Its Bears week. The Green Bay Packers have never lost a game to the Chicago Bears under head coach Matt LaFleur and for the first time in 2024 they’ll look to continue their dominance over their NFC North rivals to the south. How do the Packers match up in this game?
Bears Have a New Offensive Coordinator
The Bears decided to fire offensive coordinator Shane Waldron after an abysmal loss to the New England Patriots last week. Chicago has replaced Waldron with Thomas Brown, who is as unproven as a coach can be. Brown ran the offense in Carolina during Bryce Young’s rookie season, but now he has a bit more to work with. There’s certainly no doubt that Chicago has more offensive talent than Carolina. With that being said Brown will have his chance in 2024 to prove his worth as a coordinator.
Bears fans will tell you that anything is an improvement over Shane Waldron. However on Sunday we’ll see how Chicago fares with a new coordinator at the helm.
Packers Getting Healthy After the Bye
Matt Lafleur confirmed that he was optimistic about Josh Myers, Jaire Alexander, and Evan Williams playing on Sunday and that he’d give them the week. Not much else is known, but the Packers have to feel good facing a division rival after a bye week.
Rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd is set to return from IR and may make an appearance on Sunday as well.
QB Comparison
Jordan Love has had a rough outing this season in terms of protecting the ball. He has six more touchdowns, around 100 more yards, and five more interceptions than Caleb Williams in two fewer games. A major key to victory for the Packers will be Jordan Love’s ability to protect the ball better than Williams, who has been decent at avoiding turnovers.
Love Will be tasked with outplaying a rookie QB who has had some protection issues up front, and he’ll need to succeed in order to inspire confidence in his abilities going forward.
Trade Deadline Woes
Preston Smith, who was acquired by the Packers during the offseason heading into Matt LaFleur’s first year, was traded to the Steelers last week. Smith has never lost to the Bears, and he’ll be the first person to tell you that.
The Packers also let another trade deadline come and go without acquiring a player, so the team technically got worse over the week. Will the defense feel the absence of one of their better edge rushers? Probably, but they have depth at the position and young players like Arron Mosby and Lukas Van Ness who are ready to step up.
Prediction
The Packers should be able to trot into Soldier Field and win on Sunday. A score of 24-10 wouldn’t be too crazy, since this Packers team has been able to beat up on mediocre teams all year. Problems may start to arise when they play the good teams left on their schedule, but we’ll save those conversations for a different week.
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Zack is a college student and cheesehead from California. When he’s not in class or writing, you can find him talking about the Packers on Twitter at @Zack_Upchurch.
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