The Green Bay Packers no

longer need to be concerned with perfection after suffering their first loss of the season last week. The Packers (13-1) simply need to beat their archrivals – the Chicago Bears (7-7) – to clinch the top seed in the NFC playoff race at home on Sunday Night Football.
Game time is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. (ET) with television coverage provided by NBC. Green Bay opened as a 13-point favorite and has moved to -13½ at the Las Vegas Hilton with the total at 45. Some sports books have left the game off the board pending word on Chicago’s probable starting lineup.
Last year, it was the Bears who had an opportunity to prevent the Packers from making it to the postseason in their second meeting. But Green Bay obviously prevailed with a hard-fought 10-3 victory en route to winning 19 straight games, including Super Bowl XLV. However, the second-longest winning streak in NFL history ended with a surprising 19-14 road loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday.
The Packers fell to the Chiefs as 11-point favorites and had gone 9-4 against the spread in winning their previous 13 games this season. They are still without star wide receiver Greg Jennings due to a sprained knee and have suffered additional injuries to their offensive line, with offensive tackle Derek Sherrod undergoing season-ending surgery on his broken right leg and right tackle Bryan Bulaga out with a sprained right knee.
Running back James Starks could play for the first time in three weeks though after missing the past two games with an ankle injury.
Meanwhile, Chicago appeared headed back to the playoffs following a strong 7-3 start, but the team’s season began to fall apart when starting quarterback Jay Cutler fractured the thumb on his throwing hand in a 31-20 home win against the San Diego Chargers. The Bears have lost four in a row, going 1-3 ATS, following a five-game winning streak.
Caleb Hanie, Cutler’s backup, was nearly the hero against Green Bay in last year’s 21-14 loss in the NFC Championship Game, but he has been the goat during their current skid. Hanie has thrown three interceptions in three of his four starts in place of Cutler and is expected to be replaced by Josh McCown, who attempted two passes in relief of him at the end of a 38-14 home loss to the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday. Two of Hanie’s three picks against the Seahawks were returned for touchdowns.
Chicago’s chances to return to the postseason are slim at best right now, especially with McCown under center. He even threw an interception in his very brief action against Seattle and has not seen significant playing time since 2007 when he played in nine games for the Oakland Raiders.
The Bears were hoping both Cutler and running back Matt Forte would be able to return in this game, but neither player appears ready to go. They also lost wide receiver Johnny Knox for the rest of the season to a serious back injury, which required surgery on Monday.
The ‘under’ has cashed in the past eight meetings of the longest rivalry in league history, and Chicago figures to be offensively-challenge in this game as well. Green Bay has won the last three games between the teams along with five of six, going 4-2 ATS. The loser has not scored more than 17 points in the last nine meetings while the winner has totaled more than 21 once in the past seven. The Packers have scored exactly 21 points three times in the last six meetings.
The weather forecast for Christmas Day in Green Bay calls for a high temperature of 35, cooling down to a low of 27 at night under partly cloudy skies.