Green Bay Packers are a ‘dangerous’ team after win vs. Bears | Chris Simms Unbuttoned | NFL on NBC

Green Bay Packers are a ‘dangerous’ team after win vs. Bears | Chris Simms Unbuttoned | NFL on NBC

Then our next game here, the Packers beat the Bears in a thriller at the end, 28-21. This was an awesome game. Really came right down to that final interception by Caleb Williams. Uh Green Bay now 93 and one with just a halfame lead over the Bears in the NFC North. The Packers are at Chicago in week 16. So we are far from done between these two. They are 12-1 against the Bears in the last 13 games, 4-0 in division games this season. and Jordan Love. Nine touchdown passes, one interception in division games this season. For all the Packers problems, Chris, they’re now starting to be the team like they’re finding a way. They’re getting it done. And a little sneaky one. We talked about Jay Reed working his way back. No doubt. I the offense changes their offense. Like the numbers solid, but when you watch the game, I thought I was like, “Oh, his presence opens up space where Christian Watson was getting loose. They’re dangerous right now.” He’s their Alman Ross St. Brown a little bit. Jaden Reed, he’s the guy that they want to formulate plays around. Make him the first read. He’s going to run an awesome 10, 15 yard route. We like that. You start to overplay that. Oh, there’s there’s Watson, right? You know, there’s somebody else to make a big play. That’s where I’m I’m with you. I think that was one of the more underrated things even going forward. Watch out. I mean, first off, the NFC is incredible. Loaded. The Bears were the number one seed with a first round buy yesterday. Now they’re the number seven seed. They lost a nailbiter, right? That that’s insane. one game in front of the Lions who are on the outside looking in. But Right. But I’ll piggy back on what you’re saying. It feels like I don’t know if I’m there yet. Okay. But it feels like it’s about time to say watch out for the Green Bay Packers. We’ve been waiting. I wasn’t sure if we were ever going to say it right. Early in the year we were saying it and then it was like, wait, what the hell’s going on? Nothing looks clean, especially on the offensive side of the ball. But it’s kind of feeling like two years ago again when Jordan Love on a Thanksgiving went into Detroit and beat Detroit and you were like, “Whoa, whoa, is this Jordan Love? Is this Green Bay? Holy crap. They’re they’re Watch out.” And it feels like we’re watching a repeat in history here. I mean, goes into Detroit two weeks ago. Whoa. Holy cow. Makes plays all over the place. That continues into yesterday against Chicago. I think that they’re getting enough of a run game going right now in Green Bay to now again where it’s opening up the deep passes down the football field. That’s where they thrive. And he was phenomenal against the Blitz yesterday. So you want to oh we’re sick of Josh Jacobs four yards, five yards. We need to slow that down. Okay, now you crowd the line of scrimmage. And that’s where Green Bay is dangerous is they call aggressive passes down the field and all of a sudden it’s like, “Oh gosh, there there goes Watson for 50 yards down the field, you know, and and that’s where it became awesome during the game because you went, wow, Green Bay, they’re running the ball. If the Bears don’t blitz, he’s got all day to throw the ball and then when they do blitz, he kind of knows where to go with it or they’re protected even when they’re blitzing and the Bears can’t play them one one-on-one.” And when you play the Packers, as we’ve talked about all year, if you give them these one-on-one opportunities down the field, they’re about as good as anybody in the sport in capitalizing on down the field throws, and they feel like they kind of got the hot hand right now. And then we know that defense on top of it is damn good, too. Yeah, Jordan Love was awesome in this game. He brought up him against the Blitz. Eight for 11, 126 yards, two touchdowns when blitzed. Maybe even better against man coverage. He was he was eight of 10. He averaged almost 13 yards per attempt against man coverage and threw two touchdowns against man coverage. The only sack he took and the only pick he threw were against zone. Right. It’s incredible and it it’s going to be the thing that and that’s where their run games, their speed sweeps, some of their stuff there. Yes, they they kind of force you in to play some aggressive defenses because when they’re patient with the run and it works a little bit, they put you in that bind and then they’re going to attack down the field. But that was a big game yesterday. I mean, certainly was with the way he played. And then, you know, the defense was phenomenal, too. I’ll give the Bears a lot of credit. I mean, the Bears again kind of were being outplayed, but just hung in the football game. And as we’ve seen them throughout the year, they’re gritty. They hang around. Ben Johnson manages the game the right way. But the fact that they could go into Green Bay, who’s playing good football, lose by seven points, and have a passing game that’s below average, as we’ve talked about, it’s still the number one issue with them. It is. They’re they make a collection of plays in the pass game. They’re not, as we always say, systematic, right? When they’re cold, it’s ice cold. It and and it’s right. It’s just it’s so that’s where it’s a little in between. And and that’s where they have to get better. That’s where I give them hope, though, cuz I go, “Wait, they got a coach. I know the quarterback is capable of doing some of these things. They can protect pretty good. The receivers are pretty good.” to where you go, well, I I still think there’s a chance for this passing game to get better as it goes into the playoffs if they can get in there, right? I mean, it’s still it’s still an iffy thing with their schedule and the way the NFC is, but yeah, I So, that’s where there’s hope. And the fact that they could stay competitive and have a chance to tie a game or I think if they scored a touchdown, they were going to go for two and go for the win. It felt that way, right? On the road. That makes sense. On the road, I think so. But the the the fact that they were able to stay competitive in the game, match Green Bay’s physicality and all that with a less than passing game. I do think in a lot of ways is impressive and speaks to the toughness and the grittiness of the Chicago Bears, too. Snapped a fivegame winning streak for the Bears, but like you said, Chris, the offense really woke up at halftime. That’s a credit to Ben Johnson in the first half. They had a field goal, four punts on five drives. Second half, they were rolling. Touchdown, field goal, touchdown, and then just one play away. Cale Caleb Williams on that one play, the game- ending interception. and he said they had a guy trailing me, so I didn’t feel like I could go for it. I just got to give Coloulson Loveland a better shot at it next time. Extend him a little more and kind of lead him. Do you agree with that? Cuz the broadcast you when I was watching it live, I was like just screaming to run. But it’s easy to say that compared to him running away from NFL defenders. I thought he had the corner though. I did too. Okay. Watching it live, I just said it with Florio a little while ago. I said it last night on Football Night in America. I said, watching it live and watching Caleb Williams run all year and even in this football game, I feel like if he had just made the decision, I’m going to go run and get the first down, he would have got it. It would have been tight, right? He had a guy in pursuit, but but I’ve seen Caleb Williams be in that situation a lot, right? He’s fast. He can hit another gear. That’s that’s quite shocking. So, yeah, when I see this right there, I feel like he could have dug for it. The other thing I want you to look at, right, he’s got a guy in the flat who’s covered. But the second guy in the flat trailing him, DJ Moore, right behind him, right? He didn’t look at him. If he throws it to him, DJ Moore is probably going to walk in for a touchdown. So, that’s where he’s going to look at the film and go, “Ah, but he is being pursued and he’s running to his left.” And running to his left is not easy. That’s not an easy throw. Now, we know he’s he’s arguably the best thrower on the run in football. He’s special that way. But to make that throw running to your left in a pressure situation, that is not very easy. I mean, that would have been some throw if he threw it perfectly. He needs to throw it higher in the back of the end zone there to let his guy have a shot there. But yeah, the fact that they hung in there, I’ll give him a lot of credit for that. Ben Johnson’s coached himself and developed a team that’s tough there. But man, Green Bay, as we know, I think their talent is better than Chicago. And it seems like they’re starting to play their best football at the best time of the year. And that’s scary because the defense has been damn good all year. But now the last three weeks, it’s like, uhoh, the offense is getting scary. And like you said, Jaden Reed’s back. And I feel like when he’s back, it it opens it opens the vault for another section of their offense that they haven’t been able to dive into lately. That’s what I I agree with you where it’s everyone goes, “Oh, the Packers just have a collection of wide receivers.” He what he does is different. Same with Christian Watson. What Christian Watson does is different than all the other guys. Wixs, Dobs, Matthew Golden. Yeah, they have roles. That’s where I was. Christian Watson is their Jameson Williams. Jaden Reed is their Alman Rosane Brown. Right. Right. Work all the five, the 10, the 15 yard routes. You’re going to run in and then cut back out. You’re a great route runner. And then when we start to feed you a lot and they start to clamp on that, woo, we’re going downfield. Right. And that’s where uh Christian Watson comes in play big time. Dr. Ganja in the chat said, “Bear’s impressed, but Caleb still missing layups. Is too amped.” Definitely agreed. It’s it it is. It’s there’s throws that are too hard. Also, too many throws where you go in the pocket and you go, “Hey, you’d like to just see a little rhythm in the feet to throw the ball and it’s just flat and it’s right.” So, yes, totally agree there. What was his name? Ganja. Dr. Ganja. Dr. I like you, Dr. Ganja. Right. I like that. Dr. Ganja, you might I might need to get a prescription from you. But but but yes, agreed with that. For a guy as talented as he is and some of the throws you see him make, right, where you go, “Holy cow, nobody in football except for Allen and Mahomes and Lamar can make that throw.” There’s other throws where you go, “What? You you you can’t look like Justin Fields on an incut there and throw the ball four yards over the guy’s head, right? You’re too good for that.” And that’s to me where there’s still some mechanical issues and also just learning offensive in rhythm throwing of football which I still think he’s kind of at an infancy stage of learning here with Ben Johnson. For all the good for the Bears this year in their first year under Ben Johnson, one and three in division games this season is something that’ll have to improve. Let’s take a look at the NFC North remaining schedule because obviously this division is an absolute grind in a dog fight right now. So the Packers 93 and one, not an easy finish to the season. They go at Denver, at Chicago, against Baltimore, and at Minnesota. The Bears 9 and4. They are home to the Browns and Packers, then at the Niners, and then against Detroit. That’s why I said it’s if they get in the playoffs. Yeah, that’s brutal, right? I mean, you’re not just going to even walk over the Browns at this point. We’ll get to the Browns. Don’t worry, everyone. The Lions 8 and five. They’re at the Rams home against the Steelers at Minnesota at Chicago. I mean, look at these schedules, Chris. There is it’s feasible that these teams are a a game or not even a game apart at the end of the year. I I feel like it’s setting up for week 18, Sunday night football. We’re going to be on the field in Chicago for the Bears and Lions to see who goes to the playoffs and gets the last spot. That’s where it feels like it’s setting up. Like we’re going to be on the field and we’re we’re here for a big showdown. Whoever wins this game between the Bears and the Packers is going to go to the NFC playoffs. The other one’s going to go home and sit on the couch like that. That’s what it feels like. It would be amazing. It would be amazing. Yes. DraftKings is back in Green Bay. They have them minus 240. The Bears plus 300. Detroit plus 800. This is for the division, mind you, not playoffs. Say that again there. Let me 240. They are heavily backing Green Bay. Chicago’s favored by that much more than Detroit, though. Yes. Wow. A plus 500 gap. Wow. I’m a little surprised by that. Me, too. I I would I would have it much. It’s still even, but not that gap. Yeah. Yeah. I I I I I feel like I would still have Detroit in the lead, honestly. I in front of Chicago. Not in great, but you know, Detroit still a damn good football team. And as we saw there, Detroit, their schedule’s the easiest of everybody there. So, yeah, I mean, I would put the Packers are playing the best football, but like you just stated a minute ago, their schedule is real here. It really is. So, there’s a lot of work to be done in the NFC and I think we’re going to see a lot of juggling of seeds bouncing all over the place over the next four weeks. Uh Detroit and Chicago are both one and three in the division. The Lions did beat the Bears in week two, so the division records important here as well. Yo yo yo, thanks for watching homies. We are now in the NFL season here on Chris Sims Unbutton. Hit subscribe to get our weekly picks, game recaps, film deep dives, and much much more. Thanks again for watching. Subscribe, rate, review. Peace out. You know where to find us.

Chris Simms and Connor Rogers dive into the Green Bay Packers’ crucial win over the Chicago Bears in Week 14, where Jordan Love impressed behind a strong run game. #NBCSports #NFL #ChrisSimmsUnbuttoned
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Green Bay Packers are a ‘dangerous’ team after win vs. Bears | Chris Simms Unbuttoned | NFL on NBC
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