>>Bears At Indianapolis Sunday
Chicago Bears linebacker Jerrell Freeman does not need to study film to learn the strengths of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.
After all, Freeman spent the previous four seasons as Luck's teammate with the Colts.
The Bears (1-3) visit the Colts (1-3) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX). Neither team's start to the season has gone as planned, and both sides need a win to climb toward .500 and prevent their playoff chances from diminishing even further.
Indianapolis is averaging 27 points per game, which ranks No. 7 in the NFL. Defense is another story, as the Colts are allowing 31.3 points per game, third worst in the league.
On offense, Chicago is managing only 15.5 points a game, which is tied with the Tennessee Titans for worst in the NFL. The Bears' defense is allowing 24.3 points a game, which ranks No. 19.
Chicago is coming off its first win of the season, a 17-14 decision over the Detroit Lions. However, the victory carried a heavy price as wide receiver Kevin White, the team's 2015 first-round pick, broke his left fibula and badly sprained his left ankle. White missed all of last season because of injuries to the same leg.
White joins a long list of injured Bears teammates that includes quarterback Jay Cutler (thumb), running back Jeremy Langford (ankle) and defensive tackle Eddie Goldman (ankle). One starter who could return is linebacker Danny Trevathan, who missed the past two games because of a thumb injury.
If Cutler is unable to play, veteran Brian Hoyer would make his third consecutive start. Hoyer faced the Colts last season while with the Houston Texans. He threw for 312 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a 27-20 loss.
>>Packers Host Giants on Sunday Night Football
The New York Giants' trip to Green Bay to face the Packers is dripping with story lines.
Will Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham keep his poise and bounce back from the worst game of his career? In Monday night's loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Beckham was limited to three receptions for a career-low 23 yards. After scoring 25 touchdowns in the first 27 games of his career, Beckham hasn't found the end zone in four games this year.
Beckham has a chance to get back on track against the Packers. After being frustrated by Washington's Josh Norman and Minnesota's Xavier Rhodes, Beckham will attack a Packers pass defense that ranks 29th in yards allowed. That unit has had trouble coping with the loss of cornerback Sam Shields, who figures to miss his third consecutive game with a concussion. Last year's first-round pick, Damarious Randall, has struggled to adapt to life as the team's top cornerback, with Minnesota's Stefon Diggs and Detroit's Marvin Jones having big days mainly at his expense the past two games.
Giants Head Coach Ben McAdoo is coming back to Green Bay, where he worked as tight ends coach from 2006-11 and quarterbacks coach in 2012 and 2013.
A quarterbacking matchup between Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning is about as good as it gets. Rodgers is a two-time MVP. Manning is a two-time Super Bowl champion. Rodgers, coming off a four-touchdown first-half performance vs. Detroit, owns the highest career passer rating in NFL history. Manning is two touchdowns away from becoming the eighth player in NFL history with 300 touchdown passes and is one win from No. 100.
Manning is 2-3 in regular-season games against the Packers -- 1-2 vs. Rodgers -- but is 2-0 in the playoffs. The Giants won 23-20 in overtime to capture the NFC Championship in 2007 and 37-20 in the divisional playoffs in 2011. Both games were at Lambeau Field. The first was played with a kickoff temperature of minus-1; the second ruined the defending Super Bowl-champion Packers' 15-1 regular season.
