LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Pack Opens Their Season in the Windy City

 

Enough with Deflategate. No more litigation, gnashing teeth over the 53^rd man on the roster, no “why didn’t we get a free agent” or “they drafted WHO??” No sir… out away the superfluous nonsense, the drivel that drives us insane in the offseason and get out the jerseys and fire up the gas grills in the parking lot.

Football is back and the Pack is raring to go. And Chicago is going to the Super Bowl.

The Bears’ Super Bowl will take place on opening day however. Facing the mighty Packers Chicago and their fervent followers have no shot at January so their Super Bowl will be played against Green Bay. As woeful as the Bears appear on paper there is little else to inspire Bears hopefuls other than laying a loss on the Pack.

The 2105- 16 Green Bay Packers open the campaign against their longtime divisional rivals the

Chicago Bears in the Windy City. Ordinarily a game of this magnitude would be played deeper in the season so the timing seems a bit quirky. The Bears will come limping in to face a team that is superior on both sides of the ball. But that will mean zip when they square off on Sunday.

The grand Marc Trestman experiment is over and John Fox’s tenure in Denver was cut short last season also. The defensive minded Fox has a track record of winning in his stops in the Mile High City and in Carolina and the Bears brass is hoping he can do the same for what has become the doormat of the NFC North. Every team in the division has improved and will be competitive.

Except Chicago.

The Bears have fallen upon hard times and have not exactly drafted well or made great personnel decisions. Last year they felt Julius Peppers was too old and had lost too much so the cut him loose and signed FA Jared Allen. In retrospect the Bears have to be kicking themselves for that move as Peppers was rejuvenated in Green Bay while Allen had one of the lowest sack totals he’s had since he entered the league with Kansas City.

It looked for a while like the Bears were going in the right direction. They drafted Alshon Jeffery and paired him with Brandon Marshall and with resurgent TE Martellus Bennett Da Bears had the makings of a nifty aerial attack. With all purpose workhorse Matt Forte running the ball the Bears could have been a decent outfit. Should have been a decent outfit. But Marshall was shipped off the Jets and 1^st round WR Kevin White is out with injuries. And as long as Jay Cutler is running the show the Bears time and again shoot themselves in the foot. It was only 2 scanty years ago the Bears had the Pack on the ropes in the final game of the season.

Then came the now infamous ‘48’ play. 4^th and 8 from the 48 and 46 seconds left when Aaron

Rodgers heaved a rainbow that a wide open Randall Cobb snagged for the shot that permanently sunk the Bears and has carried through till the present day. It was a blow from which the Bears never recovered.

Their once stout, once proud defense is in tatters and bears little resemblance to the ferocity the Bear once had. CB’s Charles “Peanut’ Tillman is gone. Tim Jennings is gone. The only player of merit left in the defensive backfield is Kyle Fuller and he isn’t enough to handle the likes of Aaron Rodgers. What’s worse is the Bears no longer have a pass rush. And forget about their linebackers – Brian Urlacher has long since retired and Lance Briggs is gone as well. This dense truly warrants a scorecard to know who is even on the field.

Chicago still has the ability to post points. And as long as Cutler is in there they also have the ability to throw the ugliest and most untimely picks as well. Cutler has been booed mercilessly at home and hasn’t much helped his own cause by continually forcing the ball into too tight coverage. Trestman couldn’t’ cure his woes and now Fox will find out very quickly Cutler isn’t Peyton Manning.

The thought of opening against the Pack will undoubtedly motivate the Bears. With the Seattle Seahawks next on the slate Chicago is really kinda hoping the Pack looks past them and has already begun making plans for next week.

That just ain’t gonna happen.

In spite of the loss of WR Jordy Nelson the Packers are still loaded offensively. The biggest key after

the stars is the complete return of an offensive line that has done nothing but improve every season since Mike McCarthy took over. Ted Thompson snagged 2 of the biggest names in free agency in the off season also. Huh? How is that possible?

WR Randall Cobb and RT Bryan Bulaga were easily 2 prime targets for many teams who came courting. If there was a better FA WR than Cobb last year please step forward. By retaining Cobb and Bulaga for less money than was being offered to them Thompson’s resigning his own trumps whatever anybody did in signing other free agents and is a move that should not go as unnoticed as it did.

James Jones is making a return to Titletown in Nelson’s absence. He knows the system, the playbook and Rodgers. “There are only a few calls and signals that are different (than before) so it’s just a meter of getting the timing down again’ said Jones upon his return. Rodgers is the great equalizer that can alone offset Nelson’s loss. This is no way an attempt to downplay Nelson’s value or ability but Rodgers has made great receivers out of players who have politely struggled elsewhere after they have departed (Greg Jennings and even Jones).

Davante Adams had what McCarthy labeled a terrific camp and is poised to step into the #1 spot

opposite Jones and allow Cobb to be moved around the field as McCarthy likes. The pressure of being the #3 WR has been lifted from promising rookie Ty Montgomery and 2^nd year man Jeff Janis will finally get a chance to show he belongs on the 53 man roster. Janis has been brilliant in August posting 5 TD grabs over the past 2 per seasons but now has to translate that to the games that matter.

As Rodgers redefines his passing power structure having Eddie Lacy makes the task that much easier. A brute of a RB Lacy and James Starks will likely see many carries on Sunday. As the receivers finds their way expect the Pack to come out running. If Lacy gets going Rodgers could have a field day with his play action prowess.

The biggest question mark remains the Packers ability to stop the run. They were gouged repeatedly by Philadelphia in the preseason and it wasn’t the bottom of the roaster. Most disturbing was that it came against the #1 D. While several key components were out (Peppers and Clay Matthews) the Pack cannot afford to let Forte get rolling. The inside linebackers are in flux and Matthews will be moved in and out with Nick Perry and Mike Neal picking up the slack outside when Matthews moves inside.

Perry has not quite lived up to his draft position. A former 1^st round pick Perry is in a contract year

and will need to finally break out. Rookie ILB Jake Ryan may see some time inside and could help down the road,. The other question marks have to do with how well #’s 1 & 2 rookie CB’s Demarious Randall and Quentin Rollins can fill the void left by Tramon Williams and Davon House. Casey Hayward is healthy and becomes the #2 CB behind Sam Shields who had an off year last year. S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix did nothing but improve steadily throughout last year. He and a healthy Morgan Burnett provide veteran stability in the back of the D.

Chicago would love to start the season with a bang. It just won’t happen. Mike McCarthy has said he wants to open fast and open strong. He is a man with a plan and a man of his word.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  GREEN BAY 31 

 

 

 

 

  Chicago  13