Bears/Packers review
Green Bay was able to overcome a slow start to pull away in the second half for a 26-10 win Thursday night at Lambeau Field. With the win, the Packers improved their record to 4-2 while Chicago dropped to 1-5. Without the threat of a running game, Aaron Rodgers threw the ball 56 times. He completed 39 for 326 yards and three touchdowns. Green Bay entered the game with only two healthy running backs with Knile Davis only having been on the team for two days and Don Jackson hurt his hand in the win. In order to have some sort of running game, the Packers lined up wide receivers Ty Montgomery and Randall Cobb in the backfield. Those two combined to carry the ball 14 times for 81 yards, an impressive 5.8 yards per carry. Chicago’s starting quarterback Brian Hoyer broke his arm in the second quarter and his backup Matt Barkley was terrible. Hoyer left the game with the score 3-0 Packers, but Green Bay teed off on Barkley and ended up winning going away. The Packers looked bad in the first half, but looked good in the second. This was a typical Thursday night game and if I wasn’t a Green Bay fan, I probably would have focused all my attention on the NLCS.
I would love to say that Rodgers is back to his normal self, but Chicago was missing most of its cornerbacks. When healthy, Chicago’s defense is solid, but the defensive backfield is depleted. With Green Bay having virtually no healthy running backs, Mike McCarthy put the ball in his best player’s hands and had Rodgers throw 56 times against the depleted Bears secondary. A few years ago, Rodgers would have thrown for 400 yards and five scores against a secondary this poor, but not this year’s version of No. 12. I still think something is off with him. It is a step in the right direction, though, and he has another opportunity to prove he is back next Sunday in Atlanta.
Despite being a wide receiver, I thought Montgomery played really well at running back. He had one of the bigger plays of the game, a 30-yard run on the first play following the Chicago touchdown. The offense was stuck in mud at that point and Montgomery’s run jump started the drive that gave the Packers the lead for good. The wide receiver carried the ball nine times (I said that in an Ed Rooney voice) for 60 yards. He also caught 10 passes for 66 yards. It was a good all around day for Montgomery and Green Bay will need more days like this from him in the coming weeks if it wants to stay in the NFC North race.
Filling in as the No. 1 cornerback and stuck with guarding Chicago’s No. 1 wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, LaDarius Gunter played well. Following his rough game against Dallas, Gunter held Jeffery to just three catches for 33 yards. Granted, some of that was with Barkley in the game and he showed no ability to complete passes consistently. Hoyer had done well through the air since becoming the Bears starter and Gunter had played well when Hoyer was in the game. It started out well for Gunter, as he forced incompletions intended for Jeffery on Chicago’s first drive, forcing the Bears to punt. Rookies Kenny Clark and Blake Martinez both played well and are improving and will be fixtures on this defense for years to come. Nick Perry has also continued his dominant play so far this year.
I mentioned the struggles of Rodgers earlier, and that would be the biggest negative right now. I don’t know if the coaching staff knows what the problem is. His offensive line is giving him great protection, but he can’t find anybody open. Maybe the problem is his receivers and not coming back to the ball if their quarterback is in trouble. Maybe it is Rodgers. I happen to think it is a bit of both. Hopefully Green Bay gets creative with play calling and gets things right during this mini bye week.
Overall, it was a win that the Packers desperately needed. Chicago is one of the worst teams in the league and Green Bay needed to come back in the second half to win. Something is still not right with this team. The Packers need to get it corrected, as they have a tough game ahead in Atlanta next on the schedule.
