5 Stats to Know about Green Bay Packers vs. Bears in Week 2

The Green Bay Packers will be looking to bounce back on Sunday against the Chicago Bears in what may not technically be a must-win game, but it sure feels like it.

To help preview the opponent, I’ve picked out five stats from the Bears’ Week 1 performance that you need to be aware of heading into this matchup, as these aspects of the game could end up being crucial in determining who wins on Sunday.

Five stats to know about the Green Bay Packers verse the Bears in Week 2

43.5% Pressure Rate

The Bears’ offensive line play is likely going to remain a big question mark all season, which we saw this past Sunday against San Francisco. According to PFF ($$), quarterback Justin Fields was pressured on 43.5% of his dropbacks, which was the fourth-highest rate in Week 1.

For the Green Bay Packers, they did miss sacking Kirk Cousins on a few key occasions, but they did consistently get after him, logging 20 total pressures and a pressure rate of 42%. Getting to Fields is step one, but containing him is step 2–Fields was able to make several big plays when on the move against the 49ers. It will be important that the Packers’ edge rushers don’t lose contain and set a strong edge for the interior rushers to get home.

4.8 yards per carry

The 49ers’ run game found some success against the Bears, averaging 4.8 yards per rush as a team. This included Debo Samuel averaging 6.5 yards per attempt on eight carries and Elijah Mitchell averaging 6.8 yards on six attempts.

One of the most egregious mistakes that the Packers made in Week 1 was not getting Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon more involved. In total, the duo had only 23 combined touches and 15 carries, despite the Packers averaging 6.2 yards per rush as a team.

When speaking with reporters, Aaron Rodgers mentioned that Green Bay did abandon the run game too soon, given that they fell behind early. As I wrote about recently, more rush attempts doesn’t only get the ball into the hands of Jones and Dillon, but the entire offense will benefit.

Bears edge rushers

Overall, the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line didn’t give up a ton of pressures against the Vikings, just 11 to be exact, according to PFF. However, seven of those pressures came from the right side of the offensive line with Royce Newman and Jake Hanson, and several of those pressures came at some very inconvenient times with the Packers looking to connect on a shot play.

We do not know what the offensive line configuration will look like for the Packers, and hopefully, it contains Elgton Jenkins, but whoever it is will be facing some very good Bears edge rushers.

In only 13 pass rush snaps, Trevis Gipson logged four pressures, which was the fourth-highest total among all edge rushers, and his pass-rush win rate of 16.7 was the third best. Meanwhile, Dominique Robinson and Robert Quinn had three pressures each, and of course, Quinn is coming off an 18-sack season per PFF.

2-for-2 in the red zone

The Chicago Bears offense was able to make the most of their red zone opportunities on Sunday, finding the end zone on both of their trips inside the 20-yard line. Despite the Packers’ issues on defense last week, they were able to hold the Vikings to only one touchdown on three red zone trips.

Last season, Green Bay would struggle in the red zone defensively, ranking 23rd, with opponents finding the end zone 62% of the time. If this ends up being a close game, red zone success for each offense could be the determining factor.

Justin Fields

Overall, Justin Fields’ stat line certainly doesn’t jump off the page–although playing in all of that rain didn’t make things easy. He finished the day 8 of 17 for 121 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. However, it was Fields’ play in the second half that sparked the Bears’ comeback.

Whether it be by design or out of necessity, Fields did an excellent job extending plays with his legs, which led to some big plays in the passing game. In the second half, Fields was five for eight passing, with 102 of his total yards and both touchdowns coming in the third and fourth quarters. Earlier in the week, Matt LaFleur commented on how much more decisive and resilient Fields looks in Year 2 as a passer.

As I mentioned initially, finding a way to keep Fields in the pocket will be important, as will the Packers secondary sticking with the play until it’s over to prevent any broken plays from turning into big plays.