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Packers CB Casey Hayward played his way onto the rising list this week.

Since the Packers handled the Lions on Sunday, they should be able to handle the Bears this week, right?

Think about it. The Lions have:

• A talented but erratic QB
• One dominant receiver
• A tough defensive line
• A cover-2 strategy designed to contain the Packers

Sounds very similar to the Bears. The main difference is the Lions have a better offensive line and the Bears have a better secondary and running back. The Bears are also beat up.

That’s my preliminary analysis, anyway. Very in-depth, right?

We’ll see if my perception changes later in the week, but I don’t see many reasons to pick the Bears, especially when you factor in the hopeful return of Clay Matthews, Charles Woodson and (maybe) Jordy Nelson.

It was good to get the Lions out of the way. They annoy me for multiple reasons.

On to the stock report:

Rising

Casey Hayward
For some reason, Tony Scheffler was giving the Packers some trouble on Sunday. So the Packers called on Hayward and soon Scheffler wasn’t a problem any more. The rookie played all 84 snaps and had another strong game despite dropping another interception late. Now if he could only get home on blitzes like Charles Woodson used to….  Read more... (823 words + 1 image, estimated 3:18 mins reading time)

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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)

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