Live Updates: Packers vs. Bears on ‘Sunday Night Football’
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will try to continue their three-decade dominance over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night at Lambeau Field. Follow along all night for updates.
Final Score
Packers 27, Bears 10
Click here for our quick game story, which includes game ball, key stat and more.
Fourth Quarter
Packers 27, Bears 10 (2:09 remaining)
The game is over. Jaire Alexander picked off Justin Fields to put the game on ice. "The Bears still suck" chant has begun.
Packers 27, Bears 10 (2:28 remaining)
Mason Crosby’s 28-yard field goal presumably has clinched the victory. Backed after a pivotal goal-line stand, Aaron Rodgers connected with Sammy Watkins for a gain of 55 to set up the score.
Packers 24, Bears 10 (8:07 remaining)
In the defining moment of the game, the Bears went for it on fourth-and-goal. Needing just inches for the touchdown to make it a one-score game, quarterback Justin Fields used his 228 pounds to try to bully his way to the goal line. Officially, Preston Smith and Jarran Reed made the tackle. De'Vondre Campbell was there, too, and Jaire Alexander helped push Fields backward. The Bears challenged but there was no view of the ball and the Packers took over on downs.
End of Third Quarter
Packers 24, Bears 10
The only team that can beat the Packers is the Packers. Another promising drive went down the drain on a fumble. This time, Josh Myers’ shotgun snap hit in-motion receiver Christian Watson. Running back AJ Dillon recovered to prevent a total disaster, but the 13-yard loss ultimately forced a punt. So, the fourth quarter begins with the Packers up by two touchdowns.
Third Quarter
Packers 24, Bears 10 (5:11 remaining)
The Bears picked up their first first downs since the opening series to set up Cairo Santos’ 44-yard field goal. On third-and-2, Preston Smith sniffed out a keeper by quarterback Justin Fields. He missed the tackle but Jaire Alexander was there to clean up for minus-3. David Montgomery had two runs for 20 yards, then the defense was slow to line up and gave up a Fields pass for 18.
Packers 24, Bears 7 (9:13 remaining)
The Packers were poised to put the game away until Aaron Rodgers and AJ Dillon botched a handoff. Former Packers defensive lineman Mike Pennel recovered at the 31. Highlighted by a 36-yard run in which he broke two more tackles, Jones has 10 carries for 102 yards.
Packers 24, Bears 7 (13:00 remaining)
Rashan Gary had a second-down sack as part of an opening three-and-out. On third-and-10, Equanimeous St. Brown had Eric Stokes beaten deep but Justin Fields didn’t throw the ball and checked it down short of the marker.
Halftime
Packers 24, Bears 7
Aaron Rodgers is 13-of-19 passing for 164 yards and two touchdowns and Aaron Jones has 10 touches for 92 total yards and two touchdowns. Last week, Rodgers had 195 passing yards and zero scores and Jones had eight touches for 76.
Second Quarter
Packers 24, Bears 7 (32 seconds remaining)
Aaron Rodgers threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Allen Lazard. With Aaron Jones running hot, the run-pass option fake to Jones worked to perfect. The touchdown celebration was ... something. Earlier in the drive, Jones had a run for 14 (two broken tackles) and a screen for 15 (one broken tackle). Later, Rodgers extended the play and threw a 20-yard bullet to Randall Cobb.
Packers 17, Bears 7 (4:36 remaining)
Of course the Packers scored a touchdown after facing a second-and-28. An unnecessary holding penalty on right guard Royce Newman and a second sack against Elgton Jenkins put the Packers in a hole. But a quick pass to Romeo Doubs gained 20 – Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Elgton Jenkins were out front – and Aaron Rodgers found Cobb for 9 on third-and-8 on a play in which Cobb lined up at running back. A moment later, Aaron Jones motioned to the right, took a flip from Rodgers and followed AJ Dillon’s dominating block against linebacker Roquan Smith for the 8-yard score. It was Rodgers’ 450th career touchdown pass, the fifth quarterback to reach that milestone.
All-Time Touchdown Passes
Tom Brady, 626.
Drew Brees, 571.
Peyton Manning, 539.
Brett Favre, 508.
Aaron Rodgers, 450.
Packers 10, Bears 7 (10:11 remaining)
On Nov. 5, 1989, Don Majkowski beat the Bears with a controversial touchdown pass. Was he past the line of scrimmage? Well, there was no question about Justin Fields on third-and-10. He was a couple yards past the scrimmage on his big completion. The Bears punted and Amari Rodgers returned it 20 yards to the 46.
Packers 10, Bears 7 (11:50 remaining)
Chicago’s pass rush stemmed the tide. After a first-down incompletion, defensive end Trevis Gipson blew up a bootleg and forced a throwaway. On third-and-10, defensive end Robert Quinn stormed around left tackle Yosh Nijman and sacked Rodgers before Rodgers had a chance. That matchup was one of the big reasons to worry.
Packers 10, Bears 7 (12:49 remaining)
After a dismal opening drive, Green Bay’s defense cranked it up. On first down, Preston Smith stormed around the corner and sacked quarterback Justin Fields. On second down, Rasul Douglas was all over a receiver screen, beating a block by tight end Cole Kmet and dropping receiver Darnell Mooney for minus-4. A third-and-19 screen went nowhere for a three-and-out punt.
Packers 10, Bears 7 (14:54 remaining)
Aaron Jones scored on a 15-yard run on the first play of the second quarter. A toss to the right, center Josh Myers and right guard Royce Newman pulled in front, receiver Allen Lazard delivered a key block and left tackle Yosh Nijman exploded downfield for a block, too. Jones split a pair of defenders inside the 5.
First Quarter
Bears 7, Packers 3 (4:37 remaining)
Chicago cruised right down the field behind running back David Montgomery. After runs of 4 and 12 yards, Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy dialed up a flea-flicker for a gain of 30 yards to former Packers receiver Equanimeous St. Brown against Jaire Alexander. Montgomery had runs of 13 and 9 to set up Justin Fields’ 3-yard keeper. Cornerbacks Alexander and Eric Stokes missed tackles against Montgomery on the drive as Green Bay gave up an opening-drive for the second consecutive week. There are a lot of Bears fans here and they let out a loud cheer as Fields scored.
Packers 3, Bears 0 (8:33 remaining)
The Packers struck first with Aaron Rodgers converting a third-and-7 with an 8-yard completion to Allen Lazard and a third-and-10 with a 15-yard completion to Aaron Jones. On the play to Jones, Rodgers extended the play and flicked the ball over the head of linebacker Nicholas Morrow, who appeared to knock the ball free. The Packers rushed the line to prevent a Bears challenge. Ultimately, it didn’t matter because the drive bogged down. Rodgers had a chance to throw a touchdown pass to Lazard on second down but rookie Kyler Gordon made an excellent breakup. On third-and-long, Trevis Gipson sacked Rodgers. Gipson was lined up against right tackle Elgton Jenkins and got free when Rodgers stepped up in the pocket. Mason Crosby booted a 40-yard field goal.
Pregame Notes
- With the return of Elgton Jenkins, the No. 1 offensive line appears to be Yosh Nijman at left tackle, Jon Runyan at left guard, Josh Myers at center, Royce Newman at right guard and Jenkins at right tackle. That means Jake Hanson is the odd man out.
- During the second play of warmups, Aaron Rodgers went deep up the left sideline to Christian Watson, who made a leaping grab in the end zone. Of course, Watson had the big drop to start last week’s game.
- Kicker Mason Crosby during warmups was good from 53 yards to the north end zone (left side of your TV screen) and 52 yards to the south. From 54 yards to the south end, he drilled the upright with plenty of distance to spare.
- Former Packers receiver Davante Adams caught two passes for 12 yards and a touchdown in the Raiders’ loss at Arizona. It was Adams’ fewest catches since the 2017 loss to New Orleans, when Brett Hundley was Green Bay’s quarterback and he also had two catches for 12 yards.
Going Back-to-Back
Officially, the Packers have lost three straight – the meaningless Week 18 game at Detroit, the playoff game against San Francisco and last week against Minnesota. However, the Packers under coach Matt LaFleur haven’t lost back-to-back regular-season games in the same season. The bounce-back Pack will try to do it again and even their record at 1-1.
Between that history, Green Bay’s dominance over Chicago and Green Bay’s nine-game winning streak in home openers, the Packers are 10.5-point favorites at SI Sportsbook.
“Listen, there are 17 games, and it’s a season of progress and to panic over one game, to panic over one thing, it’s a long year,” Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, the Packers’ quarterbacks coach the past three seasons, said. “Like it was New Orleans last year, right? And my first year ever it was in Seattle in ‘14 with those guys when we got our butts whooped, and we ended up going back to the NFC Championship Game that year. So, it’s a game. You stick to the details and what you want to be good at, and that guy is good at a lot of things, so they’re able to do a lot.”
Welcome Back
Offensive lineman Lucas Patrick, receiver Equanimeous St. Brown and assistant coach Luke Getsy will be on the other sideline for the game.
Patrick started 34 games at the interior positions, including 28 starts the past two seasons. He’ll be a captain, and perhaps in the starting lineup.
“Just the way that he battled, getting cut, and being on the border many, many times, being in trade conversations, being down on himself and up and down confidence-wise and then starting for us at multiple positions and playing a big role for us at times last year,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “Excellent teammate, great guy in the locker room, guy you love having on your team, total tough guy, and just an all-around good human being.”
Getsy was Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach the past three seasons but joined Chicago’s new staff as offensive coordinator.
“It’s not emotional. It’s not emotional at all,” Getsy said. “But familiarity with the personnel is probably the advantage. That’s it. I mean those guys are really good. Joe Barry’s a stud. Those guys are all good up there. They got good players, good scheme. So, it’s a challenge; it’s a fun challenge. It’ll be cool to go compete against your friends.”
St. Brown scored a touchdown in last week’s wild-and-wet victory over the 49ers.
Another Week, Another New Coach
Last week, the Packers lost at Minnesota and its new coach, Kevin O’Connell, and defensive coordinator, Ed Donatell. This week, the Packers will host Chicago. Its new coach is Matt Eberflus. In four years as the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator, his units finished in the top 10 in points allowed three times.
In Week 11 of the 2020 season, the Colts beat the Packers 34-31 in overtime. The Packers led 28-14 at halftime, then scored only three points the rest of the way.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns, with Davante Adams hauling in seven passes for 106 yards and one score.
“Coaches love to go back to those games. I find it much harder because you’re not looking at players you’re really going to play against,” Rodgers said. “But the more pictures you can get where you’re not flooding your mind and bogging yourself down with TMI – too much information – I think that’s a good thing. Yeah, of course, I went back and looked at that game and just saw what we did there and what was successful. The first half was a pretty nice half for us. The second half not as good.”
Eberflus watched that game, too, and found the film more valuable.
“I think you take in all information, you really do, [but] things change,” Eberflus said. “He’s been around and had success for a long time and he’s done it with different pieces, different guys in front of him, different skill-sets around him. I think you have to look at that because he’s always going to be the same in terms of his accuracy, ball is out quick, vision of the field, so you have to look at those things, as well. I think that is an important piece to it.”
Prediction: Packers vs. Bears
The importance of Elgton Jenkins’ debut following last year’s torn ACL can’t be overstated. With Yosh Nijman at left tackle and Jenkins at right tackle, the Packers are solid on the edges. Everything else can be figured out. The debut of Allen Lazard will help, but not as much as coach Matt LaFleur remembering to get the ball into the hands of Aaron Jones in every way possible. On the other side of the ball, Green Bay’s defense should be much better with one week of work, the home crowd in its favor and – most importantly – not having to deal with Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson. Packers 24, Bears 10.
Season record: 1-0.
Sunday Must-Reads
- Elgton Jenkins will play in his first game following a torn ACL.
- Allen Lazard will make his season debut.
- David Bakhtiari is out again.
- Sunday Six: Aaron Rodgers vs. the Bears and the week’s best quotes.
Of note: In Rodgers’ 27 career starts vs. Chicago from 2008 through 2021, he has thrown 61 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions and fashioned a 109.2 passer rating. He had 12 games of three-plus touchdown passes, including seven with four, and just one game of two interceptions.
Meanwhile, all the Bears’ quarterbacks have thrown 32 touchdowns vs. 42 interceptions and compiled a 71.1 passer rating. They had one game of three touchdown passes and six with zero; 15 times, Bears quarterbacks chucked at least two interceptions.
