FanHouse John Tait

As we get ready for week one matchup of the Cowboys and Panthers, I exchanged e-mails with Jeff from DaBearsBlog. Jeff was nice enough to offer some insights on Chicago for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.

To get you ready for Week 16, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is your Packers/Bears preview.

2007 Records:

Green Bay Packers: 12-2 (NFC North Champions)
Chicago Bears: 5-9 (Last in NFC North)

Last Week:

Packers 33, Rams 14
Vikings 20, Bears 13

When the Packers have the ball: Green Bay's first choice is to attack through the air but they aren't totally reliant on the pass. Ryan Grant has the second-most yards in the league since Week Eight and has found great success running behind a very good Packer line. With Tommie Harris and Darwin Walker ailing, the middle of the Bears defensive line should yield good gains for Grant and force the Bears to adjust their defense forward. When they do that Favre can take advantage. Tight end Donald Lee is a force in play action and Donald Driver, James Jones and Greg Jennings down the field. Nathan Vasher played for the first time in ages last week and made some plays in Minnesota, but he's missed practice all week and Tarvaris Jackson isn't exactly of Favre's caliber.

To get you ready for week 13, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is your New York Giants/Chicago Bears preview.

2007 Records:

New York Giants: 7-4 (2nd in NFC East)
Chicago Bears: 5-6 (t-3rd in NFC North)

Last Week:

Vikings 41, Giants 17
Bears 37, Broncos 34 (OT)

When the Giants have the ball: First and foremost, Eli Manning needs to limit his throws to the fellas in the blue helmets. He tried it the other way last weekend and turned in the worst quarterbacking performance since the backup to Scott Bakula in Necessary Roughness. That's not easy to do but then the limits Eli will go to in the name of entertainment have barely been scratched. Many of his bad throws came when under pressure so the Bears will do what they can to get Tommie Harris, Adewale Ogunleye and others in his face. He should have chances to make plays against the Bear secondary, even if Nathan Vasher returns from groin problems, but could be without Plaxico Burress, who has struggled with a knee injury this week. With Brandon Jacobs doubtful as well, Manning will need to bring his A game for the Giants offense to shine.

The good news for the Bears is that they will get Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman and Adam Archuleta are expected to be back in action against the Packers. Having the three starters back in action should help the Bears keep Brett Favre from gashing them the way Jon Kitna did in last weekend's 37-27 loss. If Nathan Vasher were able to play there might even be a return of the stifling Chicago defense of last year but that will have to wait a while as his groin injury hasn't healed sufficiently enough for him to get back on the field.

But all the news from the trainer's room isn't so positive. Starting tackle John Tait won't be protecting Brian Griese's blind side because of his high ankle sprain. That leaves John St. Clair to do battle with Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila on Sunday. He'll need to come through with a strong performance. KGB had three sacks against the Vikings last Sunday and Griese will need all the help he can get to avoid another dismal performance.

Even with Tait the Bears have had a hard time moving the ball on the ground and without him Cedric Benson will have a difficult time taking advantage of Green Bay's vulnerable run defense. That's going to mean more pressure on Griese, both internal and external. That's been a bad recipe for the Bears this season.

This is a continuation of a 2-part series regarding what the Chiefs must do next season to fix their woes on offense. Click here to read Part I.

Whether you like Herm Edwards or not; whether you like Herm's offensive philosophy or not, we have to recognize that the offense needs to change. Even if Dick Vermeil were still head coach, the Chiefs would still need to undergo a massive facelift. Will Shields and Casey Wiegmann have gone from terrific to average due to age. Jordan Black is certainly no Willie Roaf, and Kevin Sampson and Chris Terry are no John Tait. Ronnie Cruz is no Tony Richardson. And Trent Green... just isn't Trent Green anymore.

The writing should have been on the wall the minute we saw Herm's drafting and roster decisions on offense. The Chiefs went with Jeff Webb in the draft, a tall, big receiver--by all indications, a terrible fit for Saunders' Coryell offense. As the 5th receiver, the Chiefs went with another big guy: Chris Hannon, a 6'3", 205 lb. receiver. Lightning fast receiver Craphonso Thorpe was cut for being a "crappy" fit to Herm's new offense. Vermeil favorite Chris Horn was also not brought back into Kansas City.