Brandon Marshall ran his mouth before the Chicago Bears took on the Green Bay Packers in Week 2 this season. The big wide receiver spoke about how he hoped the Packers would bring man and press coverage against him in the two rivals’ first meeting of the season.
If the Packers were to apply man and press coverage? “Good luck,” Marshall said before that game.
As it turned out, Marshall and the Bears were the ones who could have used some luck. The Packers rolled on that Thursday night in September, handing the Bears a 23-10 win. Just as impressively, the Pack held Marshall to just 24 yards receiving on two catches. His two-catch, 21-yard performance against the 49ers a few weeks later was his only worse performance in an otherwise impressive year.
Now, with the Packers and Bears set to meet on Sunday, Green Bay has a chance to wrap up the NFC North despite the fact that the Bears have controlled the division for much of the season. Even with the division and the season slipping away, Marshall has another message for the Packers.
“I don’t like the Green Bay Packers,” the UCF product said Wednesday, according to USA Today. “I’m not going to use the word ‘hate,’ but I really dislike the Packers and their players. But you know what? The talk has to back it up. We’ll go out there and do everything we have to do to get a win.”
Marshall accused the Packers of talking trash following the Week 2 showdown. Cornerback Charles Woodson did take a not-so-subtle verbal shot at Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, but Marshall also says that members of the Green Bay secondary were taking credit for slowing the wideout in one-on-one situations.
“I didn’t beat double and triple coverage or whatever they were throwing at me,” he continued. “I take it as a slap in my face when guys are talking about my lack of ability to do something against them when they have help all over the place. I’m looking forward to one-on-one coverage. Hopefully, those guys, in a game like this, will go to their coach and say, ‘Let me have him. I want Brandon Marshall. I want to stop Brandon Marshall.’ Let’s see what happens.”
Of course, it’s not necessarily difficult to back up his trash talk this week. The Packers are featuring a banged-up secondary, and it appears that Woodson will miss yet another game. It will likely be up to Tramon Williams — who had his struggles last week with Calvin Johnson — to check Marshall.
Expect Marshall to put up big numbers, but it’s likely the Packers won’t mind as long as the number that matters on the scoreboard favors them come late Sunday afternoon.
