Keys to Victory: How the Bears can finally beat the Packers in Week 11

If there was ever a must-win game for the Chicago Bears, it’s their Week 11 matchup against the Green Bay Packers. The Bears are currently the laughingstock of the NFL. They’ve lost three straight in embarrassing fashion, fired a once highly touted offensive coordinator, and have made Caleb Williams look like a dud. Now, as their season circles the drain, they have to welcome their arch-rival to Soldier Field, a team they have not beat in six long years.

The fanbase’s excitement is at rock-bottom and having to watch the Bears play a team that has haunted them for the better part of 30 years doesn’t help. That’s what makes this game so important for the team. A win here may not save their season, but defeating the Packers at home when everyone is betting against them would give the players, the coaches, and the entire city a shot in the arm.

They may not be favored to win, but anything can happen in the NFL, especially in divisional matchups. To get that victory, here’s three keys the Bears must hit.

1. Let the playmakers make plays.

The Bears’ offense has been painful to watch these last three weeks. You’d never guess that it’s full of Pro Bowl caliber players. I’m not sure how much of their slump was due to former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, but Bears fans have to hope it was close to 100%.

Thomas Brown will be calling plays now from the booth, and the mission should be simple: get the ball out of Caleb’s hands quickly and into the hands of his playmakers. DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet, D’Andre Swift, any one of these guys can take over a game on any given Sunday. Both Brown and Williams need to make sure they’re utilizing their weapons against a vulnerable Packers defense with smart play calls and good timing.

2. Harass Jordan Love.

In Love’s first matchup against the Bears in Week 1 last season, this was my first key to victory and the Bears utterly failed. Love had clean pockets the entire game and picked apart Matt Eberflus’ defense. If they let him stay comfortable again, the same thing will happen on Sunday.

The defensive line has to bring their A-game against Green Bay. We’ve seen plenty of evidence this year that Jordan Love is prone to back-breaking mistakes when pressured. He leads the league in pick-sixes with two and both came when he was escaping the pass rush. That’s how you stop Green Bay’s offense. Get after Love, make him uncomfortable, and he’ll throw as many interceptions as the defense can catch.

3. Slow down Josh Jacobs.

I get that this is a tall order for Chicago. Their run defense has been bad all year and now they’re without run-stuffing nose tackle Andrew Billings. But Josh Jacobs is averaging nearly 5 yards per carry and the Bears simply can’t allow him to run all over them.

It’s hard enough to slow down Matt LaFleur’s passing attack. Letting him get his ground game going too makes it near impossible and I don’t think the Bears are equipped to win a shootout.

Final Prediction: Packers win 31-20

With apologies to Bears fans, I just can’t pick them to beat the Packers until it actually happens. Ten straight losses is significant. Not one player on the roster has ever beaten Green Bay in a Bears jersey, and only one player in Green Bay (Kenny Clark) has lost to Chicago while wearing a Packers jersey.

I would love to see Chicago scrap their way to a gritty, dramatic win on Sunday, pull their season out of this tailspin, and get some well-earned praise from the media. Frankly, the NFL is better when the Bears are good and I think even division rivals would agree with that. But I have to see it to believe it.