Game Overview ::
By mike johnson >>
- The Bears will look to finish their season strong and play “spoiler” this week.
- Chicago has won five of its last seven games and both losses during that stretch were games in which the Bears blew two-score leads in the fourth quarter.
- Questions surround the future of Justin Fields with the team, and this week is his last chance to make his case to stay in Chicago.
- It is simple for the Packers this week – win and you’re in. They would be either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed.
- Aaron Jones will likely be a focal point of the offense in a must-win game with AJ Dillon battling multiple injuries.
- The Packers’ wide receivers are battling injuries and we will want to keep an eye on their statuses.
How CHICAGO Will Try To Win ::
The Bears have actually been wildly successful during the second half of the season, although most people have probably not noticed just how good they have been. The Bears have won five of their last seven games. The two losses during that stretch were to the Browns and Lions (two teams that currently have eleven wins each). The Bears led the Browns 17-7 through three quarters and led the Lions 26-14 with four minutes remaining in the game.
Chicago has a three-pronged offensive attack at this point in the season. Those three weapons are Fields, DJ Moore, and their running backs. Obviously, the Bears throw the ball to more than just Moore, but the other players in their offense have their opportunities set up by the attention Moore draws, the use of play action and their running game and the time that Fields buys them with his legs. Those ancillary pieces of the Bears’ offense certainly have a place in the grand scheme of things, but everything they do is based on establishing the running game, threatening defenses with the dynamic abilities of Fields and finding creative ways to get Moore the ball. Chicago ranks 28th in the NFL in Pass Rate Over Expectation (PROE) while also ranking 27th in tempo. Summarizing that, they play slow and run the ball a lot, which leads to fewer overall plays in their games and works to mute play volume and offensive production for opponents.
The Bears’ defense has been superb over the latter half of the year, and while they have found some explosive plays from their offense, they haven’t had the need to force it. The Packers sit back in a lot of zone coverage and have been gashed on the ground again this year, making it likely that the Bears can move the ball adequately without stretching themselves too much. Chicago’s opponents have averaged only 15.2 points per game over the past five weeks, and they are likely to once again lean on Fields and their running game while trying to win the field-position battle while betting that an offensive output of 20 points will be enough to steal a victory.
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