When the Green Bay Packers lost to the Arizona Cardinals and head coach Mike McCarthy got fired hours later, it looked like a wrap on their season. At 4-7-1, playoffs seemed out of the question. It's amazing what a week and some ineptitude by other playoff contenders can do. After the Packers beat the Atlanta Falcons last week in Joe Philbin's debut at the helm, they are somehow still alive for the second NFC Wild Card spot at 5-7-1. They need a win in Chicago to stay alive. The Chicago Bears are coming off an extremely impressive 15-6 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night. Their defense was excellent and proved the team can make some noise in the playoffs. The Bears will clinch the NFC North with a win.
How to Watch Packers vs. Bears: Week 15
Where: Chicago, Illinois
Start: Sunday, Dec. 16, 1:00 p.m. ET
TV Network: FOX
Radio: WBBM (Bears)
Stream Online: Watch live with fuboTV
The Packers' tie from early in the season puts them in a wacky spot in the standings. It means that if they win out, they can get in over any 8-8 team -- but not any 9-7 team. They will need some help to get in, but you can never count out an Aaron Rodgers team until they are mathematically eliminated. Rodgers played well in a 34-20 win last week, and set an NFL record for the most consecutive passes (368!) without throwing an interception. He led the ridiculous second-half comeback against the Bears in Week 1, where the Packers came back from a 20-0 halftime deficit to win 24-23. It wouldn't be crazy to see the future Hall of Fame QB go into Chicago and keep their playoff hopes alive. Scoring against that stout Bears defense won't be easy, though. The Packers defense must force Mitchell Trubisky into bad decisions and turnovers, as he was guilty of against the Rams last week.
Trubisky has been prone to mistakes. He's thrown 12 INTs. If he throws some of those out of bounds or runs with the football, the Bears should be just fine. They have the mix of power and speed in the backfield with Jordan Howard, who finally had a 100-yard game last week, and Tarik Cohen, who has been a machine. On the other side of the ball, they are right up there as the best in the business. Their defense attacks the QB, forces turnovers, and score points off turnovers. It's a shock if the Bears defense goes a week without forcing a turnover. Kyle Fuller has seven INTs, which is tied for the best in the NFL. Khalil Mack leads the team with 10 sacks. There is so much talent across the board. Rodgers has his work cut out for him.
