Bears Vs. Packers an Epic Battle

The Bears vs. Packers NFC playoff game looks like it is preparing to be an epic battle between two Midwest rivals that has been going on since they first played in 1921. The pregame hype has been brought to a boil as Green Bay radio stations have stopped playing songs by the band Chicago, even churches and businesses have rearranged hours to accommodate Packer mania. This division rivalry has only been fought out in the regular season except once when the two teams faced each other back in December of 1941 with the Bears coming out victorious.

On the other side of the coin the Bears have been backed by the leader of the free world although President Obama has predicted a win by a narrow margin of just 3 points, with this prediction I think his approval rating may have dropped 30 points in Wisconsin. Mr. Obama needs to learn a little more about trash talking, if you are going to pick a team and risk political fallout you need to back them 100% and predict a win by at least 21 points otherwise you risk insulting the other fan base as well.

This year the Bears and Packers have faced off twice and split the games with the Packers winning the most recent game. The Packers were still battling to get over some injuries in their first match up which Chicago won 20-17 but had settled in with the backup players during the second game which Green Bay prevailed 10-3. The Bears have the best run defense but the bigger issue they will face is the passing game as the future hall of famer Aaron Rodgers has accumulated 3922 yards this year with Greg Jennings being the main target of those passes which he has caught 76 receptions for 1265 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Packers have also been strong on defense with Clay Matthews getting to the quarterback 14 times and Tramon Williams pulling in 6 interceptions. For the Packers to win they will need to stop the Bears strong running game and try to take advantage of the Bears offensive line which has had problems with pass protection.

All hope is not lost on the Bears though as one advantage is the game is being held at Soldier Field which has had some notorious field conditions which the Bears will have more time on. They also have a future hall of fame quarterback in Jay Cutler who has amassed 3274 yards this year which while it is less than Rodgers is impressive given the fact that the Bears have had an incredibly strong running back in Matt Forte who has 1069 rushing yards and is the team leader in receptions with 51 and 9 touchdowns. The defense has been performing well with Julius Peppers getting 8 sacks, Chris Harris intercepting 5 passes, and the Chicago defensive line has been stopping the running game. The biggest obstacle for the Bears will be protecting Cutler from Matthews and giving him the time to throw.

Regardless of who wins the game it will be a great game for all to watch and it is looking like it will be a great battle between two long time rivals with some of the most loyal fans in the NFL.