Green Bay Packers v. Bears: 6 Big Questions Revisited
By Paul Bretl
Prior to each game, I come out with my 5 Big Questions facing the Green Bay Packers and their opponent that week. This time around, I had six of them, and as part of my weekly review of the Packers’ performance, it’s time to take a look back at what the answers to those key questions ended up being.
Q: Can the Green Bay Packers clinch a playoff spot?
A: No
In order to have clinched a playoff spot this past Sunday, the Green Bay Packers needed to beat the Chicago Bears, which of course they did, as well as have the New York Jets beat New Orleans and Cincinnati beat San Francisco.
Unfortunately, neither of those things happened as both the Saints and Niners won. The Packers do, however, have the opportunity to clinch the NFC North this coming Sunday with either a win over Baltimore or a Minnesota loss at Chicago.
It’s also worth noting that with Arizona’s loss to Los Angeles, the Packers are the current one-seed in the NFC, and they control their own destiny.
Q: Can the Green Bay Packers run defense slow David Montgomery?
A: Yes, for the most part
Truth be told, I was expecting Chicago to lean on David Montgomery much more than what they did, although once they were playing behind by multiple scores in the second half, that did limit their ability to rely on the run game.
But even so, when Montomgery did touch the ball, the Packers were able to contain him for the most part. While he did have a 20-yard rush, on his other nine carries, Montgomery would total just 32 yards.
Against this Chicago offensive line that ranks 23rd in run-blocking, according to PFF ($$), the Green Bay defensive front was able to get a very good push against this offensive line unit. On top of that, De’Vondre Campbell was all over the place making plays. The Packers also generated a whopping 34 pressures on Justin Fields per PFF.
As I’ve written before, by the numbers, this run defense unit isn’t a dominant group, but they are much improved over last season, especially when you consider all of the lightboxes that Joe Barry utilizes.