Chicago Bears: Aaron Rodgers makes it impossible to be confident

The Bears are a 6-point favorite, but Aaron Rodgers is still on the field, right?

The Chicago Bears are enjoying their best season in several years. They sit at 9-4 and are on the cusp of winning the division. After the defense dismantled the LA Rams’ high-powered attack, this team has more swagger than its had all year.

The Bears face the Green Bay Packers this week. The Packers are not having much of a season. They sit at 5-7-1, they’ve fired Mike McCarthy, and statistically, Aaron Rodgers is having one of the worst seasons of his career.

Aaron Rodgers is having one of the worst seasons of his career. I needed to repeat that there. Let’s take a look at those statistics. In a Rodgers’ down season, he’s set the NFL record for most consecutive passes without an interception and he’s thrown a whopping one pick this year. Rodgers is on pace for 4500 yards, 30 TDs and 1 INT. And yes, that is one of the worst statistical seasons of his career.

Maybe that’s why, despite all the confidence this team has given me this year, I just don’t have any when the Bears face the Packers. If you read my “Hot Take Tuesday” articles, you know just how confident I’ve been.

That’s not saying I expect the Bears to lose, it’s that I can’t expect the Bears to win. I have ARPTSD. What is that? Aaron Rodgers Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

ARPTSD is real for Bears’ fans. And how can it not be?

If I say Chris Conte, you shudder. If I ask you what’s the first negative image from this Bears’ season that pops in your head, it’s probably Rodgers’ strike to Geromino Allison with Kyle Fuller on tight coverage followed by Randall Cobb galloping down the field for a 75-yard TD.

It just keeps happening, over and over and over and over.

If Aaron Rodgers has a chance to ruin the Bears’ season, he just seems to do it. If the Bears go 11-5 and finish 0-2 against the Packers, it’s just going to grate at the soul. The Bears need to win this one because I need to start putting my ARPTSD behind me.

This Bears team is legit, they have a home game against a team with a losing record, they should take them out easily and smack them around in the process. Akiem Hicks and Khalil Mack should apply plenty of pressure and force Rodgers to throw the ball away. The Bears secondary should be nice and sticky on the Packers’ receiving targets.

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But again, it’s Aaron Rodgers.

Did I mention it’s Aaron Rodgers.

Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers. AARON RODGERS.

I wake up in cold sweats thinking about his smug little face. The Bears could be up 33-10 entering the fourth quarter and my mind will just say, “Rodgers only needs three TDs and three 2-point conversions for the win. THIS GAME IS NOT OVER.”

I think the Bears will win, I really do. But I should be confident the Bears should win, and I’m really not. Why is that? Aaron Rodgers, that’s why. Until the clock strikes 0:00 in the fourth quarter and the scoreboard shows that the Bears have more points than the Packers, that lingering fear will exist.

The Bears are one of the best teams in football, but if 12 is still under center for those pesky cheeseheads, no matter how bad the Packers are, my confidence level isn’t much higher than zero.

It’s time to get past ARPTSD. I just need to tell myself, “He’s only one man. He’s only one man. He’s only one man.”

Nope, he’s not a man, he’s Aaron Rodgers.

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