Matt Eberflus didn’t shy from the fact the Bears haven’t beat the Green Bay Packers in a long, long time.

It has been 10 straight losses, as a matter of fact, a point he brought up in discussions with his team heading toward Sunday.

“We’re looking to change history,” Eberflus said. “That’s an important thing that we rally around. It’s one game for us. We understand where the history is and we have to be better there. We have to play for three hours on Sunday and we’re excited about this competition.”

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It might be the most important three hours of Eberflus’ time here.

The head coach simply must beat Green Bay to preserve a season that’s slipping away. He simply must beat Green Bay to sustain job security that’s slipping away.

He has made some changes to turn the tide, including a switch at offensive coordinator. If that can get Caleb Williams back to playing like Caleb Williams, then all the drama was worth it. If not, it’ll amplify the issues surrounding this team and lead toward yet another change at the top.

There are questions to be answered to secure a victory. Let’s discuss them, right…now:

How will Thomas Brown fare in his debut?

The Bears fired their offensive coordinator in-season for the first time in franchise history. Shane Waldron was let go and Thomas Brown was promoted following a run of ineptitude that led to three straight losses and eight consecutive quarters without a touchdown scored.

The offensive timing was off and Caleb Williams seemed to be going backward. That’s a lot for Brown to fix without a bye week to triage and create a recovery timetable. He’s got to get things right in a hurry or this season will fall apart.

Players say that Brown has set a proper tone during this practice week, and has his unit focused and ready for better. Translating that to production is the unknown here. Can the Bears fix problems a hurry? In short, yes. They have plenty of talent. Consistent execution has been the issue. If Brown can put this offense in position to succeed, this game could turn in Chicago’s favor.

Can Bears let Caleb be Caleb?

The Bears rookie quarterback has taken his share of criticism over this three-game losing streak, where the offense has gone off the rails. Some of it is fair. He’s holding on to the ball too long. He’s taking too many sacks. He isn’t as accurate as he needs to be on deep shots. He’s not taking layups when they’re available.

But it’s unfair to assume he has lost it. We’ve seen Williams spin it like we know he can, and it wasn’t that long ago now that he did so. His confidence is unwavering, but he needs to find open receivers early in his progression to get into a rhythm that wakes him back up. If he can do that and finds a good flow, this offense will turn around in a hurry.

I don’t think he has regressed. He’s just in a slump and can bust out of it. His offensive line is nearly back to full health, which will help. If he takes small profits that lead to downfield opportunities, this whole thing turns around.

He was awesome in Weeks 5-6. He can be awesome again, despite all the doom and gloom surrounding his progress.

Will the Bears find a way to stop Josh Jacobs?

Bears offensive struggles are the reason why the season has reached this point. Make no mistake about that. The defense has been praised for doing its thing, but its issues stopping the run haven’t helped matters.

The Bears have given up 119-plus yards in seven games this season, including 357 yards and three touchdowns in the last two games. That’s an issue and a direct reflection of missing Andrew Billings on the defensive interior.

That defensive flaw will be attacked by a Packers team featuring Josh Jacobs, a tough runner who will welcome physicality and tough yards after the catch. He has been Green Bay’s best player this season and get tons if touches on Sunday. How the Bears fare dealing with him is a major factor that might not generate headlines but will be key in declaring a victor.

“That’s what he’s known for, running hard, running behind his pads,” cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. “For us, we just have to gang tackle him, get his legs wrapped and stop his momentum.”

How will the DJ Moore/Xavier McKinney feud end?

Xavier McKinney went off on DJ Moore this week. The Packers safety questioned Moore’s effort. He essentially said that Moore wasn’t a good teammate. And the launching point of his Wednesday tirade wasn’t even accurate. Moore didn’t tell Kay Adams that he didn’t know who McKinney was. He just said, “that’s nice,” when asked about upgrades to NFC North secondaries. That’s not a true slight, but athletes are always starved for motivation.

Something says the pregame trash talk will manifest in some way on Sunday, especially if the Bears offense gets going. This isn’t a receiver/shadow cornerback situation. These guys won’t be covering each other all day. But there will be a moment or two where they’re matched up.

That will be spicy, but Moore can take a big hit and make contested catches. These matchups bring out the best in him, even if he seemed flummoxed by the commotion McKinney started. A huge game from one of the league’s best receivers would go a long way in getting the Bears right.

Can Chicago upend rivalry trend?

The Bears have lost 10 straight games to the Green Bay Packers and 25 of the last 28 in this century-old series, as unfathomable as that is to believe.

That run of awful stretches across regimes and quarterbacks and brief periods of Bears success, with relative stability on the other side of the aisle. Every matchup between the sides is important, but this one is crucial to the Bears season. Win it and the team gets back to .500 and starts a brutal division slate off on the right now. Lose and the season descends into chaos. Sorry if that sounds dramatic, but it’s true. This might not be a pivot point in the season, but it can stem a bad trend and provide hope that all is not lost.