(670 The Score) It’s Week 13. The Packers are in town to face the Bears, and if there’s been a less interesting edition of this matchup in recent history, I can’t remember it. It feels like every single player on the Bears is on injured reserve. The Packers are washed. This week’s edition of matchups will be especially educational (and fun!) because it’s a good chance to ask "Is that actually a real player on the Bears?" and then find out! Let’s dive in.
Bears WR Chase Claypool vs. Packers CB Jaire Alexander
The good-ish news for the final five games of this Bears season is that we’re going to truly find out what kind of a player Claypool is. Without Darnell Mooney – who’s out for the rest of the season after suffering an ankle injury last Sunday – the Bears don’t really have “other people to throw the ball to.” So, hope he’s good! Alexander’s having an up-and-down season but has still already set a career high in interceptions (three) and is on pace to have his lowest reception percentage (55.8) in three years, which would also be the second-best of his career. He certainly hasn’t been a lockdown cornerback this season though. We’ve gone over Claypool’s stats seemingly every week since the Bears acquired him (for a second-round pick, remember!) and they’re, uh, not good. Maybe he can finally have a decent game out of absolute necessity?
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers vs. Bears safeties
If you happened to get a peak at the Bears’ injury report Wednesday, you may have noticed that it was legitimately almost too long for one Twitter graphic. Safety Eddie Jackson’s season is presumably done, and fellow safety Jaquan Brisker is still in the concussion protocol. Maybe Brisker plays again this season, but also, the Bears have three wins heading into Week 13, so maybe he doesn’t. It sounds like Rodgers, who’s banged up in his own right, is going to play – the columnists need their ownership jokes, after all – and he’s going to be taking deep shots against the likes of DeAndre Houston-Carson (a good special teams player who I guess is technically a safety) and rookie Elijah Hicks. Don't bother looking into the Pro Football Focus grades/stats (or any stats, really) on both of them. You already know that answer. It’ll be what it’ll be, which is realistically the most optimistic way to describe it.
Bears RB David Montgomery vs. Packers LB De'Vondre Campbell
This seems like, on paper, maybe the most even-sided and talented one-one-one “matchup” that we’re going to see Sunday? Montgomery deserves gigantic amounts of credit this season – the Bears are bad, he’s been hurt and he’s watched a good number of his touches go to Khalil Herbert and Justin Fields in a contract year. And yet he still runs so damn hard on every play. It’s incredible to watch. Campbell isn't quite matching the career year he had last season, but he’s still playing well – his overall PFF grade (76.7) is the second-best of his career, and he has been great in pass rush and coverage. With that being said, as a run defender, he hasn’t been great. His PFF grade there is the worst of his seven-year career, and his missed tackle percentage (13.5) is far and away the worst since his rookie season (14.8). We know the Bears can run the ball and keeping Rodgers off the field is the first step for a fun, plucky upset. If Montgomery can run over Campbell once or twice in the process, all the better.
Cam Ellis is a writer for 670 The Score and Audacy Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KingsleyEllis.
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