🔥 HOT NEWS: Bears face a daunting Week 14 challenge as stopping Green Bay’s two X-factors could make or break their playoff hopes.QQ
The Bears are gearing up for another tough test on Sunday.
The Chicago Bears went from being the hunter to the hunted last week after knocking off the defending Super Bowl champs in their home stadium and in the process vaulted to the top of the NFC standings with five games remaining.
The message from head coach Ben Johnson was simple this week. This team, while 9-3, hasn’t earned anything yet and as close as the NFC is right now, everything can come crumbling down in a hurry. Which is why the Bears now need to show the NFL they’re capable of handling success the right way while looking to create some separation in the NFC North against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
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However, it’s something easier said than done the way the Packers have played recently. Which is why I spoke with Wendell Ferreira of A to Z Sports Green Bay to preview Sunday’s matchup and see if there’s any way the Bears can look to slow down Green Bay’s two major X-factors.
What’s going to be the best way to knock Jordan Love off his game?
While sacks are drive-changers and ultimately could decide games, pressures that do not become sacks are also valuable, and this is a viable way to affect Jordan Love.
The Packers quarterback is not necessarily bad against pressure by any means, but he has been a top 5 QB by most regular metrics and drops down to average when pressured, being obviously more susceptible to making mistakes.
Love has proven that he’s able to absorb a pass-happier approach like he did on Thursday against the Detroit Lions, so just loading the box and forcing him to throw won’t solve every problem for the Bears’ defense. But if the unit is able to apply quick pressure, Love will certainly be much less efficient.
Who’s the biggest threat in the passing game the Bears need to focus on defending?
I have no idea, and that’s the beauty of how the Packers’ offense is built. Dontayvion Wicks was that guy against the Lions, Christian Watson was against the Vikings, Romeo Doubs was against the Giants. Now, Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden are both possibly coming back from injury, so there are new elements to the passing offense.
Tucker Kraft was probably the most predictably consistent part of the passing offense, but now that he’s out for season with a knee injury, Matt LaFleur will incentivize the unit to be gameplan-oriented. Eventually, Jordan Love will have multiple options, and the favorable matchups will dictate the target. On Watson’s 51-yard touchdown against the Lions, the play had a mirrored concept, so Love could’ve gone to either Watson or Doubs, but it made sense to throw it to a better matchup. Usually, that’s how the Packers’ passing offense will operate.
Is it possible to slow down Micah Parsons without opening things up for Rashan Gary?
The big thing is that Gary hasn’t been able to take advantage of his favorable matchups over the past few games. The question for the Packers is who will do it, because Devonte Wyatt is out for season and Lukas Van Ness will likely be out this week as well. The Packers have some interior guys like Karl Brooks to disrupt a game, backup edge Kingsley Enagbare has been excellent to set the edge and affect running plays, but making sure that Parsons won’t have as many opportunities is still the best path for any offense.
Maybe Gary can have one of his monster games, which happens from time to time, but he doesn’t have nearly the same consistency as Parsons does, so focusing on slowing him down is the best bet to protect Caleb Williams.
