Green Bay Packers: Week 16 Vs Bears

The Green Bay Packers (13-1) will host their NFC North rivals the Chicago Bears (7-7) this Sunday night when they play a nationally televised game at Lambeau Field. The Packers have won the NFC North title and have secured a first-round bye, and they can secure homefield advantage throughout the playoffs with a win over Chicago.

Green Bay beat Chicago 27-17 in Week 3 at Soldier Field and will attempt to achieve their fourth straight victory against the Bears in 2011. Chicago holds a 7-game lead all-time against Green Bay (85-92-6), heading into their 184th game. This will be the Packers’ ninth game against the Bears, since Aaron Rodgers became the starting quarterback. Rodgers is 6-2 against the Bears, including last year’s NFC Championship game.

Chicago is coming off an embarrassing 38-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Backup quarterback Caleb Hanie completed 10-of-23 passes and threw for 111 yards with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions against the Seahawks.

The Bears lost starting quarterback Jay Cutler to a broken thumb a month ago against the San Diego Chargers. Chicago signed veteran quarterback Josh McCown as a result of Cutler’s injury, and Bears head coach Lovie Smith announced this week that McCown would start against the Packers in place of the underperforming Hanie.

McCown has not started a game since 2007 when he was with the Oakland Raiders. McCown has thrown 35 touchdowns, 41 interceptions and has a 70.9 passer rating in his career. Compared to McCown, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has thrown 40 touchdowns, 6 interceptions and has a league-leading 120.1 passer rating. McCown has 6,596 (career) total passing yards to Rodgers’ 4,360 passing yards this season.

Green Bay comes off a 19-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday, which ended their 19-game winning streak going back to last season. The Packers are 13-1 for the first time in team history and began offering stock in the team for the fifth time in the team’s history two weeks ago, which can be purchased by the general public here.

Rodgers is the clear front-runner as the NFL’s most valuable player and continues to have the highest passer rating (103.3) in the history of the NFL. It was announced on Wednesday that Rodgers won the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year Award from members of The Associated Press. He also has some funny television commercials airing that can be viewed here, here and here.

Green Bay wide receiver Tori Gurley turned down an offer to start for the Minnesota Vikings this week and chose to remain on the Packers’ practice squad. Gurley was signed to the practice squad as a free agent before training camp, and it was predicted back in August that the Vikings would make an attempt to sign Gurley in an article that can be read here.

Green Bay will be without wide receiver Greg Jennings (knee), offensive tackle Chad Clifton (back), defensive tackle Ryan Pickett (concussion) and offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga (knee) this Sunday. First-round draft pick and offensive tackle Derek Sherrod was placed on IR after breaking his leg against the Chiefs last week.

The Green Bay Packers can secure a victory against the Chicago Bears, if they address three key issues during the game.

1. Stop the Bears’ pass rush

The Packers’ offensive line is banged up and will be challenged by the Bears’ pass rush. Even though the offensive line will play “musical chairs” with this week’s starters, they still need to protect Aaron Rodgers to give him time to find the open receiver and keep him healthy for the playoffs.

Rodgers set a franchise record last week with his 40th touchdown pass of the season, surpassing the previous record of 39 touchdown passes set by Brett Favre in 1996. Rodgers is also close to breaking the record for most passing yards in a season set by Lynn Dickey in 1983 (4,458 yards). He needs 99 passing yards to break Dickey’s record.

2. Tackle, tackle, tackle

While the Packers’ defense has done a marvelous job creating turnovers this season, they have been lacking in their ability to tackle well. There seems to be a preference for getting an interception over making sound tackles in the field of play. Giving up big plays on defense as a result of poor tackling should not occur and, if an interception is not made, the Packers still need to end plays sooner by tackling better.

3. Re-establish the running game

Running backs James Starks and Brandon Saine will return from injury this week and will add another dimension to Mike McCarthy’s game plan for the Bears. Look for Green Bay to get back to their running game after a two-week hiatus.

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