4 Packers Who Need to Be Benched After Ugly Win Over Bears
In the grand scheme of things, style points don’t count—only the final score does. Thankfully for the Green Bay Packers, they managed to limp out of Chicago with a win, no matter how unsightly the journey.
Green Bay spent less time with the ball than a toddler who just learned to share. Their 23 minutes and 39 seconds of possession marked a season-low by nearly four minutes. That made their one-for-five performance on third downs all the more painful.
On the flip side, the Bears practically squatted on the clock, holding the ball for 36 minutes and 21 seconds while converting a head-scratching nine-of-16 on third down and three-for-three on fourth down. Chicago’s offense dinked, dunked, and nickel-and-dimed its way to long, demoralizing drives.
But, a win is a win. A clutch Karl Brooks tipped field goal in the dying moments sealed a dramatic 20-19 victory for the Packers. While it’s nice to celebrate a nail-biter, this game also revealed some glaring issues—particularly with a few players who need to take a long, hard look at the bench. Here are four Packers who need to be benched after this ugly win.
Carrington Valentine and Keisean Nixon
Can the Packers just bench all of their cornerbacks not named Jaire Alexander? Alexander has been the lone lighthouse guiding this secondary through rough waters, but even lighthouses can falter in the storm. His injuries leave an already shaky cornerback group vulnerable to sinking entirely.
Carrington Valentine and Keisean Nixon were turned inside out by Chicago’s offense. Valentine was targeted relentlessly as if the Bears had marked him as a weak link. Nixon fared no better, attempting to play the role of a shutdown corner but looking more like a stop sign without the authority to back it up.
Green Bay’s decision to ignore the cornerback position in the offseason has come back to haunt them. If the Bears can exploit this secondary with precision, what will happen against playoff-caliber quarterbacks? The cracks are widening, and the Packers are running out of duct tape.