Once again, your resident Bears Meatball Fan is back to lay down the law. Two weeks ago, this matchup played out and was one of the most exciting games of the year. A big first-half lead by GB, a second-half comeback by Chicago, all came down to the final drive with an INT in the end zone by GB to seal it. Yet somehow, this weekend seems to have the potential to overshadow that game.
The Bears and Packers sit 1,2 atop the NFC North. Both teams are dealing with a slew of injuries. Green Bay’s Micah Parsons tearing his ACL might end up being the biggest single blow to a team this season. He is arguably the second-best defensive player in the league, behind Myles Garrett, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Packers try to put pressure on Caleb Williams.
The Bears could be without two of their top receivers, but their defense is looking as healthy as it’s been all season. With both teams battling injuries and coming off a shortened week (by 19 hours), let’s get into a few of my favorite plays this weekend and picks for Packers/Bears V2.
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Two weeks ago, Monangai went for 57 against GB, and that was with Micah Parsons. When Monangai has been on the field, the seventh-round rookie has been nothing short of effective.
D’Andre Swift has been limited so far in practice this week, but that’s been fairly typical of Bears offensive players this season. Regardless if Swift is a full go on Saturday, I’m expecting to see a heavy dose of Monangai. If Swift is at all limited in snap count, we’ll crush this number.
I’m fairly certain that we played and cashed this prop two weeks ago. I referenced the injury to Watson earlier, and yes, the Green Bay offense drastically slowed down last week in Denver after his injury.
However, he is listed as day to day, and the books currently have him in every receiving prop category, so I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t try to give it a go. If he doesn’t, expect others to step up. Whether it’s Doubs, Golden, or Reed, I don’t see Love throwing under two touchdowns Saturday night.
I have been kicking myself in the ass for not playing this one the last two weeks, so by any means, we’re playing it this week. Loveland has emerged as a legitimate weapon in this Chicago offense.
He’s got the speed, the hands, can block, and can run routes like a receiver. In the last two weeks, he’s caught 4 passes in each game. Cole Kmet looks like he’ll play on Saturday, and when both are out there, Caleb seems to favor Loveland over Kmet.
As of this moment, most of the books have the Bears as 1-1.5-point dogs. There are a lot of injuries on both sides, so it’ll be interesting to see where the line ends up once announcements are made regarding who’s in and who’s out. For both teams, this is arguably the biggest game of the season.
I think the difference this week versus two weeks ago will be the Bears' defense. They’re healthier than they’ve been all season, which is wild to think about considering they lead the league in turnovers. Yes, they’ve played bad QBs, but it’s also been with guys whom they’ve plucked off the street that week.
Jordan Love has been great and should probably be in the MVP conversation. When you talk about the biggest game of the season, it isn’t always about who can score more points, but who can stop the other team. Right now, on paper, the Bears seem to be in a better position to do just that.