Halas Intrigue Bears Report: Previewing Week 15 vs. Packers

The good: The Bears can keep their slim playoff hopes alive if they can defeat the rival Packers in Green Bay.

The bad: Have you heard of this guy named Aaron Rodgers?

The ugly: A loss means the Bears likely will be flexed out of prime time in Week 16.

Let’s get to it ...

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Offense: Mitch Trubisky wants to play quarterback

Packers CB Tramon Williams took a nasty shot at Mitch Trubisky after Green Bay’s Week 1 victory at Soldier Field: “We wanted to make Mitch play quarterback,” Williams said. ‘‘We knew they had a lot of weapons. We knew they were dangerous. But we knew if we could make Mitch play quarterback that we’d have a chance.”

Trubisky says he didn’t hear about the comment until this week. Rather than fire back, he tacitly acknowledged that the truth hurts.

“I didn’t play the way I wanted to [in] the first game — that’s fairly obvious,” he said. “So for him to say something about it — I mean, that’s just an obvious statement, I guess. I want to play better. Got a great opportunity to do that this week.”

Did you know?

• In the last two game, RB David Montgomery has rushed for 161 yards on 36 carries — an average of 4.47 yards per carry and 80.5 yards per game. In his first 11 games, he ran 156 times for 519 yards — a 3.33 yards per carry and 47.18 yards per game average.
• Second-year WR Anthony Miller had nine receptions for 140 yards against the Lions on Thanksgiving. He had three catches for 42 yards against the Cowboys last week, including his first touchdown. In his last four games, Miller has 24 receptions for 313 yards (13.0 avg.).

Defense: Will Roquan Smith need shades?

A torn pectoral muscle suffered during the Cowboys game ended LB Roquan Smith’s season, but the Bears believe his future is bright and expect a stellar 2020 season from him.

“It’s there,” coach Matt Nagy said. “I know a lot of defensive coordinators that have come up to me and explained to me how bad they wished he was on their team, and the future he has ahead of him.”

Did you know?

• No matter what the Bears say, the Packers expect DL Akiem Hicks to play on Sunday.
• LB Kevin Pierre-Louis, filling in for Roquan Smith against the Cowboys, had five tackles, two pass break-ups and a quarterback hurry while being used as a blitzer.

Special Teams: Stats, from a certain point of view

Who has the best field-goal percentage this season, Eddy Pineiro or Cody Parkey? (Yes, that’s a trick question.) Parkey is 100 percent compared with Pineiro’s 76 percent. Of course, Parkey only attempted three field goals before being cut by the Titans.

Did you know?

• For the record, Pineriro is 16-for-21 in field-goal attempts.

What they’re saying

• Packers QB Aaron Rodgers says Bears Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher has a potty mouth.

“The checks he was saying were super-inappropriate,” Rodgers said. “I think it was [before] the miking up of the guards, where every single word is heard, because I promise you if that happened today, some of that stuff would’ve had to get bleeped out.”

• And Rodgers is always ready to stand up for his small town.

“It’s always big Chicago against li’l Green Bay,” he said Wednesday. “Li’l Green Bay has held its own for a long time.”

From our notebooks

• Our experts make their predictions for Bears-Packers.
• No matter what happens, the Bears will need some help to reach the playoffs. “We’re in a position where we’ve gotta have help,” coach Matt Nagy said. “But none of that matters if we don’t win. Let’s just control what we can control.”
• WR Allen Robinson will go to Miami for Super Bowl week as one of the league’s 32 nominees for Walter Payton Man of the Year. The award, named after the former Bears great, recognizes philanthropy and on-field excellence.
• Former Bears and current Packers broadcaster Wayne Larrivee reflects on his time in Chicago.

What’s next?

The Chiefs are the Week 16 opponent, currently scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday Night Football at 7:20 p.m. But a Bears loss to the Packers likely means the game will be flexed back to an afternoon start, with Titans-Saints probably moving to prime time.

On the podcast

In the latest edition of Halas Intrigue, the guys discuss Mitch Trubisky’s growth, the Bears’ relevance and Hawk Harrelson.

Listen here.

Also, got any questions for the Bears? Email us or tweet at @suntimes_sports and we’ll see if we can get them answered in one of our next newsletters.

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