A lot is made of Green Bay's passing game, but against the Bears, Ryan Grant is the key.
Nov. 16, Lambeau Field: Packers 37, Bears 3
• Aaron Rodgers: 227 passing yards and 2 touchdowns
• Bears sacks: zero
• Ryan Grant: 145 rushing yards and 1 touchdown
• Bears interceptions: one
• Matt Forte: 64 rushing yards
Dec. 22, Soldier Field: Bears 20, Packers 17 (OT)
• Aaron Rodgers: 260 passing yards and 2 touchdowns
• Bears sacks: zero
• Ryan Grant: 61 rushing yards
• Bears interceptions: one
• Matt Forte: 73 rushing yards and 1 touchdown
Notice the one big difference in the two games: Ryan Grant. It's only natural to focus on the Green Bay passing attack, especially with all the issues surrounding the Bears secondary. But for all the time spent talking about Rodgers, Donald Driver and Greg Jennings, it was Grant who killed the Bears last year at Lambeau. However, it was a different story the second time around when the defense shut down the Packers running game.
The Bears need to take care of things they can control. Nobody is going to totally stop Rodgers, but removing Grant from the picture is possible. Make the Packers one-dimensional, force a few turnovers, then hope Jay Cutler and the offense can put up the necessary points to win.
It's just a thought, but I can't get past how Grant's fortunes dramatically altered the outcomes last season.
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Jeff Dickerson
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