Chicago Bears: Keys To Victory in Week 6 Over Green Bay Packers

After a big road victory in Week 5, the Chicago Bears go home to host the hated Green Bay Packers. Here are some keys to victory.

The Chicago Bears impressed people around the league when they went into Las Vegas and left with an upset victory over the Raiders. The defense dominated one of the top offenses in the NFL.

Now, however, they need to do it again. They go home to face their hated rivals, the Green Bay Packers. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will lead their offense again. He’s hoping to continue his dominance over Chicago. He owns a 20-5 record against them. In those games, he has an amazing 55 touchdowns to only 10 interceptions.

On the other hand, the Bears drafted Justin Fields, one of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft. The team feels it finally has the franchise quarterback it’s searched decades for. Despite some reservations, head coach Matt Nagy finally decided to name him the starter going forward.

Now Fields gets his first taste of the Bears/Packers rivalry, one of the oldest in the NFL. He’s no stranger to rivalries, though. He was involved in the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry.

We’ll get to see what these Bears are made of this week. They hope to change things, but will everything remain the same?

Here are some keys to victory for the Chicago Bears against the Packers in this Week 6 battle.

Make the Packers a one-dimensional offense

One of the things that makes the Packers such a great team is their balance. Yes, Rodgers is a Hall of Fame quarterback. He is the reigning MVP of the league. However, when the Packers seem unbeatable is when they have a running game to complement them.

For the last two seasons, the Packers have a 26-6 record. They made it to the NFC Conference Championship both years. In 2018, however, their running game ranked near the bottom. They finished with a record of 6-9-1.

This season, Green Bay’s running game ranks 22nd. After a poor showing in Week 1, they’ve won four straight games. However, it hasn’t been easy for them. They needed a second-half comeback against the Detroit Lions. They had tough battles against the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals. Against the Niners, they squeaked by with a two-point victory and beat the Bengals in overtime.

The Bears need to make sure the Packers’ running game is nonexistent. Yes, Rodgers is still capable of beating the Bears with his arm, but it becomes much more difficult.

Now that the running game is out of the way, go after Rodgers

With the Packers not being able to run the ball, the Bears can now go after Rodgers. The biggest reason for his success is because most times he can sit in the pocket and wait for a receiver. If he needs to, he could slide out of the pocket to buy some time. The Bears just haven’t put much pressure on him.

Chicago’s pass rush is different this season. They lead the league in sacks with 18. Robert Quinn is having a resurgent season. With 4.5 sacks, he already surpassed his 2020 number. With him playing well, Khalil Mack is once again able to wreak havoc on opposing backfields.

Mack and Quinn have combined for 9.5 sacks this season. They make great bookends to keep Rodgers in the middle. If he tries to go that way, the Bears have Eddie Goldman and Roquan Smith waiting for him. Smith is a tackling machine, recording 50 this season.

If there is traffic around Rodgers, he won’t be able to stay in the pocket or slide out. This is how the Bears attacked the Raiders’ offense. They were able to knock them out of rhythm. They hope to do the same with Rodgers.

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Chew up the clock

The Chicago Bears’ running game has been excellent so far. They rank ninth in rushing yards with 634. Also, they rank sixth in rushing touchdowns with 6.

The effective running game helps the offense maintain drives. By doing that, the defense stays fresh down the stretch.

What the Bears have done is take early leads. Once they do that, they go heavy on the run and just run the clock out. Basically, it’s a four-corners offense, trying to hold the ball as much as possible.

Against the Bengals, the Bears had a 20-3 lead. Against the Detroit Lions, they raced out to a 21-0 lead. Finally, they had a 14-3 lead against the Raiders. Once they had their lead, they sat on it.

Once again, the Bears need to take an early lead. We haven’t seen what they can do when behind. If they try to come from behind they might end up forcing things.

Despite David Montgomery‘s absence, the Bears had an effective running game against the Raiders. That went a long way to helping them win. Damien Williams and Khalil Herbert did a great job running the ball. They combined to rush for 139 yards on 34 carries. We need to see more of that against Green Bay.

While the Bears could come up with a plan to harass Rodgers, the best way to keep him from hurting you is to keep him on the sideline. If the Bears control the clock, they control the game.

Let Fields loose

As I mentioned, Nagy named Fields the starter. Despite that, he still doesn’t trust him too much. Yes, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor calls the plays. However, as Nagy said, everything goes through him. He likely instructs Lazor to go easy on the passing.

The Bears need to give Fields more control. Let him throw more passes. He’s shown that he makes the big throws when needed. Fields can make any kind of throw. He is extremely dangerous on the run. Not only can he run it but he also has deadly accuracy throwing the ball on the run. Against the Lions, he completed five passes of over 20 yards.

In the win against the Bengals, Cincinnati tried to make a comeback. However, FIelds made the completions and ran for first downs to keep the ball late in the game.

Then, against the Raiders, he completed a huge pass on third and long. If the Raiders got the ball back, they could have taken the lead. Instead, he completed a long pass to Darnell Mooney that extended the drive. He then completed another big pass that put Chicago in field goal range. Cairo Santos did the rest and the Bears finished the upset.

What the Bears do is play not to lose. They need to play to win. Put the pressure on the Packers’ defense. Make them uncomfortable and out of sync. Move the pocket for Fields and don’t let him just stand there and be a still target. Have him use his legs and force the defense to decide whether they defend his running or drop back for a pass. He’ll drive the defense crazy all game long.

Take the handcuffs off Fields and have him show you why you drafted him.