Dan Orlovsky: Bears have no chance against the Packers

It’s no secret that ESPN, by and large, isn’t bullish on the Chicago Bears’ chances of beating the Green Bay Packers on Satuday. In fact, their pre-playoff mock draft position predictor basically says they expect Chicago to lose on Saturday and pick in the high-20s next April. Subtle, but we noticed.

Former quarterback-turned-ESPN-talking-head Dan Orlovsky skipped the subtlety and jumped straight to the point: he doesn’t see any way the Bears beat the Packers in their first-round matchup.

“I think the Packers win, and the Packers win handily,” Orlovsky said on First Take.

The ex-quarterback, who just a few weeks ago claimed the Bears have a championship-level offense, pointed to the other side of the ball as the reason Chicago will fail.

“There’s nothing else that this defense is good at [aside from takeaways]. Eventually, that catches up to you,” he said.

“Chicago, in games where they don’t get multiple takeaways—not just one, multiple—is 2-6 this year. So if Green Bay doesn’t give the ball away, one, I don’t think Chicago can cover them. They don’t have enough people now that Green Bay’s healthy with Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, Zach Tom on the offensive line. … Two, let’s be honest, eventually, in the playoffs, when your offense is inconsistent … that bites you. There’s only so many times over the course of a season where you can play inconsistent offensive football and hang on to the end of the game miracle. It’s just unlikely that that is going to be a storyline in the playoffs against high-end teams that are coached well.”

Before we make the obligatory joke about the time Orlovsky ran out the back of the end zone for a safety once and question how much he could possibly know about ball after that, let’s take stock for a minute.

He has a point in some respects: the Bears’ defense isn’t good. And they have struggled to cover Green Bay in their two matchups, even when Jordan Love plays. He’s probably going to be back, which will make this one even tougher.

However, one thing Orlovsky hasn’t accounted for is the return of Kyler Gordon, one of the better slot corners in football when he’s on the field. Assuming he plays, it should represent a major upgrade over the likes of C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Nick McCloud.

Another thing to keep in mind: the Bears have clearly been holding back a bit offensively during the last few weeks of the regular season. There’s more in their bag than it may seem. Plus, they’ll likely Rome Odunze back this week to help bolster the passing game after not having him in either of the previous two matchups.

Plus: the Packers and Bears have split their last four matchups, and all have them have been decided by seven points or fewer. It’s unlikely anyone will win this game “handily.”

The Bears might be flawed, but it’s time to show them some respect. Time to prove the ex-Lions quarterback wrong.

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