The Green Bay Packers are reeling since the loss of Aaron Rodgers and face the Chicago Bears Sunday in Soldier Field. A loss to the Bears would effectively end any hopes of the Packers making the playoffs this year. Mainly because it would show that new quarterback Brett Hundley isn’t progressing fast enough to save the season.
To show you how far the Packers have sunk, NFL lines for this weeks games show the Packers as a 5.5 point underdog to the lowly Bears. This is against a Bears team that is starting a rookie at quarterback who has probably shown less than Hundley since taking over the reins.
The Packers whipped the Bears on September 28 when Bears’ QB Mike Glennon turned the ball over four times. It’s been the Mitchell Trubisky show ever since with the Bears going 2-2 in that span. The main reason Trubisky has been able to win games is because the Bears know how to play defense. They beat the Panthers with Trubisky completing just four out of seven passes. Oh, the Bears can run the ball, too.
The Packers new offense is still finding its way but it is getting zero help from the defense. Against Detroit the Packers could not even force one punt. You are not going to win too many games when that happens. No sense even talking about the Packers’ defense anymore, they are 24th in yards, 19th in points and getting worse each week. If Trubisky lights them up all will be officially lost.
Hundley is not going to find things any easier this week, the Bears are seventh in defense and getting better. The Packers are going to have to establish the running game in this one, something they have yet to do consistently, even with the emergence of Aaron Jones. The Packers are only going to have a few chances on offense so they need to find a way to take advantage of them.
This is certainly a winnable game for the Packers, but I have not made my prediction yet. Need a couple more days to soak in the events of this week, including the release Martellus Bennett today. It’s been a whirlwind at 1265 Lombardi Ave. lately.