Bears-Packers Week 18 Preview: Bears trying to get first win at Lambeau since 2015

On this episode of the Under Center Podcast, Mike Spofford from packers.com joins Kenneth Davis and Alex Shapiro to help preview the Bears’ final game of the season against the Packers. They discuss the development of the Packers receiving core during the season. They also discuss what has been clicking for Jordan Love during the second half of the season. Later, Mike shares his thoughts on the Justin Fields situation and discusses what parts of the Packers defense the Bears’ offense can exploit. Finally, Mike gives his predictions for the Week 18 matchup.

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Bears-Packers Week 18 Preview: Bears trying to get first win at Lambeau since 2015
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Welcome to the under Center podcast we are broadcasting virtually from the NBC podcast Studios CLA fliply is running the show and we’re fortunate enough to be joined by senior writer for the green pay Packers you can read all his articles on packers.com Mike Spofford Mike how are you doing good how are you

Doing I’m well I’m well as we we have this matchup listen I’ll tell you uh the first match up this season it had a lot of Bears fans and Dire Straits um that was one of the worst losses and beginning to a season that I think any

Of us have experienced if you ask me then could the Bears have W won seven games I would have told you you were a dead liar um so look let’s start let’s start right there after the the Packers bludging the Bears to open the season what were your thoughts on the Bears

After that loss to start off the season well I mean they they look like they look like a team that had a lot to figure out I mean and I think that speaks both offensively and defensively you know DJ Moore looked like a really frustrated receiver after that first

Game um it didn’t look like you know termaine Edmonds and and TJ Edwards and those new guys that they brought in on defense had really settled in yet um obviously a lot of that has changed because uh because Moors had a monster season for them and and this Bears

Defense down the stretch has played uh some really really good football it has and this defense is going to match up hopefully healthwise against a a healthy Packers receiving core a guy that I wanted to Bear to draft Christian Watson May return show made Jaden Reed and I

Looks like a nice young tight end in Luke’s Musgrave talk about the Packers receiving cor and perhaps what the Bears def can expect this upcoming Sunday in leville field yeah I mean the Packers are hoping to get uh you know all their guys back Watson has been out for the

Past month uh with a hamstring injury something that has has bothered him uh multiple times over the course of his two years in the NFL but but they’re hoping to get him back davien Wicks uh a rookie fifth round pick out of Virginia he’s been in and out of the lineup but

He’s really produced for a young guy when he’s been in there they’re hoping to get him back after he missed the Minnesota game last week and and uh Jaden Reed has has played through a lot of injuries during this rookie season but uh um but he’s he’s been a big- time

Weapon for Green Bay when he’s been in there both in terms of you know kind of the Jet Sweep stuff offensively but then also the the routes from the slot and just his uh his Breakaway ability so you know you combine that with with Romeo dobs who’s in his second year like

Watson and then uh you know some guys further down the depth chart Malik Heath and and Bo Melton are guys that have have stepped in and and uh given the Packers offense a nice boost with some of these injuries that the unit has dealt with so uh um you know Jordan love

Has been able to make it work this second half of the season after some really rough moments some really rough games early in in the year he’s been able to make it work the second half of the Season like no matter who’s out there um but he’s certainly hoping to

Have kind of his full compliment of guys as best they can here on Sunday and you mentioned him the reigning NFC offensive player of the week in Jordan love talk to us here in Chicago who perhaps haven’t seen all of the ups and downs of this season I do know looking looking in

From the outside that seemed like a point where fans weren’t happy and we disgruntled but it seems like he’s swayed and he’s gotten around the straight on a straighten Arrow yeah I mean the the offense in general I mean I I’ll be honest it was pretty ugly for a

Few games the first half of the season I mean the the uh the Packers were they were lucky to beat New Orleans quite frankly in week three they were down 17 nothing going into the fourth quarter that game was at Lambo the offense was doing absolutely nothing in that game

And then uh and then they rallied in the fourth quarter to get a win but then the offensive performances against the Raiders and against the Broncos on the road out west like very winnable games for green Green Bay and uh and the offense just didn’t do enough and the

First game against Detroit that one was at Lambo as well and and that one was pretty ugly but then there was they had a loss to Pittsburgh on the road uh in Pittsburgh midseason where you know Jordan love threw you know a couple interceptions in the fourth quarter but by and large that

Game it was like the offense was starting to come around you started to see you know what uh you know some of the promise that that maybe the future held and then things of have kind of taken off from there and I would say since the Pittsburgh game you know over

The last you know seven eight ball games I’d say Jordan Love’s really only had one dud of a performance uh offensively and that was against the Giants on Monday Night Football that was a that was a bad game uh no two ways about it the Packers should not have lost that

Game and but um but other than that one game I think uh you know love has gotten has gotten this offense uh where a lot of people hoped and expected it would be and maybe in some respects a little little quicker than they hoped just because of how rough things looked

Earlier in the season the Packers have put up 30 plus points each of the last two games when the only 30 plus point game they had all season until two weeks ago was back in week one against Chicago so um you know the the Packers feel really good about their offense right

Now um and about Jordan love obviously but they also know I I personally think the Packers haven’t played as far as as well as the Bears are playing I don’t think the Packers have played a team this good down the stretch since the Kansas City game the week after

Thanksgiving uh this is going to be a huge test for the Packers because of how well Chicago’s playing right now yes the the defense has improved and the offense has straightened out I want to ask you I want to get back real quick to Jordan love and the offense has Jordan or Matt

Lafur indicated why everything started clicking after that Pittsburgh game I think I think it’s a combination of combination of a lot of things one is that I think you know Jordan Love and Matt lefur as as quarterback and play caller have have gotten in a little bit

More of a rhythm a little bit more Synergy I think it’s you know it’s it’s laflora and the coaching staff figuring out not only what what Jordan likes best and what he does Best But also what all the guys all the different guys around him what they do best the concepts that

They that they can execute better um and you know there you try to get a handle on that kind of stuff you know through OT is through training camp and all that but you know NFL games are a different matter you have to be able to execute

Things in games and succeed in games to really know what you’re going to be good at and I think it just took a while for um for uh for all everybody on this offense players and coaches Alik to kind of to kind of get in sync there couple

Other things I would say one is that early in the season you very rarely except for maybe Romeo dos saw a Packers receiver make a contested catch against a Defender where you’re going up one-on-one against a guy or you know kind of a bang bang play and almost you

Know to a fault early in the season those passes were either intercepted or they were not caught they were incomplete the Packers in the second half of the season the receiving core the young receivers the young tight ends they’ve made a lot more contested catches when when it’s been a so-called

5050 ball they’ve uh they’ve been able to make more of those plays for Jordan love I think which has made a difference and then the other thing that’s made a difference is running back Aaron Jones Packers didn’t have a 100 yard rusher all season long until the last two weeks

And now Jones has gone over a 100 yards against the Panthers and against the Vikings back-to-back weeks and it’s not a coincidence that the back-to-back 30 plus point games for the offense as a whole have come with Aaron Jones slashing on the ground getting some explosive runs and really helping uh

Helping the Packers to control the football Alex joins us Alex Shapiro Alex we’ve discussed Jordan love so far primarily and the receiving core just so you know I love it it was a great magic trick the lights went out and then the lights came you appear and I appeared as

Well quite a trick we got going on um I’m curious about the perception of the Bears from Green Bay’s perspective here lately I mean it’s good vibes only bears are on the up and up can they be the Lions of 2024 and I’m just curious what the

Perception is around the team from a division rival uh from the Packers per Ive is like oh yeah this is a team to look out for in 2024 or or is it like hey let’s see what they do with the quarterback position first let’s see what happens before we anoint them some

Team to watch next season yeah I think I mean from everything I’m hearing certainly from Matt laflor and and the guys in the locker room the Packers have a ton of respect for uh for what the Bears are doing right now you know they’ve they’ve seen the film of the

Last four or five games that the Bears have played and they’ve been impressed and and there isn’t anybody in that locker room talking about week one you know I mean week one was week one might as well have been you know two or three

Years ago as far as uh what it means for for this matchup and and really the way both of these teams are playing right now so um you know the I I I don’t like to use the phrase learned a lesson necessarily but the the Packers are well

Aware of of what happened to them last year where they had this wind to get in game at home against the division rival in Detroit Detroit was playing well at the end of the year and they finished strong and the Packers didn’t and Green Bay didn’t go to the playoffs and

Detroit did indeed become that team on the rise and and they won the NFC North this year so um the Packers saw it firsthand and and lost a big game that uh that you know kind of stuck in their craw all off season quite frankly because it was a huge missed opportunity

With Aaron Rogers at quarterback and and everything that goes along with that so um the uh um the Packers know what they’re up against here and they know that uh they’re up against a team that uh that you know quite honestly is playing as well as anybody in the NFL

Right now even though the Bears have been eliminated from the postseason Chase ERS Center podcast lucky enough to have Mike Spofford senior writer for the Green Bay Packers join us I want to kind of stick with that theme getting your view from the outside looking in of

Course we know and you see it now on all the newspapers let you know we’re on that that era where there’s not a lot to talk about because even nationally they’re talking about what the Bears are going to do with Justin Fields what would you do Mike if you have the number

One pick in the draft but you also have a Young upand cominging quarterback that was drafted here several seasons ago if you were general manager Ryan poles in your opinion I think you know I think the first thing that I would do is I would decide you know do you want your

Offense to be built around a running quarterback or do you want to have a more conventional offense I guess for lack of a better word if you want to have a mobile quarterback who’s going to give you that added Dimension to your offense then absolutely stick with

Justin fields and build around him and maybe maybe you trade the number one overall pick for you know a whole host of assets that uh where you can potentially build very quickly around Fields if you want to go a different direction on offense you know more conventional the way you know what the

Packers have done with love what the Lions have done with with Jared gof what the Vikings have done with kurk cousins Justin Fields is is the outlier in this division as far as how he plays the quarterback position and how the bears run their offense so if you want to make

A change in terms of your style of offense then uh then make that change if you want to have a running quarterback as as a focal point of your offense then uh then there’s no reason not to stick with Justin Fields Let’s uh let’s focus in on this

Week week 18 uh because it obviously means a lot for the Packers and honestly even though the Bears have technically nothing to play for I think means a lot to the Bears to to exercise a demon like uh you know not letting the Packers win 10 in a row against the franchise would

Obviously be a big reason to to go out there and play for a win uh and and momentum and all that so I’m just curious if the Bears you know want to attack the Packers whether it’s on offense or defense is there some way in that that the Bears can try to exploit

To put themselves in a position to win this game yeah I mean I’ll say this I mean the the Packers defense has had has had uh its share of rough games this season and aside from the baker Mayfield from Tampa Bay a few weeks ago coming into Lambo

And putting up the max 158.3 rating and just carving up the Packers defense from start to finish that game I I’ll say is a little bit of an outlier when the Packers have struggled defensively it’s when they haven’t been able to stop the run and when they haven’t tackled very

Well and when I look at when I look at the Bears offense you look at what Herbert is doing you look at like you know the way Fields likes to throw the bubble screens you know the horizontal stuff to the wide receivers if the Bears get that kind of stuff going and the

Packers aren’t tackling well and they’re and they’re not stopping the run I mean Green Bay has allowed 200 plus rushing yards four times this season I think there have only been like 13 or 14 200 yard team rushing performances in the NFL all season long four of them have

Been against the Packers so if if the Bears get that kind of stuff going the running game the horizontal stuff with being able to break tackles then um then by all means they’re gonna they’re going to be able to do whatever they want to do against Green Bay the

Packers have to come out stop the run tackle well and uh and try to force the Bears to uh uh to beat them in a in a different way and uh whether or not they can do that you know I honestly don’t know I think this this Packers defense

Has been as as Jackal and HDE as it gets uh really over the last couple of years um they’ve had some games where they’ve played really really good really sound defense and then they’ve had other games where you’re just scratching your head going what is going on out there like

How can they not uh you know just just you know get anything going in the right direction so um which defense shows up for Green Bay uh we’ll find out on Sunday sticking with that with all the draft Capital that Green Bay has sunken into that defense you’ve mentioned the

Last couple of Seasons it’s been jeling high what is coaching staff and the players said is the reasoning behind why they can’t get it straight because from the outside looking in we all assumed that that was going to be one of the better defenses in the NFL this season

Yeah the Packers did too there were there were high expectations for this defense as you mentioned there have been a ton of a ton of high draft picks invested in it and uh and some big contracts given out to veteran players um there were there were really high

Expectations for this defense I I honestly don’t know what uh what the answer is in in terms of why there’s just been there’s there’s just been no there’s been no level of consistency they’ve been able to reach where uh where they where they can be relied on

To play at a certain level in any given week and and uh um I don’t know if that’s you know if that’s some kind of Disconnect between you know the players and the coaches or if it’s or if it’s just you know the issues with players

Going in and out of the lineup because of injuries but you know every team deals with those kinds of injuries I would say that on the offensive side Packers have probably been hit with injuries worse than on the defensive side this year so um you know a a

Veteran a veteran unit like the Packers have it should have it should have performed better this year I think uh I think everybody would agree on that and uh and right now you know they’re I think they’re just kind of hoping that you know what they did against Minnesota

Last week obviously a team with quarterback issues you know hopefully is is just a boost of Confidence from where they were you know the previous weeks where against against uh the Giants against Tampa Bay against Carolina um the defense didn’t perform well and uh and you know fortunately the Packers

Were able to win the game against Carolina so that they’re still in this position right now I want to focus on the the first- round draft De Lucas vaness you know he was kind of a polarizing player here in Chicago he was certainly a polarizing player here on

The under Center podcast um so curious where have things gone wrong or or or is that not the evaluation is the evaluation you know yeah he’s only played a third of the snaps he only has three snacks three sacks but uh future is looking bright for Lucas vaness

What’s what’s the read on him as a player yeah I I think I think vaness is right where right where the Packers were hoping he’s gonna be it’s it’s really what they did there is very much the same thing as they did with ran Gary back in 2019 where they spent a high

First round pick on Gary when they had zidus Smith and Preston Smith as the starting uh Edge rushers um on the defense and then Gary was kind of brought along slowly didn’t have to play a whole bunch of snaps as a rookie and then year by year his playing time increased

Increased and and you know now rwn Gary is uh is the highest paid player on the defense and and he got to where they expected him to be it was really the same thing you know vaness gets drafted with rwn Gary and Preston Smith as the starting outside linebackers he’s not

Going to be playing you know 40 to 50 defensive snaps a game um they like what he’s been able to bring to the table he’s he’s uh he you know still has a lot to learn he’s coming along but I think they’re just they’re following that same path that

They did with ran Gary and they’re hoping that it pays the same dividends down the road Mike we appreciate you joining us and I know you’re pressed for time so I’m gonna give you two quick questions so you can get out on time one what in the world is going on with Jer

Alexander and stepping in as a captain when he wasn’t a captain that game and getting suspended and also of course what’s your prediction for this last game of the season as far as this playin game for the Packers to get into the playoffs and perhaps the Bears play

Spoiler yeah um well as far as Alexander is concerned yeah the the one game suspension thing I mean you know he had missed six games in a row with with a shoulder injury then he was healthy enough to play against Carolina he wasn’t made a captain even though

Charlotte’s his hometown but he wasn’t made a captain I’m guessing because he had missed six games in a row it was his first game back he decided to go out there you know uh for the coin toss as a captain anyway and um um so the team

Decided to suspend him and we you know none of the individual details were revealed but it sounds like there had been some other things going on behind the scenes while he was injured that uh um you know that led up to the Carolina thing sort of being the last straw in

Terms of the suspension so he wasn’t suspended just because of what happened in Carolina what else happened is not something that that’s been revealed by Alexander or Brian gudakunst or Matt lafur um but he’s back he’s back on the practice field this week he’s talked to reporters on Wednesday um said you know

They’re in a better place with communication and all that and moving forward it sounds like uh you know they’re working on getting everything smoothed out and I think uh the Packers certainly welcome him back this week because I think they’d like to put him

On DJ Moore and uh and see if uh see if he can slow that guy down so um we’ll see what uh we’ll see what happens there moving forward as far as a prediction on this game boy I mean other than other than saying I think this game’s going to

Come down to the last five minutes um you know as this this matchup the way the Packers offense is on the rise the way the Bears defense is on the rise I think this I think this matchup is really really intriguing um I’m gonna go with the Packers not just because I work

Here but because of what happened last year you know they were in this same situation at home against the Lions and they let it get away um they didn’t play well enough to to win that game and they and they know it it wasn’t some kind of

A fluke um there are a lot of new guys on offense this year but they also a lot of guys in that locker room that were part of that game last year and I just don’t think they’re gonna let that happen again Mike Spofford everybody Mike we

Appreciate it uh we look forward to of course our guys seeing you up there at Lambo and have a great day thanks for joining us here in under Center podcast yeah you bet thanks for having me guys take care thank you Mike