Jermichael Finley Needs to Kick Down the Door Against the Chicago Bears on Sunday

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If Jermichael Finley has a big game on Sunday, the Packers will be 3-0.

Through the season’s first two games, Jermichael Finley has been knocking on the door. But in the words of Bum Phillips, he has yet to kick the son of a bitch in. That needs to change on Sunday against the Bears.

I had an 800-word post drafted on how the Packers offense should attack the Bears and their Cover-2 defense, but I scrapped it because overanalyzing this game is a waste of time. Whenever the Packers play the Bears recently, all of us armchair QBs try to come up with intricate strategies to beat Lovie Smith’s defense, but nothing seems to ever work.

The game plan for Sunday should be to get Finley the ball early and often. If he has a big game, and the Packers finish long drives with TDs, Green Bay will win.

Easily.

Finley had nine catches for 115 yards the last time he was on the field agaisnt the Bears. The Packers used him to carve up the Bears cover-2 defense and would have won the game if not for 18 drive-killing penalties and a couple of silly turnovers.

I realize the Packers beat the Bears twice last season without Finley, but moving the ball in both of those games was a chore. Packers tight ends managed only two catches for 19 yards in those contests.

Tight ends are usually successful against the Bears. Lovie Smith’s cover-2 defense prevents big plays from WRs and allows TEs to catch the ball underneath. Finley needs to take advantage of this early and open up the offense for Aaron Rodgers, James Starks and the WRs.

Finley has shown flashes of breaking out through the season’s first two games. If he breaks out against the Bears, the Packers will be 3-0.

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Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .

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14 thoughts on “Jermichael Finley Needs to Kick Down the Door Against the Chicago Bears on Sunday

  1. I just hope someone spies Forte whenever he’s on the field. Take him out and they’ll have the worst passing offense of the weekend.

  2. Your right Adam, Finley should have a big game. The key to that success is the Oline. Especially, the OT who get’s stuck with Peppers. The Bears will likely swioth him from Left to Right regularly. This will require help. A RB or TE will have to be held in. After last week’s performance, it’s obvious that improvement is needed for both T’s.

    Agree with Rodgers, Forte is the key. Both as a runner and receiver. The good news is the Bears let their pass catching TE’s go to other teams. Controling the TE’s and Forte should reduce pass yards by about 40%.

    I want to predict a win, but I’m always wrong so …. And, I’m not superstitous either!

  3. I’ve got a good feeling about Sunday. I’m probably going to go w/ 31-17 if Finely has a good game. I’m real confident in the Packers this season. Sunday will tell me if that confidence is warranted or if I’m wearing green and gold blinders.

  4. Adam, 100% agreed. Finley needs to have a big day. The one caveat is if the Bears switch it up and really try to take Finley away. Then I see the perimeter guys making plays.

  5. Any one of our receivers can have a big day this Sunday. Agree with Elle – if they use safety help on Finley – Jordy or Jennings could be wide open. I hope we come out of the gate firing bullets and then we grind em down with Starks. Another key, as stated by Ron, is how well we can stop Forte as a receiver. We’ve struggled there but I’m counting on the Dom to get it fixed. I say 35-13.

  6. “overanalyzing this game is a waste of time”. Man, I couldn’t have said that any better. The Packers-Bears contests are quite often knock-down-drag-out-can-go-either-way affairs and I expect nothing less this time around. If indeed someone clearly jumps out ahead, it would likely be the Packers, and Finley would certainly have to be a part of that. I hope they can do just that, blow them out, (and beat Cutler up a little bit in the process, just for good measure)!

  7. From Practice Williams padded up and full prctice today. Mathews and Woodson did not practice. MM says both will play Sunday. S’oto in full practice today.

  8. Adam,
    Agree with the article…and your last comment:
    “If he breaks out against the Bears, the Packers will be 3-0.”

    I would also add Starks. (the modern day “battering ram”)
    Nobody wants to tackle that guy once he breaks through to the second level…he is a beast!
    A healthy dose of Finley and Starks throughout the game, and their D will be saying, “No Mas…No mas.”

  9. Kind of ironic that you recommend (and I don’t disagree btw) that we run the kind of offense that has been killing us the first 2 games…

    1. Maybe “killing us” is a bit harsh, “giving us grief” may have been a better choice of words…

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