Instant Takeaways from Green Bay Packers Wild Win Over Bears
By Paul Bretl

Well, that game was interesting, to say the least. But more importantly, the Green Bay Packers came away with the win over the Chicago Bears.
Just as we do every week, I have my instant takeaways from the Green Bay Packers performance.
– The Green Bay Packers are now 29-0 in the Matt LaFleur era when the Packers win the turnover battle.
– As Aaron Rodgers said, how was Rasul Douglas just sitting on a practice squad? Another terrific read and break on his second pick-6 of the season–he is absolutely trusting what he’s seeing. On Preston Smith’s forced fumble, that was his sixth sack of the season, and he reached his first bonus tier, earning $500,000. His next benchmark is sack No. 8 and will earn him an additional $750,000.
– We will wait and see what the official diagnosis is on Billy Turner’s knee, but it did not look good. Dennis Kelly held his own, but I’m not sure how many more injuries this group can sustain.
– That was the seventh first quarter this season that the Green Bay Packers did not score on offense. The opening script this season has not been anywhere near as effective as it was in 2020. For whatever reason, they are really looking to push the ball downfield, and oftentimes, it hasn’t worked.
– But do you know what has worked? Quick passes, finding guys in space, motion, play-action, and leaning on the run game.
– After that first quarter, Aaron Rodgers was playing really, really well.
– Jaylon Johnson had some early success against Davante Adams, but that’s only going to last for so long. Adams finished with another ho-hum 100-yard, two-touchdown performance.
– Is there anything better than watching Marcedes Lewis pick up some YAC? He finished the game with 51 receiving yards on four receptions.
– When it comes to the special teams play, I’m at a loss for words. That first half was abysmal. While players certainly have to make plays, at the end of the day, the responsibility falls on coaching. I’m trying not to be reactionary and I”m not a proponent of firing a coach mid-season, but given how bad this unit has been all year, I have to imagine LaFleur at least considers moving on from Maurice Drayton.
Packers special teams in the first half:
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) December 13, 2021
-97-yard punt return TD allowed
-34-yard punt return allowed
-42-yard kick return allowed
-40-yard kick return allowed
-Kickoff out of bounds
-Muffing kickoff headed out of bounds to give your offense a start at its own 5-yard line
Wild.
– I’ve said this before, but Amari Rodgers’ issues returning punts has always surprised me a bit given that he had 68 return attempts while at Clemson. It’s not like this is new to him.
– Through the first nine games, this Green Bay defense was really good at not giving up the big play, but over the last three games, that has not been the case.
– Justin Fields did a good job of avoiding sacks, but that Packer pass rush was relentless at generating pressure.
– Once again, there was certainly some bye week rust to shake off. During the previous two seasons, the Packers were 0-2 off the bye, losing to San Francisco and Tampa Bay by a combined 75 to 18. Fortunately, they were going up against a far less talented Bears squad and found their groove.
– After a few rough weeks that included a few drops, it was nice to see the Allen Lazard of 2019 and 2020 on display tonight. Lazard also took quite a few of those slot snaps in Randall Cobb’s absence.
– Robert Quinn entered the game with 11 sacks, the seventh most in football according to PFF ($$), and on a few one-on-one opportunities, he was able to give Yosh Nijman some issues. With that said, once again, Nijman and the OL as a whole were able to hold their own.
– As should be the case, even with Kevin King available and healthy, Rasul Douglas was still the clear CB1. Also, we hardly heard Eric Stokes’ name called tonight either–which, of course, is a good thing.
– I was expecting a heavy dose of David Montgomery, and the Green Bay defense did a good job of limiting his impact, allowing just over four yards per rush.
– The Green Bay Packers’ success on offense was dependent upon early down success. Green Bay was only 4/10 on third downs with a few of those conversions coming once the game was out of reach.
– Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon found a lot of success on the ground without Akiem Hicks in the middle. As a team, the Packers averaged over 5.0 yards per rush. I wish they would have leaned don’t these two more often early on–although I say that almost every week.
– The Packers dominated the time of possession (TOP) in the second half and finished the game holding the ball for 35:00. They entered Sunday’s game second in TOP.
– The Green Bay Packers’ magic number to clinch the division is down to one–meaning they need to win one more game or have Minnesota lose one more and they are the champions once again.