Still waiting for Mongo to come out of hiatus to do these properly. I know babyfan had a fever dream he was back. What I'll be watching: the Bears pass rush getting home and rushing some throws, only for Rodgers to pull miracles out of his ass, like every single year. The Bears offense being perfectly forgettable running the ball hard and then eventually having to force Fields to open it up to play catch up. The only way the Bears win this game, is if we get some defensive scores, or they take the training wheels off Fields and it all immediately clicks. Packers 27 - Bears 13 <- could be worse if we get some "going for it" on 4th downs we have no business going for early on, rather than taking the FGs.
No Jaire Alexander, no Kevin King. Elgton Jenkins questionable with an ankle injury. Bakhtiari is still on PUP. Za'Darius Smith is on IR. The board is setup for Fields to be able to use his arm more this week while the Bears pass rush should have no excuses.
Desai has been impressive thus far, but I do NOT want to see 3 man rushes against Erin. Its bad. It doesn't work. When asked what's his plan in passing situations against Erin, I liked his answer. Force Erin to move to his next read--which is easier said than done especially if he extends a play with his legs. This is correct. Make Marquez Valdez Scandling, St. Brown, or old man Randall Cobb make the play when its clear Erin doesn't trust them, sans Cobb. The good news is the holdmaster Bakthiari is out. Take a quick lead and pin ears back. Otherwise my top concerns are RB for the bears--which Damien Williams needs 2 negative Covid tests in a 24 hour span--which is why he's on the Covid list but not officially "out" for tomorrow. If WIlliams cant go--as much as I'm not thrilled by him on the roster--I'll take him over Ryan Nall. Can Khalil Herbert catch? Even though the Packers are banged up, their DC said he wants to make him "look like a rookie." A half back quick hitch may be Fields' best friend on a few plays. Who covers Davante Adams? This guy can wreck a game, even though Vildor and JJ are solid--we've seen Erin long enough to know he's going to pick on the weakest link--which is Duke Shelly in the slot or if the Bears are dumb enough to man-up Ogletree/Trevathan on Adams in the slot. Lastly, how does Bill Lazor's scheme take the next step with Fields. This can't be the apex. Is it more designed Fields runs? Is it letting Justin take more shots downfield with a hobbled packers pass rush and bodies in the secondary as opposed to their good starters?
I actually don't mind Damien Williams. He's not a stud but he's not a retard either. And I'd rather have him to give the defense a different look than 100% Herbert. A 1-2 punch with each guy having a different skillset works for me. I believe Valdez-Scantling is on IR as well. If I'm Desai I have JJ on Adams wherever Adams goes. It's still bothersome to me that they didn't do this last season with Fuller or JJ. They let the Packers put Adams in the slot and didn't adjust at all. Meanwhile on the opposite side of the ball Jaire Alexander shadowned ARob everywhere including the bathroom. And completely shut him down. Mike Pettine revenge game?
And still I have zero faith our WRs will get separation. But it would be criminal to not at least test their secondary. Do I think we will? No idea. Defensively, multiple turnovers + sacks are a must or we're going to lose by 14+. Last year in game 16 we tried to play keep away. We dominated TOP and still lost by 3 scores. We settled for FGs. They got TDs. Trying to play keep away is not going to win this game. The defense has to make multiple stops. Packers 34 - Bears 16.
When it comes to the passing game and Lazor, the Raiders secondary was also banged up. So while it seems easy to say that on paper, they should attack the secondary, I've seen this game before. Honestly, if Arob isn't getting massive separation this game, maybe it's time to part ways after the season. He wants top dollar money, and top dollar money can get open against these shlubs.
