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Green Bay Packers: Week 12 Studs and a Dud

By Trevor Bender

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 29: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers participates in warmups prior to a game against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on November 29, 2020 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers defeated the Bears 45-21. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 29: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers participates in warmups prior to a game against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on November 29, 2020 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers defeated the Bears 45-21. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Here are the studs and even a dud from the Green Bay Packers’ big win over the Chicago Bears.

The Green Bay Packers’ offense shined in a 41-25 rout of the rival Chicago Bears. This was not a game that many anticipated the Packers’ offense being able to score at will in but they did a great job against a good Bears defense. In a blowout game, there are a lot of positives, here I look at both positives and one troubling negative that has been a trend throughout the duration of this season.

Game Studs

There were a lot of positives coming out of this game. Following a disheartening loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Green Bay Packers came out and showed the Bears, the rest of the NFC North, and really the rest of the NFL that this Packers’ offense is one of the best in the league. To start I want to mention some milestones that were reached by two different Packer players. First, on the first touchdown of the game, Davante Adams caught his 500th catch of his career, he did that in just 95 games. Secondly, Aaron Rodgers becomes the second-fastest player (by pass attempts, only behind Ben Rothlesberger) in NFL history to reach 50,000 career passing yards.

Offensive Line

The first game stud goes to the Packers’ offensive line. Corey Linsley went down early in this game, we once again saw the versatility of Elgton Jenkins. Jenkins plays the rest of the game at center while Jon Runyan comes in to play guard. The offensive line does not miss a beat against a good Bears defense, who was without Akiem Hicks. The Green Bay Packers averaged 4.9 yards per carry on the ground (minus the two kneel-downs by Tim Boyle) while not giving up any sacks.

Both of those stats can be at least partially attributed to the stellar play by the Packers’ offensive line. Moving forward if this offensive line can stay healthy and continue to play at a high level the Packers will continue to be able to move the ball up and down the field on virtually any defense they face.

Packers’ Defense

The second game stud will go to the D-Train. This defense does not have to be spectacular at all times if they are being opportunistic. Against the Mitchell Trubisky led Bears, this Packers’ defense was definitely opportunistic. Darnell Savage intercepted Trubisky not once but twice. Savage has started to put some more consistent play on tape recently, now we see two big splash plays against the Bears.

Preston Smith and Za’darius Smith were also very good in this game. The Bears’ offensive line is not a great unit but the Smith brothers combine for five QB hits, two sacks, one tackle for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one touchdown. Combine an opportunistic defense with a great offensive performance, and that means a blowout in a divisional Sunday night football game.

Aaron Rodgers

The final game stud will go to Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers did not have his best game of the season but he was good against a very good Bears’ defense. Rodgers was 21/29 for 211 yards, 4 touchdowns, and a 132.3 passer rating. Rodgers did a great job throwing to the open receiver, seven different receivers were targeted during the game with no one being targeted more than nine times. All four of Rodgers’ touchdown passes were to different receivers, including Adams, Robert Tonyan, Allen Lazard, and Marcedes Lewis.

Game Duds

Tackling

I only have one dud for this week, after a 41-25 victory against the Bears on Sunday Night Football. The biggest concern for me after watching this game was something that has been a concern for Packer nation for the majority of this year. The tackling and inability to come up and make plays to get off the field continue to be a big theme for this year’s defense.

This is something that I have been telling anyone that will listen because, in my opinion, I think our run defense is better than what it looks like. Teams will break big runs that could have been a one-to-five yard gain, but instead they consistently get six yards because of the poor tackling.

I wanted to be able to put nothing in the ‘game duds’ section for this week but the trend of not being able to make the tackles that need to be made continues to be a major area of concern.

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