It’s finally playoff time! The Chicago Bears will host the Green Bay Packers this Saturday in their first home playoff game since the infamous 2018 bout against the Eagles. This will be the third meeting between the two teams in the past 6 weeks, and is set up to be a defining moment in the historic rivalry. The Bears haven’t won a playoff game since the 2010 season and are looking to change this after going worst-to-first and winning the NFC North for the first time in 7 years. Despite the longevity of both franchises, this will be only the third time the Bears and Packers have ever faced off in the postseason. This is a monumentally important game that has rarely come to fruition throughout history.
In addition to taking the Bears from worst-to-first in the division in his first year as head coach, Ben Johnson still has the opportunity to back up his offseason statement about beating Matt LaFleur twice this season-although I doubt he thought he’d have three cracks at it. While the Bears merely hoped for a wild card berth this season but wound up with the #2 seed in the NFC, the Packers had Super Bowl aspirations yet barely slid into the last playoff slot. The injury to Micah Parsons was a killer and has left Packer fans discouraged.
Other notable injury news includes Packers QB Jordan Love set to make his return after missing the last two and a half games of the regular season after sustaining a head injury in the last Bears-Packers game. Packers right tackle Zach Tome is also expected to return after missing the past three games. For the Bears, wide receiver Rome Odunze will return from a five game absence, while nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon will attempt to suit up for only the second time since October 19th. He will be needed, as his replacement C.J. Gardner Johnson is ruled out due to concussion protocol.
Interestingly, both the Bears and Packers’ last wins came against their opponent this week. The Packers enter on a 4-game losing streak (last victory 12/7 vs. Chicago), the Bears on a 2-game losing streak (last victory 12/20 vs. Packers). This is going to be a cold, gritty, and hard-fought battle between two teams that do not like each other. The Packers took offense to Austin Booker’s hard hit on Jordan Love a few weeks back, so expect these players to be fighting for every blade of grass like siblings fighting over the last slice of pizza. Following are four integral keys to the game:
Keys to the Game
Bears
- Get Back to Run Game
Chicago needs to relocate its dominance on the ground this week. Despite finishing the regular season 3rd in both total rushing yards and yards per carry, there is some uncertainty surrounding the run game heading into the playoffs after the Bears put up their worst rushing yard total of the season last week (65 yards). Green Bay has done a good job slowing the Bears down on the ground this year, having allowed 0 rushing touchdowns to Chicago in two games thus far. The Bears have been able to dominate teams like the Eagles and Browns this year with impressive rushing stats and they need to do the same thing this week.
- Generate Takeaways on Defense
Forcing turnovers is key for the Chicago defense. The Bears gave up the 4th-most yards this season, but also finished 1st in takeaways (33), fueled by an NFL best 23 interceptions. Green Bay did a good job of protecting the football during the regular season meeting between the two teams, only surrendering two turnovers in the two games. The Bears are 9-0 this season in games where they forced more than 1 turnover. When getting takeaways, the Bears are an extremely dangerous team.
Packers
- Exploit Chicago Secondary
The Bears secondary is vulnerable. Its top cornerback, Jaylon Johnson, spent the majority of the season rehabbing from injury and has not been able to find his footing upon his return. Nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon is looking to return from injury this week (currently listed as “Questionable”) and will probably have similar issues to Johnson even if he is able to suit up. Cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s concussion last week has knocked him out of the Wild Card round, however, which makes Gordon’s potential return exponentially more important. CB Nahshon Wright is fully healthy and a takeaway machine, but he is boom-or-bust and is known to also surrender a high amount of catches and yards.
In Bears-Packers part #1 when Jordan Love was healthy, Packers WR Christian Watson dominated. Green Bay needs to get back to that. If they make it a point to target the injured cornerbacks when there are 1-on-1 matchups, they will reap the benefits.
- Score First
With the game taking place at Soldier Field, the Bears need to utilize their home-field advantage. If you’re Green Bay, your #1 goal should be to take the fans out of the game as early as possible. The stadium is going to be rocking, so scoring an early touchdown and taking the wind out of Bears fans’ sails could be huge for the Packers. Bears fans are nervous, and falling off to a bad start could silence the crowd quickly.