...All that being said, the game will be close. The Bears are dangerous this year, The Cutler/Marshall Duo is one of the best in football, not to mention Matt Forte, The defense and the dangerous return game. The Packers are coming off a bad loss at home, without a run game, and they arnt going to have Greg Jennings. It helps having the best player on earth, but the defense is NOT the same that it was 2 years ago. Losing Collins/Jenkins hurt us more then we thought it would. Should be a showdown.
Its going to be a great game, the Pack is going to come out on fire like they always do after a loss! #52 is going to rattle Cutlers cage......GO PACK GO!
Germ, being from Detroit, I'm a life long Lions fan, trust me we both know about last place! Ugh.....
When was the last time the Bears played a playoff game? Didn't they play a Wild Card team? How did that game turn out?
All rivalries aside - am I missing something about Clay Mathews that everyone else sees? His first two seasons he was a sack monster, but last year he really fell off. I think he had 5 or 6? This year he's off to a decent start, but we'll see if it lasts. He really doesn't make very many tackles for a LB. I think he's averaged around 50-55 per year his first three years in the league. Urlacher and Briggs each averaged well over 100 their first three years. Ray Lewis averged nearly 140, Patrick Willis over 150, etc. I don't doubt that Mathews is an above averge LB, but is he really worth the praise he gets? People act like he's the greatest LB ever and he's making 1/3 the tackles that the other top end guys are making.
So let me get this straight...you "Bears fans" got a chubby because you beat a team who won a whole 2 games last year? Wow your standards are low. And as for you "Packers fans" how'd you like that 49er defense? ...This message was approved by Jim Harbaugh for President 2012...
You make a great point, last year he was always double teamed. The first 2 years he wasn't so much.They line him up in the same spot most of the game if they don't run at him less tackles. You're right he should have more, maybe he'll get a few Thursday
Matthews is a pass rush specialist coming from the outside, meaning he is always attacking the backfield and not dropping into coverage or bottling up running backs . He shouldn't have alot of tackles like an inside Mike backer would have (such as Desmond Bishop and AJ Hawk last year). Matthews did have a down year in sacks but he led the league in hits on the quarterback, another important part of a pass rush specialists game. Green Bay created no pressure on the opposite side of Clay last year (Players like Smith, Waldon and So-To were lined up there), so he was constantly getting double teamed. This year, with Woodson playing SS and closer to the line, Clay got free a little more. They finished with 4 combined sacks, which is acceptable for any duo in any game. Nick Perry is a rookie who is also going to be around the line more this year to create mismatches for Clay.
