Packers-Bears Matchups: Does Green Bay Have Any Advantages?

It’s Revenge Week.

Unless it isn’t?

Last year, the Green Bay Packers’ season ended at Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears. The Bears overcame a 21-3 halftime deficit to knock the Packers out of the playoffs, then had plenty to say after the fact.

Bears coach Ben Johnson has had a lot to say about the Packers and coach Matt LaFleur, which is something that LaFleur has said he’s not going to engage in this week. Why not?

“Because this game is about players and so we’ll keep it about the players,” LaFleur said on Monday. “I’m not the one out there they’re playing. Don’t get me wrong. I love the rivalry. It’s awesome. It’s great. It’s intense. You can feel it on gameday.

“You can feel it throughout the course of the week and also the significance – I mean, they’re the defending North champions. So what a great opportunity, great challenge for us in our home stadium to play against the defending champs.”

Will LaFleur’s passive approach to that situation work? Who knows. The Packers have lost three of the last four games against Chicago, including the last two. The Bears have not won three games in a row against Green Bay since 2005-06. The Packers went 4-12 in 2005 and were swept by the Bears. They lost the season opener in 2006, 26-0 in Mike McCarthy’s head coaching debut.

It’s been a long time, but the Bears have a chance to get their third in a row this weekend. Can they?

Here is a look at the matchups for Sunday’s showdown.

Bears Pass Offense vs. Packers Pass Defense

No Caleb Williams, no problem? That’s an exaggeration, of course. Williams is more talented than Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent, the latter of whom will start this week against Green Bay.

Through two games, however, Chicago’s offense has been just fine without Williams the past two weeks. Keenum played the game of his life against the Eagles in a Week 3 blowout victory. Bagent threw for 268 yards against the Jets on Sunday.

Green Bay’s pass defense is better than the Jets, but how are they going to rebound without Edgerrin Cooper in the lineup? When Cooper left the field during last year’s wild-card loss, that is when Chicago’s comeback attempt started.

Their two big tight ends, Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland, could have some favorable matchups in coverage against Zaire Franklin and Isaiah McDuffie.

Brandon Cisse left the end of the Tampa Bay game with a neck injury. Will he be good to go on Sunday? If not, Johnson found ways to exploit Carrington Valentine and Keisean Nixon last year.

The Bears have quality targets. While Luther Burden (second round, 2025) and Rome Odunze (first round, 2024) are the big-name players, 5-foot-9 Kalif Ramond leads the team with 21 catches, including a 41-yard touchdown. All three have more than 200 receiving yards.

Yes, it’s a backup quarterback, but the Packers are walking wounded into Lambeau. Unless their pass rush, which has run hot and cold, makes Bagent uncomfortable – the Bears have allowed two sacks the last two games – Green Bay’s defense could struggle.

Advantage: Bears.

Bears Rush Offense vs. Packers Run Defense

Chicago Bears running back D'Andre Swift (4) runs with the ball against Green Bay Packers defensive end Kingsley Enagbare. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For all the fanfare that Ben Johnson gets about the explosive plays he can create and dial up in the passing game, it’s his work in the run game that has been the most impressive. His run game when he was the offensive coordinator in Detroit was excellent, spearheaded by David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. He’s brought that over to Chicago with D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai.

Chicago leads the league in rushing at 196.3 yards per game. The next-closest team is Atlanta, which employs Bijan Robinson, who ran for 194 yards against the Packers in Week 3. The Bears ran for 232 yards against the Jets. They have four games of 230-plus rushing yards since the start of last season; no other team has more than two.

Green Bay has been good against the run in three out of its four games. It was not good at all against Atlanta two weeks ago, and Chicago’s rushing attack is better.

Coupled with the loss of Edgerrin Cooper, Green Bay is going to need to find some answers in the spine of their defense or the Bears could run wild at Lambeau Field.

Advantage: Bears.

Bears Pass Defense vs. Packers Passing Offense

Coming into the season, Chicago’s defense was supposed to be a major question mark. When it gave up a bucket of points to Carolina in the first week of the season, those questions only got louder.

Since then, however, the Bears have responded nicely. That comes with the caveat of facing Geno Smith and Carson Wentz in two of those games. Their other game in that stretch was against an Eagles offense that is a mess at the moment.

Chicago is ranked third in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game. It has 10 sacks in four games. Dennis Allen did a good job last season of confusing Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love, especially in the second half of the playoff game. The Packers have struggled mightily against pressure packages.

If Love has time, and that’s a big if, there are plays to be made against Chicago’s secondary. Christian Watson, in particular, has played well against Chicago, lighting them on fire last year at Lambeau Field for two touchdowns.

Will Love have time? That’s the million-dollar question.

Advantage: Bears.

Bears Rush Defense vs. Green Bay’s Rush Offense

Chicago Bears safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (35) tackles Green Bay Packers running back Chris Brooks last year. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Green Bay’s run game was better last week at Tampa Bay, but it was still bad. Kaleb Johnson and MarShawn Lloyd put the ball on the ground, which prompted Matt LaFleur to threaten benching them in his postgame press conference.

Chris Brooks, who was their starting lineup against the Buccaneers, might be out this week with an ankle injury. He had a 27-yard run last week and is their trusted pass-protecting back.

Chicago is in the top half of the league in rush yards allowed, giving up 102.5 yards per game, but just 29th with 4.94 yards allowed per carry. The Packers got long runs by Johnson (31 yards) and Brooks (27), but their backs gained 27 yards on 17 carries otherwise.

Until Green Bay shows any sort of life consistently, it’s not going to have an advantage in this phase of the game.

Advantage: Bears.

Special Teams

Cairo Santos has been a thorn in Green Bay’s side since making a game-winning field goal to knock them off in the finale of the 2024 season at Lambeau Field. Santos making his kicks versus Brandon McManus missing them was arguably the difference in last year’s wild-card game.

In the return game, Zavion Thomas has been the primary kickoff returner and Kalif Raymond has handled punts. The Bears are last in the league in kickoff-return average but 13th in punt returns Raymond returned punts for touchdowns for the Lions in 2022, 2024 and 2025. Raymond is averaging 10.5 yards per runback this season.

The Packers’ return game has had a spark this year with Skyy Moore, despite him being quiet over the last two weeks.

Trey Smack has proven to be a weapon. For the first time in a long time, the Packers have an advantage over Chicago in the third phase of the game.

Advantage: Packers.

The Packers won on Sunday, but did it impact their spot in the Packers On SI Consensus Power Rankings? ⬇️https://t.co/Ah25nH4U8t
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 6, 2026

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