How can Bears beat Packers? Limit Green Bay's dual RB threat
Many of the media's questions leading up to the Bears' titanic tilt vs. Green Bay on Sunday had a familiar theme.
How can you slow down Aaron Rodgers? What makes Aaron Rodgers so dangerous? How does Aaron Rodgers respond after a loss?
What is Aaron Rodgers' favorite color? Music? Board game? (OK, now we're exaggerating).
Obviously, much of the Bears' focus must center around Rodgers, one of the NFL's all-time best quarterbacks. The future Hall of Famer is 22-5 lifetime against Chicago and has an uncanny knack of steadying the ship after a Packers loss.
"Don't underestimate the power of great leadership," said Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams. "He is a great leader and he will get those guys into shape."
Yet, there's a good chance this game will boil down to how well the Bears deal with the deadly running back tandem of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon.
Jones (1,190 yards from scrimmage, 10 TDs last season) possesses top-line speed, filthy open-field moves and is a tremendous receiver. The 247-pound Dillon (1,116 yards from scrimmage, 7 TDs in 2021) is in his third season out of Boston College and can make defenders pay with his bruising, tackle-busting power.
"Kind of speed and thunder," said Bears LB Roquan Smith. "(Jones) runs a lot harder than what people would think just by looking at him. Looking forward to the challenge."
Although the Bears won their opener, they had a difficult time slowing down the Niners' run game in the first half. Elijah Mitchell, Deebo Samuel and Trey Lance racked up 102 yards on 15 carries, a 6.8 yard average.
The second half was a different story, but let's not forget that Mitchell was injured and did not return.
"We didn't play the run as well as we wanted to last week," Smith said. "So it's gonna be a nice opportunity on national TV to go stump the run out."
In two meetings against the Bears last season, Jones had 111 yards on 18 carries (6.2 average), added 7 catches for 64 yards and scored 3 TDs. Dillon piled up 130 rushing yards on 26 attempts (5.0 average).
The Packers won 24-14 and 45-30.
"Two backs that can change the ballgame," Williams said. "So we're gonna have our hands full in terms of where that's concerned. We're gonna have to bring extra guys to make sure we stop those two. We need six, seven, eight guys."
Just before saying that, however, Williams talked about how important it is to get pressure on Rodgers, who will likely get top wide receiver Allen Lazard back after he missed the opener with an ankle injury.
"Well, you've got to pick your poison," Williams said. "With their group I'd like to play with 12, but they won't let us. So yeah, we'll have to figure it out."
On the other side of the ball, the Bears will have their hands full against one of the league's toughest defenses. Green Bay boasts a powerful D-line, an All Pro linebacker in De'Vondre Campbell and a young, yet intimidating group in the secondary.
Now, Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson did burn the Packers to the tune of 9 catches for 184 yards and 2 TDs in the Vikings' 23-7 win in Week 1. But the Bears don't have a receiver near the caliber of Jefferson, so it will be interesting to see if Darnell Mooney, former Packers WR Equanimeous St. Brown, Byron Pringle and Dante Pettis can consistently get open.
The Bears know how big of a game this is for the Packers because an 0-2 start often spells doom for a team's postseason hopes.
That means they'd better be ready from the jump because Rodgers and Co. figure to be ready to roll.
And that's just fine with Smith.
"(Rodgers) is obviously one of the greatest to ever play the game, and you know as a competitor myself, (I) love going against people like that," Smith said. "I'm sure he will be a little bit pissed off after this last game. Hey, you wouldn't want it any other way.
"Pissed off him, get the best version of him and then we get the dub (win) and it will be even sweeter."