Five Days Until Kickoff: Five Packers at Bears Keys to Game
GREEN BAY, Wis. – To be sure, Derrick Henry vs. Aaron Jones doesn’t quite carry the same luster as David Montgomery vs. Aaron Jones, but Montgomery – the Chicago Bears’ second-year running back – is on quite a, well, run headed into Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Green Bay Packers.
Of his three 100-yard games, all three have come over the last five weeks. Of his 1,001 rushing yards, 529 – 52.8 percent – have come over the last five games. Of Montgomery’s seven rushing touchdowns, six have come in the last four games as he’s worked in concert with his blockers.
“They get a feel for how he runs,” Bears running backs coach Charles London said. “He gets a feel for how they block certain plays. Without having an offseason, we didn’t get a lot of time to do that. Obviously, early in the year, there were some guys shuffling in and out due to injuries, but now we’ve got a consistent five and they’re really starting to feed off each other.
“They talk all the time between periods of practice. They’ll watch the film together on the iPad, so everybody’s on the same page, and we’re all seeing it through the same set of eyes. Those guys communicating well in between series and practice every day, I think it’s made a difference in the run game.”
Green Bay’s run defense rose to the occasion against Henry last week. In fact, other than Montgomery’s 57-yard run on the opening series of the teams’ Week 12 matchup, the Packers have played quality run defense the last five games. Doing so again might ensure the Packers walk off Soldier Field with the No. 1 seed.
Here are the rest of this week’s keys to the game.
2. Don’t Let Trubisky Get Started
There’s an odd thing about Chicago’s three-game winning streak. A defense-first team for seemingly forever, the Bears have been fueled by their offense. They’ve scored 30-plus points in four consecutive games, their longest streak since 1955.
Oddly enough, the quarterback, Mitchell Trubisky, has been front and center in that success. Benched at one point for Nick Foles and then sidelined by a shoulder injury, he’s enjoying the best four-game stretch of his career with seven touchdowns, two interceptions and a passer rating of about 105.
With Allen Robinson (100 catches) and former Packers tight end Jimmy Graham (eight touchdowns) leading a group of four players with 45-plus receptions, Trubisky has weapons at his disposal.
“The first thing that came to my mind was a smile,” passing game coordinator Dave Ragone. “The joy with which he's playing, he has been different since he came back into the starting lineup. He has carried himself differently. You can see it in practice, more importantly. And he is playing, and he's having fun.”
3. Mr. Smith Goes for TFLs
Third-year linebacker Roquan Smith is fifth in the NFL with 136 tackles and second with 17 tackles for losses. It’s amazing production from a player who had a total of seven TFLs in his first two seasons. Generally, the TFL leaders are the guys who sack the quarterback. Last year, Jordan Hicks led the off-the-ball linebackers with 11 tackles for losses. That ranked 24th in the NFL. This year, Smith trails only Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, whose 23 TFLs include 15 sacks.
In the popularity contest that can be Pro Bowl voting, he lost out to Seattle’s Bobby Wagner and San Francisco’s Fred Warner. Smith has more tackles than both players and more TFLs than Wagner and Smith combined.
“Listen, I have a lot of respect for Bobby and Fred and I understand why people vote for those guys,” inside linebackers coach Mark DeLeone said. “We’ll see what happens here with the All-Pro deal because I do think (Smith’s) going to make that and I think he should.”
In Week 12, Smith had zero solo tackles and five assisted tackles. Replicating that success would go a long way toward earning another victory.
4. Big-Time Defensive Front
Outside linebacker Khalil Mack and defensive tackle Akiem Hicks are the stars of Chicago’s defense. Mack, with eight sacks, is back to the Pro Bowl. Hicks, who missed the Week 12 game due to injury, has a team-leading 19 quarterback hits to go with his 3.5 sacks.
Bilal Nichols, meanwhile, has emerged as a force alongside Hicks. His five sacks include one apiece in Week 13, 14 and 15.
“I wanted to have a career just like his,” Nichols said. “Dominant guy, respected in the league, All-Pro caliber. I told myself, every day I’m going to work with him -- find a way to work with him, someway, somehow. Still to this day, I work with him every single day. Nothing about me has changed.”
In Week 12, Green Bay’s offensive line didn’t allow a sack, quarterback hit or tackle for loss in a dominant performance.
5. Special Returner
When Cordarrelle Patterson took the second-half kickoff back for a 104-yard touchdown in a November game against Minnesota, he tied the NFL record with his eighth career kickoff-return touchdown.
“I think the general consensus across the league would be, ‘Just don’t kick it to him,’” Vikings kicker Dan Bailey said ahead of the rematch. “I can take some blame (for) that, too. I’ve got to be able to understand where he’s at on the field, and kind of (know) his tendencies.”
Not kicking it to Patterson will be easier said than done. Because it’s cold, the ball doesn’t fly as far. That means kicker Mason Crosby won’t be able to simply kick the ball out of the end zone. The onus will be on Crosby to kick the ball to the right spot and the coverage unit to keep Patterson in a cage, as special teams coordinators like to say.
