Packers Report Card: Grades From Win at Bears

The Green Bay Packers rallied past the Chicago Bears on Sunday. In our weekly grades, there were no A’s but no F’s, either.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Dec 5, 2022 1:35 PM EST

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The visiting locker room at Soldier Field is right next to the interview room. The door between the rooms couldn’t contain the Green Bay Packers’ raucous celebration after beating the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

After losing seven of their last eight games, beating the Bears was reason to cheer. Never mind that quarterback Justin Fields appeared reluctant to run because of his injured shoulder. And top receiver Darnell Mooney, high-quality running back Khalil Herbert and big-play safety Eddie Jackson were on injured reserve. And three other starting defensive backs were inactive. And proven defenders Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn had been traded.

Simply put, the Bears are the worst team in the NFC. And Green Bay barely won.

In the big picture, with an eye on draft positioning, maybe the Packers would have been better off calling it quits. Instead, they won the fourth quarter 18-0 to sweep their rivals for the fourth consecutive season.

“Fourth quarter’s winning time and we played our best in the fourth quarter today, put together some really nice drives on offense and had two big stops,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said after his latest victory over the Bears.

“Thankfully, I didn’t have any turnovers, which unfortunately hasn’t been the norm. So, we didn’t turn it over and we got three back. That was obviously what gave us the opportunity to win the game.”

The victory gave Green Bay a 5-8 record heading into its belated Week 14 bye.

Here is this week’s Packers report card.

Passing Offense

Zach Tom in pass protection. Photo by USA Today Sports

Aaron Rodgers was 18-of-31 passing for 182 yards and one touchdown. In games he started and finished, it was his third-fewest yards vs. the team he’s beaten like a drum for 15 years.

The Bears’ pass rush without Quinn has been terrible. Combine that with four-fifths of the starting secondary being sidelined by injuries, it should have been a big day for Rodgers and Co. It was not.

Allen Lazard had a good day, catching 5-of-6 targets for 67 yards. But Rodgers misfired on his first three throws to Christian Watson, went 0-for-4 to Randall Cobb and threw a pass to a wide-open Josiah Deguara into the dirt. Rodgers was 0-for-4 on his deep passes but found some success, particularly with Lazard, on the intermediate throws.

Watson looks like he’s going to be a star. His eight touchdowns the past four weeks is absurd. Nonetheless, for a player with his prodigious talent, 3-for-6 for 48 yards and a touchdown isn’t good enough. He needs more opportunities. On a key scoring drive bridging the third and fourth quarters, Watson converted a third-and-7 with a catch for 15, then beat backup cornerback Jaylon Jones and drew an interference penalty for a critical gain of 38.

The pass protection was sublime. Even with rookie Zach Tom replacing veteran David Bakhtiari (appendectomy), Rodgers officially wasn’t even touched. PFF charged Tom and center Josh Myers with one pressure allowed apiece.

Grade: C.

Rushing Offense

AJ Dillon completes his 21-yard touchdown run. Photo by USA Today Sports

With Aaron Jones in and out of the lineup, it was up to AJ Dillon to carry the load. The big man has been a bit of a disappointment this season, but he’s been really good three of the last four weeks. Against the Bears, Dillon gained 93 yards on 18 carries. He showed some elusiveness in the open field and, while he only broke two tackles, he was more of a force than usual after first contact (45 yards; 2.50 per carry). After getting around the corner, he wouldn’t be denied on his 21-yard touchdown.

It was just one of those days for Jones, who didn’t get much help from his blockers. He finished with 26 yards on nine carries. He forced three missed tackles and had 24 yards after contact.

Sammy Watkins’ block and Christian Watson’s genetics combined for the clinching 46-yard touchdown run. There aren’t many bad games as run blockers from left guard Elgton Jenkins and right tackle Yosh Nijman.

Grade: B-minus.

Passing Defense

Jaire Alexander gives up a big play to N'Keal Harry. Photo by USA Today Sports

Justin Fields was 20-of-25 passing for 254 yards. The saving grace was the fourth-quarter interceptions by Jaire Alexander and Keisean Nixon.

Of Fields’ passing total, almost half came against Alexander, with bombs to Equanimeous St. Brown and N’Keal Harry adding up to 105 yards. Alexander called former Packers player St. Brown a “scrub” and got the last laugh with the interception, but a player who considers himself elite can’t be giving up bombs to any receiver, let alone players like St. Brown and Harry. Nobody bothered to cover premier tight end Cole Kmet a couple times, as he finished with six receptions for 72 yards. The bulk of that damage came against linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, who was back after missing four games with a knee injury.

The pass rush was terrible. According to the official stats, Dean Lowry and Jarran Reed had the only quarterback hits; Fields hung in there and hit St. Brown for 56 after getting drilled by Lowry. While Kenny Clark had three pressures after producing only four the previous four games, according to PFF, Preston Smith was nowhere to be found.

Fields completed too many passes but, at the end of the day, turnovers win games. With Rasul Douglas contributing a forced fumble, the Packers’ secondary produced three takeaways.

Grade: C-plus.

Rushing Defense

Justin Fields is off to the races on his touchdown. Photo by USA Today Sports

Chicago rushed the ball 25 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns. Green Bay has allowed 150-plus rushing yards in eight of 13 games this season, most in the league.

But, to its credit, it put a Band-Aid on the massive wound. After allowing 88 yards on 11 attempts in the first quarter, highlighted by Justin Fields’ 56-yard touchdown run in which he broke Keisean Nixon’s tackle in the backfield and raced for 59 yards after contact – the Packers yielded a manageable 67 yards on 15 attempts the rest of the game. David Montgomery, a pretty darned good feature back, had a long run of 9. On a third-and-5 in the fourth quarter, Montgomery got the ball and was stopped by Devonte Wyatt.

The story coming out of Philadelphia was the abysmal tackling as the Eagles rushed for 1.3 billion yards. By our count, the Packers missed six on Sunday – two of those coming on one play that turned into a 5-yard loss. That’s why pursuit to the football is so important.

Grade: C-minus.

Special Teams

Dean Lowry blocks a 40-yard field goal. Photo by USA Today Sports

The good: Dean Lowry’s blocked field goal in the fourth quarter after the bomb to N’Keal Harry. What a massive play. The Bears would have led 22-17. Instead, the Packers took the ball and marched to a field goal to lead 20-19. Randall Cobb took advantage of excellent blocking for a 15-yard punt return. Mason Crosby made all five kicks.

The bad: Velus Jones had a 42-yard kickoff return as Chicago averaged a 10-yard better starting point on kickoffs. Innis Gaines was flagged for catch interference and there was a missed tackle on Dante Pettis’ 18-yard punt return in the third quarter.

Big plays are really what matters on special teams. That’s what Lowry delivered.

Grade: C.

Coaching

Coach Matt LaFleur and quarterback Aaron Rodgers talk strategy. Photo by USA Today Sports

Game-planning and play-calling and personnel usage are obviously huge parts of coaching. But let’s cut through that stuff. The Packers were trailing 19-10 on a cold December Sunday. They could have mailed in those final 15 minutes and started their bye-week respite a bit early. The defense could have crumbled, like it did a week earlier. But it didn’t. The Packers fought and won. It was ugly. It was far more difficult than it should have been. But it won. That’s a good reflection on everyone.

Now, how about more touches for Watson?

Grade: B.