A week after one of the most exciting Thursday Night Football games in history, a 41-39 win by the Los Angeles Rams over the San Francisco 49ers, the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers renew their rivalry this week and fans are hoping for another exciting Thursday night game.
Since the Packers have dominated the series in recent years, the sportsbook lines for Thursday Night Football game will favor them. However, the Bears have been competitive in two of their three games this season and are coming off a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, so expect them to come into this one ready to upset the Packers.
Packers look to get back on winning track
The Packers came into the season as one of the favorites to win the NFC, in week 1, the team defeated the Seattle Seahawks at Lambeau Field, but were thoroughly defeated in Atlanta by the Falcons a week later.
The loss to Atlanta not only pushed them behind the Detroit Lions in their division, it also came at a huge cost as the team lost receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb to injuries.
Despite their injuries, Aaron Rodgers was able to lead the Packers past the Cincinnati Bengals in a game that was closer than most expected. The Packers actually needed overtime to defeat a team that had not scored an offensive touchdown in the first two games of the season.
Bears seeking redemption
The Bears were expected to be one of the worst teams in the league this year after losing most of their talented stars in the offseason and in the middle of a team rebuild. However, with the exception of their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bears have shown they are capable of hanging with the best teams in the league as evident by their close loss to the Falcons, who defeated the Packers by a larger score, and their defeat of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have the second best odds of winning the Super Bowl.
With quarterback Jay Cutler playing for the Dolphins, the Bears got rid of a turnover prone quarterback with a questionable attitude, and now have a team of young players that want to prove that they belong in the league.
The match-up
The Bears will try to attack with their running game, after seeing the Bengals and Falcons had some success running the ball against the Packers. If they can find some success on the ground, the team will use a lot of play action passes to try and keep the Packers defense on their feet.
The Packers are a pass first team regardless of how many times they have tried to be more balanced on the offensive end. Usually, there wouldn’t be a doubt about the results when the Bears come to town, but with Rodgers not having healthy receivers to throw to, the Bears have a unique opportunity to get a rare win at Lambeau Field.
Green Bay’s pass defense is also susceptible, but they were able to contain Andy Dalton when it counted on Sunday. Since the Bears don’t have a quarterback that instills fear in defenses, expect to see the Packers load up the box and try to stop the run. If they are successful, expect to see them send blitzes at the quarterback once they have a decent lead.
One thing we know for sure about this game is we will find out just how good, or bad, both teams really are.