The Green Bay Packers will come out of the bye and travel to Chicago to play the rival Bears in Week 11 of the 2024 season.
The Packers, at 6-3 and in good shape in the NFC playoff race entering the second half, are hoping to get hot over the last two months of the season. The Bears, meanwhile, have lost three straight games following their bye week and just fired their offensive coordinator.
Can the Packers continue their dominance over the Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field?
Here’s a closer look at the Bears entering Week 11:
Last week (Loss, 19-3 to Patriots)
The Bears gained only 142 total yards, allowed nine sacks, scored only one field goal and gave up five scoring drives in a disappointing loss to the lowly New England Patriots at a boo-filled Soldier Field last Sunday. The Bears were 6.0-point favorites but lost by 16 — the third biggest defeat of Week 10. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams completed 16 passes for only 120 yards and lost 51 yards on nine sacks. The Bears had only one play from scrimmage over 15 yards. Chicago’s defense delivered an interception of rookie quarterback Drake Maye, but the Patriots rushed for 144 yards, allowed only one sack and won the time of possession battle. The Bears tied the game at 3-3 in the second quarter, but the Patriots scored 16 straight points to end the game.
Quarterback play
First overall Caleb Williams is struggling. After throwing four touchdown passes in a win over the Jaguars in London before the bye, Williams has completed 48 of 95 passes (50.5 percent) for 468 yards (4.93 per attempt), zero touchdowns and zero interceptions while taking 18 sacks and losing a fumble. The Bears have scored only 27 total points during the three-game losing streak. Williams loves to hold the football and improvise, but he’s found it difficult to play consistently using this playstyle at the NFL level. Among 34 qualified quarterbacks, Williams ranks 32nd in completion percentage, 29th in yards per attempt, 30th in success rate, 28th in passer rating, 33rd in sack percentage and 31st in net yards per attempt. He’s also last in PFF pass grade. Now he’ll be operating under a new playcaller just 10 games into his rookie season.
Line of scrimmage
By pass-blocking grade at PFF, the Bears are actually quite good up front on offense — ranking 10th overall entering Week 11. Injuries have affected the starting five in recent weeks, but Caleb Williams’ desire to hold the ball and improvise is a big reason why the rookie quarterback has been sacked an NFL-high 38 times in nine games. Running the football has been an issue — the Bears are averaging just 4.0 yards per carry and among the league’s worst in rushing success rate. The Bears defense has also struggled against the run, giving up 4.8 yards per carry. They are better rushing the passer, with the 10th best pass-rushing grade at PFF. Montez Sweat, Gervon Dexter, Demarcus Walker and Darrell Taylor all have 19 or more pressures this season.
Turnovers
The Bears are actually one of the league’s best teams in turnover margin. With only eight giveaways (tied for fifth fewest) and 16 takeaways (tied for fifth most), the Bears are plus-8 overall, trailing only the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers for the NFL lead. After turning the ball over six times in the first three games, the Bears have just two turnovers — an NFL low — over the last seven weeks. Defensively, Chicago is 4-2 when producing two or more takeaways this season. Winning the ball will be a big part of winning Sunday for the Packers.
Injury situations
Last week, the Bears were without safety Jaquon Brisker (concussion), offensive tackle Braxton Jones (knee), edge rusher Darrell Taylor (knee), defensive lineman Andrew Billings, offensive tackle Darnell Wright (knee) and defensive back Jaylon Jones. Guard Teven Jenkins left the loss to the Patriots with an ankle injury. This is a hurting Bears team along the line of scrimmage. Wednesday’s injury report will provide additional updates on the Bears’ injury situation in Week 11.
Players to know
RB DeAndre Swift: He leads the Bears in total touches (167) and total yards (794). The Bears have struggled to get him going as a runner (4.0 per carry, 45.7 percent success rate).
S Kevin Byard: The veteran safety is having an excellent first season in Chicago. He is the Bears’ highest graded defensive starter at Pro Football Focus through 10 weeks.
DL Gervon Dexter: The 6-6, 312-pounder interior disruptor has a team-high 4.0 sacks and 13 quarterback hits. He’s quick and powerful as a pass-rusher.
WR Rome Odunze: The Bears’ other first-round pick leads the team in receiving yards (414), and he’s averaging more yards per catch and more yards per target than D.J. Moore.
TE Cole Kmet: He’s averaging 9.3 yards per target and has a team-high three touchdown passes, so it’s possible he’ll become a bigger part of the passing game down the stretch.
P Tory Taylor: The rookie punter actually has more punting yards (2,153) than Caleb Williams has passing yards (1,785) in 2024.
