I bet right about now, Lovie Smith is thinking to himself, "What did we do?"
Three weeks ago, the Bears had the opportunity to do what the NFL Playoff teams were hoping they would have done, beat the Packers in week 17 to eliminate them from making the playoffs.
Fast forward to the eve of one of biggest buildups to an NFC Championship game and how fitting that it pits two of the biggest NFL rivals: Packers vs. Bears in a rematch of that week 17 matchup.
The Packers split in their season series with the Bears losing at Soldier Field 20-17 in week three on Monday Night and winning in week 17 10-3. There are just a few simple keys to the game that will decide who wins.
Three things to watch for:
1) Bears Offensive Line: Credit to former Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Mike Tice, who after flopping around different alignments that resulted in giving up a season-worst 10 sacks to the New York Giants, the Chicago offensive line has finally settled in, somewhat. Their offensive line gave up the most sacks in the NFL this season. However, the line greatly improved after Tice picked a lineup and stuck with it. That didn't stop the Packers from sacking Cutler 6 times in the week 17 matchup. Take note of defensive-minded guru Dom Capers blitzes dialed up for Mr. Cutler. Cutler can move pretty well once he's out of the pocket but has been sacked enough this season that the Packers defense can certainly make him uncomfortable.
2) Jay Cutler: The only numbers you need to know are 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. Those are Cutler's numbers against the Packers defense in two games this season. I don't care how good the Bears defense is but they will not win this football game if Cutler plays like he did in the two games this season. The week 3 win was somewhat of an anomaly due to the franchise's record 18 penalties. With the way Aaron Rodgers is playing right now, the Bears will at least have to put up two touchdowns, and Cutler cannot turn the ball over. The Packers secondary may be one of the best in the NFL in terms of interceptions with Tramon Williams, Charles Woodson, Nick Collins, and Sam Shields. Cutler will have to take care of the football and at least throw for two touchdowns for the Bears to have a chance.
3) Green Bay's rushing attack: The Bears easily have the best defense the Packers have played in the playoffs and while Aaron Rodgers is the hottest quarterback in football, past history says he won't have duplicate his numbers from last week against the Bears. The Bears defense is built to allow short passes and eliminate the deep ball, trying to force the quarterback into making mistakes by getting impatient. Therefore the Packers rushing attack will be instrumental in opening up passing lanes down the field. Rookie James Starks comes in averaging 89.5 yards per game in his two postseason starts, while John Kuhn provides the change of pace, bruising third down back. The Packers rushing attack will need to be somewhat productive to keep the Bears secondary from dropping five or six guys into coverage.
All that being said, it isn't called Titletown for no reason.
As for that picture, sorry Bears. There IS a Sports Illustrated cover jinx.
Packers 20, Bears 13
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