Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers: Week 11 Players to Watch

New Season. New QB. New OC. New Result Against the Pack?

The NFL season is an evolving state of affairs. So much can and does change from week to week. Teams, schemes, NEW OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS and injuries all factor into performances on any given Sunday.

In this weekly series, I’ll be featuring one player from each team on each side of the ball who I figure to be integral to their respective teams’ success. You won’t see any QBs as they are, in my opinion, the most critical position in all of sports and, thereby, an obvious choice. You also won’t see any star defensive players like Micah Parsons and Nick Bosa. Again, too obvious.

No, these are more of the unsung variety. Yet, often just as critical to the success of the team.

Let’s get started with the Chicago Bears.

Offense: DJ Moore, WR

Can and will Thomas Brown call DJ’s number this week? That is THE question. Coming off a career season, the 7-year pro out of Maryland has arguably had his worst season in the league. Much of the blame falls on Caleb Williams’ inability to hit Moore when his #1 WR has been open. Perhaps and even larger part of that was how he has been schemed in Shane Waldron’s offense. With Waldon out and Thomas Brown in at OC, I expect more of an emphasis on getting DJ Moore the ball. Combine that with it being Packers week and clearly some bad blood flowing between new Packer Xavier McKinney and DJ, this should be a battle to get the popcorn out for. If DJ is prioritized this week and if he can step up to the challenge and have his hallmark game against the Cheese, I expect we come away with the W. If he is not involved or is shut down by McKinney and crew, I hope everyone is ready for an even more miserable feeling in your stomach.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images

Defense: Kyler Gordon, CB

Spidey has been one of our best players when healthy. Making an impact in both the run and in the pass game as our Nickel corner. This week, his importance is perhaps greater than it has been all season with electric slot WR Jayden Reed and RB Josh Jacobs whom GB has leaned on (successfully so) all season. This is also only Kyler’s second game against GB in Chicago, having been injured as a rookie. Considering in last season’s opener that Kyler only played in 45% of the defensive snaps due to injury (his lowest percentage all season), this is quite literally the best opportunity he has ever had to shred some cheese at Soldier Field. Kyler is an uber confident and uber athletic specimen and he will be up to the challenge. If he can disrupt Jordan Love in the pass game in coverage and as a blitzer, I expect a raucous Soldier Field as the Bears D steps up and does their part. If he can generate as least one TO in the process, we should be able to sneak away with a victory. If he’s a non-factor, I think both Reed and Jacobs end up having big days and we fall short once again against GB.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images

---

And now on to the Pack

Offense: Josh Jacobs, RB

From an efficiency standpoint, the former 1st rounder out of Alabama is having one of his best seasons as a pro. Averaging 4.8 ypc and already securing the same amount of first downs (34) as he did all of last season. Much like Rhamondre last week and James Connor the week before (players I highlighted in this series), this offense goes through the running back. Even before Andrew Billings was declared out for the year due to injury, the Bears’ run Defense has struggled. Head Coach and play caller Matt LaFleur knows this and will undoubtedly lean on his 5’10”, 223lb workhorse to soften our defense with plenty of “body blows” before going for the kill shot to the aforementioned Reed or Christian Watson or Romeo Doubs. (Much like I hoped Mike Tyson would hit Jake Paul last night with an array of body blows before knocking him out with a right hook – but I digress.) If Dexter, Sweat, Edmunds and Edwards cannot slow down Jacobs and the run game, it’ll be a long day off Lake Michigan. If we can slow him down much like we did last year when he played for the Raiders (11 carries, 35 yards and a 3.18 avg) then I expect Jordan Love to feel the heat and throw multiple picks against our D.

Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images

Defense: Kenny Clark, DT

Drafted in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of UCLA, it took Kenny Clark a couple years to warm up to this rivalry. According to my faulty research, he will be the ONLY player on the field Sunday who has experienced a Bears win in this all-time series. But ever since 2019, Clark has been a bona-fide Bear killer. Consistently disrupting plays in both the run and passing games, Clark has 6 sacks and 6 TFL in that span and countless other plays that never make it to the box score. Teven Jenkins even admitted his worst game as a pro was last season against Clark and Co. Though he somehow graded out positively, Sam Mustipher was tossed aside more than a couple times by the Reggie White-esque “club” move by Kenny Clark. With Tev out again this week, it’ll be up to Ryan Bates, Coleman Shelton and Matt Pryor to hold the pocket and prevent Clark from disrupting the offensive gameplan. I don’t care what QB you are or who is calling plays. If you don’t have a clean pocket to work from, you will have a hard time finding receivers, let alone success as a QB. Especially as a rookie in his first taste of this hallowed rivalry. If we can prevent him from being a game wrecker, we have a chance. But if he has another 2 sack performance from his DT spot, well….you can guess the outcome. We are far too familiar with it.

Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

---

Recap from Week 10 (and bonus in-season recap):

Bears O – Ryan Bates, OG: Held his own in there. Thought he added value to our OL.

Bears D – Zacch Pickens, DT: Consistently got pushed back and was mostly a non-factor all game outside of one run pressure that I saw.

Pats O – Rhamondre Stevenson, RB: Stevenson (and Antonio Gibson) were effective at moving the chains all game. Though he didn’t score, Stevenson helped NE control the game.

PatsD – Keion White, DE: With 4 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 PD and 2 QBH, White was a problem all day. But so was seemingly everyone else wearing white and grey.

There is 0 chance of a Bears win when all 4 players perform in a way that favors the opponent. What about when it’s mixed? I went back at each week’s PoTW selections and here’s what I found:

Week 1: Shelton, Jaylon, Pollard, Snead – Bears split the difference and barely won. W

Week 2: Braxton, Brisker, Mixon, Edwards – Only Brisker showed up and we lost. L

Week 3: Swift, Edmunds, Pierce, Paye – Maybe Edmunds only. L

Week 4: Roschon, Edwards, Atwell, Fiske – We split the difference and barely won. W

Week 5: Hurricane Helene

Week 6: Keenan, Sweat, Tank, Travon – All four in our favor. Big win. W

Week 7: BYE

Week 8: Rome, Byard, Biadasz, Newton – Maybe Rome? L

Week 9: Kmet, Gervon, McBride, Budda – None in our favor. L

Week 10: Bates, Pickens, Stevenson, White – Bates alone in our favor. L

We need at least half in our favor in order to win. Otherwise, expect the L.

---

What about you? Who are some key players to watch this week against the Packers?