He was limited on Wednesday, returned to practice last Friday. If he's available on Sunday.

Another guy that can help in that assignment. Yeah, that changes, That changes the equation in terms of how the Packers match up and and schematically, maybe we'll go about things against Chicago. So a little bit of sponsor business here. West Serious x M. NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news that true football

fanatics need. Seven three and at Cousin Subs, we have something for everyone like our Wisconsin Cheese Kurts, mac and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or sub in a bowl. Cousin Subs fifty years of better. Alright, Week thirteen in the NFL, a really really interesting slate of games actually starting Thursday night, UM Thursday night football Big game in the a FC East Buffalo is that New England. But the ones that the

ones that really jump out at me. There's a trio of a f C versus NFC games on the slate this week that I think all have a an elevated level of intrigue. And I'm talking about the Jets playing at Minnesota, Tennessee is playing at Philadelphia, and Miami perhaps maybe the most explosive offense in the NFL right now is at San Francisco, going against the team playing probably

the best defense in the NFL right now. Those three cross conference games Jets, Vikings, Titans, Eagles, Dolphins, Niners, those are all really really interesting. Less it's extremely interesting from the Miami standpoint of now the Packers have to kind of start paying attention to them. Obviously, the coaches have their you know, their plans in place already. It's not like they're just gonna go in cold here in a

couple of weeks. But now the Dolphins game in Christmas is actually right around the corner and going up again San Francisco. That's a very interesting opponent in terms of the contrast there that the styles and the similarities on both sides of the ball. It's gonna be fascinating to watch that. I also really look at that Jets game too,

you know, the Mike White thing. I made a lot of jokes about it, Mike, but the real thing that is probably the biggest takeaway from the Jets season so far, and Garrett Wilson has kind of talked about this and not so many words. They really have only been a quarterback away in a lot of regards. I mean, certainly they've taken have been extremely banged up in their backfield, but they had the perimeter weapons and they have the defense.

They just haven't been able to get the quarterback play to where it was at last week was an uplifting performance. And now they're going to be going into you know, US Bank Stadium very interested to see how they respond in that one. And certainly the Vikings, you know, trying to build their own momentum um in the Eagles, let's just say this as well. I mean their run defense

it's going to be tested now against Derrick Henry. So it's and and this Philadelphia rush offense that just put up three going up against the Tennessee rush defense that completely shut down the Packers running game, and uh and really gave the Packers fits trying to run the football in that Thursday night game at Lambeau. And then not that there is any bearing on the NFC situation, but the Bengals have come back to life and they have

a good opponent now against Kansas City at home. So yeah, I look at this is sort of the measuring stick week right now in the NFL. I think there's a lot of playoff contenders. There's teams like, you know, the Chargers that have to try to keep themselves alive here with a potentially another win and trying to play catch up there with the Chiefs. So a very intriguing slate of games, and of course Giants Commanders probably the one

that has the biggest implication that was for the Packers hopes. Yeah, that that was the next one I was going to mention because because you look at um, even taking you know, whatever implications that might have for the Packers out of

the equation. You look at the schedule, the down the stretch schedule for Washington and the Giants and and the Cowboys, these teams in the NFC East, and how how often between now and that second weekend in January when the regular season wraps up, how often they are playing each other and and and banging around against each other. It's gonna be you know, the Eagles are obviously in the catbird seat, sitting there at ten and one. They've they've gotten this far with just one loss. There the team

that everybody is chasing in that division. But um, those other teams are gonna be are gonna be kind of beating up on each other here down the stretch, and it's gonna be it's gonna be interesting to see who who emerges when you you get into a run of of all these division games where you're playing you know, opponents that know you and you know them, and you know,

you get into these grinded out battles. Is that something that can that can you know, be the catalyst for a run for somebody if they if they get it going, really get it going against the teams in their own division, then you know, does does that propel them into the playoffs or are they all just gonna be beating each other up so much that it's a win here and a loss there, and a win here and a loss there and then and nobody really has a whole lot

of momentum. Whoever from that division makes it into the post in the same thing can be said out in the West to right where Seattle is at as good as the story was with Gino Smith and it's still incredible. Seattle beyond the quarterback had flaws this season. I think the season has sort of started to reveal there was more where he had a team like San Francisco that maybe a little bit more was expected, even though there was the quarterback controversy. Uh, and they've sort of pulled

back up in that race. I said it last week or two weeks ago, and I don't like to pair it myself, but I think it begs repeating. This was the stretch where we're going to learn the most about the Giants because the Giants had a very favorable slate. The way everything worked out, even coming off of London, as I mentioned before the week nine by everything worked out well for them. While they finally started getting injured,

they started facing winning teams. Now this is where they're going to decide whether or not they're a playoff team. The Packers, by virtue of being in this you know slump here, these winter duldrums, late fall duldrums, you just got to try to beat the Bears and see how

the rest falls. Because there are so many different ways the NFC East is going to shake out that I think even those teams in that division, all you really truly can do is play the game in front of you because there's so many interconnected matchups that are going to happen over the next six weeks. Yeah, certainly from the package point of view, you know you've got you know, you've got the Dolphins and the Vikings, two teams that look like they're headed to the playoffs. Those teams are

down the road. But this week and then after the bye, you're playing the Bears and the Rams, two teams that are under five, not playing all that well overall. And if you're Green Bay, you're like, hey, you know, get a couple of wins and then see and see where you're at heading into heading into the Christmas trip to Miami. That's that's really all it boils down to right now. Yeah, And and for Green Bay it's that it's that idea and we'll see which direction this thing goes. Um. You know,

certainly there's that sliver of hope. But it's the same reason why Aaron Rodgers is pressing to play. It's the same reason why the Packers haven't given up on themselves. And I'll tell you this too. You know, this thing isn't built for one season. I know everyone's always like, oh, the all in thing. Now, it's not built for one season. Packers still want to contend for championships. Whatever happens with

this postseason race. You still don't want to build up momentum now going into this January, because if you don't have that coming out of a season, you look at where teams can head and the kind of the direction things have faced. Uh, this team, I still say is better than its four and eight record indicates, but the Packers only have five more chances now to prove that. Yeah. Absolutely well with that, we will call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Thank you for putting

up with my voice. I apologize for that over the last twenty five or so minutes. But be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot Com. All kinds of great content for you on the website for Wes, I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We'll see you next time.