Green Bay Versus Chicago Round 2

At this stage of the season, the real contenders begin to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. That is what one team will begin today tonight as the Chicago Bears take on the Green Bay Packers at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Chicago is playing for their postseason lives. A loss to the Packers tonight will put them well behind both the Packers and the Detroit Lions and make the NFC North race a two team affair. A win will keep them in a realistic position to make postseason as a Wildcard.

Things do not look well for the Bears on paper. They have not beat Green Bay when Aaron Rodgers played the majority of the game since 2010. The Packers are also 8-point favorites. They are 4-3-1 against the spread and 12-6 straight up since Mike McCrthy became head coach. 10-5 of those game the Packers won against the spread.

In order to win Jay Cutler and crew is going to have to play mistake free on the offense so they can keep pace with the Packers. Cutler threw two interceptions when the Bears played Green Bay a couple months ago. He and his receiving core are all going to have to be on the same page to match the pace of Green Bay’s passing game.

Green Bay beat Chicago back in September. The Packers were 2-point favorites to win that game and they more than covered that with a 38-17 victory. Since that game Green Bay is 4-1 straight up, while Chicago is 1-4.

Rodgers got the job done against the Bears last time by attacking Chicago’s poor secondary. He completed 22-of-28 of his passes for 302 yards and four touchdowns. The Bears will be tasked with trying to figure out how to slow down Rodgers, something they couldn’t do in their last meeting.

The total is set at 53.5. The Packers and Bears have hit the under in 13-5 during the duration of McCarthy’s tenure. However, Green Bay has hit the over in seven of its games this season, including when they played the Bears in September.