Saturday’s superb slate of football—across both college and the NFL—will continue on in Chicago as the Bears welcome the Packers to Soldier Field.
Green Bay enters this one with a 9–4–1 record and in control of the final wild-card spot in a tight NFC playoff race. After winning four straight games from Weeks 11 through 14, the Packers dropped their first game in over a month last Sunday in a tight defeat at the hands of the Broncos in Denver. To make matters worse, they also lost star defender Micah Parsons for the remainder to the season to a torn ACL, but—as we’ll get to—still have the horses to compete for a Super Bowl.
On the opposite sideline will be the home team Bears, who have won seven of their last eight with the only loss coming to these Packers at Lambeau Field earlier this month. Behind one of the top rushing attacks in football and a defense leading the NFL in turnovers, Chicago currently holds the No. 1 seed in the NFC North at 10–4.
With merely a tie separating these two teams in the division standings, we’re in for a good one from Chi Town on Saturday night. Here are three bold predictions for Packers vs. Bears.
Rashan Gary will register two-plus sacks in Micah Parsons’s absence
As we mentioned above, the Packers will unfortunately be without their best defensive player for the rest of the year, but that doesn’t mean all is lost for them on that side of the football. As a unit, Green Bay is top 10 in the NFL in both pressure rate (36.0%) and total pressure (188) while also notching 33 sacks on the year—12.5 of which came from Parsons.
The Packers’ second-best pass rusher this season, meanwhile, has been Rashan Gary. Through 14 games, the former first-round pick has tallied 7.5 sacks, a 12.1% pressure rate, and 42 total pressures.
On the flipside, while his overall surroundings have improved from a season ago, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has been sacked double-digit times in seven games this year, and Chicago's offensive line still leaves much to be desired in the pass game. That’s why I’m predicting that even in Parsons’s absence, Green Bay will create pressure and in turn, Gary will finish with at least two sacks on the night.
Caleb Williams will throw for less than 150 yards for the first time this season
Speaking of Williams, he’ll be missing two of his top wide receivers on Saturday night as both Rome Odunze (foot) and Luther Burden III (ankle) have already been ruled out.
Overall, Williams has put together a solid sophomore campaign for himself, throwing 21 touchdowns against six interceptions while adding three scores on the ground. His highs, however, have also come with plenty of lows, as he’s completing just 58% of his passes and owns an 88.8 passer rating and 54.4 QBR, all three of which rank in the bottom half of the league.
Williams’ pure passing-yardage output has left much to be desired as well. He has yet to eclipse 300 passing yards this season—albeit largely due to being a byproduct of the Bears’ top-tier rushing attack—and has been held under 200 yards in four games, including Chicago’s most recent bout vs. Green Bay. Facing one of the league’s premier pass defenses (194.1 yards allowed per game, seventh fewest in the NFL) for the second time in three weeks will be no easy task.
With a limited receiving corps to throw to, I’m predicting Williams to be stifled by the Packers’ secondary, finishing with fewer than 150 passing yards for the first time this season.
Packers will complete the sweep of the Bears in 2025, gaining control in the NFC North
The Packers ran into somewhat of a reality check last Sunday in Denver with their 34–26 loss to the Broncos. This weekend in Chicago, however, look for them to get back to taking care of business.
Green Bay has owned this rivalry of late, winning a remarkable 12 of its last 13 against the Bears dating back to the start of the 2019 season, and Saturday night sets up as another opportunity to show that they're still the better team—and franchise—in 2025.
Behind a Toyotathon Jordan Love-type performance at Soldier Field, expect the Packers to do just enough to regain the top spot in the NFC North, coming away with a 28–17 victory with two games to go in the 2025 NFL season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bears vs. Packers: Three Bold Predictions For Saturday’s Battle Atop the NFC North.