Shawn: Two weeks ago in Washington, the Chicago Bears had 46 yards of offense in the first half with Jay Cutler at the helm. In the second half, Cutler was out with injury and Josh McCown came in to rescue the Chicago offense, turning that game into a track meet.
McCown also won’t be stunned by the lights of Lambeau Field. He quarterbacked the Bears in 2011 during a Sunday night faceoff at Lambeau.
Against the Redskins, McCown seemed to know a very simple formula for success — get the offensive playmakers the ball. The Bears have more of them than usual with the emergence of Alshon Jeffery and the addition of Martellus Bennett. The Green Bay Packers have had some issues on the back end, and though they’ve gotten by without them, they still do miss their two best pass rushers in Clay Matthews and Nick Perry.
Basically, what I am saying is that the Bears’ offense could have some success on Monday night, IF McCown isn’t overwhelmed by the start and plays half as well as he did against the Redskins.
On the other hand, even if losing Cutler isn’t the biggest loss in the world for the Bears, losing Lance Briggs might be. Without him or Henry Melton, the Bears may need to put eight regularly in the box to have any hope of slowing down the Packers’ newly vaunted running attack. If they do that, Aaron Rodgers could have a big night.
Ultimately, I think the offensive pressure is too much for the Bears to hang.
Packers 38, Bears 24
Monty: I’m really giving the Bears no chance in this game. But what the hell do I know?
I gave the Vikings a fighting chance last week and the Packers blew them the fuck out of the building. Their own building.
The Bears are down two of their best players… or at least one of them. Lance Briggs… and then Jay Cutler. But whatever you think of Jay Cutler and, yeah, he’s a fucking vagina, but he’s gotta be better than Josh McCown. Or Cade McNown. Or whatever the hell his name is.
So, the Packers should literally blow the Bears out of the building. OUR BUILDING.
So the Packers have won four in a row. They’ve dominated the Bears in recent years. They need to stay focused this week, though. This is a division game. This is the Chicago Bears.
I really don’t care who the Chicago Bears trot out onto the field. This is THE rivalry.
In the 1980s, the Packers trotted out some pretty shitty teams. Awful, even. But those collections of losers were usually competitive with the Bears nonetheless. It’s like the only time Mark Lee didn’t get burned for an 80-yard touchdown. We used to call him Toast because he always got burned. But that dude always came to play against the Bears for some reason.
And so did Charlie Fuckin’ Martin, may he rest in peace.
Are the Bears going to come to play on Monday night against the Packers? You’re fucking right they are. They’re the Bears and this is THE game.
Do they have the talent to keep up? No. Just like those Packers teams of the ’80s.
Without Briggs, Eddie Lacy is going to be the bull we all know him to be. Five yards a pop.
Brandon Marshall? Suck balls. Meet Sam Shields. Alshon Jeffery? Suck some more balls. Meet Davon House.
Tramon Williams bossed up Marshall last year and now he’s like the third or fourth cornerback. And Jay Cutler, even though he’s a total douche, isn’t throwing the ball and he’s a hell of a lot better than Josh McCown.
Pride keeps it from being a total blowout. Out of character, Packers pull away late.
Packers 35, Bears 20