Current Odds

The Packers briefly opened as a 3½-point road favorite last week, but the majority of sportsbooks opened the line -3 where it currently stands with the juice slightly favoring Chicago as Green Bay is -3 +100 in most locations with the Bears standing +3 -120. The oddsmakers are unlikely to move off such a key number as NFL favorites win by exactly 3 points nearly 10% of the time. There is a chance some Green Bay money will come back in on Monday evening as 71% of the public is backing the Packers according to the Covers.com consensus.

The Over/Under line opened at 45 total points last week and has since risen to 46 in most locations. There is a chance this line will riser higher on Monday night as 69% of the public is favoring the Over according to the Covers.com consensus.

Injury Report

Green Bay suffered a major blow when they lost running back Ryan Grant two weeks ago. Grant led the team with 1,317 rushing yards last season and is out indefinitely with torn ligaments in his ankle.

Fullback Korey Hall (hip) and linebacker Brady Poppinga (knee) did not practice this week and might not play. Cornerback Brandon Underwood (shoulder) was a full participant in practice last week for the first time since he injured his shoulder in the third preseason game.

“He went through his work last week and didn’t have any setbacks,” McCarthy said, who also commented that the Packers practiced in shells on Thursday because “the medical report wasn’t where it needed to be.”

For the Bears, linebacker Lance Briggs (ankle), tackle Chris Williams (hamstring) and safety Major Wright (hamstring) missed practice. Williams and Wright are not expected to play, but Lance Briggs is listed as probable tonight. Briggs led the Bears with 118 tackles last season.

Pass it Around

Green Bay has one of the best passing attacks in the NFL behind the right arm of quarterback Aaron Rodgers who has already thrown for 442 yards and 4 touchdowns this season. Rodgers has plenty weapons at his disposal with three solid wide receivers in Donald Driver (9 catches), Greg Jennings (8), and Jermichael Finley (8). In these situations, we often see players become disgruntled after not enough footballs make the rounds. But Rodgers has done a good job in keeping everybody happy so far.

“The biggest challenge is if there starts to be some dissension with those guys,” Rodgers said. “I just hope they would come to me first. We’ll meet that when we come to it, but I hope we don’t have to go through that. Obviously, they all want to make plays. I’m not going to change the way I play. I’m going to throw it to the guys who are open, and I’m going to go through my progressions. I hope they understand that.”

Chess Match

The Packers play a 3-4 defense under coordinator Dom Capers and they disguise their packages very well. That’s apparent by the fact that left outside linebacker Clay Matthews already has 6 sacks in the first two games, good for the league lead right now.

The Bears and new offensive coordinator Mike Martz feel they are well prepared for Green Bay’s 3-4 scheme after they played the Cowboys last week and the Chargers in the preseason (both teams also run a 3-4 defense). And quarterback Jay Cutler agrees that the Bears know how to counter-attack an opposing 3-4 defense.

"We try to have some answers for everything," Cutler said. "We've hit a few this year, we've been stumped a few times. We spread it out sometimes so if you're going to blitz us, we're going to have some hot answers for you. It's just whether or not a defense is prepared for them or not."

Special Teams Ace

One of the most important parts of a football game often gets overlooked. Special teams play is a critical factor, and many times the performance by that unit directly affects the outcome of a game. And if Jordy Nelson continues to do what he’s doing, the Packers offense will have a lot of short fields to work with this season.

Nelson ranks #2 in the NFL in kickoff return average (31 yards per return) which is up from his 25-yard average and #11 ranking in 2009. Because of Nelson’s returns, Green Bay is tied for second in average starting field position (35-yard line). Special teams were a big emphasis for the Packers in the off-season, and their hard work has paid off so far.

“The best part is we haven’t even hit full stride yet,” special teams player Derrick Martin said. “Since March-April, we’ve been working on timing, getting our technique, getting our drops. It’s really been showing. We’ve been working on it all off-season. We’re just wanting to run downhill.”