Bears Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano is quite the wordsmith.
He’s no Vic Fangio, but every week comes and goes with Pagano saying something that sparks something in my brain.
Here’s hoping he means what he says in this week’s installment of Chuck Pagano says stuff:
Bears DC Chuck Pagano on the Green Bay game: "We'll leave no bullets in the chamber."
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) December 31, 2020
This is all I was asking for when I begged Pagano to blitz the heck out of Aaron Rodgers on Sunday.
Pagano is a respected defensive mind and an accomplished coach. But fortune favors the bold. And where Sundays are for risk-takers, this particular Sunday lines up to be one for the most daring of dice-rollers. So if what Pagano says is true, then I have a better feeling about the Bears’ chances of beating the Packers than I did when I woke up this morning.
Now, this isn’t to say that Pagano going hog-wild calling his defense will lock in a dub. Far from it. But throwing the kitchen sink at Green Bay is a step in the right direction. Pagano’s defense can be predictable at times. There are moments when you tell yourself that you know when extra pressure is coming from, when it’s coming, and what the result of the play will be. But for once, I’d like to see unpredictability on the menu.
We know what Aaron Rodgers can do when he can process something he’s seen before. But what we don’t know is how he’ll react to a wrinkle he’s never seen the Bears lob in his direction. We have seen what it looks like when other teams muck it up, mess up the pocket, and put different looks on Rodgers’ plate. Sunday presents an opportunity for the Bears to do that. Here’s hoping they don’t pass it up.
