Paul Bretl | 11/14/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — All eyes are on the Chicago Bears’ offense right now as they make a mid-season change at offensive coordinator with that unit sputtering. However, on the other side of the ball is a defense that has caused issues for opposing offenses–something the Packers will look to avoid.
The Bears will enter Sunday’s game allowing just 18.6 points per game–the seventh-lowest mark in football. Where they’ve been particularly effective is with their pass rush, generating the fourth-highest pressure rate this season, and in the secondary, allowing 6.3 yards per pass, along with creating the seventh-most takeaways.
“They got a lot of guys there who are very skilled,” said Jayden Reed of the Bears’ secondary. “They play hard. I think their nickel, he attacks a lot. You’ll see him shoot gaps sometimes and make some plays in the run game. They do a great job of being competitive.”
However, if there is an area where this unit has taken some lumps, it’s against the run. The 4.8 yards per rush surrendered by Chicago is the fourth-most this season, in addition to them giving up the sixth-most explosive runs of 10 or more yards.
With an offense that features Jordan Love at quarterback and plethora of passing catching options, the passing game is always going to be a key component to just about any Packers’ gameplan. But given the matchup dynamic this week, perhaps the emphasis needs to lie with the ground game.
The Packers currently have one of the top rushing offenses in football, averaging 5.0 yards per carry–the third-best mark this season, which includes generating the second most rushes of 10-plus yards. Leading the charge is for Green Bay is Josh Jacobs, whose 762 rushing yards are the fourth-most among backs, while he averages 4.8 yards per rush, and has created the fourth-most explosive runs.
Jacobs has again proven that he is a very difficult back to bring down, averaging 3.73 yards after contact, which ranks as the sixth-best this season. He’s also ranked sixth in missed tackles forced as well.
“For me, man, it’s just not giving up on a play,” said Jacobs. “It’s trying to go out there and give everything that I have and never feeling like I didn’t try. Me being a vet in this locker room, me trying to be the leader that I want to be, I hold myself to certain standards, to a certain level of accountability, and I wouldn’t be able to come in here and look these guys in the eye if I feel like I didn’t get everything that I had, and I feel like I couldn’t ask that out of them if I wasn’t showing it or giving it.”
Being able to fully lean on the run game will require the Packers to clean up some of the self-inflicted errors that have plagued them throughout the season. Pre-snap penalties have often put the offense in an early hole, living in long down-and-distance situations where they are forced to pass in order to get back on track and forget about the run game. It’s in these predictable situations where the defense has the advantage.
Complementary football is another component when it comes to maximizing the run game. We can look at the Minnesota and Detroit games as examples of how a multi-score deficit can ruin an offense’s ability to leverage the run game.
From there, being able to move the ball steadily on the ground can also help provide what has been an inconsistent Packers’ passing game with a boost. Success on the ground often means staying ahead of the sticks. From short down-and-distance situations, the entire playbook is now open for the offense–they can run or they can pass–and this forces the defense to spread out and defend the entire field, opening up opportunities in the passing game and the ability to utilize play-action, an important element of the LaFleur offense.
“A lot of stuff is on us,” said Jacobs about what else is out there for the offense. “I talk to the guys about it all the time. A lot of stuff is on us. You see a lot of the big plays that we have, and we can make so many more. We’ve had some drops. We’ve had some M.A.s (missed assignments) and things like that.
“I challenged the whole offense, I challenged the whole team really to put together a complete game. See what it feels like, see what that looks like. Try to strain a little harder, give a little more and see where we’re at in the end. That’s what we’re trying to come out and do the rest of the back end of the season.”
When it comes to both the third down and red zone woes that the Packers have had up to this point in the season, not shooting themselves in the foot will be important when it comes to being more efficient in those situations, but again, a strong run game, as LaFleur has talked about, can help be a remedy as well.
“They’ve generated some turnovers over there,” said Jordan Love of the Bears’ defense, “but I think what they do well is their red zone defense and third down defense. I think those two areas, they do a good job of holding teams and not letting them get those first downs and obviously touchdowns in the red zone. I think those are two areas that we’re going to need to improve on offense and definitely be a lot better than we have been, so it’s going to be a good test for us.”
Every game takes on its own identity based on how LaFleur believes it’s best to attack the opposing defense along with how the game actually unfolds and whether or not adjustments need to be made. But looking ahead to Sunday’s game, the recipe for a heavy-dose of Josh Jacobs does seem to exist.
“We’ve been pretty good as a unit,” said Jacobs of the running back room, “and it’s crazy because we could be so much better, so I think that’s the fun part about the back end of the season is trying to chase the perfection, trying to chase being great as a unit and trying to come in each day and lock in.”