After watching the Bears beat the Jets on Monday night, it looks like we might be in for another one of “those” Bears seasons.
Longtime Packers fans know what I mean by “those.” One of those seasons where the Bears go 12-4 and eight of the wins can be directly attributed to a combination of the following:
- Terrible officiating (see Jerome Boger taking a TD away from the Jets on Monday by blowing his whistle too early)
- Unforced errors by the other team (see the Jets punt returner muffing a punt)
- Defensive back stone hands on bad Jay Cutler passes (happens at least three times during every Bears’ win: Cutler throws into quadruple coverage for no apparent reason, every opposing defender juggles the ball eight times before they drop what should have been an easy interception)
- Rule interpretations that confuse everyone (see Calvin Jonshon “failing” to complete the catch in the end zone in a Bears victory over Detroit a few years ago)
- The football defying the laws of physics: (see James Jones fumbling twice near the out-of-bounds line in a game a few years back, only to see the ball magically stay in-bounds so a Bears’ defender could pounce on it)
- Brain freeze (see coaches punting to Devin Hester late in a close game and Hester returning it for a backbreaking TD. At least Hester is gone now, but it wouldn’t surprise if he still finds a way to haunt the Packers on Sunday)
- Fluke injury (see key players on the other team getting hurt, allowing the Bears to win. To be fair, the Bears are one of the most injured teams in the league this season, but that’s probably because they knocked out Aaron Rodgers for eight games last year and karma is catching up)
It’s maddening watching the Bears have one of “those” seasons. The Packers absolutely must put a stop to the Bears having one of “those” seasons before it’s too late.
Here are five reasons why the Packers will do just that:
The rebound
Sometimes I think Aaron Rodgers loses on purpose just because he knows it’ll lead to a big game the following week. In games since 2009 after the Packers lost and Rodgers recorded a passer rating below 90, QB1 is 9-0 with a 114.7 passer rating. Combine those numbers with the fact that Rodgers needs to silence a growing group of critics about his shaky accuracy and I think we’re in store for a big day from the former MVP.
Dom vs. Jay
Cutler is the one quarterback that Dom Capers has owned over the years. If Capers is able to get home with varied pressure, we should see Cutler morph from good Jay to bad Jay sometime around the third quarter.
Bringing back good Eddie
If Eddie Lacy is going to overcome a miserable start, the Bears awful run defense could be just what he needs. But Lacy’s struggles are as much his own fault than the defenses he’s facing. Too much dancing near the line of scrimmage and scurrying outside. Lacy needs to put his head down and get the tough yards. Once that starts happening, he’ll be able to start trucking whatever slogs the Bears have in the secondary these days and all will be right in Phat Eddie’s world again.
Packers defense
After a maddening first six quarters of the season, the Packers defense has actually been pretty good. Combine that with a Packers’ secondary playing well and the chances are good we could see the Packers D impress again. Stopping Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffry and Matt Forte is a tall task, but this Packers secondary should allow Capers to dial up some pressure on Cutler. Keeping Forte bottled up and keeping him from exploiting mismatches against AJ Hawk on short passes could be an issue.
The most obvious reason the Packers will win
As much as the Bears still suck, losing to the Bears sucks even worse. I don’t know how it happens, but it does happen, occasionally. Sometimes the Bears beat the Packers, even though the Bears really really really suck. Here’s how the Bears might be able to overcome how much they suck and beat the Packers today:
Matt Forte
I mentioned him earlier and he’s worth mentioning again. If Forte starts running all over the Packers front seven and/or scurrying around an overmatched A.J. Hawk on short passes, things could get ugly in a hurry. Forte is one of the most underrated weapons in football, and if he gets rolling, it makes containing those two giant receivers that much harder.
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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McCarthy is having a down season.
The Packers miss Jermichael Finley more than anyone realizes. Sure they won a Super Bowl without him 4 seasons ago.
But they had Greg Jennings in his prime then, James Jones, and Donald Driver.
These weapons are not the same.
And wait til Jordy or Cobb miss time with an injury, as you know they will.
This is why Jeff Janis should have been out there getting some work. Well that and the fact that they could have used his speed loosening up the defenses that have been crowding the box to stop Lacy.
Should not have let Greg Jennings get away but he seemed alienated by TT and Rodgers. Final offer by Packers was fair but Jennings was willing to leave for $1 more.
Post SB Defections:
(1) Jennings
(2) Driver (ret)
(3) Jones
(4) Finley (inj)
(5) Scott Wells
(6) Cullen Jenkins
(7) Nick Collins (inj)
(8) C Woodson
Makes it hard to improve through draft alone when you are losing two stars per year on average. Even harder when your draft picks are mostly duds.
Who’s next to go? Bulaga? Williams? Cobb? All three?
Bulaga – injury prone
Williams – old
Cobb – ineffective post snapped leg bone.
Maybe we will get lucky and GB will draft ILB next year and let Hawk go. That would be a double win.
Sherrod – probably let go for reasons similar to Cobb
We need another TE and another big WR. Maybe Adams can play that role. Not letting Bostick play TE is a real shame. TT trying to force his reach of a draft pick to be successful. Why draft a big slow TE that can’t block in the 3rd round when the rest of the world sees him as a day 3 pick at best?
An injury to Jordy or Rodgers and we are in big trouble.
I’m not optimistic about the job our GM is doing or our HC. Time will tell all – it always does in the NFL.
Who is this AJ Hawk fellow you so disparingly refer to? Is he an undrafted FA filling in at a position with numerous injuries? I can think of no other reason why a team that aspires to win would carry such a player, let alone let him start a game. Is he week to week till we get better players back? Your comments about him make me think of another Packer from last year by the name of MD Jennings. Did not belong on the field but there he was. Maybe Capers should start Sean Richardson over this Hawk fellow if he is so bad. Surely Richardson is bigger and faster than this little skinny Hawk dude. Oh, but Hawk gets everybody on defense lined up right. Hmmm……