Week 12 Pre-Gamin’: BEARS at PACKERS (7:20 CT) – Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread
I don’t need to oversell this game.
It’s Bears-Packers. The longest-running rivalry in the NFL needs no lengthy introduction.
And yet, I can’t escape the feeling that this game takes on an even larger calling. Because I feel as if a lot is at stake in this game. And for a great many people.
For Matt Nagy, the first game out of the bye is the first opportunity to show that he is the right coach for this gig. Nagy’s challenge starting now and moving on through the rest of the season is to not let thing slip away. A 5-1 start has turned into a 5-5 record, which is unacceptable for a team that declared it had Super Bowl dreams before the season.
Mitchell Trubisky has much at stake, too. Trubisky enters tonight with a new lease on a football life. The Bears showed how they felt about Trubisky’s long-term future when they didn’t pick up his fifth-year option, kicked the tires on various free agent options, traded for his replacement, and benched him three games into the season. Trubisky doesn’t want his career to end with his benching being the last word in the story of his career. Hence, he’s got much to prove tonight — to the Bears, as well as the rest of the league.
And then there’s Ryan Pace. The architect of it all. Pace pulled the Bears out from the laughing stock status that Marc Trestman left the team in after the 2014 season. And while Pace has built a Super Bowl caliber defense, his whiffs at the most important position in sports are noted. Seeing other execs get the boot should place him on the hot seat, especially since his deal expires at the end of the 2021 season.
It’s a big game. One the Bears can’t afford to lose after the Panthers coughed up a lead to the up-start Vikings.
Let’s get hyped for the biggest game of the year:
Game Info
Chicago Bears (5-5) at Green Bay Packers (7-3), 7:20 CT on NBC (Mike Tirico, Tony Dungy, Kathryn Tappen), WBBM-AM 780 and WCFS-FM 105.9 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote), Westwood One (Ryan Radtke, James Laurinaitis)
Odds: Bears (+8, -110), Over/Under 44.5, via the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Week 12 Game Thread (Preview)
Your game thread is down in the comments, so let’s have some good, clean (safe-for-work) fun.
Coaches
Matt Nagy (25-17) vs. Matt LaFleur (20-6)
Starting Quarterbacks
Bears: Mitchell Trubisky (He’s back!)
2020 season: 51/86 (59.3%), 560 yards, 6 TD, 3 INT, 87.4 rating (3 starts)
versus
Aaron Rodgers
2020 season: 112/352 (68.2%), 2,889 yards, 29 TD, 4 INT, 115.8 rating (10 starts)
Bears Expected Starters
Offense
• QB Mitchell Trubisky
• RB David Montgomery
• WRs Allen Robinson II, Darnell Mooney, Anthony Miller
• TE Jimmy Graham
• LT Charles Leno Jr., LG Alex Bars, C Sam Mustipher, RG Cody Whitehair, RT Germain Ifedi (Details!)
Defense
• DE Brent Urban, NT Bilal Nichols, DE Mario Edwards Jr.
• OLBs Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn
• ILBs Roquan Smith, Danny Trevathan
• CBs Kyle Fuller, Jaylon Johnson
• FS Eddie Jackson
• SS Tashaun Gipson Sr.
Specialists
• Cairo Santos (kicker), Pat O’Donnell (punter, holder), Patrick Sales (long snapper), Cordarrelle Patterson (kick returns), Dwayne Harris (punt returns)
Packers Expected Starters
• QB Aaron Rodgers
• RB Aaron Jones
• WRs Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard
• TE Marcedes Lewis
• LT David Bakhtiari, LG Jon Runyan Jr. , C Elgton Jenkins, RG Lucas Patrick, RT Billy Turner
Defense
• DE Dean Lowry, NT Kenny Clark, DE Kingsley Keke
• OLBs Preston Smith, Za’Darius Smith
• ILBs Ty Summers, Christian Kirksey
• CBs Jaire Alexander, Kevin King
• Ss Darnell Savage Jr., Adrian Amos
Specialists
• Mason Crosby (kicker), JK Scott (punter, holder), Hunter Bradley (long snapper), Darrius Shepherd (kick and punt returns)
Bears Inactives:
Inactives for #CHIvsGB: pic.twitter.com/YTfD3Yk2jQ
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 29, 2020
Packers Inactives:
#Packers inactives for tonight's game:
10 QB Jordan Love
32 RB Tyler Ervin
37 CB Josh Jackson
53 LB Jonathan Garvin— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) November 29, 2020
