Packers Are Playoff Bound, Upend Bears 17-9

Jordan Love came up big in big moments and his teammates rose to the Bears challenge, sending the North Division rivals on a bitter, cold ride home back to the city of wind. Chicago asked to receive the ball after winning the opening coin toss, showing no fears of the Packer defense.

The Bears came out strong, getting four first downs while cutting through the Packers defense. But at the Green Bay 26-yard line on first down, Fields was sacked by Lucas Van Ness and Kenny Clark. Then on third and 13 the Bears set up a screen that looked like it had open field ahead. That’s when rookie Carl Brooks came up huge.

Brooks wrapped his mitts around Khalil Herbert’s foot for a loss of three, forcing a fifty-yard field goal that Bears kicker Cairo Santos bounced off the post and through for the three points. Love and the Packer offense drove 12 plays and 52 yards to set up a 41-yard field goal, but Anders Carlson shanked his field goal attempt, giving the Bears decent field position with the lead.

Justin Fields started the next drive with accuracy. Two short passes created two first downs and 23 yards. But once again the defense was able to sack Fields, this time at the fifty-yard line. Devonte Wyatt blew into the backfield on third and six and Fields had no chance.

After a Bears punt Love and the Packers responded with their first touchdown drive. And it was a beauty. Ninety-two yards. Four runs by Aaron Jones and one by Bo Melton totaling 27 yards and all providing positive yardage. Love was perfect on the drive going 6 for 6 for 65 yards finishing with a beautiful ten-yarder to Wicks for the touchdown.

Packers Looked to Defense Early On to Hold Lead

The defense then played the bend but don’t break strategy again. The Bears were able to carve a drive to the Green Bay 13 but had to settle for a field goal after Kenny Clark’s sack on another third and six. The Packers were holding onto to a narrow 7-6 advantage as they drove for a late first half score.

But the drive was foiled by more Packer mistakes. First, rookie tight end Tucker Kraft caught a short pass toward the sideline but tried to gain more yards instead of going out of bounds. His failure kept the clock ticking and then LaFleur got a bit greedy, going for a final pass play with eleven seconds left.

Wicks caught the pass but made no attempt to turn upfield and was hit while still inbounds. The referee decided to call the tackle in bounds and the Packers could not get another play off. Green Bay went into the locker room at half time up by one point after leaving at least six points off the scoreboard.

Packer fans were feeling nervous as the third quarter started but Jordan Love kept calm and cool. Nine plays totaling seventy-five yards on their first second half drive scored the Packers second touchdown, again a nice toss by Love to Wicks. How good was the offense?

They never punted. Love was 27 of 32 for 316 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. In the entire game he only had two passes that were not accurate and catchable.

He had two dropped potential touchdown passes that would have been highlight plays. His only fault was a fumble on a blown play where he tried to run through two Bears for a first down.

The young receivers made play after play. Love hit seven different receivers. Only Romeo Doubs was shut out after he made a great attempt on a pass from Love in the end zone that was knocked out of his hands as he landed on the ground.

Wicks, Reed, Melton and Kraft did most of the damage. Undrafted Malik Health had three receptions and a great defensive move to knock away a potential interception from Chicago’s Terrell Smith on one of the few errant passes by Love.

Looking Back at the Win

The Packers gave up points on special teams, on a rookie mistake in the final seconds of the half, and on a fumble turnover. Through it all the defense kept the Bears out of the end zone. The Bears had scored 28 against Detroit, 17 in a loss to Cleveland, 27 against the Cardinals and then 37 against Atlanta.

In a pregame article, Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated’s Packer Central, laid out three reasons why the Bears would beat the Packers. First, the Bears would roll over the Packers weak run defense. Second, he detailed the Bears trade for Montez Sweat had turned the Chicago defense into a top five defense in the NFL. Their sack numbers had exploded, and their takeaway numbers were proportionally up.

He then said Chicago’s defense was stout and would contain Aaron Jones. But this much maligned Packer defense came to play. And Aaron Jones was not going to be denied. Chicago rushed for a total of 75 yards. Fields was sacked 5 times. He had 27 yards rushing.

Herbert had a team high 28. D.J. Moore was held to 4 catches for 64 yards. Corners Carrington Valentine, Corey Ballentine, and Jaire Alexander all made plays to stall Bear drives.

The defensive scheme included rushing five and having a spy on Fields and it worked. The pass rush was a constant force. Chicago has problems and is not a top offense. Sorry Mr. Huber, but the Packer defense was the impressive team on this day at Lambeau Field, making clutch plays on every Bear drive. And Aaron Jones carved up the Bears for 111 yards on the ground and five catches for 30 yards in the air.

Bear fans could lament the loss of two starting offensive lineman and their best corner, but the Packers have played hurt all year. They made the playoffs with an untested offensive line, a quarterback playing his first consistent meaningful snap and a bunch of rookie and second year receivers.

There were no sad moments of Aaron Rodgers gathering his friends to jog off the field with the last regular season game ending the season in 2024. Jordan Love has led the youngest team into the playoffs. Time to celebrate Packer fans.

Now, next week, the Packers face old friend Mike McCarthy in Dallas.

Dallas will be a true test for this Green Bay team which has benefited from playing a number of teams decimated by key injuries.

In the meantime, savor this win and this team’s accomplishments. Nobody was predicting a playoff game in week five of the season.

Credit must go to players and coaches. Position coaches especially. What a job Luke Butkus has done for the offensive line. And defensive back coach Ryan Downard and tight ends coach John Dunn.

Most of all Tom Clements has produced the miracle; a third quarterback in a row with elite potential. This team has exceeded expectations and has a bright future. Let’s hope that future starts well in Dallas next week.

The next QB of the Green Bay Packers is like 7 years old rn probably dumping spaghettios into his pants at lunch

— sam. (@sammwichh) January 8, 2024