22-year old safety Morgan Burnett won a starting job as a rookie in 2010.  He played in 4 games for the Packers last year and he had 14 tackles, 1 interception and 1 pass defensed, before going down for the season due to injury.  Burnett is really stepping up for the Packers so far this year.  In the Packers’ first three games, Burnett has 27 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 sack, 3 interceptions and he has defensed 4 passes already.  Those are eye popping numbers that Burnett is putting up and the Packers hope that he can stay healthy this year.

24-year old TE Jermichael Finley had a rough time last year due to injury.  Finley played in only 5 games for the Packers last year and he caught 21 passes for 301 yards (14.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  This year though, Finley is making up for lost time.  Finley has played in all 3 games for the Packers so far this year and he has 15 grabs for 206 yards (13.7 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Finley wants to be more of this years possible Super Bowl run than he was last year when he was hurt early.

The Packers took the fight to the Bears once again yesterday at Soldier Field.  Aaron Rodgers was sharp as usual as he completed 28 of 38 passes for 297 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 INT.  Ryan Grant led the way on the ground for the Packers in this game with 17 carries for 92 yards (5.4 ypc).  James Starks only rushed for 5 yards on 11 carries (0.5 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 9 yards (3.0 avg).  Starks also lost a fumble in this game.  WR Greg Jennings (9 rec, 119 yards) and TE Jermichael Finley (7 rec, 85 yards and 3 TD grabs) led the way for the Packers in the passing game yesterday.  WRs Jordy Nelson (3 rec, 40 yards) and James Jones (4 rec, 24 yards) also pitched in for the Packers.  The Packers rushed for 100 yards on 29 carries (3.4 ypc) and they also completed 28 of 38 passes (73.7%) for 292 yards as they had possession of the ball for 37:29.

The Packers’ D played solid all-around football yesterday.  LB Desmond Bishop (5 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss) and safety Morgan Burnett (5 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 2 interceptions) led the way for the Packers on D in this game.  OLB Clay Matthews pitched in with 3 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and 1 QB hit also had a solid game for the Packers.  The Bears finished up with 13 yards rushing on 12 carries (1.1 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 37 passes (56.8%) for 278 yards in this game.  The Packers are now 3-0 on the year.

The bitter Packers/Bears rivalry gets renewed this Sunday at Soldier Field.  The Packers outscored the Bears last year 27-23 in a split in which each team won on their home field.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Packers have the ball:  The Packers are likely to come out throwing the ball against a Bears’ D that is allowing 270.0 yards per game so far this year.  The starting safeties of the Bears are both out for this game, so as long as Aaron Rodgers gets protection, he should have little problem moving the ball in the air.  Greg Jennings, Jermichael Finley, Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver and Randall Cobb will each get a few catches apiece this Sunday.  James Starks and Ryan Grant are going to share the carries this weekend against a Bears’ D that is allowing 114.0 yards rushing per game and 5.3 yards per carry so far this year.

When the Bears have the ball:  Matt Forte is the focal point of the Bears’ offense as he already has 117 yards rushing and 207 yards receiving this year.  The front seven are going to have to deal with him this whole game.  The Packers will try to blitz Jay Cutler early and often in this game as Jay Cutler has already been sacked 11 times so far this year.  He tends to make mistakes when he’s hit hard early in the game and it will be up to OLBs Clay Matthews and Erik Walden to get after him.  The secondary needs to be ready to make Cutler pass for rushing his passes this Sunday.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 23, BEARS 20

27-year old QB Aaron Rodgers seems even better than in the past so far this year, and that has to be downright scary for the competition.  He has played in both of the Packers games so far this year and he has completed 46 of 65 passes (70.8%) for 620 yards with 5 TD passes and 0 INTs (126.4 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 9 times for 14 yards (1.6 ypc) so far this year.  Rodgers has so many weapons on offense that not everyone gets the ball, and him spreading the ball around is what makes the offense so deadly.

The Packers have lost safety Nick Collins for the season with a serious neck injury.  Collins played in both games for the Packers this year and he had 12 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 forced fumble.  Collins has now played in 95 games in his first 7 years with the Packers and he has 419 tackles, 67 passes defensed, 21 interceptions (4 returned for TDs), 1 sack, 6 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries and 9 tackles for a loss.  Starting strong safety Morgan Burnett will slide back to free safety to replace Collins in the starting lineup.  Burnett has 21 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 1 interception, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble so far this year in the Packers’ first two games.   28-year old Charlie Peprah will replace Burnett as the starting strong safety.  He has 2 tackles in the Packers’ first two games this year.  Peprah played in 14 games for the Packers last year and he had 63 tackles, 2 interceptions, 5 passes defensed and 3 tackles for a loss.  Peprah did a solid job for the Packers when he replace an injured Morgan Burnett at strong safety, so the Packers have confidence in him.

UPDATE:  (10/12/2011) – The Packers have officially placed Nick Collins on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season.

The Green Bay Packers had a much tougher game than they thought they were going to have against the Panthers in Carolina yesterday.  Aaron Rodgers was sharp as usual as he completed 19 of 30 passes for 308 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 13 yards (2.6 ypc) in this game.  James Starks led the way on the ground for the Packers yesterday with 85 yards on 9 carries (9.4 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 30 yards (10.0 avg).  Ryan Grant pitched in with 25 yards rushing on 6 carries (4.2 ypc) and 3 grabs for 14 yards (4.7 avg) in this game.  John Kuhn only carried the ball 1 time but he made it count as he scored on a TD on a 1-yard run.  WRs Jordy Nelson (1 rec, 84 yards, TD), TE Jermichael Finley (5 rec, 68 yards) and Greg Jennings (2 rec, 55 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Packers in this game.  The Packers finished up with 124 yards rushing on 21 carries (5.9 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 30 passes (63.3%) for 295 yards as they had possession of the ball for 27:26.

The defense was solid against the running game but not so good against the pass yesterday.  LB Desmond Bishop led the way for the Packers’ D yesterday with 10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit.  Safety Morgan Burnett (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 2 passes defensed and 1 QB hit) and CB Jarrett Bush (7 tackles and 1 pass defensed) also pitched in with solid games for the Packers.  CB Charles Woodson was incredible yesterday for the Packers as he had 5 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 2 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery!  The Panthers finished up with 71 yards rushing on 21 carries (3.4 ypc) and they also completed 28 of 46 passes for 404 yards.  The Packers are now 2-0 on the year.

The Packers got a nice 42-34 opening night victory over the very tough Saints last Thursday.  They are now heading to Carolina to face rookie sensation Cam Newton.  Look for the Packers to bring him back down to Earth with a thud this Sunday afternoon.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Packers have the ball:  The Packers like to throw the ball to get the lead and then grind it out on the ground with Ryan Grant and James Starks.  The Packers are going to come after the Panthers will all guns blazing as the Cardinals threw for 295 yards against them last weekend.  Look for Rodgers to spread his WRs out, as usual, and assault the Panthers’ weak secondary.  Rodgers will get rid of the ball quick to avoid DE Charles Johnson of the Panthers.  WRs Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson and Donald Driver are going to have fun this Sunday.  TE Jermichael Finley is a mis-match with either safety on the Panthers, so he’s going to get the ball too.  Rookie WR/KR Randall Cobb is going to be the wildcard as the Panthers had issues last week in special teams coverage.

When the Panthers have the ball:  The Packers are going to be blitzing with OLBs Clay Matthews and Erik Walden when they get off the team bus.  The Panthers allowed 4 sacks last week, so they had protection problems.  The Packers want to put pressure on Cam Newton to force him into making some mistakes with the ball.  CB Tramon Williams is going to be likely matched up one on one with Steve Smith (8 rec, 178 yards, 2 TDs), but he will likely have some help over the top.  TEs Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen combined to catch 7 passes for 129 yards (18.4 avg) last week, so safeties Nick Collins and Morgan Burnett are likely to have their hands full.  The Panthers will likely try to run the ball a lot more this weekend to take the pressure off of Cam Newton.  DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are solid RBs, so A.J. Hawk, Desmond Bishop and B.J. Raji are going to have to bring their A-games this Sunday.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 34, PANTHERS 13

The Green Bay Packers have lost 24-year old DE Mike Neal indefinitely due to surgery on his left knee last week.  This is a bad break for Neal as he was likely going to get a lot more P.T. than he did as a rookie in 2010.  Neal played in only 2 games for the Packers last year but he had 3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss and he forced a fumble.  Those are pretty impressive numbers for a guy getting his first taste in the NFL.

28-year old Ryan Grant missed most of last season due to a broken ankle.  While he was out of action, 25-year old then rookie James Starks took over late in the year and in the playoffs as the featured back and he looked good.  Now Starks is pressing Grant and they are both healthy.  Starks carried the ball 12 times for 57 yards (4.8 ypc) with 1 TD run, while Grant carried the ball 9 times for 40 yards (4.4 ypc) and he caught 1 pass for 5 yards.  You’re not supposed to be able to lose your starting job due to injury, but it appears that Starks has overtaken Grant as the #1 back.  More than likely though, they will share carries this year as long as they are both effective.