Why Bears Should Treat Aaron Rodgers as Just Another QB

Sure the Green Bay Packers quarterback can torch teams, but there's a reason they've looked invincible the past five games and it isn't because of No. 12's arm.

There are no three keys to beating the Green Bay Packers for the Chicago Bears, or five keys, but there is one key and it doesn't directly pertain to Aaron Rodgers.

The Bears need to stop the Green Bay running attack.

It's easier said than done considering the Packers have been barreling through opponents on the ground and executing blocks like the 1960s Packers over their last five games. And the Bears' own run defense has been shaky much of the year without nose tackle Eddie Goldman. 

They were even gashed Sunday once by the Jacksonville Jaguars by a backup running back for a long run.

However, they Bears defense has been able to rise up against the run at times and with Akiem Hicks healthier now and Roquan Smith playing at a higher level it's possible to  make a stand on the ground and force Aaron Rodgers into becoming one-dimensional.

This is the key to the entire game, because Rodgers with only his arm as a weapon can be beaten. It's been done three times this season.

The Packers are on a tear rushing the ball, with 234 yards Sunday against Tennessee and 195 the previous week against Carolina.

They've averaged 176 yards rushing over the last five games and it all started with the way they pummeled the Bears on the ground Nov. 29 for 182 yards at Lambeau Field in a 41-25 win. 

The national narrative will be about how finding a way to beat Aaron Rodgers is critical for the Bears and how he is an MVP candidate, a sure Hall-of-Famer and possibly the greatest ever—although you'd have to explain all those Super Bowl rings Joe Montana and Tom Brady won and the one Rodgers has. 

"He is now in this system with Matt, with coach LaFleur, and working in to what they like," Bears coach Matt Nagy said. "You can see they’re in a group, they’ve got excellent players, and they’re just working well right now together. So when you have a quarterback like that that has seen every defense possible, is ultra talented like he is, it's just another level right now where he's at.

"So you have to respect that and understand that but know too it's your job to do anything and everything you can to try to slow him down. That's gonna be our biggest challenge is just that but he's playing at an ultra high level right now."

The way to slow Rodgers down is to take away some weapons, mainly the running game. They can take their chances on the pass, if it means playing more man-to-man than they like or blitzing more, or mixing coverages as much as possible even if it doesn't confuse him much.

"Get them into situations where they are a little more one-dimensional," Bears defensive line coach Jay Rodgers said. "So being good on first and second down is key to being good on third down. 

"And those are the things we will go through this week and evaluate what we did last time to see how we can improve this time."

The Bears should know the reason Aaron Rodgers has been so effective this year is he has that running game to make his passing as dangerous a complementary weapon as there is. His short passes become huge gains because of the way defenses are struggling to worry about the run.

The Packers went from Week 3 through Week 11 of the season with only two games over 100 yards rushing and those were for 109 against the Vikings in a loss, and 111 in a win over San Francisco. They had all three of their losses come during that stretch when they struggled putting together a strong running game.

Now they are running it and look unbeatable much the way San Francisco did last year for a while.

Rodgers has five games of 300 yards passing this year and none in the last five weeks when the Packers have looked so formidable.

The Bears have to stop the Green Bay running attack, force Aaron Rodgers to beat them, and if he does so be it.

"There's nothing he doesn't do great," Bears inside linebackers coach Mark DeLeone said. "So it's going to be the type of game where it's going to be a team game.

"From a defensive standpoint it's going to be 11 players flying to the football on every single play, playing as a team like a bunch of crazed dogs. And that's what it's going to take to win."

What they can't do is let the Packers come out and run all over them as they did in the first game. If they do, then Rodgers will find it so much easier to throw and everything will work.

Then it would place far too much pressure on a Bears offense which has found its feet against weaker teams and now has to try to do it against a higher level of defense.

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