AllGreenBayPackers.Com

Jermichael Finley has been at his best against the Bears

Packers tight end Jermichael Finley is perhaps the most scrutinized player on the Packers’ roster.

As a former Division I basketball recruit, Finley possesses as much athletic ability as any tight end in the league, but dropped passes and mental lapses seem to overshadow his on-field production. However, the 6’5″ 247-pound freak always seems to be at his best against the Packers’ top rival, the Chicago Bears.

Finley’s best regular season game as a professional came last season at Chicago, catching a season-high seven passes for 85 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Of Finley’s eight total touchdowns last season, four came against the Bears. Oh, and of Finley’s fourteen drops last season, zero came against Chicago.

In the Packers’ Super Bowl season in 2010, Finley torched Chicago on Monday night for nine catches and 115 yards without dropping a pass. Finley missed the Bears game at Lambeau Field after suffering a season-ending knee injury against the Washington Redskins, but going back to the final Packers-Bears game a season earlier, Finley again brought his best, catching five balls for 70 yards.

There’s been an obvious theme for Finley against the Bears lately–consistent production, and more importantly, no dropped passes.

In his last four appearances against the Chicago Bears, Finley has posted 24 catches for 290 yards and four touchdowns, all without a single drop. Over a 16-game season, those numbers would equate to 96 catches for 1,160 yards and 16 touchdowns. Now, that’s the level of play Packers fans have been hoping to see from No. 88.  Read more... (986 words + 1 image, estimated 3:57 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

If Jermichael Finley has a big game on Sunday, the Packers will be 3-0.

Through the season’s first two games, Jermichael Finley has been knocking on the door. But in the words of Bum Phillips, he has yet to kick the son of a bitch in. That needs to change on Sunday against the Bears.

I had an 800-word post drafted on how the Packers offense should attack the Bears and their Cover-2 defense, but I scrapped it because overanalyzing this game is a waste of time. Whenever the Packers play the Bears recently, all of us armchair QBs try to come up with intricate strategies to beat Lovie Smith’s defense, but nothing seems to ever work.

The game plan for Sunday should be to get Finley the ball early and often. If he has a big game, and the Packers finish long drives with TDs, Green Bay will win.

Easily.

Finley had nine catches for 115 yards the last time he was on the field agaisnt the Bears. The Packers used him to carve up the Bears cover-2 defense and would have won the game if not for 18 drive-killing penalties and a couple of silly turnovers.

I realize the Packers beat the Bears twice last season without Finley, but moving the ball in both of those games was a chore. Packers tight ends managed only two catches for 19 yards in those contests.  Read more... (323 words + 1 image, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

The Green Bay Packers will defeat the Chicago Bears today – I just hope it’s the REAL Chicago Bears.

Bring your best, Lovie. Go all out for the win. Don’t rest anybody. It will make the Packers win that much sweeter.

I firmly believe the Packers are a better team than the Bears.

That doesn’t mean I’m disparaging the Bears, though. While we all know they have had lady luck on their side this year, that’s immaterial.

I expounded the virtues of the Bears’ defensive front seven in preseason. The pressure provided by Julius Peppers was exactly what the Bears needed  to allow them to play their cover two and mask some weaknesses in their secondary. All the attention paid to Peppers has helped the “other” defensive end, Israel Idonije, who has as many sacks as Peppers (8).

On the offensive side, Mike Martz learned from his early season mistakes. You can not give Jay Cutler free reign to throw on almost every down. Run the ball effectively, force opposing safeties to move up and then take some shots downfield to your deep threats.

The Bears have done a good job of figuring out who they are and playing within their means. Having veteran assistant coaches like Mike Martz, Rod Marinelli, and Mike Tice has certainly helped Lovie Smith in this regard.

And then, of course, there’s Devin Hester.

But you know what?  IT DOESN”T MATTER.  Read more... (528 words + 3 images, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

The Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants 45-17 last Sunday to set up what is basically a “win or go home” game against the Chicago Bears this Sunday at Lambeau Field.

The Packers can still make the playoffs with a Giants loss to the Redskins and a Buccaneers loss to the Saints if they lose to the Bears, but the Packers and their fans know the best way for them to take care of business is do beat their arch rivals and not rely on other teams for help.

The Bears, meanwhile, have wrapped up at least the No. 2 seed and in theory could get home field advantage should the Saints and Falcons both lose and they beat the Packers. Atlanta plays the Panthers, so that scenario is incredibly unlikely but again “any given Sunday.” You never know.

Breaking down Da Bears

The big, no HUGE, question is how long Bears coach Lovie Smith will play his starters. If he is anything like mentor Tony Dungy, the odds are they will play very little in a meaningless game. That said, when Smith took the Bears job he swore that beating the Packers would be his number one priority so the Packers could see the Bears first unit for a good chunk of if not the entire game.  Read more... (1300 words + 1 image, estimated 5:12 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny

Now THAT was more like it.

Despite getting off to a sluggish start in the first half and after a fiery speech by a supposed red-faced Mike McCarthy, the Green Bay Packers ran over the Buffalo Bills 34-7.

This week, the Packers won’t be afforded the luxury of a slow start as they head to Soldier Field to face the Chicago Bears Monday night with first place in the NFC North on the line.

With two weeks of the 2010 NFL season now in the books, some trends are beginning to emerge. The Packer offense is every bit as potent as expected and the defense, despite some occasional shakiness, looks to have rebounded from the debacle that was last year’s playoff loss in Arizona.

Clay Matthews continues his torrid pace recording his second consecutive three sack game, a first in Packers history. Aaron Rodgers recovered nicely from a shaky game against the Philadelphia Eagles and the offense didn’t seem to miss a step without running back Ryan Grant who is out for the season on injured reserve.

The Chicago Bears enter this game as one of the biggest surprises of this young season. The Bears sit at 2-0 after a win over what could be a worse than expected Dallas Cowboys team and an incredibly lucky Week 1 win over the Detroit Lions when Calvin Johnson’s obvious touchdown catch as time expired was overturned by the officials.  Read more... (1336 words + 1 image, estimated 5:21 mins reading time)

---- Get AddToAny