Ryan Pace is 4-0 vs Packers this offseason, can they make it 5-0 on Sunday?
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Ryan Pace has owned the Green Bay Packers this offseason.
Wins only matter on the field, I’ll start with that right there. But when wins against the Green Bay Packers have been few and far between over the last few years, I’ll certainly take some wins during the off-season. The past few months, Ryan Pace has owned the Packers and it’s a great feeling to have.
Pace has not one, not two, but four victories against the Packers this off-season. What do I mean? Let’s retrace it.
It started back in January after the Bears hired Matt Nagy and they were working hard to secure the services of Vic Fangio. But Fangio was a free agent and teams were interested in him, one of those teams was the Packers.
Vic Fangio is Packers' 'top choice' to be new defensive coordinator
The Packers wanted Fangio, but Pace was not going to lose the defensive coordinator that had done so many great things with this defense. He secured him and by doing so, secured his first victory against the Packers.
Pace 1, Green Bay 0
Two months later, the Bears had used the transition tag to see exactly what the market was for Kyle Fuller. The Bears wanted to keep him but weren’t sure exactly what his fair market value was so they chose to tag him and let him shop for his price. His suitor was surprising, it was the Packers. The Packers offered Fuller a lucrative offer and Bears’ fans panicked. But Pace was not about to let his star cornerback head to Green Bay and he quickly matched.
Pace 2, Green Bay 0
Two days later, free agency was in full force and the Bears were pushing hard to land Allen Robinson. But the Bears weren’t alone, reports were that Robinson had it down to two teams, play in Chicago with unproven quarterback Mitch Trubisky, or play in Green Bay with the legendary Aaron Rodgers. The choice seemed simple.
It was. Robinson chose Chicago.
Pace 3, Green Bay 0
It seemed that 3-0 was where the Pace vs the Packers domination would end. But as it turns out, Pace had one more victory, arguably his biggest one of the offseason. The Packers were making a strong push for Khalil Mack. In fact, they seemed to be the front-runner and players started assuming they were going to land the star pass rusher.
#Packers WR Randall Cobb on Khalil Mack: "I thought he was coming here. I thought I was going to wake up and find out we got him. Some things happen, and obviously he ended up in Chicago. That’s part of it. That’s part of the business."
— Michael Cohen (@Michael_Cohen13) September 5, 2018
But like Randall Cobb said, it didn’t happen. Mack is in Chicago and with that, it completes an off-season of complete domination of the Green Bay Packers. Four times the Packers tried to make a major splash, and all four times Ryan Pace and the Chicago Bears would not be denied and defeated their rival.
Ryan Pace 4, Green Bay 0
Again, off-season victories don’t matter in the big picture. What does matter is victories on the field. But the off-season victories shouldn’t be overlooked. Every single one of those victories closed the gap between the Packers and the Bears. Some Bears fans might even think that the gap is closed and the Bears are opening it back up in their favor. It’s hard to go that far when Aaron Rodgers is on the opposition, but the other 52 spots certainly seem to lean in Chicago’s favor.
The Bears-Packers rivalry has been strong all off-season. Pace has been victorious against Green Bay for eight months. The victories off the field have piled up, now it’s time for Chicago to translate them to victories on the field, and they can start on Sunday against those same Green Bay Packers.