SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: CHICAGO BEARS AT GREEN BAY PACKERS

BY ADAM GREENE

It’s the oldest running rivalry in the NFL as the Chicago Bears travel to the not yet frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football.

I’m not sure why SNF didn’t flex out of this game, as the Bears are well below .500 and this “rivalry” has not exactly been competitive in the Aaron Rodgers era. In fact, Rodgers is 22-5 in his career against the Monsters of the Midway and the Pack has reeled off five consecutive victories.

There were plenty of flex options here at the 1 p.m EST hour. I think anyone would have preferred the Baltimore Ravens at the Cleveland Browns, the Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs or the Dallas Cowboys at Washington Football Team over this Rodgers paternity test reveal from an episode of Maury.

But, here we are, stuck watching Matt Nagy coach his final month of football for Chicago in prime time.

As it is the oldest ongoing rivalry in the sport, the Pack and Bears have played 203 times with Green Bay leading the all time series 102-95-6. As I wrote earlier, the Packers have won five straight and a ridiculous 22 out of the last 26 match ups between the two teams going back to 2009.

CHICAGO BEARS AT GREEN BAY PACKERS (-12.5, O/U: 43)

Location: Lambeau Filed, Green Bay, Wisc.

Broadcast: NBC

Kickoff: Dec. 12, 8:20 p.m.

CHICAGO BEARS (4-8)

Chicago limps into this game after a 33-22 loss to the Arizona Cardinals last week. Andy Dalton got the start for the injured Justin Fields and showed, once again, exactly why he belongs on the bench, completing 22 of 41 for 229 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions. David Montgomery rushed 21 times for 90 yards and a touchdown. The Bears defense sacked Kyler Murray just once and while the Cards didn’t pile up a lot of yards, they didn’t need to thanks to Dalton’s generosity with the football.

GREEN BAY PACKERS (9-3)

The Packers are rested up after a bye week coming off a 36-28 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Rodgers, broken toe and all, was good for 307 yards, two touchdowns and was sacked only once. AJ Dillon rushed 20 times for 69 yards. Devonte Adams caught eight passes for 104 yards. Green Bay’s defense sacked Matthew Stafford twice, held the Rams to just 68 total yards on the ground and returned an interception for a touchdown.

THE PICK

There’s no reason to pretend, even with Justin Fields returning, that the Bears can win. I do think that spread is a lot though and most of the games between these two over the last decade or so have been closer than that. Over their last 13 games against each other, Green Bay would have covered that spread just four times. So that’s what I’m going with. Packers 24, Bears 13

Last week

Straight up: 10-4

Against the spread: 11-3

Season

Straight up: 116-77-1

Against the spread: 99-95

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

The NFL season is rolling along and the Week 14 Schedule is up and taking bets at BetOnline.AG.

Connect with us our socials on Twitter and Instagram for the latest sports news, viral moments, betting odds and the occasional memes.