Green Bay Packers v. Bears: The Studs and Duds

As always, here are the studs and the duds from the Green Bay Packers’ performance, this time against the Chicago Bears.

Win ugly. That seems to be the Green Bay Packers’ mantra this season and that saying rings especially true in recent weeks. Yet despite the unspectacular performances, they still sit at 11-3 on the season, which is tied for the best record in the NFC and the current No. 2 seed in what is a very tight playoff race.

As is the case with any game, there are players who perform well, while there are others who struggle. And that was no different for the Packers on Sunday against Chicago. So just as we do every Monday, let’s dive into the studs and duds from Green Bay’s performance.

Studs

Kenny Clark

On an unusually quiet day for Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith – although they each still made some key plays – it was Kenny Clark who was living in the backfield against Chicago. After an excellent performance a week ago against Washington, Clark would build upon that game with another fantastic showing. In total he would make eight tackles, three of which were for a loss, with two sacks.

Davante Adams

The Green Bay Packers running game really struggled to get going and it was also an uncharacteristically sloppy performance from Aaron Rodgers, which ultimately led to another inconsistent showing from the offense. However, when Green Bay was moving the ball, it was usually Davante Adams who was making the play. Adams would be targeted 13 times, hauling in seven of them for 103 yards with a touchdown. He also had a 34 yard reception in the third quarter that helped set up an eventual Aaron Jones touchdown run.

David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulga

As I’m sure most of you remember, Khalil Mack was a one man wrecking crew against the Green Bay Packers in 2018, but for the second time this season, the dynamic duo of David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga were able to limit his impact on the game. On the broadcast, we rarely heard Mack’s name being called and that was because he was held to just one tackle along with no sacks or quarterback hits.

Tyler Ervin

What a midseason addition Tyler Ervin has turned out to be. After having a historically bad punt return team for much of the season, Ervin has helped provide a spark and dare I say, has become a weapon for the Green Bay Packers. Yesterday he would have just one punt return but it would still go for 12 yards. Meanwhile, he’s making some noise on the kick return unit as well with two returns against Chicago that totaled 71 yards and included a 45 yard return just before half.

Duds

Marquez Valdes-Scantling

After playing an integral role within this Green Bay Packers’ offense at the start of the season, Marquez Valdes-Scantling has seen his snap count drastically decrease in recent weeks, which included a season low of just 10 against Washington. Well, that was until yesterday’s game. On the very first play of the game with an opportunity to regain some of the trust that he’s lost from Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFleur, MVS would misplay a deep ball – which is supposed to be his bread and butter – that would have likely ended in a 70 yard touchdown reception. As a result of the poor play, MVS would see just seven total snaps against Chicago.

Aaron Rodgers

Yes, after a rough performance a week ago against Washington, Aaron Rodgers did not rebound very well this week. He would finish the day completing just 16 of his 33 passes for 203 yards with an average of just 6.2 yards per attempt. We also saw him make some poor decisions which included not throwing the Hailmary before half, taking a sack that knocked Green Bay out of field goal range in the fourth quarter, a pass that should have been an interception, and a near fumble in an attempt to gain an extra yard on third down when about five were actually needed.