Week 6 Game Preview: Chicago Bears vs Green Bay Packers

The Chicago Bears must dominate the lines of scrimmage

Running the ball well, enables the Bears to accomplish two important goals. The obvious advantage is if they can dominate time of possession that keeps Aaron Rodgers on the bench more than on the field. Running the ball successfully can also put the Bears into the position of punishing the Packers front seven.

The one matchup they want to avoid here is their center, Sam Mustipher against the Packers’ best run-stopper, Kenny Clark. The simple solution to this is stay away from runs up the middle. The possibility of the Bears winning the war in the trenches is buttressed by these two Green Bay statistics.

Their defense ranks 27th on stopping third down conversions because they allow offenses a 45.5 percent success rate. They also are the worst NFL defense in the red zone as they have allowed offenses to score 13 out of 13 times from inside the 20.

Circling back to the Bears Raiders game, Matt Nagy no doubt had reminded his players about how back in 2019, they were humiliated in London by the Raiders as the Bears got dominated at both lines of scrimmage. In their re-match with the Raiders last week, this was reversed.

This week Nagy and his coaches should similarly remind their guys of their two humiliating losses to the Packers last season. In Green Bay, they lost 41-25. Then in the last regular-season game of 2020, a win against the Packers would have insured them a place in the playoffs and given them some momentum. Instead, they lost to the Packers in Chicago 35-16. They ended up backing into the playoffs as the Cardinals lost to the Rams.

This led to a one-and-done loss for the Bears against the Saints as the Bears’ offense scored only three field goals. If the Bears offense and the entire team want wins and respect, they need to score touchdowns.