Bears veterans explain how the team can’t fall into a similar trap against the Packers going into playoff matchup
It’s going to be an emotional matchup between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers on Saturday night.
The next time the Chicago Bears are in action, it’s going to be playoff football and the Bears will be hosting a familiar opponent on Saturday night in the first round against the Green Bay Packers.
Saturday’s game will mark the third time these two teams have squared off in a six week span, something that hasn’t happened since 2012 between the Packers and Minnesota Vikings, via Brad Biggs.
The previous two matchups were highly competitive and extremely emotional games with both ending on the final play of either the fourth quarter or overtime. So, we know this one is going to be tight once again and emotions are going to be running higher than ever before.
“You get in these big games, and you can get a little bit emotional because it’s a division rival and you want to make an impact,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said after the previous game vs. the Packers. “We don’t want to shy away from that. We want to play aggressive, and we want to be a very physical team, but at the same time, we can’t hurt the team, and that happened a number of times.”
Bears are going to have to do a good job handling the emotional part of Saturday’s game
Being that this is the oldest rivalry in football that had the fire reignited this season with the Bears’ new-found success, it’s easy to see why emotions boiled over in those previous two games. These two teams, organizations, and fanbases absolutely hate each other. But, in this particular game with such high stakes, letting emotions avalanche into mistakes can be extremely detrimental.
“I wouldn’t expect nothing less,” Bears Pro Bowl safety Kevin Byard told reporters on Tuesday. “But, at the same time, we have to be smart enough. And that’s just when you talk about the playoff experience. Understanding that the personal foul penalties almost hurt us in that last game, so we can’t have that this week. That’s something that we’re going to be talking about as a team.
“But, the intense level is going to be there, I mean it’s Green Bay at Soldier Field. The emotions are going to be high, it’s going to be a super exciting atmosphere. But, also understand it’s playoffs. The refs are going to call a little tighter… Just understanding all of those elements and make sure that you are playing smart. Don’t cross the line, but take it up there because that’s the intensity that’s going to be needed to win this game.”
The last time these two teams faced off in Week 16, the Bears finished the game with 10 penalties for 105 yards and multiple personal fouls. The first matchup, Chicago was a lot more disciplined and only had four penalties for 17 yards. It’s entirely likely that the Bears were just too juiced up for that second game in front of the home crowd and the Bears can’t afford to let it happen again.
Penalties, and limiting those negative calls, will absolutely be critical in this game due to an outside factor as well. Adrian Hill’s crew will be calling the game and this season his crew threw the second-most penalties per game (17.9). This crew also has a high average of defensive pass interferences and illegal contacts, so playing disciplined on the outside will be even more of an emphasis.
“We all want to win and we all want it badly, and so does the other team,” Bears veteran tight end Cole Kmet explained. “It’s not a lack of who wants it more, it’s going to be about who executes, who’s on their details, who’s on the fundamentals. That’s what is going to win out at the end of the day. We gotta be on top of that stuff. Obviously, it’s going to be an electric atmosphere and we’ll use that to our advantage. But, we gotta be on those details.”
The Bears seemingly have the proper mindset going into this game and have a firm grasp on what’s going to be needed to win. Time will tell if that preparation turns into proper execution.
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