FROM BAD TO WORSE
Coming off worst loss of Fox’s tenure, Bears will face Rodgers, who’s primed to bounce back from his own poor outing
Bears coach John Fox fumbled for positives Monday. When asked about quarterback Brian Hoyer, he landed inexplicably on the kicker.
“Bright spot [ Sunday] is, I think we were 3- for- 3 in field goals, made all our extra points,” Fox said. “Not sure that’s happened yet this year.”
It hadn’t. That Fox had to dig deep for optimism the day after the worst loss of his Bears tenure tells you a lot about the state of the team.
However, the Bears ( 1- 5) are taking solace in facing a familiar foe Thursday. While the Green Bay Packers offer the comfort of an NFC North scouting report for only the second time this season, they’re in a similarly desperate spot.
If the Bears get thumped, this season will go from bad to worse.
The Packers ( 3- 2) will be motivated. Their 14- point loss to the Dallas Cowboys was their worst at home with quarterback Aaron Rodgers starting since the 2011 playoffs. Fans booed the team, whose three wins have come against the unimpressive Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions and New York Giants.
Fox, though, seemed to welcome the challenge, particularly as an alternative to dissecting the 17- 16 debacle against the Jaguars.
“This will be our second division game this season, so I think it’s kind of exciting that we’re getting back into it on a short week coming off a day like [ Sunday],” Fox said. “I’m kind of excited to get back on Thursday, a short week, against a rival.”
They have little to be excited about. Entering Monday, only the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers had aworse point differential than the Bears’ minus- 42. No team in the NFL had averaged fewer than the Bears’ 16.8 points. Only the winless Browns ( 0- 6) are worse.
Searching for reasons to be hopeful, the Bears touted their familiarity with their next two opponents, the Packers and Minnesota Vikings, before a Week 9 bye. Players have talked about being able towin the division, given that half of their final 10 games are against NFC North foes.
And they’ve won two of their last three at Lambeau Field. “That’s a pretty cool fact,” outside linebacker Willie Young said.
In 2013, Shea McClellin broke Rodgers’ collarbone on the Packers’ first series, leaving Seneca Wallace to be sacked four times and throw one interception. The Bears’ 17- 13 win last Thanksgiving ended
with Rodgers throwing an incomplete pass in the end zone with 29 seconds left and marked the high- water mark of Fox’s tenure.
In between was the 55- 14 loss in 2014.
“We know that we can compete against any team,” Young said. “It’s never a case where we haven’t had an opportunity to win. It’s just closing it out. If I recall, the last time we played them, it came down to the wire.
“It’s a division game. It’s a rival game for us. It’s going to be hostile: ‘ Thursday Night Football.’ ”