Chicago Bears: Previewing the vital, must-win game vs the Packers

The Chicago Bears must play sound, mistake-free football to win

Before we dive into the Bears offense, a word on the mental sharpness and discipline of the Bears as a key to them beating the Packers. The Bears, absolutely, must avoid the dumb mistakes like false starts on third down. This means you Charles Leno Jr. The cute plays at the goal line have to be given a death sentence in this game too.

When Trubisky wants to throw a high-risk pass that typically means throwing into double or triple coverage, his brain needs to send out a warning signal — “danger, danger” do not throw the ball — run or throw it away.

They also need to not stray away from a balanced run-pass ratio and absolutely forget about three straight seemingly safe short passes to start the third quarter. Keep Trubisky on the move often, even on some third-and-longs. Do not go two plays in a row with him sitting in the pocket. If Trubisky has a series with him in an endless number of empty backfields, Nagy and Lazor should be banned from Halas Hall never to enter there again.

As far as the defense goes, they too cannot have dumb penalties at the worst possible time. No one can do something dumb, giving Rodgers another shot at a first down after stopping him on third down. Otherwise, Rodgers will torch this defense again. This means no busted coverages by the pass defense and not using Mack or Quinn in pass defense.

No matter how tired or frustrated the Chicago Bears feel, they must be alert and disciplined the entire game. I do not believe this is asking too much of these guys given the very high stakes of this game.