Green Bay Packers v. Chicago: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

The Green Bay Packers improved 11-3 on the season with a win over the Chicago Bears. Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly from their performance.

Going into halftime, the score was 7 to 3 in favor of the Green Bay Packers and the first half looked very similar to when these two teams met back in week one. But with touchdowns on their first two possessions of the third quarter, the Packers were able to take a three score lead. However as we’ve seen all season long, nothing comes easy for this Packers team as the Bears would mount a comeback but in the end, Green Bay would prevail.

Now at 11-3, they remain a game ahead of the Minnesota Vikings for the NFC North crown but Green Bay’s 4-0 divisional record could loom large if it comes down to a tie-breaker. Meanwhile they still hold the overall two seed in the tight NFC playoff race and helped eliminate the Chicago Bears from playoff contention today as well. Which makes Sunday’s win just a little more fun.

As is the case with any game there are good performances and bad ones. So per usual I’m here to unpack it all and give the good, the bad, and the ugly from the Green Bay Packers’ win over Chicago.

The Good

Kenny Clark

While Kenny Clark’s numbers through the first half of the season may not have been at the level we’ve grown accustomed to, that didn’t mean he wasn’t playing at a high-level. And with a player of Clark’s caliber, it was just a matter of time before the flood gates opened and the production started flowing.

From a numbers standpoint, things really started to change for Clark against Carolina and he’s continued to build upon that each week before having perhaps his best game of the season a week ago against Washington. That was until Sunday’s game against Chicago. Clark was a one man wrecking crew totaling two sacks, eight tackles, three of which were for loss and another quarterback hit. Truly just another fantastic performance from Kenny Clark.

Pass Protection

As always a big key to victory for the Green Bay Packers is keeping Aaron Rodgers upright and giving him time to throw. Back in week one, Chicago sacked Rodgers five times and had seven quarterback hits as well. However, this time around it was a much different story. Rodgers was sacked just one time which didn’t come until the fourth quarter and Chicago would record just four quarterback hits. Not to mention that we rarely heard Khalil Mack’s name mentioned at all.

The Bad

 Aaron Rodgers

Truthfully, I probably should have had Aaron Rodgers under this section last week but unfortunately, he gave me the opportunity to redeem myself. Granted the Bears have a very good defense but Rodgers completed less than 50 percent of his passes, for an average of barely six yards per attempt, for 203 total passing yards with one touchdown. Rodgers also made a few uncharacteristically poor decisions on Sunday.

He’d dive forward on a scramble in an effort to get an extra yard on third down when he still need a handful more and nearly fumbled. At the end of the second quarter, instead of throwing a hailmary, he threw a pass over the middle that wouldn’t have accomplished anything even if had been caught since the Packers had no timeouts left. Rodgers would also throw what should have been his third interception of the season and took a horrendous sack in the fourth quarter that knocked Green Bay out of field goal range.

The Ugly

The Passing Game

The Chicago Bears boast one of the best run defenses in the league, so it should have been expected that it was going to be tough sledding for Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams. Meaning Rodgers and the passing attack were going to have to step up in this game. Yet as we discussed above, even though Rodgers had time to pass, has Davante Adams and Jones as weapons, and Chicago was without Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan in the middle of the field, this Green Bay Packers’ offense sputtered.

Rodgers certainly didn’t have his best day, his receivers were dropping passes, and when the opening script ran dry, moving the ball with any regularity became an issue, again. Especially inside Chicago’s territory. However, to their credit and as they’ve done for most of the season, they were able to put points on the board when they needed to, and in the end, that is really all that matters. But with that said, when they run into a potent offense that the Packer defense can’t stop, Rodgers and this passing game are going to have their hands full keeping up.