3 and Out: Packers Rally, Down Bears Again
Fields and Co. let one slip away to Rodgers and the Pack, head into much-needed bye week
It seems like every time the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers meet a key moment emerges in which you can tell exactly when things are going wrong for the Bears and, at the same time, the Packers have a chance at re-gaining ultimate control.
In the latest chapter of the Bears-Packers saga, the Bears held a 10-3 lead in the 2nd quarter Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field.
After Justin Fields launched a 56-yard missile to Equanimous St. Brown to get the Bears into the red zone, David Montgomery rushed seven yards for the touchdown to extend the lead to 16-3. Kicker Cairo Santos came out at that time to take the extra-point attempt and it ended up being no good.
From that point on the Bears would only score three more points in the game while the Packers stormed back with 25 of their own, bringing the game’s final score to a 28-19 advantage in favor of the hated team from Wisconsin.
The defeat pushed the Bears to 3-10 on the season while it only pushed the Packers to 5-8, keeping alive some very slim current playoff possibilities for Green Bay.
Rally, Rodgers, Rally
The Bears and Packers each entered Week 13 with 786 wins all time, tied for the most in league history by a single franchise.
That intrigue for this game was deepened with the respective injury stories surrounding Justin Fields, who was making his return to the field after missing Week 12 with an injured shoulder, and Aaron Rodgers, who made his start despite suffering a rib injury the week prior.
The Bears started off Sunday on the right foot with a 10-point first quarter that was capped off by a 56-yard rushing score by Fields that made it seem like he was ready for another dominating performance that could possibly overshadow the QB on the other sideline.
At the same time, it seemed like that other QB was getting frustrated by a depleted Bears' defense that was able to hold Rodgers to only three points in his first three drives of the game.
But right before halftime, Rodgers was able to find his new favorite target in rookie wide out Christian Watson, who slithered away from Bears defenders just enough to catch a touchdown pass on a 4th-and-4 play on the Bears' 14-yard line. In the wake of the Santos extra point miss, this shortened the Bears’ lead to under a touchdown (16-10) going into halftime.
This year’s Bears team has done much damage in its second halves played from week to week so it would have been hard for them to imagine they’d only muster three points the rest of the way in this game, but they did.
Rodgers, who threw for 182 yards on 18 of 31 passing, was by no means dominant, but he did enough to get his team the win while AJ Dillon once again set a powerful tone for the Packers’ rush attack, racking up 93 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown.
Hustle and Muscle
In his first start in two weeks, Fields was able to wreak some havoc on the ground with a more limited number of runs than we’ve gotten used to this season, while at the same time showing as much accurate passing as we’ve seen from him in a Bears jersey.
In completing a season-high 20 passes on 25 attempts, Fields’ aerial attacks were highlighted a pair of truly impressive upfield throws to Equanimous St. Brown and N’Keal Harry.
Towards the game’s end, Fields’ luck turned as interceptions on back-to-back plays helped clinch the game for Green Bay. Many pinned the second INT on the lax route running of St. Brown.
Fields’ season's high in completions came in the same game as his season-low in run attempts. It wasn’t stated outright that Fields was restricted from rushing more due to his recovering left shoulder, but the six carries stand out, especially as they basically came to a halt after Fields’ brilliant first quarter run.
A fair share of positivity should also be saved for the Bears’ short-handed defense, which stood their ground admirably for most of this game, especially in the first half where they held Rodgers and the Packer offense out of the end zone for all of 17 seconds of the first two quarters.
Leading the way once again was linebacker Jack Sanborn with a team-high 11 total tackles, nine of the solo variety. Cornerback Jaylon Jones followed right behind Sanborn with eight total and six solo.
Starting corner back Jaylon Johnson spoke with authority in giving his fellow secondary members props after the game.
“I think we did a damn good job today if you ask me,” Johnson said.
Bye, Bye, Bye
An incredible amount of injuries and losses carry the Bears into their off week, which stretches now to the return of practices mid-next week.
But even with the trades, disappointments and physical pain, major positives have emerged that could carry the team through the final month of the season and maybe even further.
Never has there been a clearer picture of what Justin Fields is as a quarterback and in Sanborn a possible “defensive quarterback” has emerged who can lead that side of the ball for years to come.
We have also seen the Bears as a whole play hard week in and week out, something that can be attributed to head coach Matt Eberflus’ now-fabled HITS principle.
As they enter the final four games of the season, the Bears will need a hard-hitting effort now, more than ever. It may be week-to-week the toughest stretch of the year for this team.
The Bears return to action on December 18th when they host the current NFC-leading Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field.
Bear Tracks
Tight end Trevon Wesco left the game Sunday with a leg injury while blocking for David Montgomery on the first drive of the game.
Saul Rodriguez is WARR Media’s associate producer and lead Bears reporter