Week 4 - Green Bay vs Chicago

[PackManDan]

Predictions?

Green Bay is 1-2 / Chicago is 2-1

Green Bay has been a big disappointment so far this season. They are very inconsistent. Their offense has shown glimpses of being explosive. Their defense showed glimpses against Detroit of being good. If it all comes together this could be a good tough team. The problem is it seems one is always in the mud. The offense sucks and the defense has to bail it out or vice-versa.

Given the fact the Packers played so poorly against the Lions last week I hope this will light a fire under them. Rodgers can't have a much worse game than he did against Detroit so he should be pretty good against Chicago. Hopefully we get Nelson with some 1-on-1 coverage and air it out. Our running game hopefully will pick up too.

I'm guessing the score will be somewhere around 30-21...not sure who will be the victor. Hopefully the Pack.

By the way: why is this Packers board so dead? I look at other teams and they have continuous posts every single day. This board looks dead.

 

[packfancjh]

not sure why this board is so dead. It is a shame though. This game will depend on how McCarthy calls the plays IMO. He has been quite predictable so far this year contrary to what he said in the offseason about being more creative. The db's know what routes are coming and they are beating the wr to the ball. I'm not pleased with how our o line has played either but they have faced 3 of the best defensive fronts in football so far

 

[PackManDan]

not sure why this board is so dead. It is a shame though. This game will depend on how McCarthy calls the plays IMO. He has been quite predictable so far this year contrary to what he said in the offseason about being more creative. The db's know what routes are coming and they are beating the wr to the ball. I'm not pleased with how our o line has played either but they have faced 3 of the best defensive fronts in football so far

See I have a different take on this. I don't find that to be an excuse for them. Like someone else said on a different forum, everyone keeps mentioning that we are 1-2 "BUT" it is because we have played 3 of the top defenses. So what does that say? That the Packers are only supposed to do well, unless they play a top team, then it is ok if they play like crap? In order to be successful they should be able to beat bad teams and good teams, great offenses and great defenses and if we keep giving them the benefit of the doubt "oh well they played three of the best defensive teams" that is no good in my opinion. The great teams find a way to beat other great teams and this team just isn't doing it.

I'm disappointed. I'm a realist, not an optimist or a pessimist. But every year I hear McCarthy talk about "how good this team looks" and for a brief moment I believe it but then the season starts and they come out flat, slow, unprepared, undisciplined. I don't know. Maybe I'm too hard on them because this is my team and I know how well they can be and when they don't play up to that ability I get extremely disappointed but there just hasn't been much to be happy about yet this year.

 

[GNG]

Haven't the Packers started 1-2 the past two years?

 

[PackManDan]

Haven't the Packers started 1-2 the past two years?

Yes they have. But I think all Packers fans can agree that this year has been a huge disappointment and something different. Even the last two years that the Packers started 1-2 they have shown what they can be. A great team. They have shown their great offense at times and a good defense at times.

This year is completely different. They have looked completely lost in all 3 games. The first game against Seattle was a blowout. They didn't play well at all. The second game they won but very well could or should have lost. They went down 21-3 at home before coming back to win. Then they play Detroit and only put up 7 points.

We were all expecting a good running game this year. So far, nothing at all. We were all expecting our typical offense to be even more explosive with this hurry-up offense McCarthy was talking about in the off-season. So far, the offense has been shoddy at best. Rodgers is off his mark. The running game is non-existent. The O-line can't block. The receivers aren't getting open except for maybe Nelson. Nothing looks promising about the offense so far.

And to be honest I'm sick and tired of the Packers getting off to slow starts. I see Packers fans saying "it is ok, we always start off slow and then get into gear later on and make the playoffs". But why does it have to be that way? Why do we have to "always" start out slow?? Why can't we be prepared? We have the entire off-season. I don't care if we always get it into gear and make the playoffs. Maybe if we didn't dig ourselves into a hole early in the season we could make the playoffs and have home-field throughout instead of scraping in as a wildcard.

 

[PackManDan]

By the way, before the season started I picked the Packers to go 12-4. I think now they will go 10-6.

 

[Mondio]

I don't think playcalling is the issue, it's the damn performance on the field. Everyone was bitching about a running play from the endzone. You know how many running plays are called from the endzone and work? A lot. MOST times you should get at least 2-3 yards and some breathing room and sometimes they bust it for a 30 yard gain. Tell me I need to get 3 yards and I have Eddie Lacy, I don't think it's a bad call at all. Of course 2 years ago in a similar situation we passed from the endzone with Matt Flynn as the QB in Detroit and gave up a safety there too. So run or pass? Neither fucking worked.

But this particular play saw packer linemen standing around while one of the better young linebackers in the game just came running in free. Play call? or excecution? Get him blocked and there is no safety and the offense has room to work.

I wouldn't look for any 1-1 for Nelson, why would a team do that? He's been the only weapon. Lacy is missing cutback lanes, but that's only when he's not getting hit 4 yards in the backfield because our Oline has been very subpar so far this year. Cobb hasn't shown up and is dropping stuff. Boykin? Looks worse than his rookie training camp so far this year. Easily 2 steps back from last year. Adams? Still young and I don't expect him to be the guy, but somebody has to step up.

IF we can't run and can only pass to Nelson, who's going to not bracket him and make someone else make a play?

I think our woes are ALL on perssonel and their performance on the field. They have nobody to blame but themselves. The good news is they've all shown they can be a hell of a lot better than they are right now. The bad news is we haven't seen much in the way of dominate play from the offense this year.

I'm fine with how the defense is playing and I don't think they're done improving either. They are going to grow into this system as the season goes. If our offense can step up and play from a lead, I think our defense is better as an attacking defense. If we're playing from behind, it definitely won't play to our defense's strength but I guess that could be said for most teams.

The Bears are going to get yards on offense. Good TE, very good Rb and excellent receivers. We need to keep pressure on Cutler and he'll turn it over. I think this defense can do that. It's up to the offense to keep the ball and drive and score. If the D is on the field all game, well it could be ugly by the end.

 

[Tainthappening]

Packers offense missing most of the season thus far, seem to be in preseason yet. Interestingly... Packers have played the #1, #2 and #5 rated rush defenses so far... and were the top rushing team vs each thus far in the season. Lacy missing cutback lanes, OL not holding blocks and the rush defenses Packers have played so far may all be a factor in poor rush offense thus far. Will be interesting how they do vs Bears.

Defense vs Lions was point of optimism in game as they have some weapons on offense.. defense ran out of steam late with being on field so long. However, no word on Clay´s injury yet and that is not good news that already may have tweaked something so early in the season. Other than Clay... I do not recall any other injuries in Lions game.

Before season started I had this penciled in as a loss and Packers starting 1-3... with Forte, Bennett and Marshall/Jefferies will be a lot of weapons to cover for defense. Packers offense will need to keep up.. if they are able to rush the ball I think they make a game of it.

Bears 27
Packers 24

 

[packfancjh]

House was also injured in the Lions game but all 52 players on the active roster practiced today which is a good sign except that Brad Jones is back. Hopefully Lattimore still starts though

 

[Mondio]

Do you think Lattimore has been an improvement though? I think they look about the same and I liked Barrington, but seeing him play in the real games so far he's is clearly behind the guys playing in front of him.

 

[alldaybaby55]

Here's the thing. The slow starts are problematic. They start off games slowly, they start off seasons slowly. I don't know why. We can sit and speculate all we want, but we don't know why. Honestly, it's annoying and frustrating...but the only thing that matters is the finished product. If we start 1-2 and finish 11-5, will anyone REALLY care that we started off 1-2? In the grand scheme of things, what's the difference between starting 1-2 and having a 1-2 stretch in early November? Momentum can be gained and lost at any time during the season.

I think we beat the Bears. Probably in the neighborhood of 28-24, something like that.

 

[BrockForBroglio]

No Jennings, no Driver, no Finley...teams a putting a db over the top of Jordy. Cobb and others have to step up. There were a lot of drops last week. When Rodgers gets to ball to them the need to finish the play. I thisnk Lacy can get rolling this week, going against the #2 and #3 rush defenses controlled him. The Bears can be run on. They gave up almost 400 offensive yds last week. The PI call at the 1 yard line when it was clear the Jeffrey was the one holding, the fumble return for a td that got over turned. The Bears have been rather lucky.


Packers 35-28

 

[LambeauLegs]

After reading so much info on this up coming game I mean just how do the Packers even stand a chance going against this powerful Bears team that is 2 - 1. Everyone see's the Packers as a team heading down and the bears are heading in the upward way. The media is all over this needing a story to write about. The Packers in decline, there is something wrong with Rodgers!

The thing is when you look at the reasons for the previous thoughts mentioned people make assumptions that these things will occur for the rest of the season. I mean the Bears are being given all this praise for winning 2 prime time road games in a row and are now coming home. The thing is if the Bears did not get the luck they had the last 2 games they would be 0 - 3. The Bears have not gone out with this powerful offense that they have and just kicked the crap out of teams. They won because they were given 2 gifts in the 4th quarter from the 49ers allowing them 2 short fields to take the lead and hold on for the win. Without the 2 interceptions the Bears lose. The game against the Jets had all sorts of gifts given to the Bears and some help from the refs.

So the facts are the Bears are not this high powered team that can just march up and down the field out scoring other teams they need luck and turnovers to get wins.

Now when looking at this game just how will the Packer offense be able to perform against this improved Bear defense. First of all is the Bears defense really improved? The Bears rush defense is 4 notches higher in the rankings than the Packers rush defense. The Packers are 30th at 156 yards per game and the Bears are ranked 26th allowing 145 yardsper game. In the first 3 games of the year the Packers played against 2 of the top 4 rush offenses so this could have a negative affect on any rushing defense.

This should mean that the Packer rushing game should have an easier time of it this week and the running game should have a much better game against the Bears rush defense that is in the bottom 1/4 of the league.

If we look at the Packer offense again they have played against the top 2 defenses and the 8th ranked defense. When looking at the Bears defense it is ranked lower then the Packers total defense. The Packers are 20th in total defense and the Bears are 23rd. When looking at the Packers offense are we going to assume they hit 350 yards and 4TDs by Rodgers like in the Jets game and that was just in the second half or are we going to assume they play like they did against the Lions and suck the rest of the year? My guess is that they will be somewhere in between those 2 situations.

We talked about how the Packers should have a much easier way to rush the ball because the Bears rush defense is much worse then the Packers previous opponents. Now when looking at the ability of the Packers to pass the ball in this up coming game they are playing a team we should be able to run on and a team that has a depleted secondary with starters out for the season, or starters that will miss the game due to injury or starters that will play but will not be at 100% because of injuries they are playing with.

With a solid rushing game and a depleted Bear secondary Rodgers should be able to pick apart the Bears defense and score touchdowns.

When looking at the Packer defense just how will we stop the Bears offense that we hear is so powerful?

Well the powerful Bears rushing offense is worse than the Packers rush offense as it is ranked 32cnd out of 32 teams yes it is dead last in the NFL. Those of you that have Forte on your fantasy team know what I am talking about and you are just about as happy as those of you that have Lacey.

Now just why is the Bears rush offense dead last? Everyone tells us Packer fans that our rush offense sucks because of a sucky oline. Is it possible that the Bears Oline sucks as well? How can it be for the Packers but not the Bears. From what I see the Bears Oline has 2 starters hurt or out. That situation is much worse than the Packers situation.

The Bears high flying passing game is ranked like 14th in the league and they have hobbled receivers who have not practiced or have been limited in practice. The thing that is over looked with the Packer passing defense is ranked 6th in the league. So the strength of the Packer D is going against the strength of the Bears offense. Since the Packers should not have to worry about the Bears last ranked rushing game they should be able to do an all out assault on Cutler causing him to hurry passes causing a few picks.

If the Packers can hold onto the ball on and not hand a touchdown to the Bears in their first series and not have any fumbles or interceptions this will be a win for the Packers. When looking at the strengths and weaknesses of each team and how they match up this should be a big win for the Packers with a score of something like 35 - 17. But we all know these games never go that way and will most likely be something like the Pack 28 and the Bears 24 with the winning score in the last 2 minutes.

It is just interesting to see all these crazy assumptions being made after 3 weeks of the NFL season

 

[LambeauLegs]

After reading so much info on this up coming game I mean just how do the Packers even stand a chance going against this powerful Bears team that is 2 - 1. Everyone see's the Packers as a team heading down and the bears are heading in the upward way. The media is all over this needing a story to write about. The Packers in decline, there is something wrong with Rodgers!

The thing is when you look at the reasons for the previous thoughts mentioned people make assumptions that these things will occur for the rest of the season. I mean the Bears are being given all this praise for winning 2 prime time road games in a row and are now coming home. The thing is if the Bears did not get the luck they had the last 2 games they would be 0 - 3. The Bears have not gone out with this powerful offense that they have and just kicked the crap out of teams. They won because they were given 2 gifts in the 4th quarter from the 49ers allowing them 2 short fields to take the lead and hold on for the win. Without the 2 interceptions the Bears lose. The game against the Jets had all sorts of gifts given to the Bears and some help from the refs.

So the facts are the Bears are not this high powered team that can just march up and down the field out scoring other teams they need luck and turnovers to get wins.

Now when looking at this game just how will the Packer offense be able to perform against this improved Bear defense. First of all is the Bears defense really improved? The Bears rush defense is 4 notches higher in the rankings than the Packers rush defense. The Packers are 30th at 156 yards per game and the Bears are ranked 26th allowing 145 yardsper game. In the first 3 games of the year the Packers played against 2 of the top 4 rush offenses so this could have a negative affect on any rushing defense.

This should mean that the Packer rushing game should have an easier time of it this week and the running game should have a much better game against the Bears rush defense that is in the bottom 1/4 of the league.

If we look at the Packer offense again they have played against the top 2 defenses and the 8th ranked defense. When looking at the Bears defense it is ranked lower then the Packers total defense. The Packers are 20th in total defense and the Bears are 23rd. When looking at the Packers offense are we going to assume they hit 350 yards and 4TDs by Rodgers like in the Jets game and that was just in the second half or are we going to assume they play like they did against the Lions and suck the rest of the year? My guess is that they will be somewhere in between those 2 situations.

We talked about how the Packers should have a much easier way to rush the ball because the Bears rush defense is much worse then the Packers previous opponents. Now when looking at the ability of the Packers to pass the ball in this up coming game they are playing a team we should be able to run on and a team that has a depleted secondary with starters out for the season, or starters that will miss the game due to injury or starters that will play but will not be at 100% because of injuries they are playing with.

With a solid rushing game and a depleted Bear secondary Rodgers should be able to pick apart the Bears defense and score touchdowns.

When looking at the Packer defense just how will we stop the Bears offense that we hear is so powerful?

Well the powerful Bears rushing offense is worse than the Packers rush offense as it is ranked 32cnd out of 32 teams yes it is dead last in the NFL. Those of you that have Forte on your fantasy team know what I am talking about and you are just about as happy as those of you that have Lacey.

Now just why is the Bears rush offense dead last? Everyone tells us Packer fans that our rush offense sucks because of a sucky oline. Is it possible that the Bears Oline sucks as well? How can it be for the Packers but not the Bears. From what I see the Bears Oline has 2 starters hurt or out. That situation is much worse than the Packers situation.

The Bears high flying passing game is ranked like 14th in the league and they have hobbled receivers who have not practiced or have been limited in practice. The thing that is over looked with the Packer passing defense is ranked 6th in the league. So the strength of the Packer D is going against the strength of the Bears offense. Since the Packers should not have to worry about the Bears last ranked rushing game they should be able to do an all out assault on Cutler causing him to hurry passes causing a few picks.

If the Packers can hold onto the ball on and not hand a touchdown to the Bears in their first series and not have any fumbles or interceptions this will be a win for the Packers. When looking at the strengths and weaknesses of each team and how they match up this should be a big win for the Packers with a score of something like 35 - 17. But we all know these games never go that way and will most likely be something like the Pack 28 and the Bears 24 with the winning score in the last 2 minutes.

It is just interesting to see all these crazy assumptions being made after 3 weeks of the NFL season

Well as I thought with a few Cutler turnovers it was close to the score I thought without the 2 picks though it would have been a one touchdown win

 

[Tainthappening]

Well... Packers won big.

But cannot say I am all that excited (other than beating the Bears). Rush defense looks worse than last year. Packers team may make playoffs, but early exit again with this defense unless something changes.

Tramon turned the game around with deflection Clay then picked off. Cutler gets behind vs Packers and he starts throwing picks.

 

[Mondio]

our defense is made to play with a lead. I'm not excited by the rush D, but they have looked better against good rushing teams too. I think when the offense shows up or is able to score, our D will be fine. But we've had 3 decent weeks for defense and 1.5 weeks of good offense. I wasn't thrilled, but I wasn't exactly devestated by the defense today.

With those receiving targets, the bears are going to move the ball on almost everybody. BUt I would have liked to see more. But I'll take the W every time

 

[GNG]

Providing Aaron Rodgers is at QB the Packers will be hard to beat, even if their defense has as many holes as a slice of swiss cheese.

 

[The Derski]

Duh bears still suck

 

[nomoreshoop]

I will admit it, the Chicago Bears have no fucking clue. They are an embarrassment. Good luck the rest of the way. Your franchise knows how to play football and make the NFC north worthy of mention.