Dhruv Koul shares his in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the Packers-Bears “win-and-in” Week 17 showdown at Soldier Field. Follow him on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
CHICAGO — Well, Bears fans, it all comes down to this. A wild, roller coaster 2020 season comes down to the final week against the Green Bay Packers, at home, with a 3:25pm CT kickoff, and the Bears currently sporting an 8-7 record. A win gets the Bears into the playoffs. (So would an Arizona loss in Los Angeles to the Rams.) Very 2013, isn’t it?
Thoughts on the upcoming Packers-Bears game (a day early for New Year's Day):
1. The Packers' offense is on fire. And with Chuck Pagano's "vanilla" schemes, the Bears just can't cover Davante Adams.
Stop the run and hit Aaron Rodgers.
There just aren't any other answers.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) December 31, 2020
Consider where the Bears came from: A 5-1 start that included benching Mitch Trubisky had them in consideration for the #1 seed. Then, a six-game losing streak that included disastrous play from Nick Foles and Matt Nagy giving up play calling duties had the Bears left for dead at 5-7. Now, three straight wins later, with the Bears looking like a completely revamped team (and with Trubisky back at the helm) has the Bears controlling their playoff destiny.
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Like I said, roller coaster.
The Bears’ first game against the Packers was a 41-25 laugher of a loss at Lambeau Field. It saw Chicago fall behind 27-3 before halftime, and 41-10 by the fourth quarter. The Bears were a different team then — confidence-wise and schematically — but the play gap was still significant. However, three straight wins have somewhat quieted the call for jobs at Halas Hall. But another very bad loss at home to Green Bay with so much on the line, or a back-in into the playoffs only to get demolished in the Wild Card round could start those questions up again.
There was a lot at stake at Soldier Field this afternoon, and in the end, the Bears played competitive-ish football into the fourth quarter before the wheels fell off. However, the Rams did beat the Cardinals, so the Bears clinched the seventh seed and a trip to New Orleans.
I shared my in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the game below. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Thoughts and Observations
1. (PRE-GAME) Here are the inactives. For the Bears, losing Jaylon Johnson and Buster Skrine is significant — you know Aaron Rodgers will make note of where they are all the time. For the Packers, losing David Bakhtiari to an ACL injury is a terrible blow for them. But Damon “Snacks” Harrison is active. That will be huge for their run defense.
Inactives for #GBvsCHI: pic.twitter.com/xJfGNu8h6M
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 3, 2021
2. Magnificent opening drive for the Bears, aided by a smart (almost scary) special teams play on the kickoff by Cordarrelle Patterson. A great call to go for it in plus territory on fourth down resulted in moving the chains — thanks to a great catch by Anthony Miller. Some beautiful runs by David Montgomery, including the TD, sealed it.
Magnificent start for the Bears. That was basically flipping the script from Week 12 in Green Bay. They ate up half the first quarter and converted a touchdown. Beautiful.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 3, 2021
3. Of course, the Packers’ opening drive went similarly — some great plays by Aaron Rodgers (and some awful scheming by Chuck Pagano again) led to a relatively easy game-tying drive.
Chuck Pagano talked about not leaving any "bullets" in the "chamber."
Unfortunately, whichever bullets he's using might be empty shells.
Duke Shelley one-on-one on Davante Adams on fourth down? It's not smart.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 3, 2021
4. Chuck Pagano had Danny Trevathan trailing Marquez Valdes-Scantling in man coverage as the Bears brought a blitz — one that Rodgers easily found and threw a 72-yard touchdown to put Green Bay up 14-10. This is awful coordinating from Pagano.
And then Cole Kmet fumbled on the ensuing possession deep in the Bears’ own territory…
That's a fumble for Kmet.
(Also, the Rams fumbled near the goal line down four.)
This is going great!
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 3, 2021
The Bears are in danger of letting this one slip away early again.
5. Davante Adams continues to be single-covered in the slot on every play. Roquan Smith being injured is a terrible blow, but Pagano continues to be bad at putting his players in the best position to succeed.
It’s 21-13 at halftime, Packers, after the Bears got away with a near-end zone pick from Trubisky (awful decision/throw). It’s truly a miracle the Bears are only down one score at halftime.
On the bright side, the L.A. Rams are leading the Arizona Cardinals at halftime, 12-7. It’s the Backup Bowl right now, as Kyler Murray left the game in the first quarter with a leg injury. A pick-six by the Rams’ defense has them in front.
Huge pick-six in LA. Rams lead.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 3, 2021
6. The Bears are incorporating some of their Andy Reid concepts in today’s game plan, it appears. And I’m OK with it — keep in mind, the Packers practice against the Kubiak/Shanahan scheme every day (Matt LaFleur’s scheme) and just shut down the Titans last week (same scheme run with Arthur Smith). The Bears have to keep the Packers off balance, if they can.
7. The Bears had two consecutive INT chances against Aaron Rodgers, and dropped both of them. That just can’t happen against him.
Aaron Rodgers threw a near-pick on two consecutive plays.
The Bears came down with neither one.
Goodness. https://t.co/60szLNc84a
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 3, 2021
The Bears’ ensuing drive burned a ton of time off the clock, but a 4th and 1 incomplete pass on a play designed to Allen Robinson (who was never open), ended up being a dropped pick. Bears still trailing 21-16 with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
8. I’ll say this for the Bears — they have settled in a bit on defense. They may lose this game (21-16 with 6:30 left at the time of this writing), but they’ve shown this “new look” Bears team *can* compete a bit with one of the NFC’s best teams. They are still clearly a class under Green Bay, however.
9. ^And as I say that, the Packers mercilessly drain almost seven minutes off the clock and waltz into the end zone. (There was a dropped INT (again) in there.) It’s 28-16 Packers and not looking good to win it.
Touchdown, Green Bay, and that should do it.
The Bears did settle in a bit in the second half, but they just couldn't get out of their own way.
They need a Cardinals loss to make the playoffs.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 4, 2021
At the time of writing this, the Cardinals are driving into Rams’ territory, but are down 18-7 in the fourth quarter.
10. Mitch throws it into double coverage (for fun!) and gets picked off by Adrian Amos, of course. The wheels are falling off and the Bears, if they get the help needed, will back in to the playoffs with a truly sour taste in their mouths.
Anytime you can throw the ball into multiple-defender coverage, you have to do it.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 4, 2021
11. The Rams win, and so, here you go:
The Bears make the playoffs as an 8-8 seventh seed. That's basically what this team is.
On the bright side, there's one more week of Bears football to analyze.
On the not-so-bright side, it'll just be the one week before it all ends in New Orleans.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) January 4, 2021
