Football is officially back!! We’re celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the NFL with tonight’s matchup between long-time rivals Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. It’s the head coaching debut for Matt LaFleur in Green Bay. LaFleur aims to construct a game plan that will be enough to take out one of the best defenses in the NFL.
Green Bay Packers Preview:
Three Keys to the Game:
Protecting Aaron Rodgers: This is so crucial if the Packers want to win this game. Obviously protecting your Star QB.. but especially when you’re up against such dominant forces like Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks. They disrupt the passing game in every possible way, even if they’re not sacking the QB. Rodgers consistently will have to quickly deliver the ball out to avoid in hopes to avoid Chicago’s pass rush throughout the entire game.
Establishing a Run Game: The duo of Aaron Jones & Jamaal Williams will be heavily relied upon tonight. The Packers need to establish their run game if they want to control the tempo. Controlling the tempo needs to be a major point of emphasis for LaFleur’s play calling. If you start to tire out Chicago’s defensive starters throughout the course of the game, it would allow Rodgers plenty of opportunities to take deep shots downfield.
Forcing Turnovers on Defense: When you’re on the road as an underdog playing against your division-rival; you need to create momentum. The Packers couldn’t cause a turnover if they tried last year. If they can flip the narrative and pick off Trubisky early in this game.. that could be just what they need to silent the crowd.
Three Players to Watch:
Marquez Valdez-Scantling: He could arguably be the biggest X-factor this season for Green Bay. Valdes-Scantling, is entering his second year and has been generating a ton of buzz throughout training camp. This guy is an incredible player and has all the tools to be a dominant #2 receiver beside Davante Adams. Tonight could possibly be his breakout game in-front of an national audience.
Adrian Amos: The newly acquired safety gets his first opportunity to face his former team. Amos, spent the past for years with Chicago and will start at free safety for Green Bay.
Ty Summers: This 7th round rookie linebacker has a very significant role tonight to say the least.. Projected starter Oren Burks suffered a pectoral injury during the preseason, forcing Summers to slide in and start at inside linebacker tonight besides Blake Martinez in his first NFL career game. This could potentially be a huge mismatch for Chicago. Summers has had difficulties tackling in the preseason, which could be a major advantage for the shifty Tarik Cohen.
Chicago Bears Preview:
Three Keys to the Game:
Disrupting Aaron Rodgers: Same thing that was mentioned above regarding protecting Rodgers. This is absolutely the biggest key of the game for both teams. Rodgers is the most important key to success for the Packers, while the defense is the most for the Bears. If they could disrupt Rodgers it could be a long night for Green Bay.
Effective Pass Game: If Mitch Trubisky and the passing game are able to outperform Rodgers tonight; then it would be extremely difficult for Green Bay to win this game. Will Allen Robinson take that next step in 2019 and become the unquestioned #1 wide-out for Chicago? We shall see..
Kicking: While you never typically see kicking in the keys to a game; when it comes to Chicago it’s necessary. Cody Parkey’s shank off the crossbar was the reason they were eliminated last season.Another big-time blunder with the game on the line would quickly turn this a season-long issue.
Players to Watch:
Khalil Mack: Mack absolutely dominated the Packers last year in his Bears debut. Mack is one of the best players in the NFL and he’ll be looking for an encore and remind the Raiders what they’re missing.
Ha-Ha Clinton Dix: Another huge redemption game, pretty much the exact situation as Amos. Clinton-Dix will look to create and havoc against his former team and QB.
David Montgomery: This rookie RB is absolutely the real deal. Montgomery has what it takes to eventually turn into one of the top backs in the league. Tonight is his professional debut; we’ll see how much Coach Nagy gets him involved.
Prediction:
Packers 30- Bears 20
The Packers are going to have to take some time to get adjusted into the new offense. Although we have no idea what their offense will look like, we all can agree on that playing on the road against your division-rival (in your first game running a new offense seems) appears to be a real difficult task. Despite that, the Packers will win game, because their defense should create enough havoc against Mitch Trubisky to leave Chicago with a victory.
Off The Gridiron 