Bear Digest

Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers Week 16 TV, radio and betting trends

Here's how to watch the rematch of the Bears and Packers for first place in the NFC North from Soldier Field Saturday night with radio information and betting trends.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams looks for an escape in the Bears' 28-21 loss at Lambeau Field on Dec. 7.
Caleb Williams looks for an escape in the Bears' 28-21 loss at Lambeau Field on Dec. 7. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

When Sunday's rout of Cleveland ended, Bears quarterback Caleb Willams already was looking ahead to Green Bay on Saturday night.

The interception he threw to Keisean Nixon with Cole Kmet open in the end zone finished the Bears in the first game and set up the coming rematch. It also doesn't sit well with him.

"Yeah, I'm excited," Williams said. "Ended up obviously throwing the pick, as everybody knows, in those last moments, and kind of let that off the hook throwing such a bad ball to Cole.

"I'm definitely excited. I'm excited for the moment. They're coming here, and it's another game for us. But I'm excited.”

It's exactly the type of thing coach Ben Johnson wanted to hear from his QB.

"I'm glad Caleb didn't like how the last one ended," Johnson said. "None of us should. No one likes to lose.

"And so the only way you can shake that feeling is to look to stack more victories. And so that's our intent.”

Johnson saw Williams' attitude to be pervasive. The Bears are ready to get back on the horse right away against their rivals.

“Oh yeah. I mean, I think it's good," Johnson said. "All of our guys, we were pretty quick I feel like after yesterday's game to start to turn the page already.

"We're looking forward to playing meaningful football here this late in December. I think that’s a good thing for our football team. I think that's a good thing for the city. It's really what we were all expecting going into the season."

Here's how to watch the NFC North showdown on Saturday night and other pertinent series details.

Green Bay Packers (9-4-1) at Chicago Bears (10-4)

Where: Soldier Field, Chicago

Kickoff: 7:15 p.m. Saturday

TV: Fox (Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi)

Streaming: Fox1

Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)

Westwood One (Nate Gatter, Ryan Leaf)

Spanish Broadcast: Latino Mix FM 93.5 (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)

Latest DraftKings Betting Line: Packers by 1 1/2 (Over/under 46 1/2)

The Series: The 212th game, including postseason games in 1933 and 2010. The Packers lead the series 109-96-6 and have taken 12 of the last 13. Green Bay has won the last six in Chicago.

The Coaches: Packers coach Matt LaFleur is 79-42-1 in his seventh season and is 12-1 against the Bears. LaFleur's record includes a 3-5 mark in postseason. He is 35-23-1 on the road and 4-2-1 on the road this season.

Bears coach Ben Johnson is 10-4 in his first season 0-1 against the Packers. His team is 5-1 at home this season, the lone loss coming in the opener.

The matchup: The Bears have retaken control of first place in the NFC North thanks to a 31-3 win last week over Cleveland at home and Green Bay's 34-26 loss at Denver. The Packers won the first game over the Bears 28-21 two weeks ago at Lambeau Field.

Last week's game was costly for Green Bay as pass rusher Micah Parsons was lost for the season to an ACL tear against Denver. He made 12 1/2 sacks, tied for third in the NFL, and led the league in pressures (48) per Stathead/Pro Football Reference. The Packers had traded away DT Kenny Clark and first-round picks in the next two drafts to acquire him.

The Bears bring in the fifth-ranked offense, with the second-ranked running attack and 17th-ranked passing attack to face Green Bay's sixth-ranked defense, one ranked eighth against both the pass and the run. QB Jordan Love and the 13th-ranked Green Bay offense are 12th in passing and 18th in rushing and confront a Bears defense ranked 24th overall, 18th against the pass and 23rd against the run. The Bears defense leads the NFL takeaways with 30 and interceptions with 21. They have a plus-20 turnover differential, tops in the NFL by six turnovers over Houston and their interception percentage of 4.51 is well ahead of the second-place Chargers (3.86%).

The Bears' defense leads the NFL takeaways with 30 and interceptions with 21. They have a plus-20 turnover differential, tops in the NFL by six turnovers over Houston and their interception percentage of 4.51 is well ahead of the second-place Chargers (3.86%).

Key injuries: For the Packers, OLB Micah Parsons (knee), S Evan Williams (knee), WR Christian Watson (chest), T Zach Tom (knee), DE Collin Oliver (hamstring), TE Josh Whyle (concussion), OLB Brenton Cox (groin), RB MarShawn Lloyd (calf).

For the Bears: WR Rome Odunze (foot), WR Luther Burden III (ankle), LB Amen Ogbongbemiga (hamstring), RB Travis Homer (ankle). LB Tremaine Edmunds has been designated to return from IR.

Of Note: The Bears are looking or their first Saturday victory since Week 16 of the 1996 season. ... The Bears are looking for a sixth-straight win at home. It would be their first six-game home winning streak since 2005. ... Williams needs 689 passing yards to break Erik Kramer's franchise single-season record of 3,838 in 1995. ... Packers RB Josh Jacobs is 110 yards from his second straight 1,000-yard season and fifth of his seven-year career. ... Love leads the NFL in ESPN's QBR metric at 73.8. ... Only six defenses have fewer interceptions than Green Bay.

Bears and Packers betting trends

  • The Packers are 4-8 against the spread in their last 12
  • The Bears are 4-1 ATS in their last five
  • The total has gone over in four of Green Bay's last five
  • The Packers are 11-2 ATS in their last 13 in Chicago
  • It's been over the total in the last six Packer road games
  • It's been over the total in four of the last six Bears-Packers games
  • The Bears are 1-7 ATS in their last eight Saturday games
  • The Bears are 4-1 ATS in their last five games

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.