Green Bay Packers @ Bears: Immediate Reactions Part II

Since writing about my immediate reactions right after the Green Bay Packers game, I’ve had the chance to rewatch it and have some new takeaways from their performance.

After every game, I’ve come out with my “Immediate reactions” to the Green Bay Packers performance on that particular day. I highlight the positives, the negatives and really anything that stood out as the game went on.

However, since posting my gut reactions of the Packers victory over the Chicago Bears, I’ve had the chance to go back and rewatch the game again and I’ve come up with a whole new list of takeaways from their performance.

You’d be surprised what new things stick out to you as you watch a game for a second time when you aren’t in the moment of not knowing what the outcome will be. So here I have Part II of my immediate reactions from the Packers at the Bears.

• In the original piece, I highlighted Preston Smith’s overall performance as it was an impressive debut. However, what stood out the second time around was his presence in the running game. He did a spectacular job of setting the edge, containing the runners, and reading the quarterback before making a move. Part of the Packers’ success was their ability to slow down the Chicago running game and keep Mitch Trubisky in the pocket.
• Adrian Amos was really all over the place and it only took a few series’ to realize all that he can bring to this team. Amos was making tackles at the line of scrimmage, in the backfield and was creating pressure by blitzing off the edge. It’s been a while since we’ve had a safety make plays like that in Green Bay.
• A big contributor to the offensive struggles was the Chicago defense they were facing, however, early on it looked like Aaron Rodgers may have even been a little nervous. He was antsy in the pocket, threw a pass at Jimmy Graham’s feet, and threw one wide of Davante Adams. You have to wonder if he was a little tense in this game given all of the offseason noise that had occurred.
• Although it went a bit unnoticed when I was watching live, the overall performance of Bryan Bulaga was very sound, both in pass protection and in run protection. Also considering that he was against Khalil Mack numerous times during the game, we all need to tip our hats to Bulaga.
• Speaking of Khalil Mack, there really isn’t much you can ever do to truly slow him down. He is going to get his, you just hope to limit it as much as possible. And for the most part, the Green Bay Packers’ offensive front did that as they kept him away from Aaron Rodgers. Mack still had five tackles and three hurries, but he didn’t record a single sack or a quarterback hit.
• From the Bears perspective, I do not know why David Montgomery wasn’t more of a factor in this game. He was very tough to bring down and every time he had the ball in his hands I was nervous. I thought he would play a much bigger role than he did.
• Geronimo Allison was MIA Thursday night but in his defense, none of the Packers receivers really did a whole lot. But Allison was on the field for 30 plays, 22 of which were passing and he was never targeted once.
• With the debut of the Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, and Adrian Amos, it was easy to overlook Jaire Alexander’s performance. He was sticky in coverage and came up with a big play where he was able to knock the ball out of the receiver’s hands as the Bears were threatening to score.
• After watching it a few more times, that throw that looked fairly routine live from Rodgers to Marquez Valdes-Scantling was actually quite ridiculous. Rodgers looked off the safety almost the entire time in the pocket, his feet weren’t set, and I’m not even sure he was looking at MVS when he threw the ball. This was vintage Aaron Rodgers at his finest.
• Coming into training camp many wondered if Mason Crosby would be the Green Bay Packers kicker and while he wasn’t asked to do much Thursday night, he did his job nailing an extra point and then a field goal in the fourth quarter.
• By the play of the defense you never would have known that the Packers really only had one true inside linebacker on the field for much of the game in Blake Martinez. Raven Greene did a very good job filling that role next to him.
• Now, part of the reason for the lack of play-action was due to Green Bay’s inability to establish the run but all offseason we heard how important it would be to this offense, yet against the Bears, we hardly saw it at all.
• Although Rashan Gary’s snaps were limited, he did take full advantage of them when on the field. He finished the game with a hit, a quarterback hurry and an overall grade of 76.1 from Pro Football Focus. Gary was also in on the play with Preston Smith that caused Trubisky to throw a pass to the endzone short of the receiver as they were driving in the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t always pretty but most importantly, the Green Bay Packers came away with the victory against the Chicago Bears. They now have a mini-bye before they take on the Minnesota Vikings at home. While there are definitely areas to improve on, there is also plenty of positives to take away from this game.