What seemed like a very bland gameplan (likely by design) by Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings were able to control the entire game and Sam Darnold had all day to progress his reads and pick apart the injured Packers’ secondary. Even with not scheming up exotic blitzes and pass rushes, the Packers were able to hold Minnesota to just 69 yards rushing on 26 attempts (2.7 yards/carry). When Green Bay did get pressure on Darnold, he was terrible. On the first 3 pressures from the Packers, Darnold airmailed a pass through the end zone, took a sack, and rushed a read that was intercepted by Carrington Valentine.

There were 3 bright spots from that Viking game.

1. Speaking of Carrington Valentine – he’s been one of my favorites since he was forced into action as a rookie last season. He seems glued to his WR when in Man Coverage and finally was able to come up with some plays over the last few weeks.
2. Edgerrin Cooper – for a few weeks now, he’s really come on and is putting together enough good play to make you have to assume he’s just that good.
3. This team never stopped fighting. That’s the thing with a young team, the Packers are too young to know better that the “game was over.” They keep fighting, and it’s a great trait…now just get off to better starts.

The game actually got off to a solid start until new fan-favorite, Josh Jacobs, put the ball on the ground. Losing his 3^rd fumble of the season, that must not happen in the playoffs, otherwise it’ll likely spell doom for Green Bay.

To recap, I firmly believe the Packers (on both sides of the ball) kept the gameplan bland intentionally to not put anything on tape for their potential playoff matchups…whether that’s Philadelphia, Detroit, or Minnesota. There’s a high probability that if Green Bay were to reach the Super Bowl, they’d have to face all 3. While the coaches didn’t prepare specifically for THIS game and to win it, it doesn’t mean the better team didn’t win…catch that? The Vikings have proven they’re the better team and are 2-0 vs. Green Bay, and should be. However, while it’s been well-documented that the Packers are 0-5 against teams “better than them,” the Packers are more than capable of beating any of these teams, and you should expect them to.

(4-12) Chicago Bears @ (11-5) Green Bay Packers

This game is the epitome of “throw the records (and stats) out the window.” This will be Chicago’s Super Bowl, again. Green Bay has an 11-game winning streak vs. the Bears and Chicago is a mess. The Bears are in search of a new Head Coach and for 3 consecutive QBs, they’ve fired the head coach within that QB’s first calendar year. Not a recipe for success, but what do you expect?

While I said you can throw the stats out the window, it’s important to view them to see truly where each team stands in the NFL. Green Bay is top-10 in every ranking aside from Passing Offense (12^th), Passing Defense (17^th), and Giveaways (T-11^th). That’s as balanced a team in the entire NFL. The truest stat for Power Rankings (in my opinion) is overall point differential. Green Bay sits at 5^th in the NFL where Chicago ranks only 23^rd while riding their 10-game losing streak. That alone would tell you Chicago is “better” than their 4-12 record while Green Bay destroys teams worse than them and barely loses to better teams.

Since this game is essentially meaningless, again, Green Bay should come out and try to beat Chicago with scheme, preparation, and overall execution. You always want to head into the postseason on a good note and plus, especially for the fans, adding to the winning streak over the rival Bears is a nice touch.

Speaking of the postseason, the Packers received word that they’ll be without their great Cornerback, Jaire Alexander, which is a huge blow, but the Packers are used to playing without him by now and need to find a pass rush to help out the secondary. What was a silver lining from the Vikings game, was Darnold had to go to his 2^nd, 3^rd, and sometimes 4^th read – meaning the secondary had everything blanketed for 3-4 seconds, but without ANY pressure, Darnold just stood there and was able to wait for guys to uncover. Just getting pressure to move the QB off his spot might be enough for the secondary to do its job.

Since this game will likely be treated as a tune up fo the playoffs, we may see a ton of Malik Willis and a backfield consisting of Wilson and Brooks. My guess is Love starts and plays the 1^st half while Malik comes in and takes over after halftime. The Packers should still win as they can run the ball effectively and operate a bit of play action, which Malik has shown to be phenomenal at this year in the snaps he’s taken. Expect Green Bay to do a few shot plays in the 1^st half to put some things on tape for the Eagles (likely opponent) to have to scout for and the Defense to have a much better outing than they did in Minneapolis a week ago.

Prediction Time

Look for the Packers to get out and control the game from the onset. I think they’ll take the ball first should they win the coin toss and try to get out to an early lead by trying out some new things and close the game out late.

Season: 14-2
Overall: 106-68