NEWSLETTER
As if the Chicago Bears needed more motivation down the stretch, leave it to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to provide some bulletin board material.
Even after the Packers were defeated by the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, a loss that dropped their playoff odds down to just 6 percent, Rodgers had the nerve to plot out a plan to take his team to the playoffs.
Check this out:
https://twitter.com/sportscenter/status/1066927036164440064?s=21
“We just got to go back home, get some rest, beat Arizona. Then come back and beat Atlanta. Then go to Chicago, a place we’ve won a number of times, beat them. …”
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, partner. Don’t you think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself?
I’ll (begrudgingly) give you home wins against sub-.500 Cardinals and Falcons teams. But to think you’re going to march into Soldier Field and win against a Bears team that boasts a top-5 defense and sits atop the NFC North standings just because you’re Aaron Bleepin’ Rodgers is a bit presumptive – don’t ya think?
I mean, sure, what else is Rodgers supposed to say? “We’re ready to pack it in and call it a season. See you next September?” (Actually, I’d like that a lot now that you mention it.) But if he expected anyone to react with anything more than a laugh to the third-place, 4-6-1 Green Bay Packers winning out *and* heading to the postseason, he had another thing coming.
I mean, put it this way: even if the Packers *do* win out, the best they can hope for is a final record of 9-6-1. The Chicago Bears, meanwhile, are already 8-3. Even winning one game – like, say, against the last place Giants this weekend – would all but end the Packers hopes in the North – and that’s without accounting for Minnesota, who also has a two-game lead on the Packers as of today. Is a Wild Card berth still possible? I mean, sure, but what are we really talking about then? Plenty of possible things aren’t likely.
Sure, Rodgers has been there, done that when it comes to the Bears. But he hasn’t been there, done that against these Bears. This is a very different team than we’re all used to.
And, sure, I remember Week 1. I was there in Green Bay and saw it unfold in front of my very eyes. But if you can’t see the differences between that team that lost in Week 1 and the one that enters Week 13 with the third best playoff odds in the NFC, then I’ve got nothing for you (oh, and the re-match will be in Chicago).
I was jacked about going up against the Packers in Week 1. And while a loss should have set me straight, I’m even more pumped up about the sequel in a few weeks. I’m not sure there’s a regular season win that would mean more to Bears fans than one against the Packers that avenges the season-opening heart break. And while the Bears still have games to play before they cross that bridge, just know something exciting is waiting on the horizon.
