Tag: Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers

9 Takeaways from the Bears’ disappointing loss to the Packers

From Justin Fields’ awareness to Kyler Gordon’s rough evening, here are our takeaways from the Bears’ loss to the Packers.

The Chicago Bears played the Green Bay Packers in a primetime game at Lambeau Field and got their doors blown off. It’s become a tradition at this point, no matter who’s coaching the Bears. It was Matt Eberflus’ maiden voyage into Green Bay as the Bears head coach and unlike most of his recent predecessors, he was unable to have success his first time up there.

The Bears took an early lead thanks to a punishing ground game, but soon fell behind quickly thanks the Packers own running game giving the defense fits. Green Bay relied on their two-headed running back monster of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon and they carried the team to a 27-10 win. The Bears and Packers both settle at 1-1 two weeks into the season and the Bears will go back to Halas Hall to figure out how they can improve heading into their matchup against the Houston Texans next weekend.

As usual, there aren’t many positives from this game for the Bears. Here our initial takeaways from Sunday’s primetime loss.

WATCH: Justin Fields scores a rushing TD vs. Packers

Justin Fields scores his first rushing touchdown of the year against the Green Bay Packers.

The Green Bay Packers may have scored the first points of the game, but the Chicago Bears got the first touchdown. After the Packers went up 3-0 on their opening possession, the Bears responded with a scoring drive of their own that resulted in six points.

The offense orchestrated a drive that took seven plays and went 71 yards, relying heavily on the ground game with a little trickery as well. It was capped by a three-yard rushing touchdown by quarterback Justin Fields.

Fields got the touchdown, but it was set up thanks to running back David Montgomery. The fourth-year veteran had four carries for 38 yards as the Bears pounded the ball down the field. He also was involved in a flea flicker that had Fields fire a pass to Equanimeous St. Brown.

The offense did its job out of the gate, but trail Green Bay 10-7 after the Packers responded with their own touchdown drive.

First-year Bears head coaches have had success playing in Green Bay

Since 1999, Bears head coaches are 4-1 when playing the Packers in Green Bay. Can Matt Eberflus keep up the trend?

Chicago Bears fans are usually confident in their teams chances, no matter who the opponent is that week. Except when it comes to facing the Green Bay Packers. It’s been a one-sided affair for the better part of a decade with the Bears winning just three games against their bitter rival since 2010.

The results have been ugly to say the least, but when the Bears do find a way to win against Green Bay once every few years or so, it has come when they have a new head coach.

Since 1999 and not including current head coach Matt Eberflus, the Bears have employed five head coaches. Those coaches collectively went 4-1 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field during their first season with the Bears, with most getting surprising wins to start their tenure off on the right foot. Here is how each of them fared.

5 Bold predictions for the Bears primetime matchup vs. Green Bay

From Darnell Mooney getting back on track, to Kyler Gordon forcing a turnover, here are our bold predictions for Bears vs. Packers.

The oldest rivalry in the NFL is renewed this weekend when the Chicago Bears travel north to take on the Green Bay Packers. The Bears are coming off an upset victory over the San Francisco 49ers to open up the Matt Eberflus era, while the Packers are reeling following a drudging by the Minnesota Vikings to start 0-1.

Recent history has not been kind to the Bears when it comes to this matchup. They haven’t won since late 2018 and have been outscored 176-101 since the start of the 2019 season. But with a new staff, a new mentality, and perhaps a bit of injury luck, a win might just be in the cards. That alone is enough to be a bold prediction, but here’s what else we can see happening on Sunday night.

5 Bold predictions ahead of the Bears’ 2022 season

From Cole Kmet’s breakout season to a banner year for pass rushers, here are our 2022 regular season bold predictions for the Chicago Bears.

We’re just a few days away from the Chicago Bears beginning the 2022 NFL season when they face off against the San Francisco 49ers on the lakefront. It’s the inaugural campaign for general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus, who are bringing in a new era of Bears football that hopefully results in a Super Bowl victory one day.

Sticking with the 2022 season, however, expectations are low for this year’s group and there’s much uncertainty surrounding a roster that’s been put in the rebuilding category. But uncertainty can also mean unpredictability, which are perfect conditions for bold predictions heading into the season.

2 Bears games among the most in demand this NFL season

The Chicago Bears may not be a popular pick to be a good team but they’re still a hot ticket this season.

The national sentiment may not be very favorable for the Chicago Bears heading into the 2022 season, seeing as various analysts and pundits have made them a popular pick to be one of the worst teams in the league. Even with those expectations, however, the Bears appear to be a hot ticket in 2022.

Darren Rovell of The Action Network posted the most in-demand games from the upcoming NFL season using data from StubHub and the Bears are featured in two of them. Their road matchups against the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys are No. 6 and No. 7 on the list, respectively.

The Bears renew their rivalry with Green Bay early in the regular season, making the trip north in week two for Sunday Night Football, while they head down to Dallas in late October in week eight for a reunion with the Cowboys. It will be their first road game against the Cowboys since 2016.

If you’re looking for tickets for one of those games, you will likely need to pay a pretty penny. According to StubHub, the lowest ticket price for Bears vs. Packers is $219 as of this article. For Bears vs. Cowboys, tickets are significantly cheaper with standing room-only tickets as low as $41, but get more expensive for actual seats.

Regardless of the ticket price, fans are marking down these Bears games on their calendar and there should be plenty of road fans in both stadiums. The most in-demand NFL game of the year takes place in week one when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit the Cowboys in primetime.

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Aaron Rodgers reveals his favorite Bears-Packers game of all time

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers reveals his favorite game he’s played against the Bears and fans may not want to relive the experience.

Asking Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers what his favorite game has been against the Chicago Bears is like asking a child to pick their favorite candy bar to choose from. Sadly, there have been far too many standout moments for the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback in the NFL’s oldest rivalry.

Rodgers has a career record of 22-5 against the Bears in the regular season, with another victory coming in the postseason during the 2010 NFC Championship game. It’s been a one-sided affair for the last decade plus and you would think narrowing down his favorite moments would be tough, but Rodgers does in fact have a favorite game and Bears fans won’t like his answer.

Rodgers recently was a guest on the “Pardon My Take” podcast with notable Bears fan Dan “Big Cat” Katz and revealed his favorite game from the Bears-Packers rivalry is their 2013 regular-season finale to decide the division. The game was a back-and-forth slugfest before the Packers rallied back, thanks to a late touchdown pass from Rodgers to Randall Cobb to steal the win 33-28 and win the NFC North away from the Bears during Marc Trestman’s first year as head coach. Even nearly 10 years later, Rodgers still has a photographic memory of the game and he detailed why it was his favorite:

I came back from my collarbone, Randall [Cobb] came back from his knee injury and then, somehow, it was for the division. After so many things happened for us to be in it…it came down to our game. Neither team, I don’t think was great that year, but we were playing for a home playoff game.

“I start off, I throw a pick to Chris Conte on a rollout and I’m like ‘[expletive], is it really going to go like this tonight?’ Then I threw another pick to [Tim] Jennings in the second or third quarter. Then we had that weird, fluky, Pep [Julius Peppers] caused a fumble and [Miles] Boykin picks it up and nobody’s doing anything and he runs into the endzone.

Then on the last drive, we converted three fourth downs, fourth and inches on a dive play, a fourth and three to Jordy [Nelson] but that last one was pretty amazing.”

While Rodgers reveled in one of his prouder moments, in speaking to Katz, he did provide context surrounding the infamous blown coverage by Conte that allowed Cobb to score easily that gave the Packers the lead.

“You have to put it all together, people throw blame on Chris on that side, I think [Zachary] Bowman was outside as well on that play. But you guys brought seven and we blocked with six. There should have been a free guy so it really was the rush pattern that got you…I guarantee you on the defense, they were expecting the ball to come out quick. That’s why they were playing at 10 yards.

What they should have done was change the call. I knew what the check call was.”

Rodgers also admitted he was trying to throw quick but had to improvise when pressured by Peppers, leading to the touchdown. To this day, Conte still gets the business from Bears fans but Rodgers isn’t alone in his assessment. Former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler defended the coverage as well in an interview last fall, saying Conte wasn’t the reason for the breakdown.

That season finale is over 10 years old and you won’t find a current Bears player who was even on the team for that moment. But if you ask a handful of Bears fans what their worst loss was they experienced, that game is bound to be near the top of the list. It’s only fitting Rodgers has it as his favorite.

Bears could play Packers in London in 2022, but don’t count on it

The NFL announced the five teams that will host an international game in 2022, and the Packers would be the only team the Bears could face.

The NFL announced Monday the five teams that will host an international game during the 2022 season. That list didn’t include the Chicago Bears, who won’t host an international game this upcoming season.

The New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars will host games in London while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host a game in Germany and the Arizona Cardinals will host a game in Mexico.

The only team the Bears could face internationally this upcoming season would be the Packers, as they don’t play the Cardinals, Saints, Buccaneers or Jaguars in 2022.

But with that said, it’s hard to imagine the NFL staging a Bears-Packers game in London of all places, especially when the matchup has thrived in prime-time — particularly at Lambeau Field.

Back in December, the Bears were awarded Spain and the United Kingdom for international markets as part of the NFL’s new International Home Market Areas (IHMA) initiative.

Chicago has played three international games in London dating back to 1986, when they beat the Dallas Cowboys 17-6 in a preseason game at Wembley Stadium.

The Bears have played in London twice since then — back in 2011, when they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-18 at Wembley Stadium, and most recently in 2019, losing to the Las Vegas Raiders 24-21 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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NFC North standings heading into Week 15

The NFC North has remained status quo this season, where the standings remain the same.

The NFC as a conference may be tightening up a bit with many playoff teams within striking distance of one another, but when it comes to the NFC North, it’s status quo. For at least the eighth week in a row, the standings didn’t change within the division and each team has a strong hold on their respective place.

With just four games left in the season, here is how the NFC North looks.

Bears CB Jaylon Johnson made Matt Nagy look silly with comment after Packers loss

Don’t try telling Bears HC Matt Nagy that the Packers made adjustments to free up WR Davante Adams in the second half.

The Chicago Bears were competitive in the first half of Sunday night’s game against the Green Bay Packers, where they held a 27-21 lead that left head coach Matt Nagy “having so much fun.”

But that fun didn’t last long as things changed in the second half, where the Packers scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives to jump out to a 35-27 lead of their own.

One thing was clear: The Packers made the necessary adjustments to turn things around in the second half, which is exactly what good teams do. You know, the opposite of what Nagy typically does, as evidenced by his team being outscored 24-3 in the second half.

While Packers wide receiver Davante Adams’ stat line would indicate that he dominated throughout the game — 10 catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns — that wasn’t the case in the first half.

Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson did an impressive job defending Adams in the first half, limiting him to just two catches on five targets for 19 yards, according to NextGen Stats.

But in the second half, Adams caught all eight targets for 102 yards against other defenders not named Johnson.

While Nagy said the Packers “did the same thing they did in the first half” with Adams. But Johnson said, which was what we all saw, that Green Bay made several adjustments in the second half to free him up.

“A lot of motions. A lot of drag routes, underneath routes. A lot of pick-routes,” Johnson said. “They switched it up pretty good. They did a lot of things that make covering him very hard.”

It’s not a good look for Nagy, especially considering that this isn’t the first time that it’s been clear he’s struggled making halftime adjustments.

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