The Holy War

Growing up a Bears fan in southern Wisconsin during the Brett Favre reign did something to me.  It broke something.  It made me not like you.  From 1994-1998 the Packers beat the Bears ten times in a row.  I was subjected to emotional abuse from friends, neighbors and loved ones.  I was subjected to this.  Then Lovie Smith came to town and started making everything OK.  The Bears started beating the Pack, big wins like Christmas day 2005 to clinch the NFC North, a 26-0 beat down at Lambeau to kick off the Super Bowl XLI run and a late December 35-7 shellacking at Soldier Field in 2007 to keep the Packers from attaining home field advantage in the playoffs.   Favre stopped throwing touchdown passes to Robert Brooks and Antonio Freeman and started throwing them to Nathan Vasher, Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher.  Things were good.  But a new pain in the ass has emerged at quarterback for the hated Packers, a man who in any other colors would be a favorite of mine, a man who has swung the momentum of The Rivalry in the wrong direction.  This f'ing guy.  Aaron Rodgers.  Rodgers has led Green Bay to win three of the last four meetings with Chicago and would have had them all if not for the long arm of Alex Brown.
Well folks, its time for the 180th installment of the greatest rivalry in sports (of which the Bears hold a 91-82-6 advantage, including the only playoff match up victory).

The Green Bay Packers, steeped in the great passing tradition of Bart Starr and Favre, bring their latest aerial edition to Soldier Field to face a franchise notorious for their legendary runners like Gayle Sayers and Walter Payton, the Chicago Bears, and their.....top of the line passing attack?  That's right, these aren't your grandfather's Bears, these aren't even my father's Bears.  With the infusion of offensive coordinator Mike Martz and quarterback Jay Cutler, the Bears now boast one of the league's top passing attacks.  Granted it's been only two games but early results speak for themselves as Cutler has put up 649 passing yards, five touchdowns to just one interception, leads the NFL with a 121.2 passer rating and was most impressive picking apart a highly touted Cowboys team in Dallas.  The Packers defense will pose a special new challenge to the Bears, with NFL sack leader Clay Matthews and defending NFL Defensive Player Of The Year Charles Woodson leading a terrorizing 3-4 grouping.  After a rocky start and the loss of starting left tackle Chris Williams the Bears adjusted and eventually handled the Cowboys 3-4 defense, but Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers takes confusion to another level with the inclusion of a specialized mutation of one defensive lineman, five linebackers and five defensive backs, or psycho defense.  The Bears offensive line came into the season as the team's biggest question mark and has definitely had their issues, but by the second half of the Dallas game Martz had schemed around and line coach Mike Tice had coach the unit up to the point that the Bears were able to start using play action and deep drops again.  Recognizing where the defensive pressure is coming from and addressing it properly will be key in giving Cutler the time he needs to attack a Packers secondary thinned out by injuries to Al Harris and Atari Bigby.

The Bears certainly are the new kids on the block throwing the ball, but Rodgers is building on two consecutive seasons with a passer rating of better than 93 and threw a most impressive 30 touchdowns to just seven interceptions last season.  Getting to Rodgers with be key for the Bears who have registered just two sacks this season despite the addition of big time pass rushing free agent Julius Peppers.  That's not to say the Bears defense has played poorly, rejuvenated by the healthy return of Urlacher they've actually been quite stout forcing six turnovers and allowing just 58 rushing yards.  The Packers offensive concerns also revolve around a suspect offensive line that is a little banged up with left tackle Chad Clifton and left guard Darren College both missing practice time this week.  How they, or their reserves, hold up against the Bears aggressive front seven will dictate how Rodgers will operate against a secondary that can be victimized through the air and is missing top draft pick Major Wright.

You may have noticed I'm four paragraphs in and I've yet to address the running backs.  It's not that won't impact the game, it's just that the Packers best runner, Ryan Grant is out for the season and Chicago's Matt Forte has over twice as many receiving yards as rushing yards and all three of his touchdowns through the air.    Both teams feature talented receiving corps, the Packers have the more polished group led NFL elites Greg Jennings and Donald Driver.  The emerging Bears try to kill with speed behind burners Devin Hester, Devin Aromashodu and Johnny Knox, but the real fun will be in watching how each team deals with the others tight ends (uh, so to speak).  The Packers 6'5" Jermichael Finley is coming off a 104 yard receiving effort against Buffalo, but will face two of the league's better all around linebackers in Urlacher and Briggs.  Chicago's speedy Greg Olson also performed well in his last game completing a 39 yard touchdown catch and run.  Safe to say both team's safeties will have their hands full.

For years the Bears have had some of the league's best special teams units, sending three different players to the Pro Bowl since 2007 with Hester and Brendon Ayanbadejo each making the team twice in that span.  Kicker Robbie Gould is off to another great start, but the usually solid punter Brad Maynard and kick coverage units have been shaky.  The Bears kick return game hasn't been up to its usual par either, but with Knox, Hester and Danieal Manning all with career return touchdowns, they are always a threat.  Green Bay made dealing with Chicago's special teams a top priority last season and were not burned by the units.  They are also experiencing a surge in kick returns behind Jordy Nelson's 31 yards a return average and are getting production early from kicker Mason Crosby.

The Packers enter the game a deserved favorite.  They made the playoff last season, the Bears didn't.  They swept the Bears last season.  It's up to the Bears to prove last week's win in Dallas wasn't a fluke and they can play at the same level as the Packers.  I think this is a more important game for the Bears, because, well, I think it would be easier for Green Bay to make up a game in the standings.  Both teams want to make a statement, there is an underlying sentiment that with the Viking at 0-2 that the Packers are already two games up on the division, the upstart Bears need to prove that is not the case by knocking off a Super Bowl caliber team.  Green Bay needs to show they are in control of the division by pounding the Bears.  It's going to come down to who can protect their star quarterback better and who takes better care of the ball.  Not exactly ground breaking analysis, I know, but it is a more glaring key in this game than most.  Hopefully the Soldier Field crowd noise will give the Bears a split second edge against the Packers beat up offensive line.  Hopefully Rodgers is left with a life time of Peppers and Charles Tillman related nightmares.

Official Prediction:  Bears 34, Packers 27.  Ok, ok, I know it is a homer pick, but come on, how could you ever love a team with Jim McMahon?  Not even Porky Pig was as big a ham.