Green Bay blew out Seattle 38-10 last Sunday for their 3rd-straight win. Chicago lost for the 7th time in their last 9 outings, falling 20-17 against Detroit last week. The Pack easily handled the Bears 26-10 in a Week 7 matchup.
The Packers’ offense has been in high gear over the past 3 weeks and is averaging almost 29 ppg during the stretch. QB Aaron Rodgers, despite an injured left hamstring and an injured right calf, has been sterling during this period, completing 70% of his passes and notching a 10-0 TD/INT ratio. WR Jordy Nelson has had a great comeback season and leads the NFL with 12 TDs. WR Davante Adams has topped 100+ receiving yards in 4 of his last 5 games and has emerged as a legit deep threat. WR Randall Cobb went 11-95-1 in the first game as all 3 receivers had 10+ receptions. The Bears allow a mere 219.5 passing ypg but figure to have trouble with their biggest nemesis this week. With Rodgers fairly immobile in the backfield, the o-line has to keep him clean against a defense that features 3 players with 7+ sacks each. WR-RB Ty Montgomery is the de facto starter at RB and has contributed both as a runner and receiver.
Chicago QB Matt Barkley has been getting better over his 3 starts but still has a pedestrian 4-4 TD/INT ratio. On the plus side, he gets WR Alshon Jeffery back from suspension but has had little time to build a rapport with him. WRs Josh Bellamy and Cameron Meredith have had their moments but both players dropped key passes in the Bears’ belated comeback attempt against the Lions last week. TE Zach Miller is also out. Chicago has given up only 24 sacks but Packers have recorded 33 and are getting better pressure in recent weeks. Rookie RB Jordan Howard averaged 6.1 ypc last week but had only 13 attempts. He has been curiously underused for most of the season despite averaging a robust 5.0 ypc. Green Bay allows 96 ypg on the ground but has been even better during their mini streak. They must focus on stopping Howard first and force Barkley to make big plays with his average arm.
Public Money Consensus
In this weeks NFL matchup between Green Bay and Chicago has the public leaning heavily to the visiting Packers to cover the 6.5 point spread with 80%. The under on this game appears to be the bet this week with 55%.
