Chicago (9-3) at Green Bay (8-3-1)
Chicago (9-3) at Green Bay (8-3-1)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, FOX
BetMGM line: Packers by 6 1/2
Against the spread: Bears 8-4; Packers 5-6-1
Series record: Packers lead 108-96-6
Last meeting: Bears beat Packers 24-22 at Green Bay on Jan. 5
Last week: Bears won 24-15 at Philadelphia on Nov. 28; Packers won 31-24 at Detroit on Nov. 27.
Bears offense: overall (6), rush (2), pass (15), scoring (8)
Bears defense: overall (27), overall (28), pass (22), scoring (25)
Packers offense: overall (13), rush (16), pass (13), scoring (10)
Packers defense: overall (4), overall (8), pass (6), scoring (6)
Turnover differential: Bears plus-17; Packers plus-4
Bears player to watch
QB Caleb Williams. Williams became the first Bears quarterback to win at Lambeau Field since Jay Cutler in 2015 when Chicago beat Green Bay in last season's finale. If he's going to make it two in a row, a little more accuracy would help. Williams has completed only 53.2% of his passes in the past five games and ranks last in the NFL in accuracy at 58.1% this season. He had a particularly rough time against Philadelphia, when he was 17 of 36 for 154 yards and finished with the second-worst completion rate (47.2 percent) of his career, though it wasn't all on him. Receivers lost their footing on several well-placed throws.
Packers player to watch
WR Christian Watson. The previous time the Packers faced the Bears, Watson tore his anterior cruciate ligament. Watson returned to action Oct. 26 and has since emerged as perhaps the Packers' most reliable receiver. Watson has three touchdown catches over his past three games and has 21 overall receptions for 363 yards in six games.
Key matchup
Bears RBs Kyle Monangai and D'Andre Swift vs. Packers run defense: Monangai and Swift each rushed for at least 125 yards and scored a touchdown in the Bears' road victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles. Swift has 774 yards rushing and Monangai has 591 this season. Green Bay limited Detroit's dynamic duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery to a combined 100 yards on 28 carries last week, but DT Devonte Wyatt suffered a season-ending ankle injury in that game.
Key injuries
Bears: WR Rome Odunze (foot), LB Ruben Hyppolite (shoulder) and DB Tyrique Stevenson (hip) have been ruled out. ... LB T.J. Edwards (hand/hamstring) has missed Chicago's past four games, but he's expected to play Sunday.
Packers: DT Devonte Wyatt suffered a season-ending ankle injury against Detroit. ... RB MarShawn Lloyd (calf), DL Collin Oliver (hamstring), DL Lukas Van Ness (foot) and WR Savion Williams (foot) also have been ruled out. ... S Javon Bullard (ankle), DL Brenton Cox Jr. (groin), WR Matthew Golden (wrist), CB Nate Hobbs (knee) and WR Jayden Reed (foot/shoulder) are questionable. Reed and Cox have been designated to return from injured reserve, and they would need to be added to the 53-man roster Saturday before they could play Sunday. ... LB Quay Walker (neck) has missed the Packers' last two games but is expected to play against the Bears.
Series notes
The Bears had lost to the Packers 11 straight times before winning 24-22 at Lambeau Field in their 2024 regular-season finale. Both Packers-Bears games last season came down to a field-goal attempt as time expired. Cairo Santos made a 51-yard field goal to win the game at Lambeau Field after his 46-yard attempt was blocked by Brooks to end the Packers' 20-19 victory at Soldier Field. The Packers and Bears meet again in Chicago on Dec. 20. The two NFC North rivals play each other twice each season, and this is the longest they've gone in a season before facing off since 1998. The Packers' 108 victories over the Bears match the highest total by any NFL team over another. The New York Giants have beaten Washington 108 times.
Stats and stuff
The Bears clinched a winning record for the first time since the 2018 NFC North championship team went 12-4. ... Chicago's five-game win streak is its longest since a five-game run in 2018. The Bears haven't won six in a row since 2012. ... The Bears haven't won consecutive games at Lambeau since 2004 to 2007. ... Chicago leads the league in interceptions (17), takeaways (26) and turnover differential (plus-17). ... Coach Ben Johnson could join George Halas in 1920 as the franchise's only first-year head coaches to win 10 of their first 13 games. ... S Kevin Byard leads the NFL with six interceptions — two shy of his career high. CB Nahshon Wright is tied for second with five, and LB Tremaine Edmunds has four. ... Packers QB Jordan Love has six touchdown passes and only one interception in four career starts against the Bears. Love matched a career high by throwing four touchdown passes in Green Bay's Thanksgiving Day victory at Detroit. ... Green Bay has allowed fewer than 20 points in each of its six home games, marking the first time since 1969 that's happened. ... Packers RB Josh Jacobs has 11 touchdown runs this season, tying him with Buffalo QB Josh Allen for second place in the NFL. Indianapolis' Jonathan Taylor has 15 touchdown runs. ... Packers DE Micah Parsons is the first player to have at least 12 sacks in each of his first five seasons since the stat started getting officially recorded in 1982. Parsons has six sacks during the Packers' three-game winning streak. ... Packers WR Dontayvion Wicks caught six passes and scored two touchdowns at Detroit to match his career single-game highs. His 94 yards receiving were three off his career high. ... Packers LB Isaiah McDuffie has 31 tackles over his past three games.
Fantasy tip
Wicks didn't have a touchdown catch all season before Thanksgiving, so he still may be available in many fantasy leagues. If Wicks is on the waiver wire, he's worth picking up just in case his breakthrough performance against Detroit represents the start of a prolonged surge.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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