Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Unafraid to admit I'm a little afraid of the Bears

As a Packer fan, I’m not thrilled about playing the Bears. When it comes to rivalries as old as this one, it’s not as simple as who is the better team. I love how well the Packers have been playing and I think they can win, but you never know what can happen in a Bears/Packers game. One of the teams could be horrible the rest of the season but come out with a victory in this game. There's pride and history on the line - that's so much more important that just a simple win or loss.


Aaron Rodgers was so effective against Atlanta due to his ability to hit some pinpoint passes. I don’t think he’ll be able to do that as effectively in the cold in Chicago. Footing was a huge issue in the Bears/Seahawks game and though they seem to have found a running game recently, the Packers have had problems on the ground all season and the likely-sloppy conditions aren’t going to help. The Bears didn't seem to have the same footing problems as the Seahawks, so it is to be hoped that the Packers can figure out the "secret."


One of the Packers biggest negatives is Special Teams. It's so depressing to watch, really. When was the last time the Packers were a threat to break a run-back for points? There's just no threat of the Packers getting major yardage on kickoff and punt returns. That's a completely missed opportunity on McCarthy's part. This potent offense would have been even better if the Packers could have won the field position battle at any point this season.


They’re going to have to hope they can keep Devin Hester in check and not give the Bears a short field the whole game.


That being said, the Packers are going to be UP for this game. Cutler managed a whole games against the Seahawks without being Jay Cutler and I can’t imagine that will last for another 60 minutes, especially against the Packers secondary.

Monday, January 03, 2011