The Green Bay Packers will attempt to finish the regular season with a 12-5 record when the Chicago Bears — who have lost 10 straight games — arrive at Lambeau Field for Sunday’s Week 18 showdown.
While the Packers don’t have much to play for in the finale in terms of playoff positioning, coach Matt LaFleur is still planning to play healthy players coming off last week’s loss in Minnesota. And with a win over the Bears — and a big favor from Mike McCarthy and the Dallas Cowboys against the Washington Commanders — the Packers can avoid being the No. 7 seed and can clinch the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoff field.
Here are five keys to the Packers beating the Bears in Week 18:
Sack the QB
The Packers’ pass-rush has a legitimate opportunity to bounce back from last week’s disappointing performance in Minnesota and go into the playoffs on a high note. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has been sacked an NFL-high 67 times and is holding the ball on average over 3.0 seconds. Also, the Bears won’t have left tackle Braxton Jones, who is on injured reserve. Last week, Williams took seven sacks and was under pressure on 22 of 40 dropbacks against the Seahawks. The Packers need to disrupt the rookie quarterback early and often on Sunday.
Follow the script
The Packers need to get back to what they do best: create explosive plays on offense and take the ball away on defense. The Packers rank in the top five of the NFL in both categories. While it’s unclear how long Jordan Love, Josh Jacobs and the rest of the offense will play, the Packers must find ways of creating big chunks against a defense that limited the Seahawks to just six points last week and the Packers to only 20 points in the first meeting. The Bears have protected the football well this season, and Caleb Williams has thrown only six interceptions. Can Xavier McKinney or one of the other defenders get a pick on Sunday? The Packers got several explosive plays but didn’t produce a takeaway in the first meeting.
Defend the short passing game
Last week, Caleb Williams had an average depth of target of only 3.5 yards from clean pockets. He was at only 5.9 yards on 28 attempts from clean pockets in the first meeting against the Packers. The Bears want him getting rid of the ball fast, likely as a way to limit sacks and pressure. Can the Packers do a better job of defending the quick, short passing game this time around? Williams completed 19 of 22 passes thrown under 10 yards in the air in the first meeting, which kept the Bears on track and negated the rush. Forcing Williams to get to his second and third reads while holding the football in the pocket will be key this time around.
Unleash Edge
Rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper played one of the worst games of his otherwise spectacular rookie season in the first meeting in Chicago. Caleb Williams broke contain of the pocket twice and out-ran Cooper for first downs, and the rookie also got picked on a little bit in coverage. Don’t be surprised if Cooper — who has been one of the NFL’s best off-ball linebackers over the last month — bounces back in a big way in the finale. His playmaking is so important to the Packers creating negative plays on defense.
Final red zone test
The Bears will provide a final situational challenge for the Packers. Chicago still ranks in the top 10 in both scoring touchdowns in the red zone on offense (61.1 percent, seventh) and preventing touchdowns in the red zone on defense (46.7, third). The Packers offense has been terrific down the stretch of the 2024 season in the red zone, in large part due to Josh Jacobs’ ability to score touchdowns inside the 5-yard line. Engineering a few long drives that end in touchdowns in the red zone would be a nice way for the Packers offense to get a lead over the Bears and finish the regular season the right way.
