With less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter of Sunday’s Packer game, down 7-0, Aaron Rodgers saw Bears’ defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. bearing down on him. Rodgers changed direction and threw the ball away just as Edwards Jr. tackled him. Apparently proud of his “quarterback hurry” stat, Edwards Jr. stood over Rodgers, pointed his finger at him and ran his mouth. The referee who was watching immediately threw a flag for taunting. That penalty ignited Rodgers and the Packer offense. The Green and Gold, playing in their home jerseys, drove 80 yards, including the fifteen yard unsportsmanlike penalty, to tie the score and begin a momentum swing they never relinquished. They led 10-7 at halftime, scored a touchdown on their first drive of the third quarter and responded with a Rodgers dash to the goal line and the aforementioned rant towards the stands after Chicago closed to within three points in the fourth quarter.
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Lesson one Mr. Edwards Jr.; lighting a fire under Rodgers is not a good idea for any opponent. Lesson two; if you are going to taunt, do it after you pump fake a pass and scramble in for a game clinching touchdown, then aim your taunt to the crowd. No Penalty and no comeback. Rodgers’ crowd taunting seemed to add a bit of spice to this 100 year and 203 game rivalry. To be fair, he can back it up. The Bears fan in the stand who was giving him the double middle finger salute that Rodgers said sparked his taunt must admit, she has reason to despise Rodgers. The QB has an overall record of 22-5 against the Bears. Sunday, Rodgers found seven different receivers, hitting on 17 of 23 pass attempts that included two touchdowns. He shook off three sacks and ran seven times for 19 yards including the late scramble for the games final score. I know Robb Born was smiling watching those runs.
The Packers ended the game with 31 rushing plays and 23 pass plays. That is a ratio from the John Brockington days. If Brockington was watching today’s game, he had to be smiling. A.J. Dillon left the Bears defense and safety Tashaun Gipson Sr. in the proverbial Chicago wind as he busted through a wide hole in the line and faked Gipson Sr. for a 36 yard scamper. Aaron Jones also impressed with 110 yards from scrimmage including a number of screen and flare passes. One went for a touchdown and another set up first and goal when Jones seemed to be hiding behind center Lucas Patrick to avoid Bears end Bilal Nichols. Then he slipped past him for a first down and goal at the seven. The Packers settled for a field goal on that drive when a near perfect throw by Rodgers and spectacular catch by St. Brown was nullified for offensive pass interference. While not the obvious focus like past games, Davante Adams still had four catches for 89 yards. The Packers were only 2-8 on third down but converted their only 4th down attempt on their first touchdown drive.
The Special teams shook off last weeks’ disaster as Mason Crosby was perfect and Bojorquez had an excellent kicking game.
The Packers’ defense went down more players as injuries hit Savage and Preston Smith. The defense still seems unable to make red zone stops but they made some big plays. Dean Lowry made game changing plays, sacking rookie QB Justin Fields near the end of the half to take the Bears out of field goal range. Lowry ended his day with 5 tackles, 4 solo, and was solid with pressure. Fields played well for a rookie. His one interception came when he thought Green Bay’s Kenny Clark had jumped offside. He did take four sacks but his ability to run was impressive when he found a lane. Without their staring corners, the Packers relied on Rasul Douglas and Eric Stokes to man the edges. Douglas took over for Isaac Yiadom, who was repeatedly burned by the Bears — including an early pass interference in the end zone. Overall, Douglas looks like an improvement. Jaylon Smith also saw his first action in a Packer uniform. Smith did not impress, nor did he get credit for a tackle, pass defense, or any defensive stat. He did seem to pressure Fields a couple of times. Kenny Clark put on a show with 2 sacks, the last one all but killing the Bears final comeback chance.
The Packer offense had three touchdown drives of 80, 90 and 75 yards, plus a field goal drive of 38 yards. They did not turn the ball over and committed only three penalties. This facing a defense that held the Raiders and QB David Carr to nine points and a 67.1 QBR just last week.
The run focused game plan combined with quick passes that spread the Bears defense wide, then took occasional shots set up by the run, frustrating Chicago. Jones averaged 5.8 a carry. Dillon was just behind him at 5.4. At least two of their three sacks seemed like blown assignments allowing rushers a clean open lane to the quarterback. The biggest offensive question is the status of rookie Josh Meyers who left the game with a knee injury. Lucas Patrick filled in admirably.
The Packers are now 5-1 with four road games under their belt. Next up is The Washington Football Team whose four losses are against the Chargers, Bills, Saints and Chiefs. Let’s hope we can add the Packers to that list next Sunday.
Giving credit where it’s due, Fields has a bright future
My core wants to agree with you, because i like the dude, and i think he’s a better pocket passer than people gave him credit for.
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He has a 53% completion percentage ..2 TD’s against 5 picks/fumbles and takes WAY too many sacks. Probably not all his fault.
But in parlance of pass attempts, prorated for a full season as a starter, lets say…500 attempts.
He’s on pace to be sacked 90 times. That’s unworkable. Something has to give.
He’s definitely a work in progress, as i’m assuming his O line is
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But, he’s young, green and he shows some potential.
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If he grows and advances his skills and keeps his starter status, it could be interesting over the future, of him and Love being possible common opponents starting out their careers around the same time.
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But at this point…both have a lot to prove. Proving they belong.
So it would seem Paul. Fields was up against a rookie CB and another fresh off the Carolina practice squad. He also had a running game yet still only managed 14 points. The Bear OL isn’t very good and he made the usual rookie mistakes. He played about as well as you can expect for a rookie. Still if your a Bear fan there’s reason for hope. It’ll be interesting to see how the games with Fields and Love play out in the coming years.
“…..it could be interesting over the future, of him and Love being possible common opponents starting out their careers around the same time.” – PF4L
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So…basically what i said in my post.
Thank you for reminding everyone what i wrote.
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GOOD JOB…lol
You mean you actually said something intelligent? That doesn’t happen every day.
Did anyone else see one of the Bears do Rodgers’ championship belt move after Rodgers got sacked? I would think that would have fired him up also. Friggen Bears added Pettine as a coach and they still couldn’t stop the Packers.
Yea, i saw that Deep, i also saw Rodgers do it after his rushing TD. He had one knee on the ground when he do it.
I remember smirking when i watched it.
“…31 rushing plays and 23 passing plays. That is a ratio from the John Brockingham days.” That’s a sports literary gem, Paul. I believe the Bears came into the game with the NFL’s second-ranked defense. They left at number seven, with 330.8 yards surrendered per game. Moving ahead of them was Green Bay – giving up an average of only 315 yds/game, they’ve moved into fifth place. Don’t look for that to last, however.. Eight NFL teams are currently averaging over 400 yards of offense per game, led by Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys at 460.8 ypg. The others are, in order: Chiefs, Bucs, Ravens, Vikes, Bills, Cards, and Rams. The Pack has yet to play any of these juggernauts, but have the Vikes (twice), Cards, Chiefs, Ravens, and Rams coming up. Unless the cornerback crisis is solved, Packer fans are in for a lot of trauma.
I was watching the stats during the game and I noticed at the end of the 3rd quarter, GB had about the same rushing yards as net passing yards! Can not argue with that when the RBs average 5.6 YPC. The last three games the 2 RBs are really producing in the run and pass game. Nice 1-2 punch that that may be a preview of life with Love. Looks like #12 is running MLFs offense after all.
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As an aside, TN just beat Buf with Henry at 143 yards and 7.2 YPC.
No stats please….
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We don’t want to make any viking fans angry!!
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Thank you for understanding.
My bad…
Adams may not have had a huge game, but there was one big play that shows the connection between Adams and Rodgers. It is one of the many reasons Rodgers so often targets Adams. Did anyone else get the feeling, I’ve seen that play before, on Adams long 4th quarter catch when he stepped out of bounds at the 21 and almost scored. With Adams in the slot Rodgers looked over to Adams and made a gesture. Rodgers made a similar gesture to Adams in the 2019 playoff game against the Seahawks and Adams made an important first down with about 2 minutes left in the game. I would guess that the route Adams ran against the Bears was not the route called. Rodgers and Adams changed the route just like they did against the Seahawks. Granted the route against the Seahawks was shorter before Adams bent the route to the sideline, but the Packers just needed a first down. In the Bears game Rodgers and Adams were looking for a bigger play so Adams went deeper before he bent his route to the sideline.
My God!
The writer has it wrong. According to Aaron “crybaby” Rodgers, he owns the Bears, not the Packers. Only him. Remember, it is all about him, not the team. It’s almost like the writer does not believe in Rodgers, the one true God, the God of taunting and selfishness, dishonor, and lack of class. Don’t you believe in him? He is right there!!!
Careful, he may excommunicate you from the church of Aaron.
Yes, keep in mind that it was he that owned the Bears, not the Packers, once he is gone after this year.
Aaron went so typical Aaron post-game when he blamed his behavior on some random fan in the stands. First, I am tempted to doubt there was any such fan as I know Aaron is willing to lie and willing to believe his own lies. He is the Donald Trump of QBs and nearly as old.
However, it was Chicago and the fans are scum. Congrats, Aaron, you did it, you raised your level of behavior to the equal of the lowliest and scummiest of Bears fans. It took a long time but you finally did it. You probably could have done it by age 6 if only you had tried harder.
*The NFL needs to pass “The Aaron Rule” in which taunting of random fans is the same offense, Unsportsmanlike Conduct, as taunting other players on the field. After all, the players are getting paid millions while the fans are paying their money. So maybe it should be a 30 yard penalty. Why not? PIs can go for more than 15 yards and we all know the refs give the Packers many extra of those in their favor, called against the opposing teams.
*Note how God Aaron used the actions of one fan, who may or may not exist, to justify behaving that same way to all the fans, all of them, at that game and watching on TV. It is like if you go to Britain and a Brit kills one of your citizens. It is then fair to put the entire country to death.
That is Aaron’s concept of what is fair and just and appropriate. Also, he can do any bad thing and it is good as long as someone else did another bad thing like it before he did his bad thing. Since all bad things have been done somewhere by someone, what you see here is Aaron’s psychology that he can do anything anywhere to anyone and he is completely justified in doing it.
The word for that is “psycho.”
Killers back. MN must have won a game finally.
killer hasn’t gone….anywhere
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It just seems like it when one of his other personality’s takes over.
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Maybe you saw…….
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJeNvH2hmPM
OOOHHH! Is that why Steven A. Smith calls Aaron “A BAAAADD MAN?
Another bitter viking fan obsessed over Rodgers…what are the odds…lol
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Aaron Rodgers mentions…9
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PF4L…0
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I’m feeling neglected.
Stephen A. Smith knows of what he speaks, for the most part.
Well we all know how Minneapolis is, a third world sht hole with a big ole chili dome in the middle.
“It is like if you go to Britain and a Brit kills one of your citizens. It is then fair to put the entire country to death.” – Princess killer
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YEA!!!!…that’s exactly what it’s like!!. What a great parallel. The similarities are mind boggling….lmao.
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Tell us more Princess :)
It’s being reported that Whitney Mercilus is about to sign with Green Bay.
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Although the pass rush seemed pretty good against the Bears, the bears have one of the weakest O lines in the NFL.
So i guess this shouldn’t come as a big shock.
The most sacks by a Packer this season is 3?
Kenny Clark leads the Pack with 3 sacks, while Preston Smith is hot on his ass with 2.
It should be noted that Mercilus has 3 sacks, 4TFL, 3 QB hits.
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I don’t know what it is, but teams are willing to part with somewhat productive players that they owe or have been already paid millions…and the Packers are feasting.
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Gute…picking up another piece of the puzzle for that inevitable Super Bowl run.
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Now, when do we see Jaylon Smith?
Mercilus has always been a 3-4 standup linebacker. I believe the Texans changed to a 4-3 defense this year and had Mercilus playing a hand in the dirt DE. Mercilus because of scheme/position change and age did not fit into the Texans defensive plans this year and forever. I don’t think Mercilus had a great season last year, but that team was dysfunctional. Mercilus can be a good role player for the Packers and should help with all the Packer injuries at OLB.
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Against the Bears Smith kind of reminded me of Kamal Martin. Martin had a hard time in his run fit assignment and not coming under control when trying to tackle. It is a small sample size for Smith with a limited time in the Packers system. Smith didn’t look good against the bears.
I’ve read the knock on J. Smith , he is better at playing pass protection than he is at run defense. Maybe LB coach M. Smith and J. Barry can help him be better at run fits. Rumor has it that Mercilus turned down more money to play in G.B. Probably because he’ll be able to stand up at OLB. That, along with the Texans being nowhere near a playoff contender.
Think of Whitney Mercilus as a 31 yr old Clay Matthews. Not much left in the tank. Beggars can’t be choosy this late into the season. I just don’t see ZaDarius Smith ever playing for the Packers again. He’ll be motivated. Maybe we get a bump. He’s not big enough to put his hand on the ground which is what Lovie Smith wanted. Mercilus wasn’t a scheme fit.