Packers vs. Bears – Game Day First Impressions, Unfiltered: CHI 27 GB 20

69 thoughts on “Packers vs. Bears – Game Day First Impressions, Unfiltered: CHI 27 GB 20”

1. Every team faces injuries, but damn, at least three key players were out tonight (Rodgers, Matthews, Perry).

   The one good thing about tonight is that we learned just how much of a BOSS Eddie Lacy is!

   We may have lost, but the ONLY thing that matters right now is if Rodgers can come back soon!!!

   1. You can add Cobb and Finley to that list. They would have been good short options for Wallace’s limited arm.

2. No doubt AR was missed. The Packers running game kept them in the game. Matt Flynn, you’ve been available six hours and no call from the Packers? GB can’t play another game with a QB that can’t see over the O’lines heads. He should have been picked at least two more times. But the loss was not due to him, but to the secondary that could not make a tackle, a sack, a pick. They made McCown should look like a starting QB.

   1. I’d argue that the lack of pass rush is what made the secondary look bad. And I wasn’t impressed with the outside contain by the OLB.

      1. I do think a poor pass rush is being overlooked, though there is also a healthy dose of criticism due for the secondary.

   2. Defense can only handle so many 3 and outs. They were gassed by that last drive. We also saw Williams should be nothing more than a dime back. He played 15 yards off all night, dropped a INT that hit him in the hands. Hmmmm, remember the days these guys were called ball hawks? 3 INT’s through 3 games.

   3. Flynn couldn’t win a starting job over rookies in Seattle or Oakland, and couldn’t stick with Buffalo after they’d gone 3 deep on QBs. What does that say? No thanks.

      Besides, if MM could take a pop-gun arm guy with that description and coach him up to play like he did against the Pats and Lions, what can he do with Wallace?

3. As much as I love what Ted T has done for the Packers, I think it’s absolutely insane to go into a season with a QB that hadn’t played since 2011. IT LOOKED LIKE IT. I get we’ve been spoiled with the durability of Farve and Rodgers but Wallace is as pathetic as I’ve seen. I said they’d run for 200 yards and they did, or very close. May have hit 275 with Rodgers and won easily. Defense was gassed by end of day from all Wallaces 3 and outs. It’s been a awhile since the offense looked that bad throwing ball. Bills released Flynn, go sign him Ted.

   1. Fun Fact:

      The Bears lost to the Redskins in the game when Cutler injured his groin.

      1. Another fun fact, the Bears QB was 14-20 for 201 yards and 2 TD’s. Yes they lost the game, but not because of him. Wallace threw 5 yards behind on that 3rd down to Jordy. All I’m saying is if they counted on a QB who hasn’t played since 2011, (last night we CLEARLY saw the reason why) that’s a horrible plan. Stark’s and Lacy ran the ball for 190 yards, most against a 8 man front. If they had any kind of back up with a running game like that, they would have won.

         1. Not only that, Thompson has built a team to withstand injuries. Why bring in a back up that hadn’t played in 2 years at the last second before the regular season starts? It’s been said he had very little work even in practice. Last night you saw a team caught with their pants down, unprepared for a injury to Rodgers.

         2. Somehow, I don’t think the Packers planned on having to pick up two veteran QBs at the end of training camp, severely limiting their ability to learn and get comfortable in the offense.

            1. All I’m saying Chad is I think they could have done better than a guy that was a backup in 2011, out of the NFL in 2012, and not signed until after the preseason. Ted T has done a amazing job. With that said we’ve all talked on this website about a viable backup. I just feel they could have found someone better than a guy totally out of football last year.

         3. “All I’m saying is if they counted on a QB who hasn’t played since 2011, (last night we CLEARLY saw the reason why) that’s a horrible plan.”

            Nobody signs a backup QB with the idea of needing them. In today’s NFL, when you’ve got an elite QB starting, you don’t pay him AND a backup.

            Just saying…

   2. Love? A defense with no pass rush not named CMIII and CBs that are smaller than Lilliputians?

      Offensive side of the ball is a different story. Major weakness of offense coming into season was no back-up QB. Now that bites us in the ass.

      After 9 years in the GM chair, I expect better.

4. If Rodgers has a broken collar-bone, the seasons over.

   1. No cast or sling on Rodgers. Let’s not be so quick to assume the worst.

      1. Bingo. THere are plenty of joints along the breastbone to sprain or strain, too, but the fact that his left arm was unsupported was a big deal.

         Concussion?

   2. Unless it is unusually serious, a broken collarbone is not likely to be season-ending, even at this stage of the year.

      As I watched the play, my first, snap reaction was that he separated his shoulder, which can often happen when a player jams his arm into the ground at the elbow, popping the upper arm out of its socket. Separated shoulders vary in severity, with the mild separations amounting to little more than soreness, and the serious ones being quite a bit more troublesome. But a collarbone problem might be equally likely. Just have to wait and see.

5. Quarterbacks get hurt especially when they are careless.

   When Rodgers tried to score, scrambling/running into the end zone standing up from 7 yards out and was stopped in the last game I was stunned the way he must have been manhandled. What made him do that?

   I don’t know what possessed him to do that but it didn’t look right.

   Same deal here tonight. It just had an odd look to it.

   These are 100% totally out of character. I’m having troubkl trying to figure these plays out.

   I’m a Packer owner and been a fan since 1960 so I am very biased in favor of my team, but I am shaking my head and not understanding somthing.

   I am sure others will have different impressions and look forward to reading them

   1. AR rolled out to his right and Shea McClellin got around Don Barclay’s block and caught AR from behind. A clean play by McClellin but a poor block by Barclay.

6. Don’t know how long Rodgers will be out? This is the one injury we can’t survive. The defense needed to step up and failed miserably, especially in the 4th quarter. I am a supporter of Hayward but he had a really bad game tonight. Missed tackles, beaten on pass plays, brutal. I know that we win with Rodgers but this defense still needs some work, especially on tackling and coverage. Let’s hope Rodgers is back for next week. MM press conference coming up. Thanks, Since ’61

7. Quick observations:

   DB’s don’t have very good ball skills

   Bob McGinn at the Journal Sentinel is hiring security

   Tackling was weak

   Defense looked exhausted

   Hubris displayed tonight via the belief that you don’t need a good backup QB

   Lacy yardage lost in the sea of really poor play calls. Remember when the Packers used to be a good screen team?

   in short – Arrgghhh!

   1. Addendum – Tramon Williams is done. Put a fork in him. Doesn’t make plays and when he’s in position to make them, he can’t catch the ball.

      21 games without a pick? And he’s the Packers #1 DB?

   2. What do you mean about McGinn?

      1. He posted an article this week discussing the fact that the Packers could survive an injury to ARod.

         1. I’m still blaming McGinn for this.

8. Lang injury hurt us almost as much as Rodgers

   Hayward is a interceptor, not a tackler

   If you told me Rodgers was gonna get knocked out of any game in the first 3 minutes i’d expect a loss, so not too disappointed. Have a soft schedule the next three weeks, hopefully can wim one or two of those without Rodgers but desperately need him back down the stretch.

   1. “Lang injury hurt us almost as much as Rodgers”

      Absolutely. Seneca Wallace will never be mistaken for ARod or Russell Wilson, but the line combo of Bakh-Sitton-EDS-Barclay-Newhouse really struggled in obvious passing situations. They opened some holes in the run game, but they did Wallace no favors.

9. If ARod is out for more than a couple weeks we are done. And whoever wins the NFCN will be about as legitimate of a division champ as the Dolphins were in 2008 when Brady was out.

   Whenever the Bears beat us, it’s in a flukey manner. Tonight was no different. Sucks.

10. TT has been messing around with the back up QB situation for a couple of years now and tonight it burnt the Pack and cost them a divisional win. I do not see us winning with Wallace. If the pack had McCown and the bears had Wallace, the pack wins big. Losing Lang hurt ,too. Newhouse was terrible. Hope Sherrard makes the 53 this year.

    Missing Mathews and Perry really hurt tonight. Not enough pressure. The fact that rodgers didn’t have a sling on when returning to the sidelines, and the way he was moving his arms when jogging to the locker room, makes me think its not a broken collar bone. Plus, that would have showed up on a xray in the locker room. Hopefully its not to bad. A MRI tomorrow will tell the story. Hopefully its something a pain killer shot will help him play next week.

    1. Sherrod can’t even practice if placed on IR. If GB activates Sherrod, it might mean 1.)GB thinks he can play this year and be better than Newhouseand/or Barclay; 2.) GB thinks Sherrod needs the rest of this season, the off-season, mini-camp and training camp to be ready for next year. I hope its #1 and that GB is right, but in my heart I think it’s a long shot. GB has another week to decide on Sherrod.

11. WE WILL NOT WIN ANY GAMES WITH WALLACE. HE IS NOT ACCURATE PAST 10 YARDS. WE IS NOT MOBILE. WE WILL SEE 3 AND DONE. THE DEFENSE WILL BE GASSED. I A-ROD MISSES MORE THAN TWO WEEK, WE WILL NOT BE IN THE PLAYOFFS, PERIOD. TT GAMBLED AND LOST

    1. Right now, I bet TT wishes that he hadn’t wasted his 3 7th round draft picks and used one of them to pick Miami of Ohio’s QB Zach Dysert, who has a strong and accurate arm. What a mistake it was to go into this season without a young, promising back-up QB, especially when you have an undrafted free agent at ROT protecting the franchise QB.

       1. At the time of the draft we had BJ Coleman. Last year he looked like he could maybe be a good QB in the future. If Thompson had known he had already peaked he probably would have drafted a QB. You’re expecting TT to know the future, but no GM has that power.

12. Yes Wallace and the pass rush weren’t good, but that’s more understandable to me than the DBs shoddy performance. The bears had guys running free all night.

    And don’t look now but PHI’s offense exploded on Sunday. Might be trouble.

13. If Rodgers doesn’t play, there is no doubt in my mind that the Pack will lose to the Eagles. Thanks Ted for our awesome back up QB situation.

    1. I don’t think so. This team is better than the Eagles and Seneca Wallace will be ready to manage the offense. You just have to run harder into a headwind – not give up

14. Only three guys showed up to play…Lacy and Kuhn and Quarless. MM didn’t have the pack ready to play. Shame on him. The packers are exposed; they basically only win when the other team beats themselves. How many teams have breakout days against GB? Receivers do. Backup QBs do. RBs do. Defensive ends do (Julius Peppers comes alive).

    Let the debate start again: Is GB a bunch of mediocre guys who sometimes overachieves? Or are they very talented players who often underachieves. If its the former…then TT doesn’t bring in enough top talent. If the latter…then MM doesn’t have them consistently ready.

    I think the latter. MM just doesn’t have them mentally ready;
    Evidence #1: poor tackling/technique was displayed all night,
    #2: We all knew Forte and Bennett were going to make hay out of the quick dump off passes….but funny…the D seemed not to know it was inevitable. #3 What exactly does the bears do to get WR careening all over the field wide open…but GB WR are tightly covered. Are there not motions, and route screens that get their receivers open?
    I’ve lost confidence in MM that he can take it to any team on the schedule. The Giants could rack up 42. Philly might get another 7 TDs….who knows. Not much fun watching the packers, hate to say…when you can’t trash talk the opponent fans at the office. Now I’ll take a double beating.

    1. Defense can only handle so many 3 and outs. They were gassed by that last drive. We also saw Williams should be nothing more than a dime back. He played 15 yards off all night, dropped a INT that hit him in the hands. Hmmmm, remember the days these guys were called ball hawks? 3 INT’s through 3 games.

       1. Yes, the defense was gassed by the fourth quarter. However, the Bears still had 17 points at halftime. The Packers defense gave up all 27 points after AR went down.

          A championship caliber team has to have a championship caliber defense. To me, a championship caliber defense should have the ability to step up their play when needed and take control of the game.

          When AR went down, that is when we needed our defense to step up. They didn’t/couldn’t. Once again in a big game situation our defense failed us.

          1. “The Packers defense gave up all 27 points after AR went down.”

             Umm… that’s not a very insightful statements. The Bears never possessed the ball before Rodgers went down.

             1. The point I’m making is that the defense knew full well that when AR went down, for us to win the game they had to step up their play. They didn’t or couldn’t. Either way they were a big disappointment.

       2. No, the defense should be able to handle 3 and outs all night long… assuming that they can force 3 and outs from the Bears in response.

          Obviously, they couldn’t.

15. Our future fortunes all depend on Rodgers’ health.

    IF he is out for let’s say just the two games I think we still have a chance to be in the mix for the playoffs (maybe as a wildcard).

    Any longer than that and the Packers are probably done for the season. Running game is decent and the defense is not bad (they were tired last night as the offense couldn’t produce longer time consuming drives) but the whole offense is built around Rodgers.

16. This is not a TT, MM or DC problem. You lose all these quality players and you become average fairly fast. McCowan had good protection and their OLine did their job. An average QB was able to do his job because our pass rushers are standing on the sideline. Our offense can only run because our QB, best player and only guy to take snaps for the last five years is on the sideline.

    Until we get some of these guys back, we are like everybody else who are relying on bench players. At this point, the defense will have to get healthy and carry the team. Matthews with a cast is better than Neal, Mulumba, Palmer and the rest of our linebacker corps tied together.

    Stay the course and keep the faith. Philly will feel the pain.

    1. Amen.

17. Wallace is either not ready to play, or was a mistake. I have felt that Williams was done some time ago and I would go with Shields and House at outside CB. With a now solid run game the QB

18. Well, the hubris that TT/MM have created a plug ‘n play system that does not depend on who is on the field, including the greatest QB on the planet, was shattered last night. Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and his name is Aaron Rodgers. I was shocked earlier this week to read Bob McGinn’s column stating otherwise. Our success since 2009 has always been much more about AR than TT/MM. Anyone who couldn’t understand needs the wake up call that last night afforded.

    I slept horrible last night. I so looked forward to last night’s game. After Rodgers left the game I sat there staring at my TV not speaking a word, with a sense of foreboding dread deep inside. Wallace was a HUGE disappointment. The year before Flynn hit FA the Pack (TT) should have begun plotting on finding/drafting a QB to develop behind AR. Instead, they latched on to G Harrell and fell in love with him. And, in the draft, they settled for 7th rounder BJ whomever. Both moves were utter failures. Meanwhile they passed on drafting Russell Wilson three times before SEA stole him in R3. Just like other FA that were sent packing e.g., Cullen Jenkins and Scott Wells, TT had no immediate plan for acquiring/grooming successors. Very tough for me to understand that. Does not TT think these things through? This one is elementary in my book.

    If Rodgers is lost for even two weeks, I fear the season is lost. By that time, not only will the Pack be two games behind in the division but they will be hard pressed to even get in via the WC as both Carolina and the loser of CHI/DET ahead of them in the WC race.

    Packer fans can only pray that today’s news is that AR is questionable for the Eagles game, depending mostly on pain tolerance/management. Anything less than that and TT’s hubris that he doesn’t need a quality young understudy to AR is poppycock at best and incompetence at worst.

19. “Mike McCarthy showed his creative side on the ensuing kickoff by calling an onside kick, which Micah Hyde tipped to Jamari Lattimore for the recovery. The Packers drove down inside the ten, but could not get in the end zone and had to settle for a field goal, but it gave Green Bay a 20-17 lead.”

    Obviously the onsides kick was a good call by MM regardless of whether it worked or not. HOWEVER, with Rodgers out of the game and the defense reeling, settling for a FG there was DUMB. For chissakes, have kayones to gamble at that point rather than meekly kick a FG and accept a slow but sure death thereafter.

    1. MM did gamble with the on-side kick and gave this team many opportunities to take the reins. Sooner or later the players have to step up and make plays instead of the coach rolling dice. Guys like Quarless need to catch and secure the ball and veterans like Hawk need to NOT watch guys run by him. This wasn’t a coaching failure, this was our guys not making the plays while Chicago guys like McCowan made plays. Look in the mirror.

       1. With your QB out, his replacement struggling and your defense staggering, you go for that TD on 4th down every time, period.

          1. The odds of converting that 4th go down drastically with your QB out. That’s why you don’t go for it.

20. Our D has been playing against terrible offenses. …Kaperprick is not a good passer (look at his stats) but still went all world on us, RG3 when he was 2 games in from a major knee and no preseason, Dalton beat us, Baltimores less then stellar offense, Detroit without megaton, the Browns with weedon, Ponder, McCown……the Packs D fell apart in every 4th qt this year, which is not the makings of a good D. Last night they got a F. But, lets see what they look like at full straight, Clay is a difference maker. The run D has been outstanding all year, but I fear even at full strength they would get worked hard in the passing game against Brees or any other Elite QB.

    Rodgers make this Whole team better, on O and on D.

21. I saw a post on Facebook,ESPN states A Rod has a small fracture of the Clavicle (collarbone). could miss 3 weeks!

22. I had a great feeling for this team. I was so excited to see them go on a run and finish 13-3, maybe 14-2. The when I saw the Rodgers development last night,I immediately felt my football heart and soul disintegrate. Watching Wallace last night ,compared to Rodgers ,was like going from eating steak and lobster to eating rancid dog food. TT has done a great job with this team, but, has failed miserably on the back up QB situation.

    1. “TT has done a great job with this team, but, has failed miserably on the back up QB situation.”

       Last night we saw that the Packers are, at best, a mediocre team without AR. So, how can you possibly state that “TT has done a great job with the team”? The secondary was abysmal, and the defense as a whole was terrible with numerous missed tackles. The Bears locked-up the game up an 18-play, 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter that started with 9:48 left and ended with a 27-yard field goal for a seven-point lead with 53 seconds left. They converted on a 4th and 1 from their own 32 yard line, a play that should have been stopped but for another missed tackle. The Packers have many holes in the team to fill besides back-up QB.

       Oh, well, with AR gone and the season lost, at least the Pack will get higher draft picks to fill those holes. Hopefully, TT won’t blow it again.

       1. good points. Problem is much more than just a lack of Arod. Tackling is abysmal still, every year McCarthy says it gets emphasized in camp yet the problem remains year after year. Some say the D was gassed in the 4th; I say the D hasn’t been good in the 4th all year.

       2. Good analysis Outis.

       3. You cannot watch last night’s game and conclude the Packers are “at best, a mediocre team without AR.” Because we also didn’t have Clay Matthews, Nick Perry, Randall Cobb, Jermichael Finley, Brian Bulaga, and a fully healthy James/Brad Jones. Without all our injured players, yeah, we’re not great. But how many teams can you name that could lose that many starters and still be competitive? And how many of those teams have been picking late in the draft for 20 years because they’re always winning?

23. The Packers situation is just like the Colts, with Payton = playoff team, without Payton = 2-14, with Luck = playoff team

24. The lack of pass rush was what killed the D. If CMIII and Perry are in there, the time allotted to McCown would have been so much less. Mulamba and Palmer are one trick ponies who are decent backups to spell someone for a series but are not developed enough at the moment to play an entire game and be effective. Credit the bears for improving the OL. Seneca Wallace will be better next week after a getting more practice time with the 1’s. I don’t know if that will be enough to win but I expect he will be better. –Hope and pray that Sherrod can unseat Barclay at RT as his play has dropped off weekly. — still not sure why MM didn’t challenge that Quarless catch? Nothing to lose. went to the halftime with 3 timeouts on the board. That confused me. — Kudo’s to the Pack for maintaining a winning team through all the injuries so far but last night was the crack in the dam. Without so many star/starter players, they just can’t do enough. AR is the straw that broke the camels back. Need him to get healthy and make a late run with a healthy squad. Stranger things have happened. Can anyone say 2010? GoPack!

25. MM and TT’s egos should be bruised this morning… Lets see, we don’t need no stinkin O-line or a backup qb. Shame on them. Good O-line = no injury to Aaron. They knew how crappy the O-line was and is, yet still don’t have a competent back up qb. The best way to deal with this is to bust MM and TT’s collar bones. And then kick them both in the ding ding…

    1. This is possibly the least insightful analysis I’ve yet seen.

       1. Really? You must not have read any of Chad’s posts yet.

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