Green Bay Packers: Week 17 Studs and Duds vs Bears

Here are the studs and duds from the Green Bay Packers’ win over the Chicago Bears.

The Green Bay Packers defeated the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field during Week 17 of the NFL season to clinch the number one overall seed in the NFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. As I do following Packer games, I will recap the game by looking at the studs and duds for the 35-16 victory over the Bears.

Studs

Aaron Rodgers

I think I would be remiss to not start the studs with Aaron Rodgers this week. Rodgers was great for the vast majority of this game, save for a couple of dropped interceptions. He finished 19/24 for 240 yards, with four touchdown passes, and a passer rating of 147.9.

In the first half of this game, he was perfect, with no incompletions, three touchdowns, and a perfect passer rating. Rodgers made every throw he needed to make and again moved the ball seemingly at will against this good Chicago defense. This version of Rodgers will make it very hard to beat this Green Bay Packers team; he is very accurate but also is playing within the confines of the offense, which is making it easier for him and, in turn, makes it easier for everyone around Rodgers.

Adrian Amos

When the Green Bay Packers signed Adrian Amos in the 2019 NFL offseason, I loved the signing; getting consistently good play from the safety room was a huge improvement for this defense. However, I did not realize that the Packers got a solid, consistent player that can still make big-time splash plays. He likely will never lead the league in interceptions, but he has made some key interceptions in his time in Green Bay. Amos also makes stops in the run game, tackles for loss, forces fumbles.

Amos would have had one of those against his former team if it was not for an offside penalty that brought that play back. I think Amos is consistently putting himself in the right spots, but over the last few weeks, including against the Bears, he has started to be a consistent playmaker as well, which I think is one of the reasons we have seen this defense trend upward in recent weeks.

Matt LaFleur and this coaching staff

I typically only do players in these articles, but Matt LaFleur and his staff deserve recognition for what they have done not only in this game but in the two seasons LaFleur has been the head coach. Two 13-3 seasons to start his tenure in Green Bay is incredible, and in year two, he has done it with an absolute dominant offense that he is in charge of.

Nathanial Hackett, Rodgers, and the rest of the players on offense deserve credit as well, but the design and playcalling have been great this year and have led this Packers team to another 13 win season and the number one seed in the NFC.

Honorable Mentions

I want to mention some other players that played well during this game as well. Krys Barnes played well and tough, battling multiple injuries and still made plays against this Bears’ offense. Rashan Gary continues to play extremely well for this defense; I noticed many times in this game that he was setting extremely physical edges and forcing ball carriers inside while also still making a play on the ball at times.

Davante Adams had a down game by his standards but breaking the single-season reception record and tying the receiving touchdown single-season record in Packer history is incredible so he definitely deserves to be mentioned here as well.

Duds

Special Teams

It seems like we cannot go a week without some special teams issue. This week it comes courtesy of a fumble on a punt return by Tavon Austin. The return game continues to be an issue both for punt and kick returns as opposing teams continue to kick to the Packers on kickoffs because they know that the Green Bay will not get the ball to the 25-yard line. This Packers team is good enough to win regardless, as long as the only mistake is short returns rather than a big mistake like turnovers on special teams.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling Drop

I want to be clear I am just referencing one play here for Marquez Valdes-Scantling, but it was another big one. Had Marquez Valdes-Scantling caught that ball, it would have broken this game open and Green Bay likely would have had this game under control much sooner than they did. When up against stiffer competition in the playoffs, these are plays that could potentially lose the Packers a game. If Valdes-Scantling can have a three-game stretch starting now of no drops, this Packers team will be very tough to beat as Valdes-Scantling brings an element to this offense that they otherwise do not have.