Hub Arkush: It's up to Bears to save the season
What can I tell you about this one you don't already know?
Both clubs need it, but the Bears need it more.
This is the 200th regular season meeting between the two, with the Packers leading the series 99-94-6. Over the first 199 games, the Packers have scored 3,471 points, while the Bears have scored 3,402. Over 100 years these two are separated by .35 points a game, literally one-third of a point per game.
The Packers have won the last three meetings, eight of the last nine, and 18 of the last 21, including the 41-25 beating they gave the Bears five weeks ago, which at the time felt like the end of the Bears' season.
This is the Bears chance to save it.
Matchup to watch
Davante Adams vs. Kindle Vildor, Duke Shelley
An Adams-Kyle Fuller matchup all day long would be worth the price of admission all by itself, but the Bears won't "travel" Fuller to shadow Adams on both sides of the field. While the Packers may "try" Fuller a few times with Adams, they are certain to try and abuse the youngsters with one of the NFL's best wideouts.
The kids don't have to shut down Adams, but they have to keep him in front of them, limit his yards after catch and not allow him to dictate wherever he wants to go on the field.
Coaching decision to watch
How will Chuck Pagano keep Aaron Rodgers under pressure?
The bottom line is the Bears won't beat Rodgers unless they constantly move him off his spot, stay in his face while he's on the move to keep him from studying the field and put him on the ground at least three or four times.
Pagano's job gets a lot easier if he can get it done with four, but if not he has to come up with a combination of blitzes, stunts and games that keep the Packers' O-line guessing. He has to disguise his coverages well enough to make Rodgers guess wrong at least a couple times.
Players to watch
TE Robert Tonyan, OLB Rashan Gary, S Darnell Savage
Tonyan, a McHenry, Illinois native, has become Rodgers' favorite red-zone and third-down target with 10 TDs and 31 first downs from his 50 catches.
Gary and Savage were the 12th and 21st picks, respectively, in the 2019 draft and both have really come on the second half of this season, Gary giving the Pack a third pressure guy to go with the "Smith Brothers" and Savage roaming center field to find four picks.
X-factors
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, OLB Robert Quinn, S Eddie Jackson
The Packers have been trying to make Valdes-Scantling their No. 2 receiver and the ying to Adams' yang for a couple seasons. While he is not a great route runner and has too many drops, he has special quickness and speed for a man his size, gets over the top regularly and has averaged 19.5 yards on his 31 catches, although it's taken him 60 targets to make them and he has 5 TDs.
Quinn's and Jackson's production has been under question most of the season. If they both show up Sunday, we could see the Bears 'D' that's been M.I.A. the last four or five weeks.
Wild-card players
RB A.J. Dillon, WR Allen Lazard
Dillon is a beast at 245 pounds who went off against the Titans last week and could be featured again Sunday. Lazard is another of the young Packer receiver group from which they're hoping to find a No. 2, but he's been hurt a good part of the season. When he's healthy he's a matchup problem at 6-5, 225 pound, although his speed is just average.
The final word
Packers 27, Bears 24
There is no question the Bears can play with the Packers, and if they run the ball successfully, win the turnover battle and put Rodgers on the ground a few times, they can beat them.
But even if the Bears play their best game, the Packers are one of the top four teams in the league right now. The Bears are not, and Rodgers is the presumptive MVP. Until the Bears do beat them again you just can't ignore the fact that Rodgers finds a way to win these games.
• Twitter: @Hub_Arkush