Bears Can Take Advantage Of Packers' O-Line
Julius Peppers and the rest of the Chicago Bears' defensive line can cause quarterbacks and offensive lineman all sorts of headaches. And it just might be the difference in Sunday's game.
The New York Life Protection Index is a proprietary formula created by STATS LLC which measures pass protection by using metrics such as length of passes, penalties by offensive lineman, sacks allowed and quarterback hurries and knockdowns.
Aaron Rodgers helped Green Bay overcome middling protection - 14th in the NYLPI - and a 24th-ranked running game in the regular season and now has his team within a game of the Super Bowl for the first time in 13 years.
Rodgers has been nearly perfect in the postseason, throwing six touchdowns without an interception in playoff victories at Philadelphia and Atlanta. Buoyed by improved pass protection - last week's 84.6 was the team's fourth-highest of the season - his quick release helped him complete a remarkable 31 of 36 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns in last Saturday's 48-21 win at the Georgia Dome.
If the Packers are to have similar success at Soldier Field, however, his offensive line will need to put forth a more complete effort than it did in two previous meetings this season.
In a 20-17 loss at Chicago in September, Rodgers was not sacked and knocked down only three times, but his line was whistled for four false-start and three holding penalties to tarnish an otherwise solid night of protection. Coincidentally, referee Terry McAulay and his crew, who worked that game, will be at Soldier Field again this weekend. That group threw 19 flags on the Packers - 18 of which were accepted for 152 yards.
A little over three months later in the regular season finale, the line was less than stellar (57.3) in a must-win game Green Bay eventually took 10-3 to earn the NFC's final wild-card berth. Rodgers was sacked twice, and the front five was flagged four times.
While the Packers certainly struggled up front - during the regular season at large, and against the Bears specifically - Chicago has been even more dreadful. It ranked dead last (33.1) in the final NYLPI, and scored even worse in games against Green Bay.
The Bears line (32.0) couldn't stop Jay Cutler from being sacked three times in the September victory, then further struggled (29.7) earlier this month when the Packers recorded six sacks. It provided decent protection (57.6) in last Sunday's 35-24 divisional win over Seattle, helped no doubt by a targeted effort to finally balance a Mike Martz offense.
Over the last nine games of the regular season, Chicago had 258 rushing attempts and 276 pass plays. Matt Forte ran for 717 yards over that span, and had 91 of the team's 110 rushing yards on 15 carries at Green Bay three weeks ago.
Forte, Cutler and Chester Taylor ran for 167 of Chicago's 176 yards on the ground against the Seahawks.
Visit Milwaukee's Newsradio 620 WTMJ's Bears-Packers pages for more info on the enemy, Packers' insider Bill Michaels' blog and to talk trash to Cheese Heads. Go Bears!
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