NFC Championship Game 2011 Preview: Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears
Published by Jake Perper on January 23, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears
Sunday, 3 p.m. ET
Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
This will be the third matchup this season between these NFC North rivals, but only the second meeting in the playoffs ever and the first since 1941.
They split the season series with each team winning at home. This will likely be a defensive battle with good quarterback play. I think the team who protects their quarterback better will win this one.
Aaron Rodgers has been great as of late but so has Jay Cutler. The Bears have a better running game with Matt Forte and Chester Taylor, but the Packers receiving corps is better.
Teams in the playoffs are 8-0 when they lead the game in rushing, so running will be crucial for the Bears. The Bears ran over 40 times last week, but I don’t see that many carries for the backs. Somewhere in the 30′s would only mean good things for the Bears.
At wide receiver, Greg Jennings, Donald Driver and Jordy Nelson have more upside than Johnny Knox, Earl Bennett and Devin Hester.
These teams match up very well against each other. Clay Matthews, Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams are stars on the Packers defense. Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers and Lance Briggs are stars on the Bears defense.
Linebacker Urlacher and the safeties have to play good solid coverage on defense. Offensively, Forte and Taylor have to run and catch out of the backfield like they have been lately. Greg Olsen and the tight ends have to win their matchups with the Packers linebackers and safeties because the Packers cornerbacks are very good.
Again, the team that protects their QB the best will likely win. Both offensive lines have been playing better. It will likely come down to the battle up front. Bears offensive line versus Packers defensive line and vice-versa.
This game should be good.
Terry McAulay, the same referee who called the first game at Soldier Field will ref this one. McAulay called 18 penalties against the Packers in that game; the Packers had more penalties than points.
Bears-Packers for a chance at the Super Bowl, I don’t think it gets much better than that. The team with the better quarterback play will win this one. I think Cutler will surprise everyone and play his biggest game ever.
Final Score: Bears 23, Packers 17.
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Jake Perper is the creator of www.BearsBacker.com and also covers the Bearsforwww.NFLTouchdown.com and NFLBlogblitz.
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