Preview of Monday Night Football Game Week 3: The Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears

The Packers and Bears are headed for a collision course at Soldier Field in Week 3 of the NFL season. When these two NFL football teams square off for Monday Night Football they will be playing to take the lead in the NFC North. J.A. McLynne's NFL Power Ranking software predicts that the Packers will win the game, but reality can be quite different from the computerized world.

NFC North Champions On the Line Early
Both the Packers and Bears are 2-0 in the NFC North. This is an early season game that will put one team in the drivers seat to lead the NFC North. Do not count the Viking out so early, but tough losses at New Orleans, and a rather surprising loss at home against the Dolphins have set the Vikings behind early in the season. Brett Favre and his NFC North championship favorite team have themselves a hole to dig out of, and they will have to go through either Chicago or the Packers depending on who will win the NFL Monday Night Football game in week 3.

The Chicago Bears beat the Lions in week 1, and came away with an inspiring win against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2. Jay Cutler has put together two decent games in a row, throwing for 5 touchdowns with only one interception. Cutler's quarterback rating is a respectable 121.2 with two games under his belt in the 2010 season.

The Bears overall defense rate about average for the league, 12th in total yards per game, and 14th in points given up. The Bears are heads and tails when it comes to the their pass vs. rushing defense, rating tops in the NFL for rushing yards given up per game, and near the bottom in terms of passing yard given up per game.

Look for the Packers balanced running and passing attack to shift a little more towards that pass this week against the Bears. Aaron Rodgers has thrown one more interception and one less touchdown than Cutler, with about the same amount passing attempts. Rodgers should be able to improve his passing statistics this week against the Bears weak passing defense.

On defense, the Packers are at the opposite end of the spectrum through two games of the season when compared to the Chicago Bears. The Pack are 3rd in pass defense, yet near the bottom when it comes to defending against the rush. Perhaps look for the Bears to shift more towards the run in this week's Monday Night Football match-up.

Calling the winner in this game is tough, as both teams appear to be evenly matched, and it is a heated rivalry. There will be hard hitting on both sides of the ball, and that will lead to turnovers. Turnovers will play a key role in determining the winner of this slug fest at Soldiers Field this Monday Night. This is a case where J. A. McLynne's NFL Power Ranking Software may be out to lunch in picking a winner.