They meet again in this storied rivalry. Two games were not enough to decide it in the regular season so now the Green bay Packers and Chicago Bears will have a winner-take-all rubber match where the winner gets to go on to Dallas in the Super Bowl.
It’s hard to believe that in the previous 182 contests that this is only the 2nd time the Pack and the Bears have squared off in the playoffs. For whatever reason the arcs of peaks and valleys each team has have never quite intersected. When the Packers were ruling the 60’s the Bears were an afterthought, and while the Monsters of the Midway had their day in the sun it was the dark days in Cheeseland. Payton’s Bears were followed by Favre’s Packers.
But this is a new millennium. Fresh off a win over Seattle Jay Cutler leads Da Bears against the red hot Green Bay Packers who are flying high after undressing the Falcons. The bears have steadfastly maintained that they want to meet the Pack again. Now, they get their wish.
It’s difficult to assess the Bears after the Seahawk game. Let’s be blunt – Seattle is not a good football team and there are at least a half dozen or more teams more deserving to be in the playoffs. But someone had to win the NFC Worst…West, and it came up Seattle, they with the oh-so-brilliant record of 7-9. Oh they can whoop it up all they want but in reality they deserved to be there like feathers on a pig.
So the inherent problem is how to evaluate the Bears. When a good team, like the Bears, plays a bad team, like say, Seattle, the good team always looks worse than they are because the bad team forces them to play that way. When a receiver runs the wrong route, the defender is forced to go with him. They (Seattle) end up being successful sometimes in spite or despite themselves. Look no further than New Orleans for confirmation.
The Bears got up big and early. Game over, right? Well – sort of. Seattle managed to scrape a few points together but they were never a factor. With their helter-skelter style the Hawks managed to make the Bears look less than impressive, so we’ll disregard the Seahawks altogether.
Give the Bears credit. They have made steady improvement throughout the season and are winning in all kinds of ways. Ugly games, luck games (see: Detroit) come from behind, and hold em off to go along with the occasional blowout. New OC Mike Martz loves the passing game yet can sometimes overlook the run. With an arm as big as Cutler’s it’s easy to forget the running game. This is where the Bears have shown some faltering.
RB Matt Forte has very quietly had a great year. The more the Bears use him the more potent Cutler’s strikes are. When teams keep Forte in check and force Martz’s hand Cutler has made some iffy throws and iffy plays. In the regular season finale against the Pack the Bears, having nothing to play for as their season and position was all wrapped up, could not bump off the Packers. Their inability to do that has now resulted in what they say they want but truly did not want to see… a showdown with what is the hottest team in the playoffs playing by far their best ball of the year.
GB held Forte in check and while the score was only 10 -3 it was good enough to get the Pack into the playoffs where they have shined. Make no doubt that Dom Capers will have gone over every game film from both the Packers and other teams to come up with a way to take away Forte. If the Packers can contain Forte the game tips decidedly Green Bay’s way. If Chicago is forced to depend on Cutler to win the game that is certainly a direction the Packers feel they have an advantage.
Aaron Rodgers is out of this world beyond great at this moment. The last thing the Bears wanted to see was a red hot Rodgers in full command of all his weapons. When Rodgers drops back he has so many from which to choose – a slant, a RB in the flat, a play action to find a wide open tight end, or he can simply tuck the ball and score his own TD. Covering Rodgers’ targets is one huge key for the Bears D.
The Bears WR’s include speedster Devin Hester, Devin Aromashodu, and Johnny Knox. While Knox and Hester have the speed to break a game open they have not consistently shown they can deliver in the crunch. Knox is one who has greatly improved from week 1. TE Greg Olsen also offers Cutler a nice option as he has come through when the receivers are blanketed.
On Offense the Bears biggest concern is the OLine and their ability to keep Cutler upright. The bears, much like the Packers, have had the line under a microscope all year. Whichever teams line can perform better will determine the direction of this game.
While both teams have an offense capable of putting points up these are two of the best and most ferocious defenses in the NFL right now. Both are top 10 in points against and takeaways. These defenses are stingier than Jack Benny on a date. This will not be a game where the offenses put up points at will. Far from it. Every point, every yard, every inch will come at a price. The team more willing to pay that price against these defenses that will extract their pound of flesh will have rightfully earned the trip to Dallas.
The Bears are led by FA Julius Peppers whose arrival has legitimized the Bears resurgence. Peppers is an uncontrollable menace who terrorizes QB’s and disrupts a running game. Whatever gets by Peppers is met by the tandem of Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher, two of the most feared of LB’s in the business. If covering the targets Rodgers has is one key the larger issue is getting to Rodgers to force him to get rid of it early. The Packers OLine has had mixed results success against the Bears this year. Giving Rodgers enough time is priority 1 for the OLine GB this week.
While these two teams do not like each other there is little doubt they both respect and fear each other. The LB’s on each side make for a compelling story line with the Packs Clay Matthews III who is playing like a whirling dervish, and A. J. Hawk who is playing at the peak of his years in Green Bay. Green Bay’s front line of B.J. Raji, Cullen Jenkins, and Ryan Pickett are equally as fearsome as the Bears.
But the Packers have an upper hand in the secondary. Once considered a weakness, the emergence of Tramon Williams and now Sam Shields have joined All Pro Charles Woodson and propelled Green Bay’s corners into maybe the best in the league. Credit DB coach Darren Perry for the development of Charlie Peprah and Nick Collins continues his All Pro string at S.
While the Bears have the upper hand in the Special Teams dept. with Devin Hester, Daniel Manning and K Robbie Gould the Pack must counter with a game from P Tim Masthay and K Mason Crosby as they had the last time these two met. Masthay’s directional punts were perfect all game and Hester was never a factor. Manning managed one long kickoff return so the Packers just may have spent a couple extra minutes going over coverages and assignments. Again. One key will be to keep Hester or Manning from breaking the game open.
Even with both QB’s and both offenses clicking history says that this will not be a video game light ‘em up shootout. This will be more of the old Black and Blue division smash mouth type of football game where the yards come by hard and the points even harder.
Looking at all the comparisons this game does not let anyone feel comfortable. The survivor gets two weeks off before one more game. And, in the end, after a hard fought battle when the dust settles the call is
GREEN BAY 23
Chicago 13
And in Pittsburgh the New York Jets, fresh off a beating of the vaunted Patriots come in flying high to take on the Steelers. There has been a dearth of yapping from the Jets camp this week as the Rex Ryan and the Jets know better. The Steelers are one team you don’t want to annoy. With tough guys like James Harrison and Hines Ward it is not wise to rattle the Steelers cage, and the Jets smartly have done little of that.
The intriguing matchup will be Big Ben Rothlisberger and his WR’s against the Jets DB’s. Big Ben is playing well, but limited in his mobility thanks to a still broken bone in his foot. The Jets will have to force Rothlisbgerger’s hand to have any success.
QB Mark Sanchez finds himself back in the AFC title game for the 2nd year. And for the 2nd straight year look for him to be harassed and chased and forced. The Steeler D is primed. Even with New York’s wideouts playing so well this is a long game for Sanchez as the Steeler D rises to the occasion. Troy Polemalu and Co. lock them up pretty good.
PITTSBURGH 27
New York 10
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