Bears come in as underdogs. Kind of crazy considering the Packers have yet to score more than 22 pts. 22 in Week 1, 20, 14, and 17 this week against the lowly Bucs. Just comparing how the Bears and Packers have looked against common opponents, the Bears should win. Health is going to be the biggest issue. Caleb, and now looks like Monangi (thumb), Swift (knee) will have to be monitored.

Early on, I am taking the Bears in a close one.

GB lost LB Edgerrin Cooper to a achilles. Scary watching these athletes just drop non-contact.

41 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

GB lost LB Edgerrin Cooper to a achilles. Scary watching these athletes just drop mon contact.

and it feels like it is happening a lot more frequently

2 hours ago, adam said:

and it feels like it is happening a lot more frequently

I was watching the DEN/SF game this afternoon, and Patrick Surtain II suffered a non-contact ankle injury.

I agree; it seems like there are far more of these incidents.

2 hours ago, Pixote said:

I was watching the DEN/SF game this afternoon, and Patrick Surtain II suffered a non-contact ankle injury.

I agree; it seems like there are far more of these incidents.

Someone would have to show me some data that there are more non-contact injuries. No way the Bears should be the underdog in this game.

9 hours ago, AZ54 said:

Someone would have to show me some data that there are more non-contact injuries. No way the Bears should be the underdog in this game.

The opening line was +2.5, that has already shifted to -1.5.

	Offense		Defense
PPG	CHI 28.0 vs GB 18.3		CHI 16.3 vs GB 26.3
YPG	CHI 429.0 vs GB 307.3		CHI 282.3 vs GB 324.3
YPP	CHI 5.8 vs GB 5.2		CHI 5.9 vs GB 5.0
EPA/P	CHI +0.06 vs GB -0.16		CHI -0.15 vs GB -0.02
Pass YPG	CHI 232.8 vs GB 249.3		CHI 179.8 vs GB 185.0
Rush YPG	CHI 196.3 vs GB 58.0		CHI 102.5 vs GB 139.3
Pass YPP	CHI 6.7 vs GB 6.2		CHI 6.6 vs GB 5.8
Rush YPP	CHI 4.9 vs GB 3.2		CHI 4.9 vs GB 4.2
TOP	CHI 36:35 vs GB 26:14

I know you kind of throw stats out in rivalry games, but this is not the same Packers team of previous years. In terms of points, yards, and efficiency on offense and defense, the Bears are in another stratosphere as GB is right now.

GB's two wins were by 3 pts each over the Jets and winless Bucs. In both of those games, Love threw for less than 200 yards, and they still won. They either get blown out, or win close games. On the flip side, the Bears have 3 wins by 10+ pts and a 6 pt loss in a monsoon.

2 hours ago, adam said:

I know you kind of throw stats out in rivalry games, but this is not the same Packers team of previous years. In terms of points, yards, and efficiency on offense and defense, the Bears are in another stratosphere as GB is right now.

GB's two wins were by 3 pts each over the Jets and winless Bucs. In both of those games, Love threw for less than 200 yards, and they still won. They either get blown out, or win close games. On the flip side, the Bears have 3 wins by 10+ pts and a 6 pt loss in a monsoon.

Winning in the road against a team like the Packers is never easy...they have their backs against the wall and they are going to give it everything. Even harder if we have our backup QB out there...not saying it isn't possible...but this is not going to be easy...possible...absolutely...I believe this team beat anyone when they play their best.

I was watching a local Chicago broadcast interview this morning with Johnson and he said Bagent would be the starter.

Bagent announced as this week's starter. Will be curious to see if Caleb takes any reps - I got to imagine they want to get him back out there and make sure he goes through the motions before they get him back on the field. Having him get some limited reps this week and then maybe a full practice week next week would put him in play for Falcons game...if he doesn't get any reps this week I could see Falcons game being less likely. We need to get our QB back - huge to win 2 straight with our backups (and hopefully a 3rd straight) but our starting QB still has a lot of reps and growth he needs and while he's more raw in his pocket play - he's such an elite talent.

57 minutes ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

but our starting QB still has a lot of reps and growth he needs and while he's more raw in his pocket play

All of this.

1 hour ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

Bagent announced as this week's starter. Will be curious to see if Caleb takes any reps - I got to imagine they want to get him back out there and make sure he goes through the motions before they get him back on the field. Having him get some limited reps this week and then maybe a full practice week next week would put him in play for Falcons game...if he doesn't get any reps this week I could see Falcons game being less likely. We need to get our QB back - huge to win 2 straight with our backups (and hopefully a 3rd straight) but our starting QB still has a lot of reps and growth he needs and while he's more raw in his pocket play - he's such an elite talent.

I am thinking they may hold him out until Week 7, since it is a short week. If he comes back for Week 6 and ATL, he would only have 3 days of rest (including travel) for the next game. I don't think they would risk that as the reinjury rate is pretty high. So I would not be surprised if Bagent starts against GB and ATL and Caleb returns for NE, then gets the mini bye after that game before MNF in Seattle the following week. That gives him more time to recover after his first game back.

Another idea I had was they could bring Logan Jones along with Caleb, allowing the Center to get a ton of reps with Caleb before live game reps. So start them both Week 7 against NE at home on TNF. Also, NE knows Bradbury too well, they would exploit the hell out of him anyway. Perfect time to make the switch at Center in my opinion.