The Green Bay Packers (2-2) had just finished one of their worst offensive games with Aaron Rodgers as their starting quarterback last week against the Detroit Lions. They came into this game looking to get a couple of things on track under Mike McCarthy's system. First, they wanted to get some better blocking in for Aaron Rodgers so that he could actually have time to find his open receivers. Secondly, they wanted to get the ground game going for the big pounding back of Eddie Lacy. They were successful in one of those two areas in Sunday's game at Soldier Field.
The area they were successful was in the passing game. They were able to tear up the Bears defense with the two man tandem of Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson. First, Aaron Rodgers threw 22 completions on 28 attempts for a total of 302 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Packers only had 358 yards of total offense. Rodgers had 8 of those rushing yards leaving only 48 Eddie Lacy rushing yards that were not accounted for by some measure of Aaron Rodgers.
From those completions the majority of those went to Jordy Nelson, who had 10 receptions on 12 targets. He took those for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns. Most of these catches were incredibly difficult too. He was catching the ball in traffic and while sliding to the ground, but nothing was stopping him from getting the ball in this game. His partner in crime was the man in the slot, Randall Cobb. Cobb had a few deeper catches in the game, having 7 catches on 9 targets for a total of 113 yards and two touchdowns as well. The remaining 81 receiving yards were divided among only 3 other receivers. Rookie Tight End Richard Rodgers had 2 catches for 52 yards, including a 43 yard one on a first half drive that led to an Eddie Lacy rushing touchdown. Fellow Rookie Davante Adams also had 2 catches but just for 18 yards. Eddie Lacy added 1 catch for 11 yards.
Another key area of success in this game was that the Packers won the turnover battle against the Bears by forcing 2 turnovers and giving up 0. Both turnovers came after the Packers had the lead in the second half, and both of them were when Jay Cutler reverted to some of his weaknesses that the Packers fans are used to seeing when they face him. He threw too far ahead of Alshon Jeffrey on a slant route that was jumped by Packers veteran cornerback Tramon Williams. Williams wasn't able to pull the ball in himself, but popped it into the air where Clay Matthews would come down with the ball and returned it 40 yards. That return was actually somewhat disappointing since he was ahead of everyone. But since Clay is not currently 100% healthy and had been dealing with a groin injury, it was probably a safer move for the linebacker to go out of bounds as he did on the play. Sam Shields was accountable for the other interception, as it appeared to be miscommunication between Cutler and Marshall. Shields took the ball and ran it back for a 62 yard return and got the ball all the way to the Chicago 11 yard line. Another exciting thing to see on the defensive side of the ball was when second year defensive end Datone Jones sacked Cutler and then did the Jared Allen "calf-roping" celebration move.
All in all, the Packers struggled for the first half, taking a 21-17 lead into halftime after they had just stopped the Bears short of the goal line before time expired in the first half. In the second half though they made the necessary adjustments to add 17 more points and not give any more up. The Packers were great in this game and look to continue that again this week on Thursday night as they host the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field. Meanwhile the Bears will get the full week of rest and take on the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte next week. This wraps up the games for both teams in September and they will both welcome October as they both have improvements in order to succeed in the NFC North.