Bears still want to make Packers go bye
At first glance it doesn't seem that the Bears can gain much from defeating the Packers in Green Bay on Sunday.
Coach Lovie Smith's team is locked in as the No. 2 seed unless the Atlanta Falcons find a way to lose to Carolina (2-13) and the New Orleans Saints fall to Tampa Bay.
But by knocking off their oldest rival the Bears can eliminate them from the playoffs, as long as the New York Giants or Bucs win.
And that could be huge, because the Packers are playing better football than most of the teams still in the postseason picture, specifically St. Louis, Seattle, Philadelphia, the Bucs and the Giants.
Last week the Packers destroyed the Giants 45-17. A week earlier they lost by just 4 points on the road without starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers at New England (13-2).
The Rams are 3-4 in the second half of the season, the Seahawks have lost seven of their last nine, and the Eagles lost 24-14 Tuesday to the 14-point-underdog Minnesota Vikings and third-string quarterback Joe Webb.
The Bucs have lost three of their last five and four of their last seven. Even though the Giants manhandled the Bears 17-3 in Week 4, they have dropped back-to-back games, allowing 83 points and treating the football as if it were a live grenade.
If the Packers win Sunday, they're in. They could even lose and still get in — as long as the Giants lose at Washington and the Bucs lose at New Orleans — but that would be difficult.
“The Packers are a great team, and I don't want to continue to keep facing the Packers,” said Bears Pro Bowl return specialist Devin Hester.
“So I'm hoping we can go out and eliminate another good team. I give them credit, they're a good team, and I don't want to see them three times in one year.”
Good point, considering the Packers have won three of the last five meetings. Even though the Bears have won two of the last three games at Soldier Field, where a playoff game would occur, two of those wins were by identical 20-17 scores.
Eliminating the Packers from the playoff mix is the best reason for the Bears to go all in Sunday. But Smith said that's the way he would approach the game even before the Vikings upset the Eagles to gift-wrap the No. 2 seed for the Bears.
“Lovie said prior to that game that we were going to be playing, we were going to be full-go on Sunday,” quarterback Jay Cutler said. “So that's what we expect. I expect to play the whole game. That's how we're preparing at this point.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Martz leaves no doubt that it will be business as usual.
“Here's the deal,” Martz said. “This is just a one-time deal. I'm not going to dwell on this. We've asked our players to get better every week. That's how we coach, and that's how we play, and that's what we're going to try to do this week.
“This is a very important game for us, pure and simple.”
According to Smith it doesn't matter if the Falcons and the Saints win their noon games, leaving the Bears locked in at No. 2.
“We're trying to win the game,” Smith said. “None of that has anything to do with what we're doing. This is the last team on our schedule. We had planned on playing them the entire time, so nothing has changed.
“For us, we're trying to win the football game, period.”
ŸFollow Bob LeGere's Bears reports via Twitter@BobLeGere. Check out his blog, Bear Essentials at DailyHerald.com.