NFC Championship Playoff Preview: Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers
Published by Bryan Dietzler on January 20, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears 2010 season started off with an interesting call that went their way and gave them their first win of the season (against the Lions). They then opened the season with a three-game winning streak, took a huge pounding at the hands of the Giants and went into a two-game skid before their bye week.
The transformation that this team underwent during the bye week is starting to become somewhat of a legend. Following their bye week, the Bears racked up five straight wins before heading into their game with Patriots. They lost that game big, but recovered to win their next few games before falling to the team that they will face in the NFC Championship game.
It all comes down to this.
The Chicago Bears, coming off of a 35-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional playoff round on Sunday, will host the Green Bay Packers, 48-21 winners over the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday night.
These two teams know each other very well, having played more games than any other two teams in the history of the NFL and have played just one playoff game against the Packers and that was a 33-14 Bears win in 1941.
This promises to be one of the biggest and most hard fought games between these two teams in their long history. It promises to bring some trash talking between the players of both teams and, of course, the fans of both teams and perhaps the media, but it will be a spectacle, one that is welcome by both sides.
The Packers and the Bears have met twice before; the first game (at Soldier Field) was a 20-17 Bears win, while the Packers beat the Bears in the second game (at Lambeau Field) 10-3). The Bears have actually become a much better team than they were when these two teams met the first time and played them very tough in that second game. The Packers are also a different team and appear to be firing on all cylinders on both sides of the ball.
Green Bay is favored by many to win this game, but the Bears have just as good of a chance to win this game as the Packers do. They have advantages over Green Bay and the Packers have advantages over the Bears. Needless to say, it’s going to be an interesting game.
So which team has the edge in this matchup? Can Chicago shut down quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the rest of the Packers offense? Will the Packers defense be too much for the Bears to handle?
Let’s find out in this extended preview of the Bears versus the Packers in the NFC Championship game this Sunday at Soldier Field.
When the Bears have the Ball
The one thing that has really helped bring the Bears offense out of the doldrums at the start of the season, and helped them get to where they are at now, is balance. In the first part of the season, the Bears didn’t run the ball that often, so their offense became one-dimensional and very easy to defend. This led to their losing streak and the offensive growth that we see now.
In order for the Bears to have success in this game, they must continue playing with a balanced offense. They have to run the ball effectively (and early) and then throw those short passes that have seemed to work well for them throughout the season. Running the ball to set up the pass should be the Bears’ main motive to start; they can work things out from there.
In their game against the Seahawks, the Bears were able to use both Matt Forte and Chester Taylor effectively in the running game. Quarterback Jay Cutler also got into the act and rushed for two touchdowns in that game, proving that he is a threat to run the ball and can run it effectively.
But this isn’t Seattle. The Packers have a great defense, and they have given the Bears a lot of problems in the past. How can the Bears keep the Packers defense from wreaking havoc on them in this game?
That buzz word that we keep on hearing is balance. The Bears need to run a balanced offense in order to have success in this game. In order to keep that balance, the Bears must keep the game close (meaning that the defense needs to do their part) so they can run the kind of offense that they like to (and need to) run.
With that, the Bears need to limit their mistakes and not give the Packers opportunities that they otherwise might not have. Mistakes for the Bears have typically come when players (in particular Cutler) are trying to make something out of nothing. In Cutler’s case, if the play isn’t there, he needs to either throw the ball away or tuck it in and run to try to create something out of nothing. Chicago cannot afford to make mistakes in this game. If they do, they won’t win.
The wide receivers need to run precise routes and make their breaks at the right time in order to give Cutler some targets to throw the ball to and keep it moving down the field. Look for him to utilize guys like Earl Bennett and Greg Olsen often in this game to help move the ball down the field and make some plays.
In looking at the numbers, the Bears averaged 101 yards of rushing per game, while the Packers defense is allowing 114 yards per game. Chicago is gaining an average of 188 yards per game through the air, while Green Bay’s defense is giving up a total of 194 yards per game.
Green Bay’s defense has collected a total of 47 sacks, while the Bears offense has given up 56 sacks this season.
When Green Bay has the Ball
The Packers offense has been on fire in the playoffs and is playing better than any other offense left of the four teams in this year’s conference championship round. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers have been playing very well as of late and has been passing the ball with authority. But he is human, and he has his flaws, so the Bears need to be able to take and exploit those flaws in this game.
The Bears defense has to get pressure on Rodgers in order to make him less effective. If they can get after him and force him to make mistakes or throw the ball away much earlier than he would like then that will make him much more human. Granted, not a lot of things that have been done this season (against Rodgers) have worked well against him, but the Bears have managed to keep him at bay for the most part, and he’s not really chewed them up like he has with other teams.
In addition to pressure, the secondary needs to stay locked in on guys like Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson and Donald Driver to make it difficult for Rodgers to get the ball to them. The secondary has struggled against the Packers receivers in the past, but hopefully they will be able to come up with something that works well when going up against these receivers.
What would really be nice would be if the Bears secondary could (and would) be able to play the same way that they did against the Seahawks receivers. Granted, the Packers and the Seahawks are one end of the spectrum from another, but the concept is the same and something could work out.
The Packers have had some good success running the football throughout the playoffs, with running back James Starks leading the way there. The Bears have been able to shut down the run regularly this season and did well against the Packers in that aspect during their two regular season games. While it may not look like the Bears should worry about the running game on Sunday, they need to be wary, as the Packers will surely try to run the ball early to try to at least establish it.
If they don’t find much success early on with their running game, then you can bet that the Packers will take the show to the air and try to beat the Bears that way.
During the season, the Packers offense averaged 257 yards per game through the air, while Chicago’s defense has allowed 224 yards per game. The Bears defense held opponents rushing attacks to an average of 90 yards per game, while the Packers have averaged 100 yards per game on the ground.
Chicago’s defense has collected 34 sacks this season, while the Packers offense has allowed 47.
Special Teams
The Packers had some problems with special teams last week against the Falcons, as well as in their first game against the Bears. The never-ending question is whether or not they will kick to Devin Hester in this game. If they do, they face having him run the kick back for a score or put the Bears in prime field position. If they don’t, then they will help set the Bears up for good field position.
Special teams could be a big factor in who wins this game.
One issue that the Bears do have with their special teams is their coverage units. They have allowed some big returns at times and cannot afford to do that in this game. Keeping the Packers on their end of the field will be important because the longer the Packers have to go the less chance they have to score.
Analysis
After a long season of winning and losing by the Bears (after a preseason in which they couldn’t do anything), the Bears are at the cusp of making the Super Bowl, the third in their long and storied history. They will be playing their division rivals, and these two teams know and dislike each other.
That will make for an interesting game.
The Bears played the Packers very tough in that second game, and despite the fact the Packers threw everything at the Bears in order to win (remember that the Packers were fighting hard to earn a spot in that last game so they were trying whatever they could in order to win that game), they still only won by seven.
The Bears defense did a heck of a good job in that game and they could have won that game. Can the Bears do the same and better in this one?
The Bears will want to control the pace of the game from the outset and this starts by running the football and using the short controlled passing game to move the ball down the field. Each possession for the Bears needs to be a long one so that they can keep the ball out of the hands of Rodgers and the rest of that Packers offense. This is just one of many things they can do to win this game.
Keeping the Packers defense from getting to Cutler and creating a lot of turnovers is going to be a tough task and the Bears offense will have to play possibly its best game of the season against the Packers in order to win this game. If they can keep the rush off Cutler, get an early lead (and not get behind), they have a great chance of winning this game.
The Bears defense has been one the best in the NFL at stopping the run, so look for them to concentrate on taking Starks out early, which will force the Packers to throw the ball. That isn’t necessarily a good thing but at least it would allow the Bears to drop more players back into coverage and not have them play so close to the line (the linebackers and the safeties), making it much more difficult for passes to be completed.
The defense has to be on top of its game from the outset and cannot allow the Packers to take a lead in this game. Since offensive coordinator Mike Martz will get out of the game plan if the Bears start to fall behind (which he shouldn’t do but will) the Bears will have less of a chance at winning if they have to pass the ball a lot.
Special team could be a huge factor in this game. If Hester gets his hands on the ball he can create some good opportunities to return it for a touchdown or at least give the offense some good field position. Each and every time Hester gets his hands on the ball, it will be critical, and the Bears will hope that he can do something with it.
Coverage units will be critical in this game, because one mistake could cost the Bears dearly. If they can keep the Packers on their end of the field and not allow them to get good field position (and keep field position in their favor), they will have a lot of success.
Finally, field conditions could play a factor as well. The Bears know the Soldier Field surface and understand what they can and cannot do on it. The Packers have a lot of success when they play on a “fast” surface, such as artificial turf, and will be held back in this game due to the field conditions. This could work out well for Chicago.
Injury Update
Both teams list several players on their injury report. They are as follows:
Chicago Bears
CB-Zachary Bowman-Non-Injury Related-Will Play; DE-Israel Idonije-Thumb-Probable; S-Chris Harris-Hip-Probable; WR-Earl Bennett-Non-Injury Related-Will Play.
Green Bay Packers
RB-John Kuhn-Shoulder-Questionable; LB-Frank Zombo-Knee-Questionable; LB-Clay Matthews-Shin-Probable; DE-Ryan Pickett-Ankle-Questionable; CB-Charles Woodson-Toe-Will Play; LB-Diyral Briggs-Ankle-Will Play; C-Jason Spitz-Calf-Questionable; DE-Cullen Jenkins-Calf-Questionable; OT-Chad Clifton-Knees-Questionable; CB-Patrick Lee-Hip-Questionable.
The only real concern for the Bears is the health of Harris. He says that he has fine, but he hasn’t practiced, meaning either the injury is that bad or they are saving him for the game.
The Packers have a lot of players on this report, but it appears as if most, if not all of them will play. There are some key injuries to Woodson and Matthews that may slow them down a bit but you can bet they will be out there giving it 100 percent.
Prediction
You can bet that George “Papa Bear” Halas and Vince Lombardi are going to watch this game from high above. Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers players old and new will be keying in on this game because the winner will have infinite bragging rights. This is the big one, the one for the rare honor of getting to the Super Bowl, so you can bet that both teams will be fighting as hard as they possibly can to win this game.
The Bears have some advantages in this game, but are they enough to overcome everything that the Packers are going to throw at them? Chicago will have to play solid, mistake-free football in order to overcome the Packers and win this game. They can win this game and advance to the Super Bowl, but need to be perfect on Sunday.
Chicago Bears 24, Green Bay Packers 21
Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com
