GREEN BAY PACKERS (8-8) vs. CHICAGO BEARS (7-9) When: Sunday, 3:25 p.m. Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. NBC (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, and Tracy Wolfson) Fubo TV (free trial) for streaming SiriusXM (Channel 160 or 382), ESPN AM-1000, FM-100.3 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie), ESPN (Steve Levy, Max Starks, Lindsey Thiry) national 93.5 Latino Mix (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza) The spread: Packers by 3 points (over/under 44). BearPackers 19, Bears 17 (Digest Pick)
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The Matchup: The Bears have been eliminated but hope to play spoiler to Packers playoff chances by snapping a nine-game losing streak against their rivals. This is a rematch of the season opener won 38-20 by the Packers at Soldier Field.
The Bears come in facing uncertainty about the future for quarterback Justin Fields, and possibly the coaching staff. However, all signs seem positive for head coach Matt Eberflus at this point. The Packers win and they’re in or if they tie the can make it in several other ways. The Packers also would make it regardless of what happens in the Bears game if Minnesota loses or ties, Seattle and Tampa Bay both lose or if Minnesota loses and Seattle and New Orleans both lose The Series:
The 208th game between the primordial rivals, including two playoff games. Green Bay leads 106-95-6. One more win and the Packers equal their longest winning streak in the series at 10 straight. It’s only the second time they face each other in Green Bay to close a season, the last one coming in 2010.
The Coaches: Bears coach Matt Eberflus is 10-23 in his second season and is 0-3 against the Packers. Packers coach Matt LaFleur is 57-30 in his fifth season and 55-27 in Green Bay. He is 9-0 against the Bears. Last Week:
The Bears piled up the offense and takeaways in dealing a devastating blow to the Atlanta Falcons’ playoff hopes with a 37-17 win at Soldier Field. They had four interceptions, two by Tyrique Stevenson and one each by T.J. Edwards and Kyler Gordon, while Justin Fields threw for 268 yards and a TD and ran for a 9-yard TD and Khalil Herbert had 124 yards rushing and a TD.
Green Bay had Jordan Love completed 24 of 33 for 256 yards and three TDs, while Aaron Jones ran for 120 yards in a 33-10 rout on the road of the Vikings. Matching Up: The Bears are 17th on offense, 27th passing and second in rushing. They are 16th in points scored.
Chicago is 12th on defense, 21st against the pass and No. 1 against the run. Chicago is 20th in points allowed. The Packers are 13th on offense, 17th passing and 15th rushing. The Packers are 11th in scoring. … Green Bay is 21st on defense, 11th against the pass and 28th against the run. The Packers are 14th in scoring defense.
Stat Leaders: Bears QB Fields is 216 of 354 (61%) for 2,414 yards with 16 TDs and nine INTS for a passer rating of 85.8. … Fields leads the Bears in rushing with 630 yards on 116 carries for four TDs. … WR DJ Moore has 92 receptions for 1,300 yards and eight TDs to lead the Bears in those categories. …
LB T.J. Edwards has a team-high 145 tackles while DT Justin Jones leads in tackles for loss with 10. … DE Montez Sweat has six sacks to lead the Bears and S Jaquan Brisker leads in forced fumbles with two. CB Jaylon Johnson, CB Tyrique Stevenson and LB Tremaine Edmunds have four INTs each to lead the Bears. Stevenson leads in pass defenses with 15.
Packers QB Love is 345 of 547 (63.1%) for 3,843 yards and 30 TDs with 11 INTS and a passer rating of 93.8. … Running back Aaron Jones is the leading Packers rusher in the game with 120 runs for 545 yards and two TDs. … WR Jayden Reed leads the Packers in receptions with 60, in receiving yards with 681 and in TD catches with eight. … LB Quay Walker leads the Packers in tackles with 109 while DT Kenny Clark leads in tackles for loss with eight. … LB Rashan Gary leads the Packers in sacks with nine. …
No one in the game for the Packers has more than one interception and Clark, Gary and Preston Smith have two forced fumbles apiece. … CB Carrington Valentine leads in pass defenses with seven. Injury Report: For the Bears, WR Darnell Mooney (concussion) and C Lucas Patrick (foot) are out. CB Jaylon Johnson (shoulder) is doubtful. CB Kyler Gordon (calf), RB Khalil Herbert (back), TE Cole Kmet (knee), LS Patrick Scales (foot) are questionable.
For the Packers, RB A.J Dillon (thumb) and S Rudy Ford (hamstring) are out. LB Isaiah McDuffie is doubtful (concussion). OL Elgton Jenkins (knee), TE Luke Musgrave (kidney), WR Jayden Reed (chest), DE Preston Smith (ankle), OL Luke Tenuta (ankle), WR Christian Watson (hamstring), WR Dontayvion Wicks (chest) and RB Emanuel Wilson (shoulder) are questionable. Notable:
It’s possible it will be the final Bears game against Green Bay for veterans Eddie Jackson and Cody Whitehair as a result of salary cap concerns. … Sweat can be the first player ever to finish a season leading two teams in sacks. He had 6 1/2 for Washington and it still leads the Commanders. … Bears WR Moore needs two receptions for a career best 94. … TE Cole Kmet needs one catch to move past TE Martellus Bennett for third all time among Bears tight ends with 208 receptions.
He is 34 catches behind Desmond Clark. … K Cairo Santos needs one field goal to move into fourth by himself in Bears franchise history with 110. … Green Bay’s Reed has 10 total TDs, eight on receptions. The only other player with eight TD catches and multiple TD runs is Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb. … Love’s 30 TD passes ranks third in the league. … Kicker Anders Carlson has missed five field goal tries and five extra points. … WR Bo Melton last week became the first Packer to have over 100 yards receiving and a TD catch in his first start since Jarrett Boykin (2013).
KEY INDIVIDUAL MATCHUPS
Bears LB T.J. Edwards vs. Packers RB Aaron Jones
While Jones gained 120 yards against the Vikings and 127 against the Panthers in his last two games and averaged 6.0 yards a carry in both, his pass receiving might be the biggest danger to the Bears, who have given up more receptions to backs than any team.
He had two receptions for a season-high 86 yards and a TD in the opener. Edwards, as weakside LB, most often is the linebacker with opportunities in the run game and also has been strong against the pass with three interceptions. He is graded sixth best linebacker in the league by Pro Football Focus.
Bears DE Montez Sweat vs. Packers RT Zach Tom
Sweat’s 63 pressures this season from both his teams combined is a career high according to PFF stats. He has made 36 of those with the Bears in eight games. … A second-year player from Wake Forest who is 6-4, 304 pounds, Tom was a fourth-round draft pick and has allowed only two sacks with three penalties. He is graded 14th among all tackles by PFF.
Bears T Darnell Wright vs. Packers OLB Rashan Gary
Wright remains one of the graded rookie tackles by PFF but his marks have gradually come down throughout the year as he has faced a long list of strong pass rushers. Wright has given up seven sacks and committed 10 penalties, while being graded 55th among 84 tackles. He allowed five hurries but no sacks in the first game with the Packers. Gary has come back this year from knee surgery with 42 tackles and a team-high nine sacks. He’s graded the 25th most effective edge player by PFF.
Bears LT Braxton Jones vs. Packers OLB Preston Smith
Smith has been a tough for Bears tackles to handle with 6 1/2 sacks and seven tackles for losses against them in nine games for Green Bay. Most likely he’d be matched up on Jones, who has followed up a strong rookie year with a solid second year and a better season as a pass blocker. He has allowed one sack and committed nine penalties with 28 pressures allowed. He missed six games earlier this season due to injury.
Bears WR DJ Moore vs. Packers CB Jaire Alexander
Moore’s spectacular season didn’t get off to a great start with only two receptions against the Packers in the first game. Alexander is going through the worst season of his career and his recent one-game suspension for fouling up on the coin toss was only a sidebar to that year. PFF is giving Alexander a 61st ranking out of 125 corners this year. According to Sportradar he has a passer rating against of 120.6 and has made no interceptions for the first time in his career. Moore is trying to fight through an ankle injury still and was on the injury report this week before being taken off it at the end of the week.
Bears G Teven Jenkins vs. Packers DE Kenny Clark
Jenkins has been the best Bears blocker the last two seasons and has managed to overcome calf injuries and a concussion. He has given up one sack and committed four penalties this season and is graded 10th among all guards in the league by PFF.
Clark is always a problem in the running game for the Bears but has been more effective with an interior pass rush this year. PFF has him 27th best rush man on the interior this year and 39th overall at DT. Clark has career-highs of 6 1/2 sacks and 15 quarterback hits. He could be matched up over Nate Davis at times at right guard, as well. Either way, the Bears line interior will be challenged because they’ll likely start veteran Cody Whitehair at center and he has been at guard all season.
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