Greg C. said:
If Hester was the only person on the Bears who could score, the Packers would've had a shutout last time they played. They gave the Bears possession around the 40 yard line on every kickoff and were content to get 25-30 yards net on punts. As a result, the Bears had a huge field position advantage for the entire game, which allowed their paltry offense to put up enough points to win. The turnovers by the Packers helped too, of course.
Greg - Them from that week is an entirely different team than now. Now, they're all beat up. Their #1 RB is out for the season. Their #3 QB is starting. If I'm not mistaken, they have OL problems now. As bad as Rex Grossman is, this guy is even worse. I know that sounds like a stretch, but it's true.
Plus, we turned the ball over 5 times in that game. That's how they were able to get 27 points. If we turn the ball over 5 times again, they'll get 20 points, tops.
Brian Griese played mistake-free football in that first game. Could Orton do the same? Probably not, but you never know. Griese played like garbage against the Lions the week before he played against the Packers.
If the Bears offense is as bad as it was against the Vikings, there's no need to kick to Hester. I'm just not so sure they won't play a little over their heads against the Packers again. By the way, here's Peter King's prediction for the game:
Green Bay Packers (12-2) at Chicago Bears (5-9)
It's the last time the Bears will have anything to play for, and I have a feeling Donald Driver's preseason comments about how he knows the Packers are the best team in the division (after the Bears won the NFC last year) will find their way to a bulletin board in Bearland this week.
Bears 19, Packers 17
I think he's wrong, but if the Bears win, it will be an ugly score like that. Their defense is still good enough to keep them in any game.
It's interesting that before the first game, the Packers said they were going to kick to Hester, but they didn't. Now they say they are going to kick away from him:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=699000