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Packers Preview Day One: Can Bears' Defense Hold Up?
Written by Brett Solesky   
Tuesday, 08 September 2009 15:39
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers Will Look To Air it Out Versus the Bears
Let's be straight to the point on this, no matter the importance of Jay Cutler fitting into the offense, Aaron Rodgers' struggles in the fourth quarter, Sunday night's game will come down to one thing, will the defense hold up? 

The expectations seem to be relatively simple for this game against the Packers, keep Aaron Rodgers and the Packers' offense below 21 points and Jay Cutler will win given his 13 and one record in that scenario.  However the likelihood of doing that in Green Bay doesn't seem very realistic given the Packers averaged 26.8 points per game last season and figure to be even better this year.  They also averaged 27.1 points per game at home over the 2008 season, racking up 37 points against the exact same defense at Lambeau Field a year ago. 
Bears CB Charles Tillman has had some of his best games against the Green Bay Packers, his healthy and readiness will be key this Sunday night
So how much will the Bears' defense be improved over last year?  Is Rod Marinelli and Lovie Smiths' combined coaching and play calling going to be enough to keep the Packers off the score board?  Can the Bears' offense keep up in a shoot out? 

The Packers' pre-season was equally if not more impressive than the Bears' pre-season.  Rodgers' pre-season stats were outstanding and the Packers' offense looks like it's well oiled machine ready to roll.  Rodgers led the league in pre-season touchdowns with six and had three in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals. 

The Packers' offensive line also looks like a group ready to protect Rodgers so that he has time to make plays to the Packers' receivers.  Both the Bears' pass rush and the Packers' offense looked very dynamic in the pre-season.

The pre-season is not the best of indications though, if the Packers' offense can be judged on their pre-season success then so can the Bears' pass rush.  While the Bears struggled to rush the passer, the Packers were not exactly stellar in protecting the passer in 2008.  They finished in the middle of the pack allowing Rodgers to be sacked an average of twice per contest.  So if we want to go on pre-season success than we can expect the Bears' defense to be better given that they have shown as much in August. 

Another question is how healthy is Charles Tillman really?  Will he be ready to go and match up with the Packers?  Tillman has had some of his best games against the Packers.  We all recall in 2007 when Tillman forced a number of fumbles in one of the Packers' only loss.  Tillman also tends to be really physical enough to match up well with the wide receivers.  If Tillman is ready to go and is as healthy as he has proclaimed early this week in practices then the defense will be that much better with his presence.  

The question may not ultimately come down to the Packer offense versus the Bears' defense, but given the weapons the Packers have on offense and the need for the Bears to show up and show that they can compete against the Packers, it would relax a lot of fears.  Stopping the Packers on offense which may arguably the most dynamic and well balanced offense the Bears face all season would go a long way towards setting the defensive tone for the entire season. 
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