The Packers will look to bounce back vs the Bears this Sunday as they’ll be hosting their division rival at Lambeau Field. After their subpar performance last week against Justin Jefferson and the Vikings, many Packer players are itching to get back on the field. With the game just around the corner, trash talk is in full effect.
Looking at the Packers last game, there are not a lot of positives. Rookie Quay Walker was flying around the field making plays at the beginning of the game. The running game was sparse but worked. The special teams held up. That’s about it. Coach LaFleur and Aaron Rodgers both made that known in their postgame interviews.
Both talked about the lapses in protection at the offensive line, something that can be partially attributed to injury. David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins being out certainly did them no favors. Regardless, they have to be better. The wide receiver core is inexperienced playing with Rodgers, especially with Allen Lazard out. Only Randall Cobb had seen snaps with 12 behind center before kickoff. There are going to be growing pains. The Packers will need to lean heavily on their ground game for a while, perhaps the entire season. It’s something that Matt LaFleur mentioned in his presser. It’s a plan that will fail miserably if the offensive line doesn’t improve.
It’s hard to take away something in just one week of play and label it as concrete. It’s especially hard when you play that first week in the middle of a monsoon. That’s exactly what the Bears did in their sloppy 19-10 win over the 49ers last week. What many witnessed in that game was exactly what many analysts predicted for the Bears. It was an overall incredibly uninspired offensive effort for the majority of the game. However, they did manage to put together enough splash plays let in the second half to rally for an upset.
The box score isn’t exactly impressive. No receiver had more than one catch. David Montgomery ran the ball 17 times. He got nearly as many yards with 26. Justin Fields completed less than half his passes. But is this because of the lack of talent, or because of the terrible field conditions? As of now, you can probably accredit it to a little of both. The Bears will look to prove the naysayers wrong instead of drowning their criticisms.
There are still question marks about each team heading into this matchup. Luckily, the Packers-Bears rivalry rarely disappoints.
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