Green Bay Packers: 3 Keys to beating the Chicago Bears

If the Green Bay Packers are going to beat the Chicago Bears on Thursday night, these are the three keys to coming away with the victory.

Thursday night marks the start of the 2019 NFL season and it is going to be a difficult matchup on the road for the Green Bay Packers against their division rival, the Chicago Bears.

There is a bit more uncertainty heading into this season than there has been in years past just because of all of the changes that have taken place recently. The coaching staff was overhauled and Matt LaFleur is now in charge, while the defensive side of the ball has been revamped.

While I do believe that all of those changes are positive ones, on the road in week one against a very good Bears team, we really don’t know how this Green Bay Packers team will look initially or even what to really expect.

With that said, if they are going to come away with the victory, these are their three keys to doing so.

The Defense

For much of Aaron Rodgers’ time here in Green Bay, he has carried this team and a number of heartbreaking losses that they’ve suffered can be squarely placed on the shoulders of the defense. However, at least at the beginning of the season – and especially in week one – the defense will likely need to play well to keep this game close.

A positive for the Packers on offense is that just about everyone who will play a significant role this season was on the team last year but with a new offensive system in place, it is difficult to know how quickly things will jell.

While they’ve taken plenty of practice reps, this will be the first live game that the entire offense will be working together and they are going up against one of the better defenses in the league.

This means that the Packers’ defense will need a dominating performance by containing the Chicago Bears’ running game, putting pressure on Mitch Trubisky, and forcing a turnover or two to help keep this game close, just in case the offense isn’t firing on all cylinders.

Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams

Last season, some of the issues that this Green Bay Packers team had was that they were very one-dimensional by relying very heavily on the passing game. In facing this Bears’ defense in week one, if they know what’s coming, it is going to make moving the ball on offense for the Packers quite challenging.

Enter Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams who each should play a much bigger role this season under coach LaFleur. Jones led the NFL last year in yards per carry with 5.5, while Williams is a solid pass-blocker and can be a weapon in the passing game. We should also expect to see plenty of pass-catching opportunities for Jones this season as well.

To open up the passing game for Aaron Rodgers and his receivers, the running game needs to pose a threat. Also, the deep shot off of play-action is an important part of this offense but without an established running game, it is all but useless and takes away that big-play ability.

If the Green Bay Packers hope to have some success on offense against a stout Bears’ defense, they’ll need an effective running game to do so.

Aaron Rodgers

This one goes without saying, but even with all of the changes that have taken place this past offseason, this team will still only go as far as Aaron Rodgers takes them.

While 2018 was a “down” season by his standards, Rodgers still threw 25 touchdown passes to just two interceptions and totaled 4,442 passing yards. However, it was evident that he just wasn’t the Aaron Rodgers that we have grown accustomed to over the years.

Now, whether that was due to his injury, the offense, or a little bit of both, at this point it doesn’t really matter. But what does matter is that Rodgers returns to his MVP form.

Under LaFleur, some of the burden should be removed from Rodgers as the running game will play a more significant role and players will be schemed open rather than having to constantly win one-on-one battles. Add it all up and it should result in Rodgers not needing a super-human performance to win every week.

In a hostile road environment against a very good Bears’ defense, the Green Bay Packers will need Aaron Rodgers to be Aaron Rodgers in order to come away with the victory.